Customer Reviews:
 Wonderful portable radio and flashlight! October 24, 2008
We really like this small portable radio/flashlight. I have used both attributes many times. The radio reception is surprisingly good for such a small device. It is also really handy to be able to crank it to get more power when needed, used most often for the flashlight. We are going to give this as gifts to many people this year!
crank radio October 15, 2008
This crank radio works great. I'm not so worried now about severe weather. At least now I'll know what's going on outside.
A Smaller, yet still Effective unit October 15, 2008
3 out of 3 found this review helpful
I have several similar so-called "emergency" radios, mainly for disaster preparedness (as I live in a major quake zone). Of this excellent Eton line of products which includes the optional solar power charging and the hand-crank dynamo charging, this FR 150 is a smaller (more compact) but equally effective unit (to it's bigger, bulkier cousins). I like this smaller size/weight because it is even more portable (in my "go bag"), it retains all of the previous power supply options from previous models and ADDS one additional (the USB plug!), and, it even trims the price a little bit in the transaction. A win-win-win situation in my book. I can aver that the performance rates from excellent to nominal.... radio reception is good on all bands (AM, FM, and all 7 WBs), the light output for the LED flashlight is decent and practical, and the now critical emergency cell phone charger is handy and easy to use since the dynamo handcrank is now on the back of the unit and you can just hold the whole unit up and watch the "recharging" indicator on your phone.
It's still not "rugged" or waterproof, but it is made of high quality materials and available in several coloured translucent plastic casings. I am tempted to even recommend this as a good "everyday" radio for those radio listeners out there like me that like NPR, news or talk radio, because it has a good, clear monaural speaker. I make this recommendation, however, for another ulterior reason.... one of the "cons" of this FR 150 radio unit, at least in my book. AC power is no longer an option, but that is more than made up for by the versatile USB connection (you can draw power from any USB devices/hubs, USB wall adapters, and USB car power adapters). The biggest flaw with the FR 150 is that it does NOT have the option for battery operation. I mean, you cannot run it off of common, readily available, standard, Alkaline batteries, like AAs. It has a proprietary, internal NiMH rechargeable battery. This brings with it a slew of temperamental problems that users should be aware of, like battery management and memory effect, degrading efficiency over time/unreliability in a product that NEEDS to be reliable, hazardous material disposal, and inability (extreme difficulty) in finding a replacement (while traveling, in the wilderness, or in the middle of a disaster). I could write a whole article on the problems I listed above, but suffice it to say that, for me, just popping in a fresh 100% charged pair of regular AA batteries that I can find in any "tienda" around the world is much more reassurring to me. This internal battery means that the FR 150 is NOT suitable for longterm storage without any use (which ironically is a prime characteristic of "emergency" radios). You will need to leave it out in the light (to trickle charge it) or occasionally top off the power, otherwise you may find it fully discharged when you pull it out in a the pitch black of an emergency.
Despite this annoying idiosyncrasy, I still think the FR 150 performs well enough and is a great of a value enough to give it a 5 star rating. I really would have preferred giving it a 4 1/2 stars.
Excellent October 4, 2008
Bought the radio right before Hurricane Ike ... Sure glad I had it when we were out of electricity for a few days and things got a little crazy. I would recommend buying a PC USB to radio power connector to charge up the battery ... to get a lot of radio play you will have to crank for quite a while to charge up the battery. The small radio construction and sound quality is excellent.
buy it September 14, 2008
very satisfied, the sound is loud and clear, good flashlight, and the energy lasted way longer than i expected.
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