I noticed in the reviews some people had difficulty setting up the clock. It really is not difficult; all you have to do just hold down the setting button for a few seconds and use the up and down arrows to adjust each process. You start by Selecting 12 or 24 hour mode, then you set the hours and the minutes, then you set the year, the month and the day. Setting the alarms is similar, just simply hold down the alarm button for two seconds and release then set the alarms with the up and down arrows. The alarms have the sound of a hospital heart monitor, first starting off like a normal heartbeat beep then gradually every 10 seconds going faster and faster. They're not super loud, but they should wake up most people. The night light is rather dim, but the background light when pressing the snooze button is much brighter. The clock I am reviewing is not the atomic version (which would show an icon above the seconds) and must be manually set for daylight savings time.