Verilux Shine Natural Wake Up Light Survey Hi! So before I bought this alarm clock, I did TONS of research on alarm clocks that used light that gradually turned on to wake you up. I scoured the internet, comparing the few products that do exist, many having awful reviews. I really wanted to make sure that if I was going to spend this much on an alarm clock, it was really going to work and be decent quality. This Verilux was honestly one of the best ones that I found. There were mainly good reviews about this lamp, however some key features that were complained about, that I found NOT TRUE!!! So I would like to point out what I noticed about the lamp (I have had it for nearly 3 months now), to help you in your search!!! 1. The light has DEFINITELY helped me wake up better in the morning. In the past I have had SEVERE issues waking up to my alarm, including hearing it and turning it off, or ignoring it all together. I do not do that with this alarm, which is great! 2. A few people complained that the buttons were too hard to read, even with the light itself on. This is not true. Perhaps a modified model has come out since those complaints, but even my mother with not so good vision had no problem reading the buttons. 3. People complained that the music that the lamp plays starts as soon as the lamp turns on, and gradually gets louder, and the only way to do it without sound is to set the sound level to level one. But you cannot just turn on the sound at the END of the light cycle. I found that if I set the alarm 1 with very low (or no) sound, then set a second alarm with louder sound, that goes off 10-15 minutes later, it does exactly that. Also, for each alarm 1 and alarm 2, you can store different sounds (either one of the 4 presets or each their own radio station) and their own light levels. They are independent and it remembers each. Also separately the light level that is on when you just turn the light on, or the radio station/volume that is used, separate from the alarm, is stored. 4. People complained that when you unplug the alarm or the power goes out, you lose all your settings. This is not true. I have unplugged it TWICE, and both times it completely remembered both of my alarm 1 and alarm 2 settings. The only thing I had to reset was the clock time. 5. Someone complained that you cannot independently turn on the lamp just to use, without the alarm or sleep setting. This is not true. ALL you do is push down on the top of the lamp and it turns on, until you manually press down again OR press the OFF button to turn it off. 6. I also read a review that the speakers were completely unclear and muffled. I think maybe they received a damaged alarm because my noise is pretty clear and gets quite loud for as small as it is. 7. There were many complaints about the 4 preset music/nature sounds. I personally don't mind them, and the bird song is my favorite, but I think at that level it is a personal choice. HOWEVER, if you go to the Verilux website and search for this item, you can listen to the 4 preset sounds BEFORE you buy it, to determine if you do or do not like them yourself. 8. Also, someone complained that the light doesn't actually gradually come on, it comes on in 20 different levels. They said that it makes noise when it does so. I have yet to notice this. To me, it seems pretty smooth and gradual, but at the least it is quiet (unless you choose a sound, but the light bulb does not buzz or make noise). . . I think that these were the main drawbacks that I read in the reviews, which I obviously disregarded when I bought my alarm. I was hoping that peoples complaints weren't so bad compared to how much the light would help me wake up. Personally I feel like I was right. The main negative reviews that I read seemed to either be a result of USER error, or simple ignorance. I would suggest if you buy this lamp, read the Verilux site about it and also read the instructions thoroughly to help you out, it is a GREAT product and totally worth it if you have issues waking up to your alarm clock with noise. It is a soothing, gentle way to naturally wake up and I LOVE it. Oh, the only review that was negative that I AGREED with was that when setting any times on the lamp (alarm 1 or 2 or basic time), you have to cycle through ALL the times, minute by minute to get to the time you want. HOWEVER, if you simply hold down the left or right arrows (to go down or up in time), it will eventually move the minutes faster, like 20 minutes at a time, so it is a lot quicker to get to the time you want. . .
Ever since going to college, I've been an extremely heavy sleeper. Perhaps it was the constant noise in the dorms or nightlights of roommates studying. Either way, I sleep like a log. As a result, each morning is an absolute struggle to come out of my slumber. When I first found this product, I was intrigued by the concept. About a year ago I bought the My daughter has a smaller cheaper version of this type of alarm. I figured this one would offer a lot more options and be a more "adult" option. I was wrong. While it does what it says (for the most part) I just found a lot lacking in the logistics. There have been very detailed reviews pointing out many of the flaws. Here were my biggest complaints: * Even on level one the ambient noise volume was loud (and the sounds were very "machine-ish") * The spa music that plays with the ambient noise was tinny and could not be removed * The ramp up time is only 15 mins. Most clocks like this have 30 min cycles. The idea of these clocks is to mimic a sunrise. I don't know of many 15 min sunrises. * The snooze function quickly turns the light all the way back off and then puts it right back up to full when the alarm re-engages. This is frustrating (light/dark/light/etc) * The snooze "button" is located at the very top of the light which also functions as its vent and gets very HOT to touch * When you turn the alarm off, the light goes out leaving you stumbling around in the dark since your eyes had adjusted to the light level I'd go back to the small, cheap model my daughter has over this one hands down. This little (well, big actually) creation has been a Godsend in our house! We are retired and raising a son, and his sleep schedule has been wacky from day one. We go to bed late, we wake up late, and I needed a way to adjust our sleeping schedules without just opening the curtains up and letting the sun blast us awake at 6 in the morning. I started setting this clock for 30 minutes before our normal wake up time, and I have adjusted our sleep schedule from going to bed at 3 a. m. and waking up at 4 p. m. to waking up at noon and going to bed at 11 in less than a month. All without a crabby kid, he pops his eyes open and says, "It's daytime!" and happily goes on about the day. The manual was sparse however, expect to spend some time with trial and error situations before you actually figure it out. It is one complicated clock, however, once you figure it out, the variety of ways you can set it up and work it are satisfactory. The one hour sleep cycle is fantastic, we find ourselves just conking out as soon as it runs out. It gives us time to read stories and then let the "sun" go down. I'm excited about having it for the winter, when the sun is up late and down early. Just be ready to mess around with it and make sure you test it to make sure you have set it up correctly before you start using it, or you may end up with it not coming on because you forgot to choose the alarm time you set. (which isn't mentioned as something to do in the manual) Much of my review will confirm what other reviewers have already stated, but you may find an original thought or two in here. First, let me say that the Verilux product does essentially what it advertises it will do. It will wake you gradually and gently with a light source of increasing brightness. But the product could have been designed to do so with a lot less effort on the part of the user. As many reviewers have said, the setup is not intuitive and is unnecessarily complicated. The user's manual will guide you through it, but you pretty much have to have it handy every time you touch the controls. Plus, you'd better have a flashlight in the other hand, because for whatever reason (possibly the angle at which they sit) the control buttons are unreadable without using an additional light source. Not a dealbreaker, but there were a few drawbacks which I found considerably more annoying: You're supposed to be able to wake to nature sounds. The sounds themselves are fine, but it's not possible to detach them from from the eerie background music. When I used that setting, I felt like I was waking up in a funeral parlor. Okay, so I'll wake up to the light and the radio instead. But there's only an FM radio in the product. I like to wake up to an AM news station which is not available on the Verilux. I had to solve the problem by turning the radio volume down to zero on the Verilux and setting a conventional clock radio to go on near the end of the Verilux light cycle with my favorite station. Hardly a convenient solution. Overnight recently my power went out briefly and, unfortunately, the Verilux has no battery back-up system. You'd think for a hundred bucks they'd be able to supply a battery back-up, wouldn't you? And maybe that AM
radio, too. So to sum up, the Verilux makes use of a valid concept of allowing someone to wake up to a gradually brightening light, but it doesn't do it very well, and it's very overpriced.
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