Eton FR400 Hand Crank Radio and Power Generator (Red)
by Eton
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List Price: Category: CE See more product details |
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Customers in the UK,
Buy this product at amazon.co.uk
for British Pounds
Digital Cameras Photo Reviews of Eton FR400 Hand Crank Radio and Power Generator (Red)
Customer Review: Just about all you could ask for in an emergency radio.
Summary: 5 Stars
This is not a radio designed for the audiophile. In fact, it really shouldn't be viewed as anything but a radio to be used during emergencies or for occasional portable use. That doesn't mean it can't be used everyday, as I do, but it does mean your expectations should be relatively low.
Audio quality is mediocre: it is it not a good radio for listening to music. Everything sounds flat. Voice is okay. Tuning is imprecise. You literally have to search for the station you want because the dial markings are imprecise. More often than not, you will have to adjust the radio's position, particularly on the AM band, to minimize noise and maximize signal.
But the FR-400 fulfills its promises. It runs on AC with the included adapter, runs for several hours on the built-in NiMH batteries as well as on replaceable AA cells and the hand crank generator is easy to use and provides substantial power with each vigorous cranking.
The radio receives AM, FM, TV channels 2 through 13 (audio only, of course) and 7 NOAA weather channels. I was able to receive all of them in the Chicago area. The reallocation of analog TV channels, by the way, means the TV channel tuning capability is now worthless.
There is a weather alert facility which I have never used. Turn the switch the other way and you have an attention getting siren, though the audio isn't all that loud.
There is a two-diode flashlight that provides a moderate amount of light and one red diode to serve as an emergency flasher.
Build quality is pretty high, perhaps surprisingly so for a unit of this price.
There is also a nice carrying case. Just about all you could ask for in an emergency radio.
Overall, this is a great radio to keep on hand for emergencies and for general use if your expectations aren't too high.
Jerry
Customer Review: Great Sound, Great Looks, Great Product!
Summary: 5 Stars
The inexpensive Eton FR400 is a nice little radio as well as a potential lifesaver. For its size it has a surprisingly good balanced tone (not adjustable), and very clear reception on NOAA, AM, FM, and TV bands alike. The power crank/dynamo doubles as an exercise machine...not the easiest thing to crank (especially if you follow the recommendation to crank at 2 revolutions per second for 90 seconds to acheive maximum power charge), but you get up to an hour and a half to rest up before you need to recharge. I wish the case had a compartment for the power and cell phone adapters though, to keep all parts in one place. I gave mine to my electronically picky and critical sattelite-TV field manager brother-in-law (to keep at his home in the US Virgin Islands for hurricane use), and immediately bought another for our own tornado, thunderstorm, icestorm and power vagary usage here in beautiful rural West Michigan. I'll take it camping and its light weight and weather resistant design may even cause it to join me in my treestands this deer season (I wish an earphone was included as well, but as I seem to be the last living man without an iPod I can't blame Eton for my not having my own headphones, I suppose...). By the way, the available metallic colors offered on these are "way cool"! You won't regret buying the FR400, regardless of the weather in your part of the world. BTW: after sending in the registration info I received cell phone power charger adapters for two (2) different phones within 10 days' time. Murphy's law being immutable, our cell plan replaced our phones with a new model in the interim. One call to the eton toll-free customer service line sent another adapter out the same day to accomodate our upgrade...free of charge!Customer Review: It's the Little Things That Raises Questions
Summary: 3 Stars
It's the little things that define the quality of a product. Having just received the Eton FR400 I can't attest to how well it will work under emergency conditions -- which is, after all, why one buys something like this. But there's a few little things that make me nervous about its quality and design.
The plastic strikes me as cheap. How will it stand up to getting knocked around?
The case is a textbook case of poor design. It fits the radio so tightly that it turns on switches when you insert the radio -- if you can get the radio into the case. Plus there's no room for the AC charger. This may sound peevish, but it's this kind of poor craftmanship which can be symbolic of a short sighted company. What good is a case if it's a pain to use? What good is it if it turns on features that drain the battery? What good is it if you can't carry accessories that comes with the radio?
And the key question, how good is a company that puts out a product so poorly designed? Was Eton trying to cut corners? If so, where else did they scrimp? Did anyone test the case before manufacturing it? If so, what kind of standards do they have?
Bottom line: the device has all the features listed here, but their execution makes me wonder if it was worth getting.
Customer Review: Missed the lemonade, from this lemon !!!!
Summary: 1 Stars
Eton FR400 Hand Crank Radio and Power Generator (Red)
Grundig was the TOP-OF-THE-LINE, in radios.... From the other reviews it appears that I must have received a lemon, from the bottom of the basket.
After the recommended A/C charging time, the radio played about 15 minutes. After charging, a second time for 24 hours, it played about 1.5 hours before going stone dead.
When it did work, the stations failed to come in clearly or distinct. BIG BUMMER, all the way around !!!! How much fun it was to be camping, during a rainstorm, with NO light, or radio.
The topper is that the cell phone charger failed to arrive before we left on a camping trip. As of this date, it is still conspicious by its absence.
Grundig, where did your quality workmanship disappear ????
Customer Review: Just Right for the Price
Summary: 4 Stars
I originally bought a "Jeep" all weather radio for my husband for Christmas - I thought paying more might mean a better product; not so, the hand crank broke on 2nd use. I then ordered this one - my hubby loves it. It contains everything we would want for an emergency radio; we have no problems picking up any of the t.v., National or local stations. The light is sufficient for an emergency and the Alert would definitely get you out of bed. The only issue we have seen is that we had it on one night and the alarm went off for no apparant reason...If not for that I would have given it 5 stars. I think this is a must for any household that lives in a storm prone area (which seems to be just about anywhere now a days): I definitely feel comfortable going to bed if severe storms are predicted using this radio rather than spending the entire night watching the t.v. which is what I always did in the past...A good buy in my book.