Midland WR100 Weather Radio
by Midland Consumer Radio
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List Price: Our Price: $26.62 You Save: $23.37 (47%) Availability: Usually ships in 1-2 business days Buy Used: from $15.97 (click here) Category: CE See more product details |
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Customers in the UK,
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for British Pounds
Digital Cameras Photo Reviews of Midland WR100 Weather Radio
Customer Review: Very cumbersome to use
Summary: 1 Stars
I hate to disagree with those who've praised this unit, but having owned one for almost two years now, I'm fed up with its unnecessarily complicated controls. Here's an example: to change channels--something that most radios can do with a single button press--you must press Menu, then press the Up arrow, press the Up arrow again, press Select, press the Up or Down arrow, then press Select, and finally press Menu again. That's seven button presses--minimum!--just to change channels.
Oh, I forgot: you can't change the channel while listening to the radio. So if you need to switch from, say, channel 5 to channel 6, you must first turn the radio off, and THEN go through the seven step button-pushing sequence I just described. I am not making this up!
Everything about the radio is like this: cumbersome beyond belief. It's the worst user interface design I've seen in a consumer product in a good many years, and I'd never have bought the radio if I'd had an inkling of how frustrating it was going to be in use. I'm replacing it with a Reecom R1630.
Customer Review: Midland all-weather radio
Summary: 2 Stars
I have not been pleased with this product so far, but the jury is still out on what's wrong with it. It does not receive weather tests, and, as far as I know, has received no weather warnings. It's programmed properly. To their credit, Midland offered to replace it. But my son has an identical radio and his doesn't receive the tests either, although we have heard a warning on it. At Midland's suggestion, I called our local National Weather Service to make sure they're sending out tests -- they are. The NOAA fellow there told me he had heard of other problems with Midland radios -- that, on the one hand, they are well-known in the field, but this testing issue has come up before. Amazon says I can return the radio -- Midland said they would exchange it, but I am hesitant to go through all the hassle of mailing it back and getting another one that doesn't work right. I hope they resolve this issue of why the radios don't receive the tests; if the test mechanism doesn't work, you have no way of knowing if you'll get real warnings.Customer Review: Unreliable and Poorly-Made
Summary: 1 Stars
I received this item as a gift in December 2009. By January 2011, it no longer received radio broadcasts. I know the problem is with the unit, since I was able to get several weather stations on another radio. It still tells me the time, albeit poorly since there is a few minute per month drift.
Even when this item was working, it had some annoying design flaws. The volume step levels are way too coarse for regular use. Simply put, there was no level between mute and the lowest volume level setting that wasn't deafening. It also has an annoying button beep that is very unpleasant.
Another feature that would be useful is to allow the user to set the types of alerts that set off the alarm. That way, I could only have it wake me up in the middle of the night if there's a tornado warning, not just whenever there is a thunderstorm.
From other reviews, it's apparent that I'm not the only person who had a unit fail. Save your money and go with another brand.
Customer Review: Great Weather Radio!
Summary: 5 Stars
I have had this radio since July 2010 (I think) and the antenna broke within 1 hourof unboxing the product. I found a spare antenna and put it on and now works like a charm! In fact, the radio has gone off twice in the past 1 hour and 30 minutes with no problem. (They were flood warnings, and the first one got immediately followed by the second one, and that worked great!) It has only woke me up once, but that is because only three times has it gone off between 10:00 PM and 6:00 AM, and I was awake for the 2nd and 3rd time it happened, which was within 1 hour 30 minutes ago. This is a great radio and even though we get an average of 0 tornadoes here in Massachusetts, and no tornado has struck my specific area for a long time if ever. However, I get tons of Severe Thunderstorm Warnings in the summer. I just reccommended this radio to a relative in Illinois, which you all know is "Tornado Alley". I reccommend this radio to anyone who needs (or wants) one, and is worth EVERY PENNY!Customer Review: C. G. Williams
Summary: 5 Stars
This is a great product. It's relatively easy to program and operates exactly as it should, even though it can be pretty annoying when it activates in the middle of the night to warn of threatening weather. But this is what it's intended to do and the annoyance can potentially save lives. I programmed the S.A.M.E. function to warn of impending bad weather only for my own parish(what counties are called in Louisiana) and those adjacent to mine. Hopefully this prevents the radio from activating due to bad weather 100 miles away.
I would recommend that anyone purchase one of these, especially in areas that are subject to violent weather such as tornados and severe thunderstorms. Since a tornado recently passed in the New Orleans area and claimed one life and did substantial property damage, all of the television meteorologists are recommending their listeners purchase one. They're very inexpensive and can save your life and the lives of your loved ones.