What is an alarm clock good for, if it doesn’t keep the correct time?! Zarro! 0:00!
So I decided to get a not too expensive MP3-enabled Radio Alarm Clock and ordered Auvisio Alarm Station PX-4000 from the German mailorder Pearl for 49 EUR. Looks like I bought the last one, because now it’s not available anymore. :] Well, whatever, I’ll continue with my ramblings.
The awaited package arrived on Friday and already on Saturday I knew this piece of plastic and metal is pure rubbish. First I was surprised about the quite rather nice sound quality (even though a bit harsh on the highs), but a few hours later I found the clock to be out of sync some minutes. It’s running about 8 minutes too fast per 24 hours! What a joke!
Another big downside is the inability to set the volume for your MP3 alarm. It will just play at full volume, letting you wake up with an heart attack and waking up the entire house and probably neighbors of half the street too. :) Additionally, the FM radio receiving is pretty bad. Even the strongest channels have a loud hiss and other static.
The manual mentions upgradeable firmware with the software on the CD-ROM. But my package didn’t come with a CD-ROM. In the end I doubt that a firmware upgrade will fix the badly calibrated quartz of the clock.
Conclusion: Don’t buy this thing, as nice as it may appear to be from the specs! Unusable clock, unusable alarm, unusable radio. Not very good for being a radio alarm clock. :P
I didn’t find much on the Internet about this device, only one short review and a magazine review I’d have to pay for. So I’ll return it and try one of Pearls other MP3-enabled radio alarm clocks.
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