clock radios

I have been shopping for several months for an under-cabinet LCD TV to replace our 18-year-old 5" RCA tube-type TV in our kitchen, which has served us well but has developed annoying on/off button problems and now looks old, clunky out-of-date.

Our requirements for a replacement unit were as follows:
1. Small, sleek, unobtrusive, LCD design that would blend in under our white cabinets
2. CD player so my wife could enjoy her books-on-CD in the kitchen (DVD and radio would be a plus but not essential)
3. We wanted to be able to view both local channels as well as satellite channels without needing to also install a DirecTV decoder box (this would take additional space -defeating our compactness goal -- and require more complicated wiring, not to mention monthly charges).
4. Quality (and warranty) that would ensure it would last several years.
5. Price under $500.
6. Given the limited selection and the poor quality reviews on other models, I needed to be able to examine it in person before buying.

I looked at these options:

1. Audiovox VE-1020 (and its older/smaller siblings). It way too pricey at $600-700 and read too many 'poor' reviews on audio quality and overall durability.
2. RCA BLC524: Screen too small, and 'poor' quality reviews, plus could not find it in a retail store.
3. Motorola/Moxell Tech KA-A13: Sounded good, reliable manufacturer, but could only find its announcement as it is not yet available.
4. Standalone 13" LCD (Gateway, Aquous, Sharp) with a separate swivel mounting bracket. I eliminated this option early because it would be too large, too expensive (~$100 for the bracket alone!), and it most cases would not include a CD player.

I bought the Sony as soon as I found its availability was advertised at a local electronics retail store. Bought it with an inexpensive 5-year extended warranty.

It's been in place for 2 weeks and we *like* it - it is living up to expectations, despite a couple of design flaws -- the absence of which would have earned the unit *five* stars.

First the flaws-all minor:

1. Fit and connections. As an earlier reviewer on this site pointed out, its installation is a tight fit under our cabinets, leaving only about an inch clearance to plug in the coax and a/v connectors. But this was easily remedied by purchasing right-angle adapters (Radio Shack, $4 each) that can be screwed in after installation with the 1" clearance. These redirect the cable and RCA connectors downward, making attaching the cables post-installation easy. Sony would do well to include these right-angle adapters.

2. Installation instructions. The alternative is to connect all your cables *prior* to installing the unit - something the instructions did not point out. In fact, the instructions could be improved in various areas. For instance, while the unit comes with variable-depth spacers so that installation under cabinets with doors that overhang the cabinet bottom, if you have flush-mounted doors (as we do), you *don't* want to use the spacers at all. Well, the instructions don't suggest this option, leaving you to think that the spacers are required in all cases. For me, this meant re-installing without the spacers, a minor hassle.

3. No built-in TV antenna. Unlike our old RCA, this unit does not have a built-in extending-wand antenna. This makes it a *requirement* that you connect TV and/or A/V inputs to another signal source to receive *anything* on the TV. While many people may be planning to do this, it *does* raise the ante on hooking it up. Sony would have a more versatile product for less experienced people if they included an optional "single rabbit ear" antenna that could be plugged into the TV/cable connector.

Now the good features:

1. TV: Sharp, noise-free wide-format picture, with settable options for standard 3x4 picture size and two wide-format variations. Just the right size. When not in used, screen is easily folded into a cavity under the unit and latches mechanically (more securely than magnetically, which may also wear out).

2. Sound: Perfect for TV viewing and CD story listening, and quite decent for FM or CD music, both in volume and fidelity. Two 3" speakers main the sound forward and downward, and the bass extender works as advertised. As long as you don't expect home theatre quality sound from this unit, you should be quite satisfied.

3. CD Player: Quality feel of its slide-out tray. Plays commercial and my home-recorded MP3s flawlessly.

4. Remote: Small, intuitive, well-constructed. Its bottom magnet attaches to our refrigerator nicely.

5. AM/FM presets: 5 of each, easily set, with manual tuning buttons on the unit and the remote.

6. TV/Video switch: Easily switches from the antenna/cable input to the a/v inputs. This is important, as the way we wired the unit, it only takes my technology-challenged wife one button click to switch from local channels to satellite channels coming in from our home theatre system.

7. Clock: Intuitive and easily set.

8. Timer: Doubt we will use - or care about -- this feature.

Bottom line: We like it a lot, both how it looks and how it works. The Sony name (and their 1-year manufacturer's warranty) - coupled with the inexpensive 5-year extended warranty we bought - should give us several good years of service...until it is again technologically out-of-date and needs upgrading again!

I was very disappointed when the machine would not fit! It was exactly the depth of the cabinet, which prevented us from being able to attach the cable to the back. Why in the world didn't the design take in to consideration the hookups could NOT be on the back against the wall? I would have just loved it, but Oh Well.