Philips GoGear Vibe 8GB MP3 Player SA3VBE08K/37

• The small and sturdy GoGear Vibe MP3 Player hits the right notes with Philips FullSound to bring your music to life
• Philips GoGear MP3 Player Vibe 8GB SA3VBE08K/37
• Philips Product. Plus, soft rubber earbuds ensure comfy music enjoyment
• Songbird for endless music discovery and easy synchronization. Plus, soft rubber earbuds ensure comfy music enjoyment
• The small and sturdy GoGear Vibe MP3 Player hits the right notes with Philips FullSound to bring your music to life and
• Songbird for endless music discovery and easy synchronization.

When my iPod Shuffle finally shorted out I began to look for an inexpensive and comparable replacement. The Philips GoGear Vibe 4GB fit the bill perfectly and with a lot more options than my old Shuffle. Great for on the go use (bus, exercise, work etc.) the Vibe provided me with just enough options to get me through the day with little to no hassle in use. Here are my thoughts on this handy little MP3 device;

Pros

+ Superb sound quality.

+ Comfortable and soft rubber ear buds.

+ Excellent auto-preset FM Tuner.

+ Perfect dimensions for an on the go mp3 player. As another review said it's about the size of a credit card and the depth of a Hershey bar.

+ Custom equalizer.

+ Free and optional install of Songbird software.

+ Plays video.

Cons

Ear bud cord could be a bit longer. An additional 6" would have been better.

No Audio Recording capability even though it's advertised as such. There's what appears to be microphone hole on the top of the device but no recording options available. This is the main reason I knocked off a star as I would have really used this option.

Limited video format support.

Small video screen and along with that comes rather poor quality/resolution (expected for the price). Hopefully most people don't plan on watching a lot of video with this player.

User interface could use some tweaking as it's a bit confusing at first.

Volume buttons are a bit too recessed for larger fingers.

Unfortunately the Songbird software consistantly crashes without reason despite repeated software updates.

All things considered this is a good deal for a low end MP3 player. For the price it's difficult to go wrong with this device. Is it perfect? No. Could there be improvements? Absolutely. As I mentioned earlier, my biggest disappointment was the lack of the audio recorder. I'm guessing this probably won't be an issue for most people however. Other than that I'm very satisfied with the Philips GoGear Vibe. Satisfied enough to consider purchasing the 16GB GoGear Muse.

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The specific model I am reviewing is the SA3VBE04K/37 which is important because all of the documentation I can find referring to the 4gb GoGear Vibe mentions audio recording capability which this specific model apparently cannot do. There is no built in microphone, hence, no ability to record audio EVEN THOUGH RECORDING AUDIO IS LISTED AS A FEATURE OF THIS UNIT. The manuals I've found show a different configuration (microphone hole on top) than this particular unit. If you're looking to record classroom lectures (I was looking forward to testing the quality of that) you just can't do it. This also raises into question the capabilities of the other Vibes. Which ones have this feature and which ones don't? Hopefully the Philips folks will fix their documentation and advertising and this won't be an issue.

Otherwise, this is a solid, pretty standard MP3 player. As advertised, it takes about 2-3 hours to charge the built-in, non-replaceable battery. I actually prefer non-replaceables since I don't spend all my time hunting for AAA or AA or button batteries, but you may prefer otherwise. I've had it running overnight and it still has a good charge, but that should be the case with any new battery. If it turns out this unit's battery has a short life-span (less than 1 year?) I'll add an update to this review.

The sound is solid, the interface is decent, the software is all pretty standard. At least, standard for a portable MP3 player not built by a certain company that starts with an "A." In fact, my most recent experience is with a second generation Apple Shuffle (postage stamp sized, no screen) and I prefer this GoGear Vibe to the smaller Shuffle for a couple of reasons. A lesser reason is the Vibe's screen which has a nice visible menu system and pretty easy to use controls. The second is more important to me: the built-in FM radio. I've had no problems using it to tune in to the local NPR station which I prefer listening to, rather than music, during my 2 mile walk to my bus stop. Personally, this is my favorite feature.

The size and weight are good, about half the size of a current Hershey's 1.55 Ounce Milk Chocolate Bar and about as thick as one candy bar. Check the comparative size photo I uploaded for this review. It does fit nicely in the pocket. The earphones are pretty decent for ear buds both in comfort and sound quality and I see no reason to replace them. It doesn't have a clip, nor did it come with a lanyard neither is a deal killer, but either would be nice!

The picture and audio/video display works as good as you would expect with the 1.8 inch display. Videos have to be in the MJPEG format, and are displayed on a 160 x 128 pixel format. The display is legible and clear, but this is a small screen. Because of the memory limitations of the specific unit I'm reviewing (4 GB) I wouldn't use it for video in any case. Pictures? Maybe. But we're still talking about pictures a little bit bigger than a postage stamp (albeit, a larger, commemorative US postage stamp).

Read the specifications carefully and make sure you know what you're getting (with the caveat that the specifications could be in error as noted at the outset of this review). This is, overall, a nice little unit, but nothing about it really rises above the fact that it's pretty much just a standard entry into the non-Apple MP3 Player arena.

UPDATE 22 MAY 2012 (over a year after acquisition): Durability is excellent. For the last year I've been constantly letting this rattle around in my car's glove box and in my pocket. Works just as good as when it was new over a year ago. It has some wear marks (what you'd expect) but has physically held up perfectly.

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(2008 HOLIDAY TEAM) Although Apple has set the industry standard for portable digital music with its iPod line, not everyone wants to pay the price or use iTunes to manage music. This little GoGear Vibe is a good choice for people who want a relatively inexpensive MP3 player that's about twice the size of the Nano but much smaller than Apple's other offerings. NOTE: I'm reviewing the 4GB version. The 8GB version comes with voice recording but this smaller capacity one does not.

This MP3 player is designed exclusively for Windows PCs because its Songbird music managing program does not work with Macs, even though there is a Songbird for Mac program available for free download. That said, I was able to download Amazon MP3s to the device, using it the way I'd use a flash drive by dropping files directly onto the GoGear. It worked perfectly, but I couldn't fill it with songs from my Mac's iTunes library, even when I located the files for them. The songs transferred but wouldn't play, suggesting that the GoGear Songbird converts the file kinds to be compatible with the device. When I connected it to a Windows machine, that version of Songbird immediately asked if I wanted to import my music from iTunes, so the GoGear can indeed do it, just not with a Mac.

The controls are relatively easy to use -once I found them. The black-on-black face, with little supplied documentation, made its use trial-and-error at first. The small screen is large enough to display an album cover but lousy for photos and videos. Some of the other models in the GoGear line have bigger screens, so if you want to display photos or video, you might want to investigate them.

The sound is slightly different than the iPod for the same songs played through the same set of earbuds. I can't say whether one was better or worse; the iPod has warmer tones, but the GoGear has crisp, clean notes.

The earbuds are comfortable, and they stay in place. Battery life is so-so, the one area of the GoGear that I didn't like. I took it on a trip with me, and more than once I'd go to listen to it, only to find the battery drained. I suppose I've been spoiled by the long life of my iPod battery. And the 4 GB capacity is too small for those of us who like to carry around a huge music library to enable a listening decision on the fly. I don't like Philips assumption that Mac users won't want to use a non-Apple product for music listening.

I also am not a fan of Songbird. Although it has some of the features of iTunes, I found its navigation to be somewhat clumsy. I didn't take any points away because of it, however, since it may be that I'm so used to iTunes that I expect other programs to approach it in ease-of-use.

The GoGear deserves five stars just for its value, but it falls far short of the more expensive iPod Classic and Touch. If you don't want to support Apple (and many people don't) or if you want a budget, solid-state player, then the 4GB GoGear Vibe is something you should consider. Otherwise, I recommend looking at the higher end products in the Philips line or at Apple's.

-Debbie Lee Wesselmann

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I very carefully studied the reviews of several mp3 players when my first one died suddenly. I had a player with a 2.8" screen but decided that it wasn't really necessary as I never used it to watch video. I had downloaded a few things when I first got it as it was a "new toy" but then as time passed, used it solely to listen to music. However, it was important to me to be able to view album art as I had spent hours downloading that for my songs ripped from cd's. So thank you to previous reviewers who mentioned that functionality in their reviews.

The Philips Songbird software was easy to use. It synced up with my music files immediately and downloaded everything flawlessly. Since the initial sync though, I prefer to just drag and drop any new songs I add instead of going through the syncing process. I have several songs that I don't want to transfer every time (for example, my husband's favorites and Christmas music). But it was an easy way to get started. Everything is organized by artist, album, and genre and I like the playlist feature. That allowed me to separate my regular music from the Christmas music that I had on the player during the holidays. You can create a playlist on the go, but I haven't used that feature yet.

A really nice feature that I didn't have on my previous player is the delete on the go option. If you find that you have a song you don't really want you don't have to wait to get back to your computer to delete it. You can get rid of it immediately!

I am taking a long trip this weekend and thought it would be nice to have an audio book to listen to along the way. The audible.com site that is listed in the manual charges a monthly fee for their books, so I thought I would see if I could use my local library instead. Worked like a charm! It will accept books in either mp3 or WMA format. My library uses the Overdrive Media software for downloads and it was easy to download the book into that software and then it had a transfer option that recognized the Vibe and transferred the books in seconds! The only negative is that they were downloaded into the music files so they are mixed with my music. To find them, I have to go to artist and then find the author's name. I haven't tried it yet, but I'm guessing that if you were playing random selections from your music file, your book files could be selected to play. But you would just skip to the next song, so shouldn't be a big deal if you want to listen to music while you have a book loaded.

I tried out the FM radio as well and it auto tuned all the stations the first time and does work well in my market as far as tuning in(Bismarck ND). I don't really use this feature though.

Battery life seems good as it shows near full strength after 2 3 hours of play. I haven't played it for such a length of time as to drain the battery fully (it will get its test with the audio book tomorrow as I intend to listen for over 5 hours straight).

Over all, I am very, very pleased with my purchase of the Vibe. If you want an mp3 player that plays music and audiobooks, you won't be disappointed in this one!

Absolutely love it! Very easy to use and only needed functions. No waist of features and complicated functions. On screen symbols are simple and understandable. Well built device, not resembling any cheat replica of any popular players. Love the small portable size, you forget that you're even carrying a player at all. The screen size is small but has great backlight, makes watching quick videos or episodes fun and enjoyable. The battery life is great!!! Lastly, one of the best features is a sleep timer. No more killing your battery just because you fell asleep listening to your favorite songs. Very good buy for the non-technical, kids and older folks who want to keep up with the latest gadgets!

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RCA RC180i App-Enhanced Portable Docking System for iPod and iPhone

• Docking station for iPod and iPhone, even iPhone 4
• Alarm clock features Auto Time Set and dual wake
• Comes with N-hance technology for added application use
• Convenient carrying handle makes RC180i portable
• Features line-in for connection to all sorts of devices

I got this for my ipod touch 4th generation. I put it on and a note came up on the ipod touch that said that this accessory was not compatible with this device, but it will still play on it, so I don't know what the deal is with the little notice saying it was not compatable. As for the brightness, you can adjust it and the dimmest I find difficult to see, so there should not be a problem finding a level that suits you. It has a nice handle to care. You need 2 "AA" batteries for the back up of the clock, and in the other side on the bottom, there is a slot for 4 "AA" batteries for listening on the go.

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Do NOT buy this clock if you intend to use it as an alarm clock in your bedroom. Remember the Seinfeld episode where the neon sign from the Kenny Rogers chicken joint kept Kramer, then Jerry, awake all night because it was so bright? Same thing here... but the blinding light is blue (even on the dimmest setting).

You can download the RCA app (which is pretty cool) and it says that allows you to turn the clock's display off and use your iPhone as the display. However, the RCA app renders the iPhone useless. We tried re-installing several times. It affects the touchscreen capabilities somehow.

OTHERWISE, we were impressed with the sound and features. We had to send to it back, which is too bad.

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Good features for the price and seems to be relatively solid. It's not intended to be a boombox, so the modest volume is not a problem. Adjusting the iPod's equalizer settings permits significant adjustment to the sound. The self-setting clock is a bonus.

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The recipient loved this present!! I was told this is the item the she wanted for Christmas and she loved it!!

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This unit is weak! Okay for a clock radio but not enough sound to use as a boombox. You would have to be right next to it to hear it outside.

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TEAC SL-D88 Clock Radio and CD Player

• Multi-mode CD Player with up to 20 track programmability
• Rotary illuminated AM/FM radio tuner with built-in 4-Digit LED screen for clock display
• Dgital Clock, Sleep Timer. Timer-on and Snooze modes
• Headphone Jack
• 120V 60Hz AC powered

I own a Bose clock radio and a Bose CD clock radio. When my daughter started college, I wanted to buy her a good CD clock radio, but didn't want to spend the money for another Bose. I searched long and hard. There weren't many good choices. I first bought an Emerson SmartSet CD Clock Radio. It turned out to have two defects: the CD didn't play and the forward button didn't function. I returned it and bought this one.

This radio was built with quality. The sound quality was quite good. Most importantly, everything works, which isn't a low standard given my experience with the other radio. It even has an plug for earphones. My daughter has had it for several months now, and she is very happy with it. I think this is the best CD clock radio that you can find under $300.

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Needed a new radio for the office. The 'used and new' category offered one of these new in box for $104, so I bit, and am glad I did. Everything works as advertised, and the selectable-color lighted dial was a nice suprise. The analog tuner performs better than most clock radios, though not as well as the unit's bigger digital brothers (one of which I also own). The CD section works fine so far with commercial and home-burned discs.

If I had a complaint, it would be that the long wire FM antenna isn't detachable It's not needed where I am and is currently rolled up under the unit. From a functional viewpoint, I'd rather have a digital tuner and an analog clock, but that wouldn't look as good and looks are definitely a big part of the package.

This unit works fine and looks good. Noise is low enough it won't drive you (totally) nuts to listen through headphones, and everyone thinks the styling is -verycool. It is! That's worth $104 any day. Right?

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The color of the illuminated ring around the dial is selectable: seven fixed colors, including three shades of blue, two of green, one each of red and violet; also, my favorite option, is to have the color vary (never does red though); the illumination can also be powered off.

The set has a nice weight (it isn't light) and feel, like it is a quality piece of equipment.

However, the bass is boomy out of the box and there are no tone controls. I corrected the boominess by partially blocking the bass reflex ports with tissue--audio enthusiasts will know how to do this (don't try otherwise)--sound quality out of the box should be fine for non-enthusiasts.

Overall, I love this set.

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Looked good, sounded good. Then I noticed the low-volume hum (60 Hz?) coming from the bass ports on the back. The lower you turn the volume, the louder the hum, though it was always very subtle. The more I tried to ignore it, the more annoying it became.

Repositioning the unit had no effect, nor did moving the cord or antenna or trying different modes (CD, radio, aux). The power cord has a two-pronged plug, and there was no way to ground the unit to see if that would solve the problem.

Since this was to be used right next to the bed and normally played at low volume, the hum was unacceptable, particularly at the price of this radio. Paying shipping to return the radio has also left a bad taste in my mouth.

Very disappointing.

This originally struck my eye as a nostalgist piece of electronic furniture. From its retro-era looking speaker covers right down to its mind blowing performance, this stereo is perfect for any any room.

It provides enough volume to fill a small office, the kitchen, or even the garage. I would call it an all-in-one package. You can play CD's, listen to the radio, and even plug your ipod into the input jack if need be. But the thing I like most about this stereo is that it feels like it's stright out of the 60's. The analog clock has a color changing illuminating light which surrounds it and gives it a little pizazz.

All in all I would recommend this clock/alarm/CD player/ "ham radio" to whomever is looking for a good price and a better product.

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iHome iH11 Alarm Clock with Dock for iPod (Pink)

• SPACESAVER ALARM CLOCK FOR IPODPINK CHARGES/PLAYS

Hi Folks, Let me update some of you about the confusion regarding this product. I have just phoned iHome and they gave me some new info. Look on the bottom of your unit,if your model num.says ih110b....you have the unit with NO remote and, a Radio. If you have model ih 11 then you Do have a remote and NO radio. I just purchased the model described for this listing,the IH 11 and I got the IH110b. I wanted the remote and got none. If you can not return yours to where you bought it from, and want the other model you can call iHome at 1-800-288-2792. If my store does not have unit unit I wanted originally, They told me I can send it back to them and they will send me back the correct unit. I hope this was not tooooo confusing. Thanks.

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This is a good Ipod alarm clock that does everything it advertises. I have to say, however, that for an extra $10-$15 dollars more the Sony Dream Machine (ICF-C7iP) does everything the iHome does but also has FM/AM radio, a larger and more attractive display, a smaller size, automatic time setting and two alarms that can be set for weekdays/weekends which makes it worth the extra to me.

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It does everything it says it's supposed to...plays the radio, plays my Ipod (Itouch). Sound is decent (what do you expect out of a little box for a clock radio?), but...no presets for the radio? That's about the dumbest thing I've ever heard. So I'm supposed to scroll through all the stations any time I want to change my mind on a station. I don't know about you, but there's about 5-6 stations that I consistently listen to and will change around when a radio is playing something I don't want to hear. Regardless of it being a clock radio where at my bedside I wouldn't be changing the station, if I bought this to go on my desk or something like that, then it would be completely pointless in my opinion. So if you really don't care about changing the station ever or scrolling through it is no big deal or you never will listen to the radio because you're only going to use this for your IPOD anyway, then you can make your decision. Just remember too that the sound is just okay.

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This Alarm clock is great, it has all the features I want: it plays my iPod loud enough for me to hear it in the morning. It also is a great speaker system in and of itself. The one problem is that when you set an alarm for a certain time (let's say 7:30 am) it doesn't start playing your iPod for a little bit (until around 7:30 and 30 seconds), but this problem has an easy solution set your alarm to sound 1 minute earlier (7:29 am)! I recommend also setting your alarm on your iPod as well as on the iHome. Overall, this product is to use and I am so far enjoying it. Additionally, the remote control is an amazing feature, you'll find yourself using the remote for snoozing in the morning. GREAT PRODUCT and it looks good too!!

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This is a good little iPod dock. Flaw in that it is on the same frequency as the remote for my Direct TV. When I use my Direct TV remote it turns on the iHome. It works pretty well, other than that.

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Denon AVR4810CI 9.3-Channel Multi-Zone Home Theater Receiver with Networking Capability and 1080p HD

• Networking capability opens up your AV system to audio and jpeg photo streaming and Internet radio.
• Dolby TrueHD, Dolby Digital Plus, Dolby Digital Surround EX, Dolby Pro Logic IIz decoding
• DTS-HD Master Audio, DTS-HD High Resolution, DTS ES 6.1 Discrete, DTS ES 6.1 Matrix, DTS Neo:6 decoding
• Audyssey Dynamic Sound Expansion with front height and/or expanded width channels, with maximum 11.3 channel capability
• Audyssey MultEQ XT, Dynamic Volume, Dynamic EQ; Audyssey Pro Installer ready

Initially, I went through the struggle of choosing separates (pre-amplifier and amplifiers) versus a receiver (where the pre-amp and amplifier functionality is built-in to one unit). I liked the flexibility of having separate components in case I decide to make changes in the future, but simply did not have the space in my audio area to accommodate multiple pieces, hence my choice to look at receivers. There were many receivers to choose from and I found the Denon to be at my sweet spot for value, function, performance, aesthetics and simplicity.

This beast of a receiver is one step below Denon's flagship AVR-5308ci. The AVR-4810ci delivers 9 amazingly clean channels of amplification without breaking a sweat. The GUI-driven menu takes a little getting used to, but after 4 or 5 uses, the menu becomes second nature. There's a plethora of inputs and outputs, and the capability to handle 3 subwoofers coupled with 9 channels for front, front height and/or width, surround, surround back and center channels allows for enormous flexibility with room for future expansion. There are 6 HDMI inputs (with one in the front panel behind the flip down door). Built-in WiFi allows for integration of other networkable sources in your home with no mess or fuss. Having Napster and Rhapsody online access built-in is extremely convenient and very easy to use. Satellite radio (XM and Sirius) can be handled by this beauty as can HD radio. With the USB input, you can playback photos or audio. Freely assignable amplifiers allows for bi-amping, bi-wiring and multiple zones (up to 4) throughout your home. This receiver can even control your iPod on-screen via the USB digital direct connection.

The initial setup process is quick and simple, thanks the Audyssey MultEQ XT Room Equalizer that allows the receiver to setup all of your speakers' time and frequency response, for up to eight positions which is very handy if you have more than one person frequenting your listening area.

The Advanced AL24 Processing Multi Channel features improved dynamics, so my sources sound phenomenal. The 1080p HDMI output via Anchor Bay's advanced VRS processing (using the ABT-2010 chip) and excellent scaling capability makes all of your sources look simply superb! Even your analog sources can be unconverted and scaled to 1080p!!

As usual, Denon's Dynamic Discrete Surround Circuit (D.D.S.C-HD) provides for amazing sonic detail and extended range, with Burr-Brown 24-bit/192-kHz digital-to-audio converters for all channels, rather than just the front two. Dolby TrueHD and DTS-HD Master Audio decoders ensure amazing reproduction of your favorite Blu-Ray discs. As a bonus, you get dual HDMI outputs if you want to output to other rooms or to handle situations where you might have both a video projector and an HDTV flat panel in your theater.

The "ci" designation means that the receiver supports custom integration features if you choose to do some advanced setup or are having the receiver professionally installed/integrated into your home.

If there's one thing about this unit that I didn't like, it's the EL remote. I found the remote a bit clumsy to use and don't really use it much for controlling the receiver once initial settings are accomplished (as I use my Harmony universal remote instead). I also think the User Manual could use some tweaking to make the instruction flows easier to understand.

I heartily recommend this receiver and have not regretted my purchase for even a second! Good luck with your choices and no matter what, ENJOY!

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I researched the features of many high end recievers and settled on this one for the many HDMI in and outputs, the wireless, the DLNA, the internet radio. It turned out to be an awesome receiver except for the malfunctioning wireless. The wireless did in fact work properly until it hooked up to the net and downloaded a firmware update.

I set it up to connect to my wireless router right off, using the security settings I had previously used in the Dlink router, with no problem. Once the new firmware was installed the wireless was no longer able to connect to my Dlink router using any security. It would indeed connect using no security but what good is that when everything else on my router uses security. I even tried 2 other routers to ensure it wasn't a router problem. It had to have initially connected properly using security because it downloaded new firmware via the wireless.

I called Denon tech support and was told there was no way to go back to the previous firmware and I could ship it back to be checked out but I was assured no part of the firmware dealt with with any part of the wireless. The box and packaging it shipped in was hardly capable of enduring another trip so I decided to wait till another firmware update was downloaded in hopes of a fix for the wireless function and I am presently using a wired ethernet setup. The box it shipped in seemed sturdy but the interior packaging was broken up during the original shipping making any further use of it very questionable.

The receiver is a very heavy unit due to the hefty components used to build it. Prior to this receiver I have used four Pioneer receivers, two sony receivers, and a Sherwood. This is definitely the most involved and configurableversatile receiver up till now. This is far superior to anything I have used so far.

A feature I also chose this unit for was the Hi Def FM. I live in a very rural area that can hardly pick up stations using analog FM but this unit receives many digital stations excellently using the included FM "T" antenna. One of the FM features that only work on the most powerful stations are the music information data that streams imbedded in the FM signal. It still picks up many stations with no dropouts, but only shows the frequency used with no other details of song, genre, etc. on the weaker stations.

I am currently only using the main zone set to 9.3 surround. I have 3 subwoofers and have the speakers set up to use the Front Hi and Front Wide extra speakers, for a total of 9 surround sound speakers and three subs. I have plans to use the extra HDMI output to a second room with a separate receiver and TV.

The Denon receiver has so many HDMI inputs that I am not even using the other main feature I bought it for, the up-scaling to HDMI from analog inputs.

The 140 watts per 9 channels is awesome. It runs warm but not hot. There are 9 separate sets of speaker binder connectors on the back plus even more pre in and pre outs for use with other components including pre-out outputs for 3 subwoofers.

The front panel display could seriously be larger to be of any use. I have to stand right in front of it to use the display for settings or information, hence I use the TV on screen display for all settings and usage.

It has two remotes but both are infrared. You would think that the secondary remote intended for use in other rooms would be RF since the unit does have a wireless antenna. In lieu of that the unit should have included an infrared remote extender.

A feature I didn't realize it had when researching is the ability to preset input, audio settings, volume level, and then set all possible settings to a one button choice. You get it set to exactly how you want to recall then press one of three buttons for a few seconds and presto it can be recalled via the front panel buttons or on both the remotes. I really like that particular function since there are so many variable settings you can change.

Overall I can't rave enough about the power, flexibility, configurability, fit and finish of this receiver. The only cons for me are 1the wireless malfunction, 2the non RF remote, 3the shipping box and packaging weren't quite up to handling the heft of this unit.

Update 4-24-2011;

After using the receiver for a couple of months I am less and less enthused by it. Now the unit will not connect to the internet to receive updates or internet radio. I also cannot connect to the unit via IP address to control it through its built-in webpage. My router shows it has assigned an IP to it but typing that IP into the web browser gets a "cannot display web page error". Also the unit has developed a problem of not switching the HDMI video signal when selecting different sources. I have to switch sources then power the unit off and back on to see video on the TV. This problem is also occuring when switching from non-video sources like Hi-def radio. It seems to have a gradual decay of its features functionality. I may have to end up sending the unit off to a repair facility since 1) denon says to repair the firmware it needs to go to their repair facility and 2) now it cannot connect to the net even via ethernet cable as well as wireless.

Update 6-11-2011

Ok, so I paid the 84 dollars to UPS the unit back for repair. (They only pay for shipping back to you) It got there ok and they replaced the DM80 board. That fixed the wireless issue and other things. Now that it is back home it has developed another problem. When I switch channels on my Direct tv box the audio coming out of the Receiver stops, goes silent. Changing inputs the sudio works there so far but I have to power the receiver off then back on to get audio on the new channel of direct tv. What a P.O.S. So do I send it back for more repairs??? another 84 dollars, another 3 weeks without the unit? The warranty clock is ticking, hmmm. More later after MORE issues develop.

Read Best Reviews of Denon AVR4810CI 9.3-Channel Multi-Zone Home Theater Receiver with Networking Capability and 1080p HD Here

I have owned this reciever for just over 2 months now and I can say that this is top rate gear and really does seem to have it all. There is no way that you would be disappointed with the functionality it offers, however, this is not in any way a unit for the beginner. You need to have some understanding of home entertainment systems, as the customizable functions are tremendous but need to be used properly. There are many features most importantly, Audyssey sound processing, Dolby TrueHD and DTS HD master audio. The unit has so many options; you have to know it really well to get the best out of it. The back panel is absolutely littered with connection options. Denon has color coded and labeled them well, so following the manual is relatively hassle-free.If you are serious about your music(and video)then this is your reciever.

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I have owned the 4810ci since Sept 2009.

It is an amazing unit! I have 3 Emotiva amps (XPA-1,XPA-2 & XPA-5) and am using only 4 of the

4810's internal amp channels for the heights and wides.

It sounds exceptional. I had 5.1/7.1 for many years and although it was very good,

11.1/3 sounds so much better. The realism is amazing. Sometimes it gives me goosebumps.

I have over 700 movies (120+ Blu Ray's) and I find myself watching my old DVD's (on my

OPPO player) and am very pleased with the results. It breathes new life into them.

My audio/video room is now filled with amazing sound.

I live just outside of Nashville so as you can imagine, there are musicians/singers everywhere.

I have had a couple of pretty famous people, in addition to professional musicians, over to watch

movies and listen to some music. They are blown away by the sound.

Once I played an old song (Van Halen's Dancing In The Street) and had it cranked up.

With my pretty efficient speakers (92dB to 96dB), I can get it pretty loud (120+ dB on

my Radio Shack SPL meter). Two of the musicians just sat there (even after I turned it down) with

their mouths open. One said they had never heard something so clean and so loud outside of a

concert. The other said he was hardly ever envious of anything anyone else had, but my system

sounded amazing. Another very well known singer told me it sounded so clear it was like

a recording studio.

Am I saying this is the best system out there? No, absolutely not... What I do know from experience

is; I have never heard one that sounded better overall. I have aditioned many systems with some well over

100,000.00. Some were a little "clearer" (one in particular was a pair of Martin Logan's powered by

a couple of Mark Levinson Monoblocks. It sounded a little clearer but would not go anywhere near as loud as

my system.) I looked at Anthem, Parasound, Meridian, Krell, Theta, Integra, Outlaw, Lexicon, Mcintosh,etc. and

some were very expensive. Some sounded great and others were kind of "laid back" in my opinion.

I was seeking something that would give me a realistic natural sound. I also look at Value, not just

to brag about brand names. I think we may sometimes purchase some high end items and then think we

can tell a big difference from something else just so we can justify our purchase in our minds.

Nobody wants to be thought of as a fool. I have made a few Expensive mistakes in the past myself.

This Audio/Video thing can be addicting. I know of people who spend tens of thousands,every year or

two,just tryng to get that perfect realistic sound but they always fall just a little short.

I also went to Emotiva's "Emofest" and auditioned their then new UMC-1 as well as their speakers.

The UMC-1 is an incredible value. A Nice Unit (Their speakers are nice also).

For the price I'm not sure anything out there can beat it. I left wanting just a little bit more.

I knew their amps were spectacular (especially the XPA-1). I am one of the few that drives my amps until they

get too hot to touch sometimes. I have an open air rack but had to buy a vertical fan to blow on them during

extended party type sound.

I also purchased a ERC-1 (a great product but that is another story)...

I have owned several Denon's in the past and although I liked the units, I always felt their internal amplification

was the weak point of their receivers (as is with most receivers). That is one reason I looked elsewhere when it was time to

upgrade. I also wanted to get a system that sounded extraordinary. I thought I had to spend some major bucks

but it turned out I did not have to.

When I read about 11.1 I had to test drive it. I purchased the AVR-4810ci and was Very Pleased with it's

sound. What a bargain! The Preamp/Processor section of the 4810 Is Very, Very, Good.

I have some friends (online)that have had network card issues with their 4810's. One friend in particular had 3

units fail on him and he finally gave up and bought a 4311. I also thought about getting a 4311 because it is a

newer unit and has some new upgrades. I didn't because I think it may be a small step down especialy in the DAC's.

I would buy a "4811" if Denon ever comes out with one, just for the newest and greatest.

For right now, my 4810 works Perfect and it always has.

I say all of the above to say this; You CAN pay a lot more for a pre/pro/receiver and probably get a little better

sound. I believe the difference is incremental and may be hard to differentiate. But when you throw in the 11.1, the 4810

is a hands down winner! Do not listen to the people who tell you 11.1 does not make a difference. I do not care how many

channels are matrixed or whatever, go and listen to a well set up system and you decide! It always makes me smile.

My only fear is 11.1 does not seem to be catching on as fast as I had hoped. I hope by the time I upgrade it will still be available

on the newer units.

One thing to remember is to get 11.1 on the 4810, you need at least one 2 channel external amp. Try any of Emotiva amps, you

will not be sorry. Also buy the longest and best warranty you can afford in case you do have any issues.

Amazon.com is a great place to shop!

Blessings To All!

Do not buy this unit. I am now on my third Denon AVR-4810CI Receiver in 45 days. One failed after 3 days, the other after 5 days and now the third has failed after 29 days. Each was successfully returned for exchange. The unit is great when it works, but the reliability is horrible. The unit is very complex and feature rich and it takes a full day to install it and go through the setup routines. I have done this three times now. I have also spent much time with Denon tech support on the phone and their web mail. The Denon technicians run the range from "must read the script" novices to "jump right in" experts. None were able to solve my issues short of returning the unit(s). Failures started with the networking features going dead. Then the HDMI input port switching refused to function without first powering the unit OFF and then ON, and finally the audio features went dead. I believe these are software issues, because the failures do not appear to be hard failures as with a hardware component. Anyway buy at your own risk. I am returning my third unit and switching to another brand. This unit is not ready for prime time.

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PURE Siesta Flow Bedside Internet and FM Radio

• Internet and FM radio
• Flow technology for listen again, podcasts, PURE Sounds and media streaming from a computer
• Touch-sensitive controls
• Four quick-set alarm buttons - Up to 365 different amazing, weird and wonderful internet alarms
• Sleep and snooze timers

I have 4 internet radios... this was by far the most inexpensive and I purchased it for bedside.

Overall, not bad at all... but some points you are going to want to be aware of: this is not for the inexperienced wifi user. Definitely not one for the parents. The interface is just too challenging. And any unit with those "touch and wipe" controls is going to frustrate a novice.

Next is the sound. Fine for bedside. But this is not a unit for primary listening. Essentially it is as advertised: "a bedside internet radio". And for the price, you can't go wrong. Just take a deep breath and use patience. The manual is ok.. it's executing the sequences that will lead you off the Ambien.

Enjoy.

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No station presets, what were they thinking. Ok if you want to listen to the same station 100% of the time

Read Best Reviews of PURE Siesta Flow Bedside Internet and FM Radio Here

I paired the Siesta Flow with a computer speaker and subwoofer system to have a cheap Internet radio for my patio. I did not need the clock radio function, but this was the cheapest option I could find that also had built-in FM radio and auxiliary jack so I could also listen to songs on my phone. I was pleasantly surprised that this clock radio also has a USB charger.

Downside: The touch buttons to navigate are kind of a pain to use. I will probably also order the Pure One radio with radial knobs that should make changing channels easier. A remote would have been nice.

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Strangely, this radio is advertised as a bedroom radio. Yet it sorely lacks many of the desirability of bedroom functions. To start with, it MUST have physical bottoms for memory presets to be accessed even in the dark. None! It needs some physical controls that one can "Feel" and use in the dark when his/her better half may be fast asleep. Not only does one need to turn the light on to find the controls, but, while intuitive, it simply is way time consuming to bother when one is ready to go to bed or trying to go to bed. The so called auto diming while not that bright, it does not dim to darkness like many of the competition do. What were the engineers thinking when they provided 5 physical buttons for Alarm settings and none for favourite presets? Lastly, while many people may like its size, I like to have a radio that won't slide all over whatever top it is placed on when one is pressing the control buttons. It is too small for my taste.

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Very effective as an alarm clock and internet radio. The Pure website has pure sounds, which are a great feature in addition to the thousands of stations.

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Tecsun PL-210 Digital PLL Portable AM/FM/LW Shortwave Radio, Black

• AM/FM Shortwave receiver with ATS (Auto Tuning Storage)
• AM Dual Conversion
• 1,700 preset memories for easy access to your favorite stations
• Alarm clock + sleep timer (1-120 min)
• Kaito Electronics, Inc is the only authorized Tecsun Distributor in North America, Only the Tecsun radios sold by Katio come with English user manuals

I have only had this radio for 2 days.I like it.Out of the box without reading the manual I programmed about 20 Fm and Am stations.Genius?No,just ansty.Read the manual to understand the functions (what genius!).It is a neat little radio.Don't expect miracles on Sw bands,especially if this a first radio.Use the supplied clip on antenna;throw it out a window,if you can (the antenna,Not the radio :-)).Do a search for best times and frequencies for short wave listening.I picked up several sw stations.It sounds great on FM ,with the supplied headphones.If you like radio,I think you will like this little portable.

Buy Tecsun PL-210 Digital PLL Portable AM/FM/LW Shortwave Radio, Black Now

This is my 3rd Tecsun, having already purchased a mid-size PL-600 and the tiny DSP-based PL-360. For a small AM/FM/SW radio this PL-210 is a little gem! It's small enough to fit in your pocket but the weight of the radio with the 2 AA cells makes it a bit heavy. Build quality looks good and the buttons feel secure. The large side-tuning knob is a huge plus. Sound from the small speaker is much better than I would have thought possible. Not "room filling" sound, but not "tinny" sound, either. Tecsun did a wonderful job with the audio on this midget sized radio.

Performance on grabbing signals? FM, AM and SW all do well on the telescopic antenna. However, while the FM sensitivity is good, the FM selectivity is an obvious weak point. FM selectivity is not even close to the incredible selectivity shown by the new DSP-based radios like the PL-360. Putting a low-noise / hi-gain preamp with an outside antenna on this radio causes it to overload badly on FM. AM reception is good and the signal-to-noise ratio improves when using an external loop antenna like those from Terk. SW sensitivity is also very good. Not as good as a Degen 1103 but good enough. Hooking up an outdoor folded dipole antenna with preamp to the PL-210 telescopic antenna didn't present any obvious overload/intermodulation problems in my rural (weak SW signal) area. Nice!

This radio will be a good performer except for people who will have problems when using the FM in a crowded urban environment. It's a cute device and even comes with a nice quality zip-up carry case. I only wish I could have ordered it in red rather than the standard black color. With the quality of the sound from its small speaker, you won't mind spending time listening to this pint-size device. Frankly, I'm surprise more people haven't discovered this ultra-small radio by now.

Read Best Reviews of Tecsun PL-210 Digital PLL Portable AM/FM/LW Shortwave Radio, Black Here

I already own a couple of other Tecsun radios and they work great. I'm surprised there are only two reviews of the 210 on Amazon. This is a very small radio, even tinier than the 606. There are a few difference. There is no ETM or DSP,but there is a direct frequency keyboard, which I miss on the 606, and it has 1,700 presets..probably more than you'll ever need. With the sheer number of presets you can program the FM band on the first page, The AM band up to 1520 on the second page, and the remainder of the frequencies on the third page. Being there are only 100 AM frequencies on most other Tecsun models, you can get them all in here.

One nice plus is the fact you can program shortwave, FM and AM stations in the same memory band. I do miss that ETM feature, but it does have ATS tuning which does the same thing, and with so many memories, if you travel you can punch in the available frequencies on the different memory pages.

Only downside is that is not as selective as the 606, 380 and 390 on FM. Sensitivity is great on both bands, but you will hear a little spillover on strong FM frequencies. I guess not having that DSP feature is the reason.

The CCrane Mini radio looks very similar and it is about the same size. I ordered that a couple of months ago and returned it when I discovered it's poor performance on AM and FM., and the fact you had to hit an enter button for the direct frequency. The radio has a tuning knob that does not go in "increments". With other Tecsun radios, the sound can either be too loud or soft when listening at low levels.

I have the 606, 390, with the twin stereo speakers and excellent AM reception. The 210 is a nice addition.

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bought it because it is small red and the price was right, well it is small and red,

have had it for 3 weeks, does everything i expected from a small under sixty dollar radio,

got mine for 39 bucks like it works quite well for its size and price

short wave you will hear much more if hooked to wire antenna

i like this radio

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The Chinese made Tecsun or "Desheng" PL-210 is one of the BEST Medium Wave (AM)/FM (STEREO) and Shortwave Radios in the "Ultralight Radio" classification I have ever used. The Tecsun PL-210 was designed carefully, intelligently and beautifully by the Chinese engineers at the Tecsun or "Desheng" Radio Company, one of the largest mass production radio manufacturers located in Dōngguǎn, Guangdong, People's Republic of China. The PL-210 is the successor to the previous model(s), the Tecsun "PL-200", also known as the Grundig "G100" and the Etón "E100". The "rebadged/renamed" Grundig/Etón versions were exactly identical to the Tecsun PL-200 and were mostly distributed/sold throughout North America and Europe by the Etón Corporation based in the town of Palo Alto, California, USA. The previous Tecsun PL-200, the Grundig G100 and the Etón E100 models were not nearly as good in overall performance as the current Tecsun PL-210 on the market today.

A MEDIUM WAVE (AM) BAND EVALUATION...

The Tecsun PL-210 is an incredibly sensitive radio on all bands, Medium Wave (AM)/FM and Shortwave. First, let's go over the performance on the medium wave (AM) band. I reside in Northern California and during my initial test on the medium wave (AM) band, in the late hours of the night, using only its internal, built-in ferrite rod antenna, I managed to capture distant and faint, confirmed radio stations throughout the Western Region of the United States, from Southern California, to Washington State, to Oregon, to Nevada, Utah, Idaho, Arizona, New Mexico, Colorado, even as far as Western Canada and Mexico! The size of the radio will give you a general idea how small its internal ferrite rod antenna is and yet it manages to pull in the weakest of the weak signals on the medium wave (AM) band. Very impressive so far. To even further your long distance reception on the medium wave (AM) band, try using an external, indoor "passive" medium wave (AM) loop antenna such as the "Tecsun AN-200" or a "Terk AM Advantage". Terk's version is built a little more solid and is substantially more expensive than the cheaper Tecsun version but both antennas perform equally as good and are excellent medium wave (AM) loop antennas widely sold everywhere, even here on Amazon. I prefer the cheaper Tecsun version for 2 reasons: (1). The "fine tuning" knob on the Tecsun AN-200 is placed in a perfect area, which is on the front of the antenna for easy access fine tuning. Again, the engineers at the Tecsun Radio plant chose a much more "intelligent" area for the tuning knob to be than Terk's AM Advantage antenna where the fine tuning knob or "dial" in this case, is placed in right the middle. (2). The fine tuning knob on the cheaper Tecsun also turns in a smooth, "fluid like" motion while Terk's fine tuning dial is quite stiff, making it difficult to "fine tune" the exact medium wave (AM) radio signal you're trying to capture. Sometimes, cheaper is actually better! The Tecsun PL-210 alone is built with excellent high-sensitivity circuitry along with an outstanding internal medium wave (AM) ferrite rod antenna and therefore I would note this radio as a fine "DX" machine for its small size. What was that? You just asked me what the term "DX" or "DX'ing" means, so let me explain. "DX" or "DX'ing" is the hobby among many radio enthusiasts such as myself of capturing and identifying distant and faint radio signals from hundreds and even thousands of miles away from your location. Most medium wave (AM) radios are capable of receiving medium wave (AM) "DX" signals especially during the later hours of the night, some radios better than others. In the case of the radio being reviewed here, the Tecsun PL-210 is one of the best, quality-built radio receivers I've ever used out on the market today, that is completely capable of capturing medium-wave (AM) "DX" signals.

ONTO THE FM BAND...

I'm not much of an FM user in the "DX" hobby or in general, but I can tell you while scanning the FM band, reception is well above satisfactory levels and sounds pretty damn good for "general listening", like listening to music through it's built-in monaural speaker. The FM "STEREO" feature is available by USING STEREO HEADPHONES or STEREO EARPHONES ONLY!! So please don't sit there wondering why stereo sound isn't coming out of its one mono speaker like some idiots would expect it to do. To the right side of the PL-210 below the tuning knob, there is a FM STEREO on and off switch.

LET'S NOW GO OVER THE PERFORMANCE OF MY FAVORITE BAND, THE SHORTWAVE BAND...

The Tecsun PL-210 is generally classified as a "Shortwave Receiver" and during the sensitivity test on the Shortwave band, I found that this radio is just "one fine piece of work", picking up signals throughout the entire Shortwave spectrum, around the world without hesitation, with very minimal "images", very minimal "adjacent channel interference", and very minimal "in and out fading" due to it's very effective "dual conversion" design. As with all portable-sized Shortwave radios, the built-in, "telescoping whip" antenna receives only a fraction of the many Shortwave signals out on the airwaves. To maximize Shortwave reception on any and all Shortwave radios, use an external indoor wire antenna or even better, an outdoor long-wire antenna when possible. In this case during the test on the Shortwave bands, I was using the amazing and incredible, "home-brewed", high-gain, non-amplified, and most effective, indoor or outdoor, Shortwave antenna I've ever used called, the "MAGIC WAND", designed and handmade by an eBay seller named, "LowBander" from Kansas City, Kansas for under 30 bucks! "LowBander" is an experienced, "old school", antenna designer and builder that has been inventing the most effective radio communications antennas for over 50 years and knows exactly what he's doing! Look him up on eBay and buy one! I bought one and the "MAGIC WAND" antenna makes a great addition to ALL my Shortwave receivers for maximum Shortwave reception!!

THE "DEAF" LONGWAVE BAND IN THE UNITED STATES...

The PL-210 is also equipped with the Longwave band (150 to 519 kHz) widely used for radio station transmissions everywhere else around the world especially in Europe, Asia, Africa and Australia but NOT in the United States. There are no active Longwave band frequencies here in the U.S. or at least not any I know of, so no comments on the performance of the Longwave band.

AUDIO QUALITY...

Audio on the Tecsun PL-210 is rated as "EXCELLENT" through it's small yet powerful front-firing speaker. Audio is very pleasant to the ears and is suitable for longer use throughout the day and/or night. Unlike many modern, "cheap ass junk radios" made today with low quality speakers that emit horrific, high-pitches and make the inside of your ears feel like they are burning with fire and not with desire even when listening for a short periods of time. You would often find these "cheap ass junk radios" displayed on the shelves at retail outlets such as Target Stores, Wal-Marts, Kmarts, Radio Shacks, Walgreens and so on. I won't mention the rest of retailers that sell "crap radios" as the list is too long for me to go on. The retailers I did mention are 5 of the most horrible places to buy a good, quality built radio because they don't have any to sell! They're all garbage! Since the speaker on the PL-210 is smaller due to its "ultralight" size classification, audio can and will overload and cause distortion if you set the volume up too high. Audio on the PL-210 is best when the volume is set at normal listening levels. Remember, this is not a "Ghetto Blaster Boombox" from the 1980's! I wish I still had my boombox from the 80's. It was a Panasonic! Ah, the memories... To the right side of the PL-210, just below the tuning knob, you will find a selectable "high/low" audio switch for your audio fidelity preferences.

THREE TUNING METHODS...

The Tecsun PL-210 offers 3 different tuning methods. (1). "Manual tuning" with the tuning knob. (2). "Auto scan tuning". And (3). "Direct frequency entry". All 3 tuning methods are pretty much self-explanatory so I won't get into full detail on how the they all operate. There is however one minor issue with manual tuning while spinning the tuning knob. Tecsun is probably the only radio manufacturer that equips most of their digital radios with a somewhat annoying, "multi-speed" tuning knob or tuning dial depending which Tecsun models you own. This feature is not available on any other radio brands that I know of as I will explain more elaborately on all its functions so you can get a better understand how this "multi-speed" tuning knob works. On the medium wave (AM) band, when you turn the tuning knob at a slower speed, the tuning steps on medium wave (AM) tunes at 1 kHz increments. Now, spin the tuning knob at a faster speed and the radio will tune the frequency steps at 10 kHz increments on medium wave (AM). A slower tuning speed on the Shortwave band also tunes the frequencies at 1 kHz increments and tunes at 5 kHz increments for fast tuning on Shortwave, via the tuning knob. And for FM frequencies, slow tuning tunes the FM frequencies at 0.01 MHz increments and tunes the FM frequencies at 0.1 MHz increments on the fast tuning mode. The radio's microprocessor does all this automatically depending how fast or slow you spin the tuning knob. Do you get the general idea of the multi-speed tuning design now? I hope so. If not, you're on your own! Anyway, some "higher-end" Tecsun models offer a "kill switch" to stop this type of tuning "behavior". In this case, the Tecsun PL-210 does not offer the option to bypass this feature so you're stuck with the "multi-speed" tuning feature which most radio enthusiasts I know, "LOVE TO HATE". Fortunately for me, I have gotten use to using the "multi-speed" tuning knob and it's not such a big deal or annoyance anymore as it was initially when I started using the radio for the very first time. Regardless of this now very minor issue, with the "multi-speed" tuning knob on the Tecsun PL-210, it is infact a HUGE UPGRADE to it's predecessor(s), the Tecsun "PL-200", the Grundig "G100" and the Etón "E100", which all 3 models only tuned at a one slow speed of 1 kHz on both medium-wave (AM) and on the Shortwave frequencies! Having a tuning knob that tunes only at a 1 kHz increment speed, especially on small portables is pretty damn useless I think, so nobody should really be griping, moaning and complaining like most females do, because of the slow/fast speed combination the Tecsun PL-210 tuning knob offers. I'm actually beginning to like this unique feature now.

1,700 PRESET MEMORIES!!...

What the hell am I going to do with 1,700 preset memories?? That's like those new and fancy, "miniature computer" cell phones they have out today where you can store up to ONE THOUSAND BILLION phone numbers into them if you know that many people. Not much to be said here other than THERE ARE 1,700 PRESET MEMORIES!!

THE TECSUN PL-210 IS NOT EQUIPPED WITH "SSB" (SINGLE-SIDEBAND)!!...

For all you listeners who like to eavesdrop on 2 way Ham Radio Transmissions, the Tecsun PL-210 does NOT have SSB (single-sideband) capabilities like its competitor, the "Grundig G6 Aviator" radio. There are 2 versions of the Grundig G6 Aviator radio, the "all black" original and the "Buzz Aldrin Edition" which celebrates 50 years of space exploration and tributes "Apollo 11" astronaut legend, Dr. Buzz Aldrin, both are equipped with SSB (single-sideband) modulation reception. The two "G6" radios are similar to the Tecsun PL-210 radio in size classification but you won't be listening to any ham operators on the Tecsun PL-210. The only thing you'll hear is unintelligible single-sideband "garble", similar to how the "never-visable" adult characters on the Charlie Brown cartoons sound when they talk. The lack of single-sideband on the Tecsun PL-210 is not a real biggie for me since I'm not really that interested in listening to bunch of ham radio operators babbling back and forth about how great the weather is where they are located or how great their new antenna seems to be working that they mounted onto their roof over the weekend which they purchased at a huge discount at some ham radio equipment store. Some people get a kick out listening to stuff like that. As for me, I'm just not interested in ham radio conversations as I find it to be extremely boring. I much rather listen to all the hundreds or even thousands of "jive-talking" black folks across North America, mostly in the United States and Canada on a CB channel called the "WORLD FAMOUS SUPERBOWL CHANNEL"! That's channel 6 on the CB (citizens band) radio, 27025 kHz on most shortwave radios and 27.025 MHz on scanners, no single-sideband required. These guys go back and forth all day long "shooting skip" all across North America on their illegal and over-amplified CB radios that are LOUD AS HELL, shouting, yelling and screaming about nothing but a bunch of "GIBBERISH" non-sense. It's like a non-stop "competition" for this bunch of "old-school" CB'ers on who has the loudest and meanest sounding CB radio that can be heard across the nation or even across the globe! Now that's fun to listen to! Some of these guys are known to run over 100,000 or more watts of pure muscle power to their CB rigs by using illegal linear amplifiers. The maximum legal wattage allowed by the "FCC" (Federal Communications Commission) on CB radios in the United States is 4 puny little watts. I love listening to these black folks "JIBBER-JABBER" on channel 6 as they have been bending and defying the rules and regulations of the FCC for over 5 decades! Today, channel 6 on the CB radio or 27025 kHz (27.025 MHz) is still the most active channel on the CB radio across North America. The second most active channel on the CB would be the "trucker channel" on channel 19 used mostly by "big-rig", long-haul, tractor/trailer truck drivers nationwide, but is not nearly as entertaining as the black folks on the, "WORLD FAMOUS SUPERBOWL CHANNEL", channel 6! These black folks on channel 6 have been shouting, yelling and screaming their "GIBBERISH" transmissions over the CB radio airwaves on channel 6 for more than 50 years continuously, non-stop and is still going strong every single day, every single month and every single year that passes by. Tune in and hear them for yourself during the daytime sunlight hours when you get a chance. The best time to tune in is around the later morning hours like 10 AM to the earlier hours of the afternoon around 1 to 2 PM when "skip" is usually the strongest. When the sun goes down at dusk, these "skip" transmissions by the black folks on Channel 6 will all disappear for the rest of the night until when the sun comes out again the next morning. The radio communications term, "skip" is a very long and complicated scientific topic for me to explain here so if you don't know what "skip" means in radio terms, look it up on Wikipedia under the keyword, "skywave" when you get a chance to do so. Have a blast listening to the black folks "JIBBER-JABBER" all over the place, on the "WORLD FAMOUS SUPERBOWL CHANNEL" with the Tecsun PL-210 radio on frequency 27025 kHz or Channel 6 on any CB radio!

Anyway, back to the Tecsun PL-210 radio...

THE VERDICT.....

I want to express myself on how much I enjoy using this fantastic radio on a daily basis for my AM and Shortwave "DX" hobby. The Tecsun PL-210 is an excellent multi-band, "general coverage" receiver overall, "born and bred" with high-sensitivity circuitry on all bands, outstanding audio fidelity, very good ergonomics, built with quality construction, fine craftsmanship, using quality plastic materials for the exterior body of the radio, and other quality electronic parts that go into every single Tecsun PL-210 radio coming off the assembly line at the Tecsun Manufacturing Plant. Other than the lack of SSB (single-sideband) capabilities, the Tecsun PL-210 also OUTPERFORMS many other competitors in its size class such as its biggest rival, the Grundig G6 Aviator radio (which I also own) in many areas of performance such as sensitivity and audio fidelity. The list just goes on and on. The Tecsun PL-210 Medium Wave (AM)/FM and Shortwave radio proves to be a "champion" of all radios in its size class in many ways compared to other higher-end radios and to all of the many unfortunate, worthless, "cheap ass junk radios" that are currently widely available to consumers everywhere.

FINALLY, A MOST POSITIVE NOTE FOR CONSUMER ELECTRONICS THAT ARE "MADE IN CHINA" TODAY.....

Throughout over 3 decades of messing around with all types of shortwave radio equipment since I was a kid, I've seen HUGE MAJOR IMPROVEMENTS and ADVANCEMENTS on many Chinese made consumer electronics today compared to the low quality and mediocre electronics China has offered in the past during the 1970's, 1980's and part of the early 1990's. I believe things started to improve greatly for Chinese made electronics during the mid 1990's. That was just the beginning. Today, there are many electronic products like radios, "Made in China" that are up to equal comparison with radios that are "Made in Japan" and even at times, they can be better than Japanese made products! The Tecsun PL-210 Medium Wave (AM)/FM Shortwave Radio reviewed here, is one of the many fine examples of the HUGE MAJOR IMPROVEMENTS and ADVANCEMENTS the Chinese are making everyday for their consumer electronics today that are offered to the entire world! Without a shadow of a doubt, the incredible, quality built, Tecsun or "Desheng" PL-210 Multi-Band, General Coverage Radio, that is MADE IN CHINA, gets 5 stars and more! I like the Tecsun PL-210 so much, I bought 4 of them!! Happy Listening and 73's!

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Energizer CR1225 Lithium 3V Coin Cell Battery - DL1225 ECR1225

I wish I had read the reviews before purchasing this as I seem to be having the same issue as many others. I bought the battery for my baby's thermometer. I did a test temp after I put the battery in and it worked fine. But after a week went by I suspected my child had a fever and went to check her temp, the thermometer only stayed on for 2 seconds, flashed a broken battery symbol and shut off. I'm thoroughly disappointed with the product, especially because it screwed me over in checking on my kid's health. Don't buy this.

Perfect! I bought this battery to replace the one in my Vicks digital thermometer. It works perfectly and I'm very happy with the price and the shipping speed. I'll definitely buy this again when I need more.

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I bought this for my Vicks thermometer. This golden tip thermometer consumes too much battery but gives a reading in 6-8 seconds. So I had to buy the CR1225 3 Volt lithium battery. But as soon I placed it in the thermometer, it was giving low battery signal. So it is either fake or used.

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Batteries were dead on arrival. I placed battery in my child's thermometer and all I got was a broken battery symbol. Very frustrating because my son had a fever and I couldn't take his temperature.

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Super hard to find, but i really like our thermometer (shines green for no fever, orange for low grade, red for highthe kids understand) Good price, fast delivery, works fine. Not much else to say.

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Bose Wave Music System (Graphite Gray)

• A bold new standard in audio performance. It may well become the primary music system in your home
• Easy to use: no buttons, credit card-sized infrared remote, and MP3 CD capability
• Distinctive and elegant design: streamlined styling with a thin, slot-loaded CD player

I've had my Bose for about two years. I'm very glad to have received it as a present because, despite some of its fine features, it certainly does not merit the hefty, comparable-to-a-small-home-stereo price tag.

I like its design and its sound.

I don't like the following "features":

1) It is the most sensitive CD player I have. It will not properly play a number of CDs, especially CD-Rs. If a disc is slightly thin, the unit will either not accept it (you have to give it a push) or not eject it (you have to open up the unit, turn it on, hit "eject," and pull the disc out). This is especially annoying when my $70 boombox plays them without a problem. Refurbishing by Bose did nothing to change my unit's sensitivity.

2) It is not programmable! It doesn't program songs at all. The best it can do is "shuffle," "shuffle repeat," "repeat track," and "repeat disc." The cheapest boombox these days is programmable.

3) The lack of buttons is annoying: I found I had to order a second remote ($10) and keep it by the box. When I called Bose about this problem, the tech suggested getting the second remote and added that a lot of people had done that. My boombox is more user-friendly (it has buttons as well as a remote).

One can argue about the merits of elegance vs. user-friendliness. But the lack of programmability and the oversensitivity of this box make it a poor buy, in my opinion.

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I have mixed feelings about the newly designed Wave System. {Only the design, NOT the sound quality, which I'm sure is still excellent.}

I have the older model {Thank God} because after just 2 yrs, and that's not very long when you consider the price. The CD player on my model with the old design started doing weird things.. It played when it felt like it. That's the only way I can describe it. So I cannot imagine how angry I would be if I owned this new style & could not get my CD out of this thing if it malfunctioned!

Now, when I had my "issue", Bose offered to "Re-manufacture" it for $125. At first I was insulted, but then I thought, "Wait a minute, for $125 they are not only going to fix the problem but they are also going to check and replace/repair anything else that may be going wrong with it so it "meets the quality standards of the Bose Corporation" & re-set the warranty." I essentially received a "new" unit for $125.00 Oh, and they also sent me a postage paid shipping box to send it to them.

This happened 3 years ago and I've had no further problems with it. So 5/5 for customer service.

As for sound, I have owned many, many audio systems in my life, large and small. NOTHING compares to this system. Well, except for attending a live performance. You will put a CD in this "Little Plastic Box" and simply be amazed at the sound that comes out!

I recently bought the larger system. Strange as it may seem, The small system actually sounds clearer to me than the large {$1,200} system.

As for this new design. I have a piece of advice. Order a replacement remote along WITH your system. Always have a back up because you will not want to wait for a new one to arrive in order to use your expensive stereo system.

Personally, I think Bose has a lot of nerve removing the manual play buttons and forcing their customers to rely on their remote.

That's why I rated it 4/5

5/5 for sound 3/5 for design {it is pretty, but it IS useless without the remote}

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Wanting to replace the boombox in my kitchen with something premium, I decided to compare my boiled-down list of tabletop radiosthe Cambridge Soundworks 740 and the Bose Wave CD. If you could only have seen the looks my wife gave me as I sat and AB'd them. :)

I was initially impressed by the Wave's good looks... until I took out the 740. It made the Wave look more like a plain-old clock radio. Although the front display on the 740 is more attractive, the Wave was easier to read when standing on angle to the unit. The 740's display of CD Text and FM radio song/station info is a really nice feature. The buttons on the 740 are arranged in a logical order with fairly easy to read function descriptions. The absence of buttons on the Wave is unfortunate. I'd rather not have to rely soley on a remote control as my only means to control the radio. Both remotes are pretty similar, but the Wave's did work a little better at further distances and angles.

The 740 can store more radio stations than the Wave, which I realized when I ran out of buttons trying to program the Wave. Speaking of radio, the 740 required more messing with the antenna to pull in the stations that the Wave was able to pull in without an antenna. The 740 comes with FM and AM antennas. The Wave comes with nada.

The sound quality difference is evident even before adjusting the settings on the 740. The Wave sounded good but the 740 was much better. Turning-on the subwoofer and setting the bass to -3 gave the best sound, IMHO. I was appalled to realize the Wave comes with no treble and bass controlsonly a talk-radio feature that acts like a loudness button only when the radio is in use, not the CD.

Unfortunately for the 740 and in-line with many other comments about it, the CD transport failed to take my disc. I was very gentle at first then became more aggressive as I figured I'd have to return it anyhow. Well, when I moved it to another room it magically started working. Maybe it isn't as mechanically reliable as the Wave, but I'm willing to take my chances. This potential issue is the only reason I'm not giving five stars. I haven't noticed the clock losing time yet as other reviewers have noted.

In summary, the 740 is sounds better, has more features, and is more attractive than the Wave. If the Wave was $250 I might have kept it instead, but at $500 this A/B comparison is over and Bose has one more open box to contend with.

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I enjoyed my old Bose Radio /CD Player for five years and decided to "upgrade" to the better sound quality of the Wave System. I purchased a Wave Music System and CD Changer. Another reviewer said the CD player in these units is Dollar-store quality. That's being generous. The base Wave unit regularly "captures" CD's, often for several days, before deciding to eject the disc. Okay, I thought, just use the Changer. Wrong. The Changer more often than not balks, skips, and otherwise rebels if you try to get it to read a disc. Sometimes if you let it "rest" for several hours it will get over the rebellion. Usually you have to unplug and "reboot" the Changer, which corrects the problem every once in a while. Both units were returned to Bose and replaced (they were good about this) but are STILL not working properly. The second Changer is actually worse than the one that was returned. I won't bother returning these units again, but won't make the mistake of purchasing Bose equipment in the future.

The CD sound quality IS better than my "old" Bose Radio/CD player (when it's working), but the "old" one is DEPENDABLE. I agree with other reviewers the radio sound quality just ain't worth the price. I don't mind having to use the remote as much as other buyers, but purchased extras in case I lost one. They're cheap.

If I could purchase the Wave Music System and CD Changer again -I wouldn't. The money I spent on these units is WAY too much for the quality. Bose used to deliver quality to their customers. Not any more.

This is an update to my first review of December 16, 2006.

I have had this for 6 years or so, and just today I went to get

this and move it out in the garage and still was kind of cursing

it because it is just about useless.

The problem comes with there being no controls on this unit.

All the other plusses or minuses are secondary to the fact that

this damn radio/cd is useless because you have always have or

know where the remote is to operate it.

You cannot even turn the thing off without the remote.

A hundred times I wish now I had never bought this miserable

annoying and very expensive sound system.

I have the first Bose Wave Radio and I use it almost every day

because I can walk over and turn on the radio, hit the presets,

listen to the station I want, or set it to AUX and listen to my

another source with it (the first one did not have a CD player)

I have not used this Bose Wave Music System in years, and I

finally realized I can use it as a speaker system for my computer

always leaving it on in the same position, or move it out to the

garage, that is it because it is completely annoying not to have

controls on the unit.

You cannot turn it off and on in a hurry, for example if you get

a telephone call, or when you are about to go to sleep you cannot

just turn it off with on press of a button. This thing is a complete

and utter waste of time and money I really hate it with a fiery

passion at this point.

I really hate Bose too for being so poor in ergonomic design.

For example, I also have the Bose Bookshelf computer speakers

for one of my computers. I love the sound, but often they speakers

hum after being left on for a very long time. There is no off switch,

so they are not ergonomic, they waste energy. They only thing Bose

has is nice speakers, they need to turn themselves into a speaker

company and let someone with a brain and a heart design products

for real human beings.

--

First, I have a lot of experience with these clock/radio/cd players. I have the Cambridge Soundworks model, and the earlier Bose model Wave Radio that I got many years ago and now the new redesigned Bose Wave Radio.

The old Bose Wave Radio is pretty close to perfection. It has buttons on it and a small remote and of course the sound is fantastic. I love the older unit and still use it a lot. I had hoped to upgrade to a product that played CDs and MP3s.

I got the new version of the Bose Wave Radio, with CD ... and changer thinking it would be the best thing I ever bought. It plays CDs, and in MP3 format, it is newer and better! I was wrong.

I am sadly mistaken. The sound quality is fine. The problem is the ergonomics is poor ... the feel of the machine to operate is annoying, and plus, when I think of Bose pumping out these machines and charging huge prices for what I consider to be an inferior product and after years of experience in this market it is enough to burst a blood vessel. Hear me out ...

The cost of a product like this drops dramatically when they remove all the buttons and internal wiring, which Bose did with new design. The price did not go down, but the functionality did. A blatant rip-off. It is the most irritating thing in the world to be sitting right next to the machine and have to reach over and pick up the little remote control and orient myself to its small and many buttons only to turn it off. Now think about being in bed and having to adjust anything.

When I think of the idiot who make that design tradeoff I know that Bose, however good the acoustic engineers are, is RUN BY GREEDY IDIOTS who do not think about their customers, just maximizing their profit margin! The remote control is nice, but the lack of buttons is unforgiveable and every time I look at it and think about using it I end up not bothering unless it is daytime and I am going to be listening to the radio for a long time.

Another thing, it is nice that they have some capacitor storage inside to keep the channel presents in the case of a power outage ... why they did not do this in the earlier unit is beyond me, but when I power on the new unit with the CD it takes longer to "boot" than my PC and makes all kinds of noise.

The digital readout is too small to be seen across the room which was true of the old unit and true of the Cambridge Audio unit as well.

What I see now when I look at Bose is a company that is all Brand, and taking advantage of it .... the play the game cleverly. They have the best sound of any of these radios and they know it, so they play games with the consumer. Did they put out an MP3 player first? No they waited until their competition did, and then they out out a product that is basically crippled and that their customers will not be happy with. Eventually to be happy with will it have to buy something else, perhaps a new Bose when they put back the buttons on it.

OK ... I am ranting here a bit, but this is important to me and it should be to all consumers. Why can't I get what I want. Why can't I expect what is a world class company to create a 100% world class product ... not just in terms of the sound, but the whole package? They charge enough for it ... it is a piece of plastic with way fewer parts than any of its competitors.

At this point my attitude about Bose is so negative that I will never again buy anything they ever make, and I hope to spread my opinions and experiences to anyone who will listen to me in hopes that they will either go out of business or decide to go back to serving their customers by designing an excellent product that meets their needs. I believe this thumbing of the nose to their customer pattern follow through to most of their products as well.

I hate to be so negative especially about a company who has some good expertise in what they do, but I would have to say avoid this and all Bose products until whoever is in charge of their rip-off customer unfriendly engineering organization is long gone and someone who has a clue gets the job.

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Jensen JCR-150 AM/FM Alarm Clock Radio

• 0.6-inch red LED display
• Wake to radio or alarm
• Sleep
• Snooze
• AC 120V/60Hz

This clock was NOT designed by anyone from NASA or Bell Labs. The numbers are way too dim to see in a normally bright room. The face of the lock is angled upwards so that in order to see it, you have to be looking DOWNWARDS at about a 45 degree angle. There is also an external wire antenna that's unsightly.

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Adesso Media Center remote control

This is a great remote for controlling an HTPC. It's not going to replace your TV remote (nor will it even be able to turn on/off your TV), but it lets you control and launch media applications like a pro.

I use an application called "Eventghost" () to trigger actions based on which buttons I push. This is how I use the remote to launch Mediaportal, for example.

Once inside your application, it has very sane defaults for controlling playback.

It sends 4 or 5 different key combinations with each button push; there is no native software to control that. But paired with Eventghost you have customization, which is a good thing.

Being able to control the mouse as well is also a win. It's kind of slow, but it works just fine and it's great to have that versatility.

There are three different zones on the remote: mouse (bottom), control (middle), playback (top).

This remote works perfectly with Windows 7 Ultimate. All I had to do was plug the receiver into a USB port, it was detected and Windows prompted to restart. I did, and all features of the remote worked without a problem. I recently built an HTPC and wanted this remote to make life easier. I also have a Logitech PS3 keyboard that works great, (it has a built-in touchpad), but I thought that the remote would be more convenient to use and it is.

Referring to other feedback: I wouldn't call the mouse pointer control slow. It's adaptive, like changing the time on a clock. The longer you hold it, the faster the pointer goes. That's really the only possible way to do it in a situation where users may need to only move the pointer a few pixels, or across the entire screen. Also, on the "dead battery" thing; I wonder if the extremely tight shrink wrap around each battery was noticed? *I* wouldn't have, except I felt the tiniest hint of a seam in the plastic...

I plugged the receiver into a USB port. Windows detected it right away and set it up, prompting for a restart at the end. Note that, (at least on my computer), the screen resolution went very low during this initial setup of the receiver, like 800x600 or something. Don't worry about that, once you restart the resolution will go back to where you had it and the remote will be working perfectly.

Read the included manual for information on what the buttons do and have fun! The remote is a good shape in general, and just right for holding and using your thumb on the round pad to control mouse pointer movement. The mouse pad is kind of like the D-pad on a console controller and is very easy to get used to. Lastly, the remote is able to contact the receiver quite easily; you don't have to "aim" to get the remote to work.

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The sensor is very good. This will give limited capabilities in XP. I used it to move cursor and can actually use it to forward using Netflix movie streaming. Bargain at this price! Works really well in Media Center. Windows 7 Home and Premium comes with Media Center Edition. Hopefully MS will add more functionality. I recommend this remote to everyone with W7 HP.

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This remote works great with Media center. I was using it with XBMC along with event ghost. A lot of buttons emulate keystrokes so be wary of this. Also the mouse pad is useful, but really not as good as you might think. You have to turn the mouse sensitivity up high in order to get around quickly.

For the price, it does what it should and the build quality is good. I recommend it.

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The Adesso ARC-1100 Remote control is easy to use and has lots of functions. This is the perfect compliment to Windows Media Center.

It worked right out of the box. I just attached the infrared receiver to a USB port and was up and running right away.

There is nothing that I do in WMC at my keyboard that I can't do from my couch with this handy remote control. And as an added bonus, the mouse controller built into the remote means I can do all sorts of PC functions with it and remain sitting in my favorite easy chair across the room.

And the price is right!

One word of advice if you are shopping for a remote control. The ARC-1100 is not a real or universal remote control nor does it pretend to be. You can not use it to control any of your other devices.

I highly recommend this product for anyone seeking a remote control for use with Windows Media Center.

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