HoMedics SS-4000 Sound Spa Classic Deluxe Clock Radio & Sound Machine with Time Projection
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Product Reviews of HoMedics SS-4000 Sound Spa Classic Deluxe Clock Radio & Sound Machine with Time Projection
Product Review: Garbage
Summary: 1 Stars
As others have mentioned, the projector broke in about a week. It was not mistreated or even *moved*. The sounds all suck, period, unless you think /dev/urandom catted through a 1 cent speaker is soothing. The design is plain terrible - whoever decided that there should be non-activated buttons on clocks to adjust the time must hat people who, you know, actually *use* things. Translated that means there is an hour an a min button that change the time if you happen to mistakenly hit them - there is no "set time" switch or timed hold feature. Worse than that, *every* button on the clock is the same shape and easy to hit by mistake when going for the snooze *bar* which makes using this clock an exercise in paranoia if you actually want to snooze because of all the different fun ways you can easily change the time or turn off the alarm. Do not buy this unless you hate money. I plan to set fire to mine when I run out of kindling this winter.Product Review: Good
Summary: 4 Stars
This is a very easy to use alarm clock with an am/Fm radio and several noises that you can use to help you unwind before bed and also to use as an alarm clock. There is a lot of positive that can be said about this, including of course the option to see the clock lit displayed in a friendly blue color, or you can just turn the projector "off" and have no projection... So why the 4 stars, shouldn't this be a clear 5 star? Becuase although it has AM/FM radio, it does NOT have any way to see what you are listening to, you can only move the tuner to hear what's next you can't actually see what you are doing, otherwise a nice clock. Maybe they will show where you are turning the radio tuner in there new model, and have a trully great alarm clock.Product Review: Good Purchase at the Price
Summary: 4 Stars
This is overall a good purchase, but there are pros and cons that you should weigh before buying it.
On the plus side is simply the range of options this clock/radio/sound machine/alarm/projector provides. The clock functions perfectly well, and you can set the alarm to buzz, play the radio, or play one of the soothing sounds provided in the "Sound Spa." Unfortunately, the radio is very rudimentary (no presets) and functions with a dial, which of course can very easily get turned off of the stations you wanted to hear as you reach for the clock in the morning.
The projection of the time on the ceiling is a fun bonus. I don't really use it to tell the time, as I'm absolutely useless without my contacts in or my glasses on, but the blue light is a nice, soothing color and adds an interesting glow to my apartment at night.
The best feature of the Sound Spa is the Sound Machine aspect. There are 6 options - Ocean, Summer Night, Rain, Rainforest, Thunder, and Waterfall. Most of the sounds are great - I personally love Waterfall, Thunder, and Ocean - but it is easy to hear the cycling of the sounds in a couple of the choices, notably the presence of some annoying bird chirps in Rainforest. You can just leave the sound on, or you can set it to a sleep timer of 15, 30, or 60 minutes.
Overall, a great purchase for the price.
Product Review: Good concept but very cheaply made.
Summary: 3 Stars
My whole life I can count on one hand how many times I have received a new product that was broken out of the box. This was one of them! The speaker would crackle in and out, and sometimes shut off. Tapping on it would sometimes bring it back to life, so I figured there must be a loose connection to the speaker.
I took it all apart to see if I could fix it, and was surprised at the cheap build quality. there was lots of tangled wires and it looked like someone had a field day with a hot glue gun. I was able to get to the speaker by removing the main circuit board. I fired up my soldering gun and reconnected the wires directly to the speaker. It works fine now, and I'm sort of proud of myself for fixing it but nobody should have to go through that for an item around $30.
My opinions:
The projection is kind of cool but definitely too bright to keep turned on all the time as others have said. I like how it comes on for a few seconds when you hit the snooze button though, even if you have the projection turned off.
The green LCD readout is nice and crisp, and there is a backlight button on the back which turns on or off extra brightness of the numbers. I keep it off, numbers are way too bright with it on.
One major gripe is that there is no digital tuning of the radio, just a tiny dial on the side which has numbers on it that are really hard to see (worthless).
The natural sounds loop fairly quickly and not great quality, but not bad for an alarm clock with a tiny speaker. It's kind of nice to wake up to something other than a radio or buzzer.
I'm going to keep it. I think it's a decent item for under $30, but not worth more than that.
Product Review: Good for Purpose
Summary: 4 Stars
I bought this over a year ago (not through Amazon) and have had no problems with it. We use it as a sound filter in our kids' room and they like seeing the time reflected on the ceiling above them at night. Granted, the time is easily changed by tiny little fingers, but that's not a big issue for us. It has served its purpose well!