Bests & Worsts Reviews from Amazon

My goal here is to offer a comprehensive review for the "techies" who want to know more than just the basics. I just received mine. I was expecting it to be less than spectacular because of a couple negative comments here, but I've gone through the whole thing and I think it's great. PROS: Very clear sound - I am completely satisfied with the quality of the audio. Great reception - works better than my analog dial radios. Compact & lightweight, even with batteries. Rubberized, non-slip feel. Blue backlight for normal use (shuts off when idle), and red backlight + flashing red LED for weather alerts. Flashlight has high power & low power. I was pleasantly surprised that you need to hold the button for 1 second to change modes. The volume level is very dynamic: it will go from whisper quiet (to play all night in your tent?), to loud enough for any quiet room. The antenna, being necessary for FM and Weather reception, is flawless. (I much prefer this telescoping antenna over the Sangean DT-400W's floppy wire antenna.) The buttons feel solid and responsive. The unit looks as good, or better, than the photos. Comes with a carry strap and a hands-free clip. Has DC power jack and headphone jack. Headphone jack sound quality is excellent. (*DC power adapter & headphones not included.) CONS: No memory storage slots, so you'll have to rely on the search function to get to your favorite stations. Cannot receive weather alerts while using AM or FM. (In fairness, most other units are probably no different.) The unit has to be turned ON to receive weather alerts, so you may need the power adapter for longer use. (In fairness, most other units are probably no different.) Does not have a clock - that's a disappointment to me. Does not have a belt clip - I really would have liked that. Button presses make immediate changes: the problem with this is that, in the dark when you want to press a button to turn on the backlight and check the LCD status, you also change your settings. It would be better if, after the backlight turned off, the first button press would activate the backlight, and then a second press would be required to affect a setting change. (Tip for the manufacturer: since the flashlight requires you to hold the button for 1 sec. to change flashlight modes, it would be an excellent choice to make the instantaneous press of this large button temporarily activate the backlight.) The hands-free clip could be a bit more useful and robust. OVERALL: Though I listed many cons, none of them are deal-breakers for me. I feel the pros vs the cons amounts to about 80/20. I just wanted a small compact radio to listen to some AM talk shows and get weather reports. The extra features like FM, dual-brightness flashlight, weather alerts, headphone jack, power jack, strap and hands-free clip, are all bonuses for me. I am going to purchase a second one for my work desk as soon as they get more in stock, and I would definitely recommend it to a friend. It's a great little unit for just about any use of its kind. Looks good, feels good, sounds good, works good. Throw it in your backpack, in with your camping gear, glove compartment, or use it as an everyday radio. I like it. It's a shame this unit isn't more popular than it seems to be, I hope a couple of bad comments haven't ruined it's excellent potential. -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- UPDATE: April 4, 2015 (over 1 year later) - my radio is still going strong and I love it. I listen to AM talk radio a lot. The weather alerts come on at full volume which may scare the living daylights out of you or piss off your coworkers, but you WILL be alerted! I find I use the flash light a lot more than I originally expected. I still wish that the first time you press a button the backlight would come on and then require a second press to change a given setting (or at least require a momentary press of the flashlight button before the flashlight comes on, because every time you press a button to see the status in the dark, you change the setting unintentionally (station, volume, etc.). But that's small potatoes. The fact is, this radio is just plain great! Highly recommended. UPDATE: February, 2016 - my radio is still as good as the day I got it, and it's still running on the same original set of Duracell's I put in it. I now keep it bedside to use the flashlight in case I need to get up in the middle of the night, and when I wake up in the morning I listen to the latest weather report before getting up. I love it! Buy it, you won't regret it! UPDATE: February, 2017 - still going strong on the original set of Duracell's that I installed when I got it 3 years ago. I keep it stashed in my bug-out box in case we need to bail in a hurry. I also use it whenever we have a storm approaching. The alert still works well, but do NOT expect to be alerted for a minor rain shower or snow squall at camp, AM/FM weather radios don't work that way; the alerts (as I understand it) are transmitted from the NOAA, and if they're not transmitting a large county-wide weather warning, there won't be anything to receive. So these are best for large approaching storms. By contrast, if you what you want is to be alerted about sudden and drastic changes in the weather in an isolated location such as at camp or on a hike, you would do well with a Casio Pro Trek wrist watch, because those use built-in atmospheric pressure sensors, as opposed to any weather radio's reliance upon NOAA radio signal transmissions. So it's a matter of choosing the right tool for the task. The Casio Pro Trek's are a lot more expensive, but you can wear them 24/7, swim and shower without taking them off, and they have solar charging and nightly atomic time synchronization - so you never need to set the time and date or change the battery, it just charges in any light (sunlight is best). Hope this helps someone in some way. Cheers! UPDATE: January, 2019 - man, a good set of alkaline batteries seem to last a long time. For the price, still a great pocket radio with extra features. Still no complaints, though I have recently relegated it full-time to my bug-out-bag after having purchased a Sangean DT-880. The Sangean has more features like memory presets, clock, etc., but it's also twice the price and doesn't have a flashlight. The Sangean has a floppy wire antenna, I prefer the telescoping antenna. I'd now consider this radio the model to buy for simpler features at half the price of a Sangean DT-880. This radio has seen much use since I bought it about 5 years ago. The best things about both radios is that they have digital tuning and volume displays. I need both for station tuning accuracy and volume accuracy (at my work desk I have no use for an inaccurate rotary-dial volume control because they rarely go low enough to not bother my coworkers).