Tecsun PL-390 DSP Digital AM/FM/LW Shortwave Radio with Dual Speakers, Silver

• PLL Synthesized AM/FM/LW/SW Radio with DSP (Digital Signal Processing) Technology
• Dual 2.5" Speakers prvoide FM broadcasting in stereo
• Patented ETM Tuning (Easy Tuning Mode) plus 550 memories
• 12/24 Alarm clock with C/F thermometer + Sleep timer + Built-in battery charger
• Earphone jack for private listening & Line-in for MP3 Players

I was very excited to receive this radio after doing a lot of research on reasonably priced but feature rich shortwave radio receivers. Several radio hobby sites metioned this radio in very favorable terms. Indeed when the radio arrived I was pleased by the build quality of the unit, and the feature set that the radio had, especially the DSP chip.

I was able to pull in a slew of shortwave stations in quite clearly (of course a lot depended upon time of day and atmopsheric conditions.) I could routinely receive signals from Asia, Australia, South America and Europe. Most came in very clearly especially considering the 390 is not a high end radio. The 390 pulled in over twice the amount of stations the Sony ICF-SW7600GR I had purchased before this radio.

I was very pleased with this radio in the beginning. So much so that I bought two as gifts and another for work. After having the unit for three days, the 390 started to continually freeze up for no reason. I would have to remove the batteris, wait 20 minutes and put the batteris back in. The day after that the tuning dial went wonky. So before the other radios I ordered arrived I had to send the first one back. My opinion of this radio plummeted shortly thereafter.

The other three radios arrived. I thought it best to test them before I gave two of them as gifts. I ran each of them for a seven day cycle, carefully testing then out. One of the three was bad right out of the box with a defective display and a defective tuner. That one went back to Amazon for a replacement. The second unit had terrible radio reception on all bands and very poor sensitivity. The third froze up continually from the beginning.

So four radios ended up going back to Amazon for replacement. To make a long story short, after several exchanges to try and get four that worked properly, I ended up finally getting two that worked properly. At that point I gave up exchanging the 390's and kept the two I had.

What I found most intersting and aggravating at the same time is that I received several radios that were consecutive serial numbers, and none of them performed the same way even though they came of the line at the same time. I'll use radio reception as a prime example. I set up three of these radios up side by side (all three consecutive serial numbers) and the quality of signals they could pull in were all over the map. One could pull in several stations very clearly, one pulled in almost as many stations in fairly well, and the third could not pull in any sations clearly and had a constant buzz .

So as much as I love the feature set of these little radios, they suffer from the worst QC I've ever encountered in a radio.

What prompted we to write this review, is that one of the two I still have has just started to continually lock up.

Until Tecsun can improve the QC on their radios I suggest you avoid them all together. This is another glaring example of a great product ruin by unforgivably poor Chinese quality control.

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I've had two of the PL390's, do not install the batteries backwards like I did with the first one... there is a nice clear picture next to the battery compartment that I didn't look at because I didn't want to fish for glasses...

Some sellers include the batteries, earphone, charger, etc. and some don't, check what you are getting before you click the button to purchase..

I've been a radio afficionado for many decades. I first started hearing about Digital Signal Processing a long time ago and was looking forward to the day when somebody would provide the capability in an inexpensive chipset so consumers could have the experience... for FM it's a yawner, nothing gets much better but for AM and Shortwave it's a huge benefit... I had an expensive Sony handheld that would scan for available shortwave stations. It could only detect if there was a signal or not so it would collect all these frequencies that had just some steady noise. The Tecsun 390 detects intelligible signals when it scans, that is a whole 'nother level of scanning... I tossed out the 20' antenna on the beach once and the scanning found 60+ shorwave stations with intelligible signals and not a single noisy carrier one... I was very pleased with that. For Medium Wave [AM stations] it's a fine piece of gear, if there is noise, just narrow the bandwidth and tune off the center of the frequency and many times the noise can be reduced and the otherwise unintelligible AM signal can be understood just fine... The radio does have the two speakers, that probably helps with FM music a little, it all sounds fine to me basically but it sounds a lot better with the supplied earbuds and better yet with some high quality headphones... being able to recharge it with a wall adapter or from a USB computer port is very neat, the included batteries charge in a couple of hours and last me many days with the radio in use an hour or two a day...

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The Tecsun PL-390 World band Radio is an excellent radio. The radio has multiple band from AM / FM / Short Wave. I live in the Texas Panhandle and

it's hard to get radio stations in the immediate vicinity,however the Tecsun PL-390 easily receives radio stations from distant locations. I'm very

pleased with the qualities of the radio and the price I paid for it. I recommend this radio to anyone who enjoys good radio programs and excellent reception.

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I have just received my new PL390, two days back.

While playing with it sitting near my laptop in India, I was thrilled to note that on SW 9870 KHz this radio played flawlessly. I am sure that all other radios would have caught RF noise so near to the computer. :-)

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After reading many glowing reviews for the Tecsun PL-390 I picked one up at Amazon. I was particularly looking forward to connecting it to my iPod. What a a cool little radio this is! I love the digital tuning, the ability to set up to 550 station presets, the very compact size for a dual-speaker configuration, the ability to pick up AM,FM and SW broadcasts. The manual is OK, but it's a tad complicated to figure out the tuning at first. Once over that tiny hurdle tuning is really simple. Hooking it up to an iPod is easy. All you need is a stereo connect cable. The bass response is a bit weak, but what do you expect from a radio this small? Included in the box are the radio, a set of cheap earphones, a small extension antenna, the manual and a cool carrying case that holds everything. Install a set of three AAA batteries and you're all set. I'm enjoying my Tecsun PL-390 and if you're looking for a small, battery-operated, stereo radio that you can connect to your iPod, I think you ought to check this baby out.