Why I should Have Never Bought - A Projector Clock
There are a number of things about this clock that make me regret buying it. The clock’s main function is obviously to display the time; this is done via the LCD display on the front of the clock. The time is displayed in the digital format with the 12 hour clock, but there is no way to tell if it is AM or PM. The two buttons on the front of the clock are “mode” and “set”. The mode button switches between the time and the date (the date only being shown as month and date e.g. 9 24 for the 24th of September). Using the set button you can adjust the time, date and when the alarm goes off. With only the one button for setting these though you can only go forward in time, meaning if you want to set the alarm to go off 15 minutes earlier you have to go through over 23 hours to set it. Also without an AM/PM indicator it’s pure luck if you actually get the alarm to go off at the right time. The novelty of the clock is the projector built onto the side. By holding down the button on top the time is projected in lights. The projector is fairly weak, and if you are projecting the time onto a wall some distance away the image becomes extremely blurred and almost unreadable. The projector can be twisted to shine forwards, upwards or backwards. More problems arise from this. Without the light being shone straight onto a wall the time gets a heavy key stone, but worst of all if the projector is angled to face the same direction as the LCD screen the time is projected upside down and back to front, making it completely useless.
The LCD clock runs on 2 different button cells, which are much more difficult to find than the usual AA/AAA etc batteries. They are normally sold in packs of more than one and are generally quite expensive so having two different types just adds to cost. The projector runs of two AA batteries, much easier to find, but a pain having to have a separate power source. Also, if the AA batteries run low there is no other way to see the time in the dark. The battery covers are fixed in place with screws, just making it awkward to replace the already awkward batteries.
Un-surprisingly this clock doesn’t get much use. I’d love to say that in the designing of this product they put form before function, but it doesn’t even look that great, with the most annoying part being that when the projector faces straight up there is around a 1cm gap underneath it, like there is a chunk missing. If it wasn’t for that (and perhaps the orange plastic…) the product could look quite good.