When I was a kid, I could set the alarm on my watch, and it would wake me up. When I was in my 20s, a clock radio would do. Now that I'm in my late 30s, I'm finding even three or four clock radios ineffective - they just irritate me instead of convincing my to get up, and then I get mad, and then the morning is shot.This clock seems to have been made for deaf, or near deaf folks. It has both audible and vibration alarm modes, and you can have one or the other or both. The audible alarm has both a volume and a pitch adjustment. You can set it high and squeeky, or kind of the annoying mid-range tone you're more used to hearing from an electronic alarm, or anywhere in between. That's kind of a unique feature all by itself, and I'm sure it's intended for folks that can only hear in a certain range of tones.WARNING: this clock can be LOUD. I would be considered a person with normal hearing, and the volume on this thing at level 8 is PAINFULLY loud. WAY louder than other clocks that may claim to be the "world's loudest alarm". When this thing came out of the box, the volume was set on 8, and when I plugged it in and was setting the time, the alarm went off unexpectedly, and my ears HURT afterwards. I've never heard it on 10, and I never want to. 2 or 3 is about as loud as a normal alarm clock.However, I generally don't use the audible portion of the alarm at all. The clock comes with a little white pod, a little bigger than a cell phone, perhaps, but round like a saucer. It had a long, sturdy chord that plugs into the clock itself. You can put it under your mattress or in your pillow case. I find this the coolest, least annoying, most reliable way to wake up I've yet run across. Way better than lights that slowly turn on (they don't wake me up). The body seems hard wired to wake up fully alert when something nearby vibrates, but it isn't annoying like an alarm clock buzz.The vibration pod does not need to be plugged in for the clock and audible alarm to work, so if you don't like the vibration, you're not stuck with it.A word of caution: if you put the vibration pod in your pillowcase and the chord runs to the alarm clock, I could see potential for getting yourself wrapped up in it. Clearly it's not suitable for use with children, and if you toss and turn a lot, I would definately think about the ramifications of the chord. The easy solution, of course, is to put it under your mattress. The vibration is strong enough that it will wake you either way, in my opinion.Before I start reviewing the alarm, I would like to say that I am a hearing impaired 21 year old and I am a deep sleeper. I wear bilateral cochlear implants, but do not wear them at night.Before purchasing this alarm clock, I went through a number of alarms and none of them worked so well. A few years ago, i started with a small alarm clock then continued with an iHome. Almost a year ago, I purchased an alarm clock with a band for my arm/leg but it didn't work as well as I thought it would. I was very disappointed that I stopped using it and continued my deep sleeping habit.As a hard-of-hearing person, I am truly a deep sleeper and always slept like I was dead. For many years, my mother fought with me in the morning because I just wouldn't get up for school. Some of the things that she tries to do to get me up is spraying/pouring cold water on my face, kicking the mattress, and ripping off the blanket on me. I was always notoriously late for the bus, but I managed to get to school on time.A few weeks ago, I was looking into a new alarm clock since I should start preparing for the next semester at college, it's never too early to start. I have received my Driver's License in April and pretty soon I have to start taking responsibilities myself since I will be driving to school starting in September. My parents are completely powerless to get me up and out of bed because after they leave my room, I would fall back asleep as if I didn't care. My friend recommended a clock double the price as this one saying it works well and gets her up. I found this one and after skimming through the reviews, I ordered it.I have received the alarm clock two days ago and I have to say that it doesn't look cheaply made. For others, they may think that but not for me. The vibrating disc is gigantic and to me, that explains why this alarm clock is like a monster as some has pointed out. I set the wake up time for 7:00 and went to sleep two nights ago. I slept through the alarm because I woke up 9:30 the next morning. I was confused about why it wouldn't go off and had to think about what to do to make it actually go off. I tried the test (it's in the manual) and the vibrating disc does work.I fell asleep last night and this morning, I felt vibrating from my pillow (I put the vibrating disc in my pillowcase underneath the pillow which is thick). I looked at the time and it was 7:01!!!! I have finally gotten up on my own without feeling like I am being tortured to just get up!!!! I got too excited and had to do a happy dance because I finally found the alarm that is right for me!!!! I am too excited about this alarm clock that I highly doubt that the excitement is going to go down until school starts up again. At least I am starting now to practice getting up on my own and to get a good sense of how each morning would go. I am overjoyed and if this happens to break down who knows when, I will order this one again because it works so well!!!!This clock is *LOUD* and therefore just what I wanted. The volume (1-10) and tone of the BEEP noise are adjustable, as are the length of snooze time (1-30 mins) and the brightness of the display (1-5). There are two alarms, so you could have different times set for you and whoever is sharing your bed or set one for weekdays and one for weekends.I have just been testing it and I think the volume set at 3 (out of a possible 10) will be more than enough to wake me. It really is LOUD. I have a feeling that I won't need the vibrating pad (yet) as the alarm is so LOUD. The pad really does vibrate very strongly, almost frighteningly so. When the time comes and I'm as deaf as a post I'll use the vibrating pad. If that doesn't wake me, it'll be because I've expired!If I could make two minor improvements, I would a) increase the size of the snooze button (all the buttons are the same size, although the snooze button does have a little 'pip' on the top which you can detect by touch unless you have reduced feeling in your fingers) and b) have forward and backward buttons for setting the time and alarm time. It only goes forwards, so if you overshoot or want to change the alarm to 10 minutes earlier, you have to go all the way around 23+ hours. These are very minor niggles and all in all, I think this is a great product.Brought this for my husband who is hard of hearing as he had started to miss hearing the alarm. Spoke to Deaf colleagues at work for advice and after reading the reviews for this product and several others decided to go with this one. At the time of purchase all the reviews (20) on Amazon gave it 5 stars, how can they all be wrong i asked myself? Item arrived in a matter of days. The alarm is VERY loud i could hear it going off upstairs when i was downstairs in the kitchen !!! The vibrating pad in itself is enough to wake even the most deepest of sleepers.The down side to the alarm like several other people had mentioned in reviews is how bright the display is, even when turned down to its lowest level it still lights up the room. Turning the alarm away from you helps with this.I would HIGHLY RECOMMEND this alarm. Great product, does exactly what it says.I have an acute hearing loss in one ear and have trouble hearing alarms. The vibrating pad under pillow woke me without even using the buzzer alarm which incidentally is extremely LOUD.Only negative minor point, it does say it can be used as a travel alarm although there is no provision of pouch or cover to protect clock when travelling.(My current clock has a neoprene cover.)I've had this clock 2 years and am very pleased with it. It's easy to reset the time and alarm and the shaker pad under the pillow is more than enough to wake me, without waking my neighbour at the same time. The display is clear but very bright - probably too bright if you like a dark room to sleep in so that may be a negative point. However, my bedside table has a small cupboard with door, so the clock sits in there with the door pulled to overnight: problem solved.Just what I need. The vibrate function wakes me up. Only issue is display is too bright even on low setting, it's like sleeping with the light on so I have to lay it with display down so I can't see it