Grundig FR200 Emergency Radio (Red) | List Price: $50.00
Discount Price: $87.99
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Brand: Eton
Binding: Electronics
Warranty: 1 year warranty
Features: - Emergency radio is built to handle the elements, as well as a power outage
- Hand crank can be used to recharge the built-in battery
- Tunes AM/FM and 2 shortwave bands, including weather radio
- Tuning knob features a superimposed fine tuning control knob
- Features a white LED emergency light
Grundig is a good radio, but I wanted weather channels also. [Posted on 2008-09-30]
This is a very handy, size, radio with great reception. The only drawback is that it does not have weather channels as I thought it did when ordering. Very good for price but I would opt for an all in one, which would include SAMI weather channels, if doing again.
FR200 is a good radio [Posted on 2008-09-30]
Smaller then I had imagined but good sound. Need a power supply (adapter) if you are going to listen to it regularly. One model comes with an adapter if you can find it. Sturdy radio, sound is good, battery life seems good also.
A Good Value but I'm Disappointed [Posted on 2008-10-21]
As an emergency radio, it works great. The "crank generator" is relatively easy to use, the case and controls are solid and the sound quality is very good. It is not the flimsy plastic emergency radio I have seen elsewhere.
However, I was looking for a radio with excellent AM reception. Grundig's reputation and reviews of other similar radios made by the same manufacturer (It is not made by Grundig) made me think this unit would meet my needs. Regrettably, the AM reception is no better than my cheap Walkman combo tape/radio. The frequency fade is average. It also doesn't have a jack to plug in an external antenna.
I didn't meet my needs, but it is a Good Value for its intended purpose.
A decent emergency wind-up radio, albeit a bit dated [Posted on 2008-12-04]
This is the Grundig FR-200. It's decent, but I do have some nits.
THE GOOD:
* Sound quality: Although mono, it's adequate.
* Battery life: The unit uses three AA batteries, plus a small plasti-sealed NiCad pack (about the size of an olive) for the recharge crank. I've been able to run the radio for an hour or two each day, for several weeks, before having to change the AA's. {BTW, I use Tenergy 2600 miliamphr NiMHi AA's in this, and they work great}. I rarely use the crank-driven NiCad, but it's runtime is rather modest - a full minute of cranking yeilds 45-60 mins of listening ... at a very modest volume.
* Portability is good.
THE MEDIOCRE:
* TUNING: {minus 1 star) The pre-printed plastic frequency indicator on mine is poorly aligned to the unit's actual frequencies, so unless you happen to recognize the voice of a familiar DJ, or stumble past while a given station is doing station identification, chances are good that you'll be as much as +/- 15% away from the indicated AF/FM frequency ... and you'll get no help at all on most of the other bands. I'd happily have paid 2-3x as much for a comparable radio with a digital tuner and a minimal LCD readout ... with only a modest impact to total battery runtime.
* CHARGING: (minus 1 star) The smallish handcrank generator is clumsy to use, and having to spend 1 second out of every 45-60 cranking like a crazed chimp, charging a dinky little NiCad mini-cell, is irritating. I would have liked an additional feature that'd allow you to directly charge instead the three AA's via a built-in smart charger connected to a universal power input ... thus enabling recharging (or direct play) from things like you're car's cigarette lighter, a portable generator, a PC, a portable roll-up solar pad, etc. I'm pretty sure there are newer versions of this sort of radio that have a larger & more ergonomic crank mounted to the rear, as well as solar recharge capability/compatibility. This model, as of this writing, has fallen behind the latest technology trends.
All in all, it's still handy, and recommendable ... but there are newer and better choices available out there.
(Note: I've reposted this review because the other product AISN number it was attached to expired.)
Best Radio for the Price [Posted on 2008-12-16]
Grundig Radios are exceptionally good portable radios. I have two or three around the house each tuned to a different station, because they're so inexpensive. They're also light weight and small enough to fit anywhere. The batteries seem to last forever. The sound quality is very good for such small speakers.
In emergencies a battery pack inside can be charged with a hand crank if the AA batteries quit.
I recommend Grundigs very highly and since electronic stores often don't carry them, Amazon is the best place to buy them.
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