The only real gripe I have about this radio is the fact that it does not come with the AC adaptor/charger. The company should have included the adaptor, as it is proprietary, and other common (standard) AC adaptors won't work with this radio. My wife said she emailed the company, and they indicated that they would send us an adaptor, free, but that it would be several weeks before they could ship it to us. We are still waiting after about 3 weeks.

Overall, it seems to be a very good little radio, but the cranking does not charge the nickel metal hydride batteries for more than a few minutes worth of playing time. This could be better.

We're hoping that when we get the adaptor, it will charge the batteries for a long period of time, without any need for cranking.

We bought this radio three days ago, and we have already used it in one severe weather power outage. We are very pleased with the operation on AM, as we were able to pick up a TV station simulcasting the weather information there. I was disappointed to see that it did not include the AC adapter, though, and that is the only reason I did not give it five stars. I think for the money, it should have included this adapter. Hand cranking works ok, but you have to do it pretty often. I guess we will pay a little more money to buy the adapter, as it would charge the built in battery much better than hand cranking. The built-in flashlight was handy, too, as we sat in the dark for about an hour before our power was restored. The flashlight will work while the radio is on, too. We were glad we had this little radio, for sure. I think everyone should have one like this for emergencies or camping.

By Michael C from Redford, MI on 6/5/2008

This is a radio for the power outage or for camping or just because you are too far from AC.

This radio takes very little power (I use a recycled solar panel from old patio light to power it) and a set of 3 Lithium AA batteries will last weeks depending on usage (everyday). This radio will get TV and FM stations but with no digital signal lock you have to adjust reception (coarse/fine tuning knobs). Also good sound comes out from speaker but only mono (no stereo) which is fine for AM, TV and weather. This is not a "boombox" but is meant for situations like a picnic when you want light weight, music and weather information. For the price you can buy this and leave it in your closet/car until power goes out or you go canoeing. There is no AC adapter but it does have it's own generator and connections in (and out) for AC adapter and cell phone charging (includes some adapters). This radio has a light (white LED), red flasher LED, siren (to help searchers find you) and weather alert (radio goes on if bad weather signal sent by NOAA).

If I could change anything about this radio I would put a bigger rechargeable battery inside so crank times would be farther apart. The weather alert could fail from a weak battery. You would not know that the batt was weak until you try it (switch to regular radio).

I would like to see a switch added on so I can recharge rechargeable batteries in the regular battery compartment. Switch would cut off their battery and connect my NIMH battery to generator.

[2 of 3 customers found this review helpful]

AM reception is pretty good, weather radio is outstanding I often get stations on every channel ... With the right AC adapter it's rechargeable which I really like ... Takes the abuse of night fishing on the river where the dampness kills most radios after a couple of seasons .... But the FM and TV functions are basically useless, nearly impossible to tune, and full of images and spurious responses

If the FM and TV bands worked as they should I'd give it a 5 star rating ... If all you plan to use it for is AM and weather radio (My intended uses mainly) then it's a good deal

[1 of 2 customers found this review helpful]

Great quality radio. Just a word of warning: This model does not have the AC adapter included.

[1 of 1 customers found this review helpful]

Superior reception, excellent design. Overall, a very nice emergency radio with very practical features. Buy it, you won't be disappointed!

[3 of 3 customers found this review helpful]

The flashlight and cell phone charger are reliable add-ons. I was impressed at the sound and clarity of the speakers. This is a keeper!!!

[2 of 3 customers found this review helpful]

Excellent Radio all around !!