GE 74837 AM/FM Clock Radio with Green LED

Not a Deal at Any Price
I bought this trusting the GE brand. My sturdy GE clock radio of ten years took a few too many bangs and drops, and wore out. It lived a good, useful life. I thought I could trust GE for quality with my next clock purchase.

This is the worst clock I have ever owned.

The numbers are big. I like that. The dials are big. I like that too. The loss in quality comes with the functioning of the clock, not the appearance.

When tuning a station, even a major megawatt big city AM station, the most careful attention must be paid when rotating the dial. It is far too sensitive, allowing no room for accuracy. Increasing and decreasing the volume is the same way. Fine tuning is impossible, and so I suffer with the station sounding fuzzy and too loud.

The electric cord is unusually thick and inflexible. It has an industrial-strength look to it, making it inappropriate radio for any visible place in my home.

The alarm has a feature that the makers brag about which frustrates me. It gets louder beep by beep, becoming annoying if you happen to get up early and jump in the shower minutes before the alarm goes off.

It feels silly to go on about what a poor product this is, given that it is an economical item. Be warned. Whatever the price is, it is no bargain.

Anthony Trendl
editor, HungarianBookstore.com

This is a horrible clock!
I had this clock for only 2 months but now my clock has problems creating. On this clock if you switch to wake time, It won't show the wake time! It will just show the normal time! I use this clock for school but the clock does not
Function properly! Do not buy! Its a waste of money! (I Mean it)

Perfect Clock for College Student
This clock has been perfect for my needs. The Graduwake feature is very effective at waking you up gradually, without being obnoxious (and is the most gradual alarm I've ever heard among clocks that offer this feature -- you have time to get up and shut it off before it gets too loud). If you're the type of person that gets headaches from your alarm or are irritated by an abrupt waking, this alarm system is a great solution.

The nap timer is perfect for taking a short rest between classes, as it's quick and easy to set. Pressing the nap button mid-nap can tell you how much time you have left before the alarm goes off.

The larger digits are great for those with mild to moderate vision problems. The digits aren't huge like clocks that are meant for vision impairments, but are large enough for me to see at night without squinting.

Just be sure to skim through the product manual before using the alarm, so you know how to both reset and shut the alarm off. In response to the other reviewer, there are actually two buttons to press when shutting off the alarm entirely: cancel and wake mode. This may sound awkward, but the buttons are right next to each other and easily become a habit after the first couple of nights. This is the most confusing feature of the clock, but is explained clearly in the manual.

Can't cancel alarm
This is a great little alarm clock, the only thing I cannot figure out, is how to cancel the alarm. I get up at 5:15 every morning to the alarm, the only problem is, it goes off on Saturday and Sunday too because I can't cancel it. I've hit the "cancel" but the LED next to the alarm symbol blinks five times, then stays on. It is very annoying. Other than that, it is a perfect little clock.

Neat little clock radio, but I exchanged it for the GE 74894
GE Single Wake clock radio 74837 (or 7-4837):
Nice set of features for this class of alarm clock.

Pros: gradual wake feature, programmable snooze(!), nap function. Nice button layout. Alarm is easy to set, cancel, and reset (although there's no feedback when you reset it). Also, If you have the alarm set for "wake to buzzer" and you leave the radio on all night (intentionally or not), the alarm will still work (the radio will turn itself off when the alarm sounds).

Cons: There's no "alarm active" indicator (a hard-to-find feature in this price range anyway). That is, it's not obvious whether the alarm has been RESET or whether it's in SNOOZE mode. (It would be nice to have an indication that it's still in "snooze" mode, for example by blinking the "alarm indicator" LED until the alarm gets reset, something like that.) Also, there are 5 indicator LEDs on the display: AM indicator, PM indicator, Nap Function Indicator, "wake to buzzer" Alarm Indicator and "wake to music" Alarm Indicator. They all look alike, so it's impossible to identify them in the dark unless you memorize their relative positions on the display.

I returned this alarm and bought the GE 74894 (or 7-4894) instead, even though I didn't need a "dual wake" alarm. It has the same features, plus the display is nicer: the two "wake to buzzer" indicators (one for each alarm) are easy-to-recognize bell-shaped LEDs; similarly, the "wake to music" indicators are musical-note-shaped LEDs. It's easy to distinguish between the Alarm 1 and Alarm 2 indicators. There are also a few more neat features in the 7-4894: Instant Time Set (it comes with batteries installed and with the time preset), a Weekend Alarm Cancel feature, and a Daylight Saving Time switch to (manually) jump forward or backward 1 hour without having to fiddle with the time setting at all!