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Ask HN: Do things like WakeMate really work?

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21–28 of 28 posts

Re: Ask HN: Do things like WakeMate really work?

#21
I use a lamp with a timer that gets gradually brighter. It turns itself on some time before I want to wake up. Instead of a single point of waking up, there's a window of around an hour when the light gets brighter for me to wake up. One can be rigged up with just a regular lamp and a power outlet timer, although that doesn't give the gradual brightening part.

Of course it's possible to just sleep through the whole thing if sufficiently sleep-deprived, so something like the WakeMate could still be better for waking up less painfully from a shorter than usual night's sleep.

Re: Ask HN: Do things like WakeMate really work?

#24
I appear to have this software built into my brain. I will quite often wake up before my alarm, sometimes as much as an hour, but most often as little as 1-5 minutes. And it does tend to run in cycles, with me waking up ~30 minutes for a few days in a row and then going back to waking just before the alarm.

Only when I'm really tired, or had trouble sleeping, does the alarm wake me up.

Most of the people I know use their snooze button, though. I've always thought that a really bad idea, but couldn't really say why since I wake up ready to go, and not drowsy. (I don't drink caffeine very often, and I've always been a morning person.) Wouldn't you be defeating this device if you just hit 'snooze' and went back to bed for the remaining time?

Re: Ask HN: Do things like WakeMate really work?

#25
post #5
post #3

Just a note: I pre-ordered a WakeMate on November 25th, 2009 with a ship date in January. After the ship date passed, I got a "we're sorry" email which said that they tentatively planned to ship them in February. No word until March when they said they'd go out in March. In April, they told me the following: "Based on your pre-order date (11/25/2009), you should expect your WakeMate no later than 07/30/2010." I've he…

same issue here, I emailed them earlier today and asked if it would be to me within a year of me pre-ordering :( WakeMate so far for me is a sad story of a good product with a poor planning/release cycle.. Also their front page still shows the wrist band that will look nothing like the one you will get final wrist bands here http://blog.wakemate.com/2010/08/10/final-wristbands-3/ compare that to front page http://wak…

Personally, I think the 'final' bands look a lot more comfortable.

Re: Ask HN: Do things like WakeMate really work?

#26
I've been using the SleepTracker Pro for about two years now and I love it. Just last week I started to have some issues with it - when I would press the light button it would short and everything would be reset. The CEO called me the next day and said that it didn't matter how old the watch was. Send it in and we'll get you a new one. Pretty cool. So I would highly recommend them.

The other part to this is that these types of alarms will only "go off" at the most optimal time. That doesn't necessarily mean that it is any easier to get out of bed. It took me a few months to get used to this fact. You have to get a mentality that when the alarm goes off, you get up. For instance, if I went to bed at 1am, I would set the alarm for 7:15. I would set my "wake window" for about 1.5 hours beforehand. For the first few months, if my alarm went off at 5:45, I would wake up, feel great, look at my clock and realize that I still had over an hour that I could still sleep. So I'd go back to bed and wake up feeling horrible.

Then, I got some great advice from a friend of mine who said, "Sleep like a dog." In other words, sleep when you are tired. Play when you are awake. This broke the mindset I had had since I was a child where I woke up with my alarm to now, as soon as I start to wake up (whether from my SleepTracker or just naturally), I think 'Am I rested? Did I sleep well?' If I had, then I don't even look at the clock, I just get up. Otherwise, I'll stick to my safety alarm clock that always goes off at 7:15.

Re: Ask HN: Do things like WakeMate really work?

#28
post #19
post #13

Earlier quoted context omitted.

To be fair, WakeMate did collect a $5 pre-order deposit from a number of customers which was later refunded. I'm sure the money that came in this way was another vehicle towards finding investment, so I don't begrudge them at all.

Was the refund automatic? I am quite sure I paid the $5 but don't recall seeing a refund. Maybe I got it but I'd love to know where to look ...

From what I've heard: * If you paid by google checkout, you were never actually charged * If you paid by paypal, you should have been refunded by August 17th, 2010 (http://blog.wakemate.com/2010/08/17/timing-update/)

So if you paid by paypal, just check your transaction history around that date to ensure you actually got the refund.

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