|
| 
 enlarge
| Brand: Midland
Category: CE
List Price: $49.99
Buy New: $32.40
You Save: $17.59 (35%)
New (46) from $32.40
Rating:  10 reviews
Sales Rank: 1785
Color: Black/Silver
Media: Electronics
Autographed: No
Memorabilia: No
Batteries: 3
Shipping Weight (lbs): 3
Dimensions (in): 3 x 8 x 6
Legal Disclaimer: Warranty does not cover misuse of product.
MPN: ER102
Model: ER102
UPC: 046014745124
EAN: 0046014745124
ASIN: B000P0M99U
Release Date: May 25, 2007
Availability: Usually ships in 1-2 business days
|
| Customer Reviews:
| Showing reviews 6-10 of 10 | | « PREV | | |
 Solid Product May 27, 2008
11 out of 12 found this review helpful
I hope I can give you some useful information about this radio and give you new ideas on simplifying your emergency items. I have been reviewing emergency radios for too many days, I think for most of us we want something portable for emergency AM or FM weather information and NOAA information and alerts during a loss of power that might last for a few hours or several days, I'm not looking for equipment to survive without power for months in the wilderness, just keep in touch and out of the dark during the emergency. I was considering the Eton RH500 (cool factor) but after reading about all the Eton radio models, I could not help but notice one serious concern with all of them, most reviewers said the Eton radio reception was not very good indoors... which is where I'm going to be during bad weather; an emergency radio without excellent radio reception has little value in my opinion. I opted for the Midland ER102 and I am very pleased. I like having the Dynamo feature, but I do not put a lot of value in it as my thinking is that all the emergency products I purchase must use AA batteries; they have a shelf life for 6+ years and they are cheap... aprox. $10 for 24 name brand batteries at W. Mart... The idea; one battery that fits everything! As for this radio; I live outside of the city and the AM and FM reception inside my house is excellent even without extending the antenna it picks up well, I can pick up 3 NOAA weather channels, two of them loud and clear, and one NOAA channel loud and clear without extending the antenna. Some reviewers complain about sensitive tuning; as for the tuning... the tuner is an analog (not digital) tuner with a digital display and it scrolls very smoothly (all the emergency radios that I have found use analog tuners.) To get clear reception it is not necessary to hit your station exactly (but is easy to do), as with analog tuners we have always tuned into the general area of the station then moved the knob back and forth until the station is clear, you never thought about it being sensitive since you just listened for the best spot without observing a digital display. Is the dial sensitive... no more than any other analog tuner, it might seem that way if you are looking at the digit to the right of the decimal point while rapidly scrolling, however a light touch when fine tuning and I find the tuner actually easier and much quicker to tune than if the display was the old analog type display other emergency radios have. The 3 LED flashlight is surprising bright, the backlit LCD display is very bright, AC adapter is included, the alarm is easy to use and it's kind of neat to look at the display and see the current temperature constantly displayed. I will note that I have a newer Nokia cell phone and although the radio comes with several adapters mine was not in the mix. Again this is not important to me as I don't want to crank the Dynamo for 5 minutes to make a very brief call.... Better idea; buy a portable emergency cell phone charger that fits your phone. This $5-$20 device (you guessed it.... works on AA batteries) will allow you to start using your phone within 30 seconds of plugging it into a dead cell phone and talk say 2 hours on one AA. If you want to go all out you can purchase Lithium batteries which last longer than Alkaline and have about a 15 year shelf life. Storms and power outages are stressful enough and lots of work, I say keep it as simple as possible... and a bonus, all my stuff fits easily in a small drawer in the kitchen.
My 3 watt LED flashlight (about 80 lumens) lasts 2 hours on high, my Sylvania LED Mini Lanterns (L562) last up to 200 hours on 4 AA's and they are as bright as many large lanterns, and this Midland Radio all use the same cheap AA batteries.... $20 buys 48 AA batteries and will last me a long time, how about 72 AA's on hand at a cost of $30.... I can go for weeks.
 Not fine on fine tuning March 25, 2008
10 out of 12 found this review helpful
This radio is terrible for fine tuning. For example, if you're in am mode and want to tune to say 1240am, (it could be any frequency) it's almost impossible to hit it exactly. Just the slightest turn left or right could land you in 1220am or 1270am.
It works good in fm and weather band mode, but am is a joke. It receives but getting to that exact frequency is just overly difficult. If you want a digital radio get one that can have the digits directly entered in.
Midland Emergency Radio December 23, 2007
12 out of 15 found this review helpful
I found this product disappointing. The price is moderate and it would be better than nothing in an emergency, but the controls are not ergonomic - it's difficult to operate some controls without moving others, the cell phone charger (which was my main reason for buying it) works poorly when it works at all, and cranking the radio for minutes provides only 5 to 10 minutes playing time, maximum. It's very difficult to tune it accurately, and the maximum volume is very low. It works well on alkaline batteries and they hold up well. I would suggest you buy a good battery-powered radio and keep extra fresh batteries on hand (they last years in the freezer), and find some other means to charge your cell phone. I forgot the LED light. It provides a surprising amount of light and even the rechargeable battery lasts a long time for just the light; However, LED flashlights have become readily available and are more convenient. I would suggest buying this radio only if you are too scatter-brained to prepare for emergencies. Even then, my experience with rechargeable batteries has been that if it lies around for years, the rechargeable battery probably won't be any good when you need it.
Midland ER102, Good Radio Overall December 18, 2007
23 out of 23 found this review helpful
Excellent AM/FM and NOAA weather radio reception. Decent sound for a small unit. Easy to use.
Some of the items in the Technical Details section on Amazon are incorrect:
1. There are only 7 NOAA weather channels.
2. The cable for the cell phone charger is not USB, it is a 3.5mm 2-pole connector with standard in-line plug adaptors for some cell phones.
The manual states that to charge the internal battery pack from the AC line or hand crank the "Power Selector" has to be in the "AC/DYNAMO ON". You need to either turn the volume all the way down or put the "Alert Type Selector" in "Alert" in the WX mode. The power has to be in the "OFF" position to charge a cell phone from the AC adaptor or hand crank.
The LCD display "Backlight" switch is in a funky place on top under the carrying strap so you tend to turn it on inadvertently. It shuts off after 3-4 seconds.
Very Good November 24, 2007
9 out of 17 found this review helpful
The reception was very good for a radio of this type and it worked better than expected.
|
|
|
| |
