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I had hoped to use it while away from home to make the house seem occupied. First, you can't use it on a daily timer because it requires the press of the on/off button whenever the power is cut and restored. Had it been designed for 12V DC, it could have also been used in rec vehicles and camping -- without an inverter.Eton Sound 100 AM/FM Radio, Blue Agree that sound and reception are good. However, it has two features that affect its utility for me and are odd. Second, it requires 12 volts *AC* from its adapter.
The sound is remarkably full for a small table radio. The FM radio is sensitive enough to pick up most stations without noise -- even those classical stations which always seem to be of marginal strength in most radios.
However, some of the higher prices I see are a bit beyond what the radio delivers. Not a problem for me, but could be for you if you have a weak station in the same spot on the dial as the image of strong station.
However, the selectivity and image rejection is terrible. If you can get it for $30, it's a good buy.
I got two of these on special for $30 each. There is a bass reflex port in the back of the radio.
I didn't try the AM.As a casual table radio, it does very well.
With the clock across the room, perhaps 10ft away, the only thing visible was a blue glow making it useless as a clock. The blue on blue display is completely illegible unless you are directly in front of it, and no more than 8 ft away. I ended up returning it but if someone was going to have it on a desk, a great choice. The Eton 100 has wonderful sound quality, great FM tuning, and lots of nice features, including a remote and the ability to interact remotely with an ipod. The problem is that this CLOCK/RADIO fails one task - the clock. That coupled with the fact that the alarm would reset itself back to 8am after ever use, made this a poor choice for a clock.
After about 6 months, it has stopped working. Sometimes I can't even turn the machine OFF.
a place I used to trust implicitly. THIS HAS GOT TO BE THE BIGGEST JOKE ON THE AMERICAN CONSUMER.
So I unplug it for about 4 hours, then plug it back in and it works for about a day. And the worst part about it is that I bought it after I saw it advertised on the NPR website.
I wish I had read reviews of this product before I shelled out $150 for it. The clock sometimes appears hours ahead or behind, the controls suddenly stop working, either by remote or on the unit, including the manual volume knob (which apparently isn't manual).
I feel like an idiot.
Line-in jack for mp3 player. Other things I liked.1. Here is my list of reasons for returning this item and opting instead for the Sangean RCR-22 (which has not yet arrived but I am hopeful)1. But soon the quirks (bugs) became obvious. I look forward to improvements on future models because this unit really has a lot going for it as an entry model. Needs a better balance. You cannot read the time unless you are at eye-level and at least 12 inches from the unit while the radio is on.
The other stuff I can live with. This was very nice to find.So there is a lot to like about this unit.if you don't care about sleeping in the dark and don't mind the other annoyances above. 8. The volume knob is buggy. One time I used the remote to reduce the volume and it actually started to increase. Sometimes it would gain/reduce just one level as I would expect.
My top 5 favorite stations came in fine almost all the time so this may not be an issue for you. Then I would fully extend the antenna and that same station would sound worse (whats up with that). Very easy to set time/presets/alarm3. I was used to just setting the wake time and whatever was the last used station and volume level was your wake settings. Sometimes I'd turn it one notch and it would gain/reduce one or more levels. You basically program the radio station and volume you wish to wake to at the time of setting the alarm. LCD display is way too bright and not adjustable. Digital tuning (I love this) and automatically stops at next clear station when you are scanning.
Only 3 buttons on the top of the unit which makes it very easy to find the sleep and alarm-off buttons in the morning.7. The bass level was way too high. There must be a built-in capacitor that holds all your presets and the time for at least 30 minutes or more. My bedroom is on the second story and the unit placed right under a window.
I would have gladly lived with all the cons above except for the issues I had with the display made me return it. I'm sure this would not be an issue if the bass wasn't so intense. I read some reviews about this issue but thought they were whiners. If you are into big sound with really big bass then this is your unit.2. I am not sure if this is an improvement. I stand corrected. I wish they would use an LED display, not LCD. Also a line-out for external speakers.6.
FM reception not as great as I expected from some of these reviews. Given more time to get used to this I probably would have appreciated it.I still give this unit a 3 because its big sound really blew me away and it's alarm clock functions are easier than my previous Sony unit. I had to cover the unit with a heavy-fabric ball cap at night just to get the light down to a normal level. I am hoping the long reputation of Sangean's radio quality is an improvement.7. Cool styling2.
Again this is a minor flaw but for a moderately expensive radio you expect good fit and finish on the most basic elements.6. Scanning is really easy also, you just hold the up/down buttons in for an extra second. Do not buy this unit if you are not willing to cover this unit at night in order to sleep.4. Sometimes a station would sound decent with that antenna fully closed and tucked away.
The case rattles at the highest volume levels. My car radio gets better reception. Battery backup available, but not even needed for short outages. The Eton Sound 100 feels like a 1st generation product. The first day of use was exciting because the sound quality this unit produced was far superior to any bedside radio I previously used. Perfect size for a nightstand4. This is a minor issue since I would rarely set the volume up all the way.3. Alarm clock a bit strange from what I was used to.
5. Especially when the blue model came available at a big discount. Felt like behavior from a dime-store radio. I had to stuff the back opening with tissue paper in order to dampen the bass a bit. I also had to turn it around so the back was facing me. Other times a station would sound better depending on where I was physically standing in the room. Headphone jack for private listening5.
Also, VERY annoying is the fact that when the radio is on the display shows the radio station in large digits and relegates the time digits to the top corner of the display. After many weeks of research I decided to buy the Eton Sound 100. Display hard to read when standing over or when not looking square into it. I barely needed the instructions manual and I was setup and ready to go in minutes.
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