DreamSkyDigital Alarm Clocks for Bedrooms - Wooden Desk Clock with Date, Day of Week, USB Port, Temperature, Dimmer for Bedside Table, Living Room, Office, Adjustable Volume, Auto DST, Wood Decor

Once we 'cut the cord' on our cable TV service and eliminated the DVR in our living room with its digital time display, we found ourselves still glancing into the now empty space under the television for the time display that had been there for decades. This annoyed us enough after a couple days that I started looking for a replacement clock. I wanted something that would fit into the 4" high shelf space with an easy to read, but not too bright or huge display that would distract from the video screen just above it or visually dominate that part of the room. Something nice and discrete, but not too small or dim.Ideally I wanted a wifi, bluetooth, or atomic time synced clock that would always be dead on accurate, but right away I could see that was not to be- all those types of digital clocks are either way too big wall clocks or way too small nightstand clocks. The size thing was a general problem- I only found one that wasn't too small or too big and we tried it out, but the display, while the right height to fit the shelf, was very wide- way too big and bright, even at the lowest of its 3 brightness settings. After returning that one I did a bit more searching and found this, which was a much nicer design in general and had the added feature of a continuously variable display brightness. Set at about 10% brightness this one is perfect for our use case, not to big, not too bright, but easily readable day or night and it's great having the date, time, and room temperature on the display as well for quick reference. Thankfully the design includes battery backup to avoid a complete reset in the event of a power outage (I hate that).The jury is still out on accuracy (I'm spoiled on synced clocks and watches, so I'm a bit of a stickler for this)- after a week I finally set it to dead on correct time and it seems to be floating forward.. it's only been a couple days but it seems to be maybe a second fast now. I guess I could live with +30 seconds a month, it's not that big a deal for the living room clock, but I would think it would be a bit more accurate.All in all I'm quite happy with it, especially considering the amount of hunting it took to find it. I was about to give up. It's sure nice having an easily referenced living room clock again. We never realized how often we both constantly glanced at the old time display every day without thinking until it was gone! I'd highly recommend this to anyone else that's getting rid of a DVR, cable box, or even an old VCR that features a time display they've grown used to impulsively checking.

Although you cannot argue about taste, I think most people would consider this clock gorgeous. I and my handyman do. It appears to be made from a thin veneer of real wood, wrapped around some triangular-bar frame. We *really* had to look hard to find the seam in the veneer at the bottom of the clock.I was particularly interested in the simple version of this clock, as it should be very easy for guests to figure out how to set the alarm and kill it. I did put the folded instructions below the clock, but I doubt that anyone who is a guest of mine would need them. There are no redundant features such as dates and so to complicate things. All controls are simple, well marked, and intuitive. The brightness and alarm volume are set by simple dials. The alarm and time adjustments are done by single-function buttons. And as far as time adjustment is concerned, the clock comes with a plug in power source, with also a backup battery. So even if the guest room is not used for an extended time, the time display will probably still be good enough by itself. Note also that the time is shown in very big digits.I liked the clock so much that I got a second one for my own bedroom, to replace the Westclox one whose buttons are getting cranky. Pic 1 shows them side by side. Pic 2 shows them in the dark. It should be noted that the Westclox produces little stray light at night while it is still clearly visible during the day. If the DreamSky display is visible during the day, then if you do not want a "nightlight" in the dark, you will need to turn the brightness dial back when you go to sleep. Or if you turn the brightness dial so that there is negligible light spillage at night, the clock will appear as a simple decorative wood bar during the day. You might actually like that for its sophistication, since you probably do not really need the time display during the day anyway.I think the difference between the clocks in light spillage is probably due to the Westclox's "line thickness" being less than the DreamSky. However, the difference in light color might also play a part.

Bought the black wood version. I can read the display without my glasses! And that's with it dimmed a bit, not full brightness. Love that it gives the day & date too. If you're a retired senior like me, it's easy to forget the day of the week.It's got a nice small footprint for my nightstand, and it goes well with my furniture. It's easy to set up, and it has a DST feature - don't we hate having to reset the clocks?The price is right too.I can't speak to the alarm clock because I haven't used it.Highly recommend.