Bests & Worsts Reviews from Amazon

Okay, here's the scoop. I'm an old man, so I'm old school when it comes to alarm clocks. I came from a generation that believed in having a substantial door-stop of an alarm clock that had a CD player, AM/FM radio, portable TV and a toaster oven on it. After looking in Walmart, and literally spending a few hours over a couple of days browsing through Amazon, I realized I wasn't going to find a quality, well-made alarm clock that checked all the boxes for me. When I thought I found something I liked, it got terrible reviews. In fact, I didn't find one alarm clock that got overwhelmingly positive reviews. That's problematic. So, I had no choice. I had to take a risk. I took it on the Mesqool CR1008 Digital LED Alarm Clock, made in the good ole People's Republic of China. In case you didn't know it, America doesn't make anything anymore. We import everything. And they call that progress. The footprint on this clock is 6-1/2" long X 3-1/4" high X 1-3/4" deep. Not very big- but okay. The crisp blue numbers are a shade over 1-3/4" high. In the upper left is a 1/8" blue AM or PM (and a 1/8" DST, for Daylight Savings time below that); and in the lower right, a 1/8" blue ALM when the alarm is engaged (which blinks during the time the snooze is engaged). The alarm is loud, but not obnoxious. It is powered with an AC adapter cord. It has a battery back-up (2-AAA). But the batteries only save your settings. During a power outage, the time is not displayed, and your alarm will not go off. So, what's the use, right? On the top, on each side, is a 15/16" HOUR and MIN button to set the time and alarm. I've been using this about 3 weeks now and it is keeping excellent time. Between those 2 buttons are a 3-1/2" X 1-1/8" stylized-shaped button that serves as a snooze button. You can snooze the alarm for 9 minutes, and the instructions say you can do that every 9 minutes- and gives no limitation. I've done it quite a few times, and there doesn't seem to be a limit, but you might want to test that for yourself, so you know for sure. That button also doubles as a way to engage the night light which has 8 settings: no light, oyster white, sunrise orange, green, cobalt blue, sky blue, violet, and shocking pink. I am a little color blind, so for me, the white was really close to the sky blue, the orange looked red, and I guess what I thought was cobalt blue was actually violet. Regardless, it is a nice feature, and actually gives the room a nice glow, and makes an efficient night light. All the settings are on the back. Something else I had to get used to. Can't have the front looking cluttered, can we? All of these are black, except for 2. There is a dimmer switch (low-high), time format switch (12 hours-24 hours), alarm volume (low-medium-high), and alarm switch (on-off; which is red and sticks out a little farther than the rest). There is a set time button (which allows you to compensate for daylight savings time), and a set alarm button. A neat feature is an alarm pause button; which is red and sticks out a little farther than the rest. Obviously the purpose of this is so you can reach around and feel for it with your hand to find it easier. When you press the pause button, it basically sets the alarm for the next day. There are also 2 USB charging ports on the back to charge your phone, watch or tablet. It comes with a 1-year warranty (but you can get an 18-month extended warranty on their website), and replacement service within 3 months. This little thing has a lot of features for its size, and it's very unique; and even though it is probably something that would appeal more to kids rather than adults, I'm happy with the quality. It remains to be seen how long this thing will last. If I can get a few years out of it, I'll probably buy another one. Yep, it's really that unique.