Etón American Red Cross ARCFR360R Solarlink Self-Powered Digital AM/FM/NOAA Radio with Solar Power,

• AM (520-1710 KHz) & FM (87-108MHz) NOAA weatherband ¿ all 7 channels Built-in 3 white LED light source 1 flashing red LED
• Can be powered from four different sources: Dynamo/hand crank which charges the Ni-MH battery; From 3 AAA batteries (not included);
• USB cell phone charger (USB cable not included) 3.5 mm headphone input Dimensions: 6.25x 6.5x 2.75and 158.75 x 165 x 69.85 mm (W x H x D)
• Accessories: owner's manual, warranty card Specifications subject to change.Weight: 1 lb. and 450 g
• From the AC via USB adapter (not included); Solar power which charges Ni-MH battery

The features of this radio made it sound like it would be a good thing to have handy in case of an emergency, particularly the ability to recharge a cell phone from it. But I was very disappointed to learn that this radio was made so poorly, and so many things were wrong with it that I'm having to send it back for a refund. The backlight for the display did not work. The alert button would not operate. I could run it on crank power but the button to switch to battery power would not operate. I could get AM stations only (not even static on FM or shortwave) and it would not stay on a single station for long. The instructions were minimal. The overall design is poor. It's made of cheap plastic and everything feels like it might break if you bumped it. I won't be buying another one of these, that's for sure.

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EDIT:

I forgot about this review and this product altogether really. It lasted about a year and then just fell apart. The antenna just up and fell out. I pretty much only used the radio for AM so i hardly ever even pulled the thing out. But one time i took out the radio and the antenna just fell out and i couldn't get back in. That was on top of the fact that the thing just stopped working around the same time. The tiny LCD was the first thing to go, just stopped turning on. Shortly after that the only thing that worked was the flashlight. Thing worked two years at the most not including the flashlight.

I wouldn't buy this again. There has to be something better. Something that comes with a charger, doesn't have a waste of battery power LCD, and doesn't fall apart like a cheap POS. I really liked it when it worked and i'd consider buying something similar, but this thing was an overall disappointment.

OLD REVIEW:

I bought this about 6 months ago and i really like it. Some people apparently expect this radio to work miracles. I mainly bought the radio as something to take with me when i'm fishing. I thought initially some of the knobs seemed sort of cheap, but they get clanked around in my fishing bag and i don't see them breaking. The crank knob seems a little cheap and the rivets on it hurt your fingers after cranking for a while. You get about 15 minutes of decent volumed radio for 1 minute of straight cranking(and you can listen while you crank).

The battery life isn't super long but we're talking three AAAs here, so you shouldn't really be expecting much.

A decent sunshine will charge the battery or play the radio at a decent volume. The more sunshine, the more power.

Other reviews whined about reception. Well, i was fishing in a storm 4 1/2 hours away from my local AM station and that station came in crystal clear, it was unbelievable. Although the distance was due to the storm, that shows you the distance this radio is capable of. I have had absolutely no tuning problems, especially with AM which is what i normally listen to.

I can't speak to HDMI, cell phone charger, or audio in jack; but i like everything else on the radio. My only major gripe is that they should charge you 5 extra bucks and give you an adapter instead of forcing you to order it. Idealy, i'd like to have batteries for back up and be able to charge my radio in the wall for recreational use. I also don't think the digital screen is necessary, which is why the Eton FR300 might be better. Even with that said, for my 50 bucks i have been pretty happy with the product so far.

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If you're of my generation you remember the old transistor radios with the antenna you'd have to tweak "just so" to get your station. Well this thing makes that look like rocket science. Even close FM stations fade in and outmore so when you personally move away from the unit making tuning a joke. Plain crummy sound when you do get anything. The rechargeable batteries barely hold a charge for a week when not being used, and I'm fairly sure (although they never said it) that the system only charges a cell phone (one of the big reasons I bought it) when you're turning the crank. It doesn't seem to charge through the solar cell. The tuners are crummy, buttons hard to see and use and it is very easy to deplete the 3-AAA "real" batteries by unknowingly leaving the unit on somehow.... but it's a cute little thing.

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I don't know what may have been wrong with the other reviewers products, but this radio works great and I couldn't be happier with its construction or what is designed to do. I made sure the rechargeable batteries were plugged in before I ran the hand crank and I have been listening to it while I have been typing this review. Works great and I can't wait to use it for camping and for my emergency preparedness kit.

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I am sorry that I didnt read the reviews before I bought this piece of junk. This thing goes through batteries so fast that I cant keep up with it. I've had better service with a $10 transistor radio. If you like to crank your arm off then buy one. In case of an emergency they'll find your body with your hand wrapped around the crank handle because you probably used up your batteries in about 1 hour.