After many nights google-ing and too many depressing trips to electronic stores (talk about a need for a bit of marketing towards female clientele there, OMG!!!) I went to my local Blokker store (they sell toys, houseware etc) and bought the most decent looking alarmclock they had for a decent price.
In my case that was this one:
As you can see, I stayed true to my bargain-hunting roots and from the outside it looks like a really good deal. Philips is an A-brand and the discount was almost 50%, and that made up for the "not so pretty looking" design. Although this was defenitely NOT the look I was going for, as you can see here and here Given the price and the brand name, I was willing to compromise a bit (also check out my new mirrow!)
This not-so-bad-looking radio also had a lot of extra features that seemed very useful, but that's where things went wrong.......
Automatic scanning, preset stations, digital tuning. But....see that "gentle wake up" funtion? Seems nice, right? Well, it tuns out that the reason these radio's are getting dumped is because the alarm starts gentle, but then gets loud very fast and I don't meam a little uncomfortable, I mean REALLY, REALLY LOUD. Imagine my "surprise", waking up to the highest volume setting right next to my ear at 07:00.
And there's nothing you can do about it. Basically, they're malfunctioning and I think Philips should have made sure these Aj3551 are not sold anymore. Even worse, Blokker is selling them cheap, but other stores, like Media Markt, are actually selling them full-price. This is a good lesson, not all bargains are as good as they look, but I'm still annoyed.
And so, the very next day after buying it, I returned the Aj3551, went to the electric store around the corner and bought a more expensive model. For the full 39,99!!! I still can't believe it, but the shock of the "gentle wake up" was so nasty, I lost my resolve. This is the result: the Philips Aj3231
Yes, it's bad and I know it. I blame the obvious brain damage from the Aj3551 sound torture. And now we have an ugly, too big and too expensive but practical (two alarms and a snooze button) and dependable alarmclock. I told you, this is an anti-climax post if there ever was one. It's up to you now: I dare you to find me something cheaper yet better!
