Sonic Alert Alarm Clock with Bed Shaker

The good: It is THE LOUDEST alarm clock I've ever tried. Louder than the Screaming Meanie, louder than the classic analog bell alarm, louder than any other alarm advertised as a loud alarm for deep sleepers. I sleep with earplugs, and this is the only alarm I have found that can consistently wake me. I cannot sleep through this alarm. Having two alarms is a plus. I have three. I also do something different with the vibrators: rather than place them under my mattress, I have them placed so that they rattle loudly between my wall and an wooden case. The bad: The controls are HORRIBLE and it is very, very easy to screw up. I will make a video someday if I have the time because a written description cannot do justice to the user UN-friendliness of the controls. It is very easy to think you have it turned on and ready to go when you've actually turned it off and set yourself up for disaster. Among the problems: Problem 1: The fact that the device is covered in switches buttons and knobs makes it very difficult to handle the device without accidentally adjusting the settings. It's especially easy to accidentally spin the volume wheel, rendering the clock useless! To solve this problem, I have put tape over my volume wheel. There is also an identical wheel just beneath the volume wheel; that's the wheel to adjust the pitch of the sound between lower and higher. I guess it's beneficial for someone who is awakened more easily by certain tones. It's also kind of fun to play with. 2: You'd better keep the paper instructions because the multiple functions for the controls on this device are not easy to remember! Multiple functions for buttons are always problematic on any device, and this clock is no exception. In addition to the snooze button being a snooze button, holding the snooze button down changes the display to show some different numbers; I think they are for setting the amount of time the alarm will sound... I CAN'T REMEMBER and I can't find the little paper instruction booklet to refresh my memory. The snooze button has yet a third function for adjusting brightness when the alarm is not sounding. There is also a way to switch between AM/PM and 24hr/military time involving multiple buttons but I can't remember that "combo" either. Maybe gamers will have an easier time. Problem 3. The tiny red lights indicating whether the alarms are on are placed in odd parts of the display. There are four identical tiny red dots, one at each corner of the display. If alarm #1 is on, the little red dot in the lower left-hand corner illuminates. There is an identical little red dot just above that one, on the upper left–hand side, but no, that's not alarm #2, that little red dot indicates PM time. The little red dot for alarm #2 is the one on the other side of the display, DIAGONALLY across from the alarm #1 dot, in the upper right–hand corner! But what about that fourth identical little red dot in the lower right–hand corner, beneath the alarm #2 dot, directly across from the alarm #1 dot? I don't even REMEMBER what that one indicates because it's NOT LABELED! And I can't find the little instruction booklet. It may be the dot indicating whether 24hr/military time or AM/PM is set (again, DIAGONALLY across from the little red PM dot). Got it? Well if you forget, and need to read the labels printed next to those little red dots, you'll want to turn on a bright light, and maybe don a pair of reading glasses, for that tiny white print on the pitch–black clock face. But who doesn't love bright lights at bedtime? Problem #4: THIS IS A BIG ONE! Setting the alarms! To set one alarm, you need to TURN OFF the other alarm! Slide the switch in the upper left–hand corner UP to set alarm #1, and be warned that doing so DISABLES alarm #2. To set alarm #2, you'll need to slide that switch DOWN, but now you've disabled alarm #1! After setting alarm #2, DON'T FORGET to CAREFULLY slide that little switch halfway back, to the MIDDLE position, if you want both alarm #1 and alarm #2 on! And in my opinion, you'd better double–check that you've not slid it too far from the center. Also be warned that there is an IDENTICAL switch to that one, just below it, so it's easy to move the wrong one if you're going by feel. That's the switch for setting whether you want BOTH alarms OFF, or whether you want the alarms to vibrate, ring, or both vibrate and ring (it says vib/buzz but in this case "buzz" means "ring," the sound is not a buzz at all but more like a digital bell which can probably be heard in the videos). So if you are going by feel, you may think you are setting alarm #2 when you are actually turning both alarms off! I have to add that setting the alarm time (or the clock time) requires that you hold certain buttons down while the display cycles through the entire 24–hour period. If you had the alarm set for 8:30AM and now need to set it for 8:00AM, the only way is to fast–forward through the entire 23 hours and 30 minutes to get there, and it takes time. That's a minor complaint by comparison but it is tedious, and if you accidentally overshoot your target time you'll have to cycle through the entire 24hrs again. Also you'll most likely be cycling past the current time when you set the alarm. This will set off the very loud alarm, waking or at least scaring anyone around you (as well ad blasting that sound one foot from your face), and the only way to avoid that is to, yet again, disable the alarm or turn the volume down, meaning you'd better remember to once again turn the alarm back on or turn the volume back up once it's set! And be careful you've spun the VOLUME wheel and not the cute little TONE wheel right below it! Now you've adjusted a tone you'll never hear! Then you'll lose your job, your kids will flunk out of school, your spouse will divorce you, you'll be charged for your missed doctor's appointment and you'll die of your undiagnosed medical condition. In summary, this is indeed the loudest and most effective alarm I've had, I depend on it, and if it breaks (read: if I smash it out of frustration), I will buy another one. But the absurdly ridiculous user–interface and INFURIATING potential for error costs a full two stars.