Musica mundi : Awakening to music all over the world

One day in 1982, in a crumbling former monastery in Belgium, the choir I was traveling with had a 6:00 am call for the next morning. I was in a single that night and had no alarm clock. So I asked the people in the room next door, whom I didn’t know very well, to knock on my door when they got up. They did, I did, we did our concert and got back on the bus, and the tour continued.

It was only later that I learned that they were not scheduled to do that concert, and hadn’t planned to get up so early. Frank had hauled himself out of bed just to knock on my door. I was mortified.

As soon as I got home, I resolved never again to travel without my own alarm clock.

I’ve gone through several since then, and all have served me well. But the last one bit the dust when it hit the floor during a particularly tilty roll on the icebreaker Kapitan Khlebnikov on my last trip to Antarctica. So when I got home, I went shopping for another and came home with the Timex Travel Alarm Clock Radio T315ST. When I’m at home, it lives on my vanity so I can see how much primping time I have.


FEATURES

• The Timex Travel Alarm Clock Radio flips open like a cell phone. The top, once open, tilts back at a 120̊ angle.

• Its dimensions are:
closed: 2⅞” wide x 3⅝” deep x 1" tall
open: 2⅞” wide x 3⅝” deep x 3" tall

• It has a small telescoping antenna that secures into a clip across the back. Fully extended, it’s 7" long and pulls in a decent signal.

• It has a digital time display in the flip-top

• The Time Set and Alarm Set functions are just below the display and are controlled by a slider which also enables you to lock the settings.

• Two sliders on the left side control the mode (radio or buzzer) and AM/FM.

• The Snooze bar is on the front; if you hit it, it will try again in four minutes. It’s also the button to push to flip the top open.

• The tuner is an analog wheel, set into the top surface next to the speaker and extending outside the right side wall of the radio. It’s knurled, so you can easily turn it from outside. The same is true of the volume control. Both of them extend about 1 millimeter outside the body, so are unlikely to be accidentally turned in transit.

• To see what time it is in the middle of the night, press the Snooze bar. An amber light shines across the speaker onto the display screen. As soon as you let go of the Snooze bar, the light goes out.

• The clock-radio runs on two AAA batteries.

• It has a brushed silvery finish.

• The Timex Travel Alarm Clock Radio retails for anywhere from $13 to $18. I paid $16 for mine at Rite-Aid.

• For more information, paste this address into your browser window:
http://timexaudio.com/products.asp?dept_id=1006&product_id=10027. (Actually, there’s not much information there, but it does have a good photograph.) Also, please note that the clock that is shown here, Model T315ST, is shown on the Timex website as Model T315S. So you can take your pick; they are the identical product.


WHAT I LIKE ABOUT IT

• It’s easy to set and use. I’ve had clock-radios that were so complex I couldn’t change a single setting without having to refer back to the instructions. Granted, most travel clocks are simpler by virtue of their size, if nothing else, but this one has clearly marked controls and a fairly intuitive mechanism.

• It folds up into a compact package. I can easily fit mine into pocket, purse, or necessaire, with my toiletries.

• I like being able to wake up to music when I’m traveling. I don’t usually listen to the radio when I’m traveling, but it’s nice to have the option.

• It sips power from those two little batteries. I’ve only had it for about three months, so I can’t tell exactly how long the batteries will last, but my earlier travel clocks have run for about four years on one pair of batteries, and I have no reason to think this one won’t do likewise. Yes, I know the radio will run them down faster, but no, I don’t use it that much.


WHAT I’D CHANGE

• The sound quality is awful. The radio has that tinny AM sound, even in FM mode, and if you awaken or listen to classical music, as I do, you’ll be disappointed. Of course, it’s a tiny instrument, with a tiny speaker and probably no woofer at all, and no one in their right mind would expect wonderful audio quality from an instrument this size, but still...


SUMMARY AND VERDICT

My Timex Travel Alarm Clock Radio is the latest in a long and distinguished line of travel clocks that have accompanied me all over the world since 1982. They’ve all been Timex clocks, and all have lasted a long time, until I knocked them out a window or into the tub or set my suitcase down on them. Timex makes a good, reasonably priced timekeeping product. I could have gone for a much cheaper travel alarm, but the idea of awakening to music anywhere in the world (except Antarctica, of course) appealed to me. So the only thing that’s keeping me from giving it five stars is the truly awful sound of the speaker, which knocks it down to four stars.