Silicon Sound novelty '90s Windows PC clock radio
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- Опубліковано 3 сер 2024
- A novelty clock radio made to look like a desktop PC from the '90s, complete with an imitation of the Windows 3.x GUI on the screen.
Time flow:
0:00 Introduction
1:32 Unboxing
2:22 Overview
3:35 Setting the clock
4:07 Radio test
7:21 Alarm & chime test
8:55 More details
9:18 Headphone output
10:11 Conclusion
#CRTgaming #VintageComputer #RetroTech - Наука та технологія
The funny thing is that today it would be possible to create a real working computer of that size, perhaps by reusing the shell. 😅
Slap a raspberry pi and a tiny screen in it!
just casually wearing android on my wrist
Yeah, perfect for running 86Box (or other x86 emulators) that hosts a copy of Windows 3.1 that in turn runs a clock program just as originally designed.
Nah, that's not the fun thing.
The fun thing is that some have floppy slots the right size for MicroSD cards. I should know, _I have one._ Just need to build myself the internals.
The question is: am I going to have to use a soldering iron for it?
This feels like a product pharmaceutical companies would've loved to dish out as swag, if they could slap a Viagra or Celebrex label on it somewhere.
I actually have two Pfizer "stress relief" squeeze thingies, one is bull-shaped for one of their livestock medications, the other is an actual Viagra one. Circa 1998-ish.
I miss the days where novelty desk accessories were more popular. Love a novelty clock or radio
Same, remember at Christmas time, you go into a department store and see them by the cash register as a gift
@@alanlovesheidi1 Ah yes! Loved seeing the gift ideas which were little gadgets and gizmos
That space still exists, think about pomodoro timers and other little productivity tools, and there's a whole universe of Japanese desk toys and gadgets online
Whoa. The out-of-phase stereo segment positioned the sound perfectly a couple of meters to the right of my TV.
same
I was playing around with some audio effects in Easy Effects, and found that the audio is so perfectly out of phase, when you sum the channels, it perfectly cancels out to just some distorted background noise. Thought that was pretty cool.
They have used a stereo 3.5mm socket and applied the signal between L and R. That way it "works" with stereo headphones and also a mono earphone. If they had wired it properly for stereo then a mono earphone would have shorted out the signal. Clearly it's been built around a watch chip, and it's had to use the beeping output to trigger the radio. They failed then to fully isolate the beeper from the radio. That also explains why the radio and clock have their own batteries.
Most traditional digital clock radios (at least hose with the TMS3450NL and similar chips) also use the beeping output to trigger the radio. The difference is they clearly do a better job filtering the signal.
I was watching your video on my TV using my Onkyo receiver for audio. During your demo of out-of-phase audio, where you explained how it would sound in stereo and mono, I had you on Dolby ProLogic 2x. Since Dolby ProLogic routes out-of-phase audio to the rear speakers, it sent the audio exclusively to the rear speakers during that part of the demo. It took me by surprise & it was kind of funny because I wasn't expecting the audio to shift to the back on a UA-cam video like that. Lol
Same here with my Denon receiver in Dolby Surround mode.
Same with my Onkyo. It sounded completely normal but in the rear speakers
What an interesting tidbit!
#4 with a Yamaha in DTS Neo:6 mode
tried this with my Technics receiver hooked up to my Mac mini, and yeah, the demo played only through my rear speakers
I think people who design devices that take 3 batteries are in cahoots with the battery makers. You are ALWAYS gonna forget that 4th one in the pack!
Yeah, I hate that.
I greatly appreciated that deep cut Seinfeld/Van Wyck reference, thanks for the laugh, your channel is a gem 👍
Even tough the signal reception would suck, I'd love to have one for my retro gaming space in a corner of our unfinished basement
3:55 - It may be possible to make it display 24-hour time. I had a similar little clock-radio made by Suntone, and when setting the hour, if I went past "11:P", it would display "0:H" and cycle thru all 24 hours in 24-hour format ("0:H" to "23:H") before going back to 12-hour time ("12:A").
Many of these cheap clocks and watches appear to use the same chip and probably have similar feature sets.
This computer is so portable that it fits in your hand and it only needs easy to swap out batteries! Definitely cool to see the attention to detail on this, wasn’t expecting it to be like that at all.
Your videos are honestly so amazing to watch and so soothing you make great tech videos
A Windows 3.x clock radio was not something I needed until now!
I have a computer toy that looks like a Power Macintosh LC. It has a paper picture of an AOL page and when you press the keyboard it says "You've Got Mail!"
Haha, the volume control literally says “buzz” and that’s exactly what it does (at first)
wow that beeping with the radio on alarm brought me back to when i was 10 years old, i had an alarm clock that did that too
same
It's hard to deny that there's not much of interest about the guts of this thing. Yet the styling of it has gone better with time by mimicking the looks of what is now a vintage PC. And anyway, nearly anything explored/reviewed by Kevin makes for an interesting conversation piece and video experience, however cheap and mundane it might appear. He really has a gift for that.
i had the one you showed at the start of the video very nostalgic seeing something i owned and remember clearly. most of the stuff you show looks similar to things i had or only remember faintly but this was the exact thing had in the 90s
Cute little radio, I love the attention to detail.
I remember seeing the one with no clock and the speaker grill on the front of the monitor back in the day, but I don't recall seeing this one.
So pleased you played that Seinfeld clip about the Van Wyck...
“Friendly candy company” 😂
5:52 - Man, every time I hear that song I thing of that Ed Edd 'n' Eddy fan video.
I think of it too! Was it made in Flipnote Studio?
I saw this PC-styled clock radio sometimes on Ebay. Very neat little collector things. Remembers me of the Mesonic MS-200B I got in 2018 with a calendar and a somehow "real" keyboard with numbers.
I actually have one of these. Got it as a gift 25 years ago. Great clock, terrible radio.
Fun Fact: I've driven the Van Wyck mid-day and did the speed limit..... miracles do happen sometimes.
You even went with a retro 720p for the video. Nice touch.
Not bad for a novelty item. I remember seeing a portable radio in the shape of the DMG Game Boy called "Radio Boy". Probably a fun little novelty item for the retro gamers and collectors.
7:00 - "Trouble" by Lindsey Buckingham; yes, the guy from Fleetwood Mac. (EDIT: ONE of the guys from Fleetwood Mac. Mick Fleetwood was the drummer, Lindsey was the guitarist. Lindsey is probably most known for being lead singer on the 80s smash hit "Big Love.")
9:37 - "Be Good to Me," my favorite Tina Turner song. Running a close 2nd, "We Don't Need Another Hero (Thunderdome)."
I'm actually impressed with the reception on this little thing. Love the faux-Windows on the "monitor," brings back some strong nostalgic feelings.
I always love when these little radios have a headphone jack, like I don't too many people ever plugged in headphones
Remember the commercials "as seen on TV" for that novelty "baby boom box" that was all over stores for a while?
I've never been fond for novelty radios, they sound so atrocious that it almost makes me sick!
When I saw this, it reminded me of a time machine! Back in the late 70s, there was a version of "The Time Machine" movie (after the 60s one w/Rod Taylor, but before the 2000s version w/Guy Pierce), and it used a monitor/keyboard for controls. The funny thing was in order to show investors, the scientist built a working prototype about 6 inches high, including the miniature computer, and he had to use a pencil to be able to enter commands on the tiny keyboard... And as I recall it was gray and looked kind of like this... no floppies probably though...
Wow. By sheer coincidence, I watched this video today, and both the 1960 and 2002 "The Time Machine" movies at the weekend. I want a novelty radio model of each of the two time machine props. (with authentic rotating wheels).
I've got one of the radio only ones like the first shown; my favorite feature is the age yellowed plastic - just like a real greige pc!
Cute little clock radio!
That's a VERY COOL 😎 alarm ⏰️ clock radio, especially amongst computer 🖥 buffs. Always remember, the product inside the box may vary slightly from the one shown. This may answer your question on the color of this computer shaped clock radio. Ya may want to check into the electrolytic capacitors. Capacitors these days, have only about fifteen to twenty years of service life on them. Your friend, Jeff.
Very nice I wish they still made clock radios that take batteries only instead of needing to be plugged in always.
There is a reason for clock radios to have to be plugged in, most i've used had battery as a backup.
At least i wouldn't trust alkaline-powered crap to wake me up, putting in fresh batteries monthly, just to be sure, is kinda wasteful imho.
Oh yea you can still buy SHARP alarm clocks that take batteries, even analog alarm clocks.
they stopped ?
Ever heard of a watch?
tbh, I just use the timer function on my stereo and set it to start up a cd.
Make sure you type in radio when eBay searching; otherwise you get sex toys…
That beeping thru the radio sound when the alarm goes off must be an artifact of the chip that controls the alarm function. I have a Philips clock radio that does the EXACT same thing. I always have it set to wake up to the radio, and I can clearly hear the "buzz/beep" sound faintly in the radio output. Probably got that radio ca. 12 years ago at Radio Shack (now, there's a walk down electronics Memory Lane!). Weirdly enough, the Walmart across the street didn't have any clock radios.🤷♂
8:34 I could be going to hell because I laughed at the timing
Nice find i love these small clocks congratulations on the find
This is what I call, a meeting timer.
Perfect for the IT professionals for meetings or EoD!!
Oh man, now i want to listen to The Outfield
Now they could make a fully functional PC that size!!
Well chosen video.
Oh damn, my Canada Day just got better. Thanks lad!
Christ I'm weak. I actually want one of these.
As always a very interesting and entertaining video. Thank you. That joke about the law film was funny.
nice! a new VWestlife video
I had a CRT iMac version of this that also had a calculator on it, and the puck mouse had the radio scan buttons. It was pretty neat.
that's a very well done computer replica......nice device!
As a kid, I don't remember the first AM/FM radio that I took apart going back together as it should have.
Aw, that ones pretty cute. I had a couple of these sorta things when I was a kid and, yes, I know what the innards look like!
now I want one of these ...
need one of those on my desks now
I'd be sweet if someone took one of these and crammed a computer in there not unlike a raspberrypi, and put some tiny LCD screen in place of the clock. Of course it would need to be running an age appropriate operating system as well!
Damn that beeping through the radio sounded just like some shortwave station with cw in one sideband.
I like that, it's pretty cool.
I remember these novelty radio alarm clocks, there was also one that looked like a laptop that folded.
I was surprised with headphone output and also coming out of both channels.
#VWestlife Hello my friend You know, you made my day and you made me feel like a child showing me this radio alarm clock
When I was a little boy I had exactly the same 😃😅Memories come back my friend 💪😎greetings from Poland, thanks my friend
i had the one at the beginning of the video. unfortunately i was poorly designed and the output transistor would heat up and it eventually cooked itself, plus it would eat through batteries.
also the clock radio is a computer in of its own, because it computes time
Well this mold got a bit of use back in the Day. there was a candy dispenser, the shown alarm clock, and I believe even just a plain Jane desk ornament. My brother at the time these came out had a little collection of them he used to have decorate his Desk at the time.
Very nice item
Runs up to 108 Mhz!
Lol, Love the Seinfeld part😁
might make a cute project. you could replace the screen with one of those tiny OLEDs and wire up a Pi Pico inside
Can you believe no one bought this?
its cooolol t s
A missed opportunity to light up the clock display instead of a indicator LED. Also, to put the battery in the bottom instead of having one of the floppy drives come out like a drawer. I am surprised that battery didn't leak!
Nice one Bro ! - I've the same one on my desk :-)
I genuinely misread this video title as "Silly" Sound Novelty, which actually kinda fits. I still love miniature stuff like this, though, especially if it has a lot of attention to detail. And even better if it's in some way functional, though I question whether it ever really got much use as a radio by those who bought it at the time. Fun little novelty, though.
Perfect for getting some work done on the flight.
This video is not just about a novelty '90s Windows PC clock radio, it was also filmed on a novelty '90s Windows PC clock radio.
A neat little thing :3
I really like you, Westie.
for me, the radio being able to be controlled by alarm has been pretty rare in tat like this.
The sound only came out of my rear speakers 😂😂
Nice.
I would notice the alarm, the only thing that manages to wake me up is the smoke alarm (and only after a long time) 😴
All across the UA-camverse lil kids are dismantling mom and pops classic transistor radio. "Hey, whadyadodatfor"? "Cause the guy on UA-cam told me to".
10:18 the greatest advice to today's kids, thanks!!!
No, that would be - don't put watch batteries in your mouth.
Would've been cool if the alarm played a MIDI tune or something 😅
I kept thinking he would tune the station to some station and it would be playing the, Everyone Knows That song.
And now there's the temptation to gut one and build a raspberry pi-based emulator inside it with a little screen to turn it into a (somewhat) useable, era-appropriate miniature PC... :P
Van Wyck is an automatic deal breaker for any road trip. Same goes for 1&9, Cross Bronx, Pulaski Skyway, LIE, and I-80 express. And while I may take Rt 287, I wil NOT venture north or west of it because is is apparently beyond the arctic circle and ALL the bad weather happens there
Cute!
6:32 “Let’s try AM…”
Can be more dangerous than any content ID match in 2024.
Time marches on... it's MOAN-day again!
Looks like Atari ST grey to me!
OH MY GOD I WANT IT
speaker sounds great
🎵Some gotta win, some gotta lose…🎵
Would’ve been funny if the law firm managed to cram in an AM stereo decoder
1:28 "Not intended for use as computer device" sounds like you can use it as a computer, but it will void your warranty or something.
9:36 If you go into your phones settings and set it to output mono audio, it sounds like water dripping from a faucet. Lol.
Careful, Kevin! Don't wana get a copyright strike for that song...
Where I live (former SFRY country), clock radios used to be pricey, so tearing them apart wasn't really cheap. Dunno where I could find one today. No thrift stores here, sadly. This is why I envy you, yanks.
😤
9:33 If you use Dolby Pro Logic, you'll hear the audio from the rear channel.
I kinda want one.
Hey! I'm a 8 year old child. As you said, I'm about to take apart my dad's PC in order to see what's inside.
[edit] My father catched me and now I'm grounded till I'm 50 yo.
Cute device btw, thanks for your video
cool radio video V-dub! makes me wonder, what was the all-time smallest PC, with separate working: monitor, KB, & mouse?
Probably some point of sale terminal. For a while loads of tills had those cute little 9" CRT monitors. Then over a few years they all disappeared.
9:22 - I'll bet all they did was tie one channel of the jack to ground and attached the 'hot' to the other channel and leaving the 'common' of the plug unconnected.
I bet it's out of phase because the headphone jack is mono, but the pins are connecting ground to the right channel positive, and sound to the left channel positive (since both audio signals share grounds/unbalanced audio). That would create an out of phase sound such as this which sums to nothing.
5:52 GTA Vice City vibes