pitflyer

Terrible. They are always off, and I don't carry a screwdriver so if I want them fixed I have to call engineering to come fix it. I don't like wasting their time that much, so I just turn off the alarm (nothing like setting a 7am alarm and have it go off at 7pm because they set the clock backwards) and use my cell phone alarm.

MarkXS

For the first year or so, most of the ones I ran into were set properly. Lately, most are off by a few minutes, some by an hour, and the one that didn't wake me up in an Embassy the other day was off by 12 hours.

To the poster who complained they are set to go off automatically - no they're not, unless it's broken. One of the selling points of the Hilton Clock Radio was that it does not reset the alarm the next day, exactly for the reasons described. It does retain the alarm time last set, and can be re-triggered by the alarm mode button on the lower front instead of going through the complete setup process (alarm set - set time - press radio preset desired - press enter) if you want the same alarm the next day.

The one I ran into off by 12 hours the other day did have a thumbscrew. Don't know if this was aftermarket or they changed them, but I popped it and reset it correctly for the next guest.

The auto-DST is what probably caused the issue this year. The DST start/end logic is burnt into the clock chips, so there is no way to update it for the earlier DST start/later DST end that went into effect late 2007 in the US. Probably some hotels manually reset the clock an hour ahead in March, and then when the clock thought DST was starting in late April, the clock jumped itself ahead another hour.

I bought one of these for my wife 3 years ago, because she liked the way they are set. However since the DST rule change, she's been annoyed at the month each fall and spring where she has to deal with it being off by an hour.

I get the concept behind the clock. It was supposed to be user-friendly, big buttons, preset stations for the area, separate alarm and time displays rather than holding down the mode button, clear AM/PM indicators. Also can't be reset to the maid's favorite station All the stuff that is annoying on the cheap clock radios including the horrible Sonys in most Starwood hotels. However, they dumbed it down and locked it down too far.

Hilton Clock 2.0 should have:
- easier time reset without disassembly, even if it's hidden on the back panel.
- A user-settable preset button in addition to the hotel-set presets, like "My Station" which the guest could tune to and save, even with the clock in "locked' mode. That way the guest could wake to choice of station. Especially important in locales where the pre-set stations don't come in in most of the rooms.
- updatability for DST rule changes/DST country variations. This could be by buttons under the cover.
- A sleep button.
- an iPod dock/charger in addition to the generic aux input.
- longer cord on the generic aux input.

The idea of the clock is good, now make one that's user friendly and flexible without being dumbed-down.

Oh, and the Hampton Clock Radio 2.0 should actually function as a clock RADIO that can wake you to the radio. Talk about dumbing down.

Mongah

I try not to much anymore. Amazing that a man of almost 40 thinks this childish thing is funny. Probably a good idea to always check the clocks in case he has stayed there.

subdawg

From what I've read, this clock isn't the best one out there. However, my father-in-law likes it, and my husband is adamant about buying this for him. Any deals out there to make this cheaper than what hilton is charging (60+10 shipping + tax)? Or at least where I can earn bonus points/miles? I looked at the timexaudio.com site, and didn't see this exact clock.

TrinaLC

Checked into the ES Convention Center DC a few weeks ago. The time was off by 2 hours. Lacking a screwdriver, I called engineering - who promptly reset it but with AM instead of PM. Luckily I noticed or I could have slept through an early meeting.

I do like these clocks for ease of use, and the fact that they are USUALLY correct since guests (other than savvy FTers) can't mess with the settings.

Land-of-Miles

I have just remembered an issue with the clock in my room at the Hilton Whistler last month and I wondered if this is something which is common with the clocks.

The radio on the clock had a maximum volume which was unbelievably quiet on any radio channel, the issue was common to my Ipod (well actually IPhone but the same thing really) when attempting to play music. When the clock was set to buzzer however it worked perfectly with a very loud beeping action.

I had wondered if the volume could somehow be restricted by local settings so that loud music could not be played (or indeed in this case any music whatsoever). I would normally have assumed this was a one off probem with the clock, but the TV volume in my room was also restricted to a maximum volume level of less than half the potential volume for the TV in question. this actually made watching some TV programmes very difficult unless you sat directly in front of the TV.

I had assumed that there had perhaps been noise issues previously in the property and the result was that the management had wobbled the TV settings to restrict maximum volume and had also effectively disabled the clocks from playing music.

Points Scrounger

I've run across this at a couple of properties. One admitted that they had, indeed, lowered the audio output; another had maintenance bring a non-tampered-with clock-radio that worked fine.

I like to listen to audiobooks, and maximum volume was hard to hear well, even with my mp3 player cranked to its highest level.