 Terrific Performance. |
| Review Date: June 7, 2009 |
| Reviewer: Sam A. Mead, CO |
The Eton 160 is an incredible upgrade on exterior design. It seems slicker and better designed than the 150, but not necessarily a huge technological advance. Being able to charge on the go and use the solar to passively charge the device is a great backup.
The three-led light is extremely bright and runs on extremely low battery power. The weatherbands tune in perfectly, with AM/FM stations sometimes requiring the antenna pulled completely out.
The dynamo crank seems relatively strong, but slightly oversized when needing to crank it for a while--as in charging a phone.
One thing has been added, a cell switch on the front of the radio, which designates all power to charging an added device. But one thing has been removed, the AC power adaptor option has been removed since the 150--it was unnecessary anyways.
I haven't worried about breaking the device and I've dropped the radio before--no problem resulted. I've already found it useful in a storm we had today in Colorado! Great device! |
Best Solar Powered Radio For The Price....No Battery Option
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| Review Date: September 3, 2009 |
| Reviewer: Ambergris, New England.....USA |
| Weather radios are sort of a hobby of mine. There is just about no place I can go on my property that there isn't one within reach somewhere. Six different brands are represented presently by what I own, including a more expensive Eton that is not my best radio. This small, (and I mean small) new line from Eton is a whole new animal to be sure. Its controls and design are very user friendly. And the reception on all channels, including the weather, is very loud and clear. Its true that the dial numbers for the AM FM are very small as some other reviewers have mentioned and can make it hard to tune accurately. But that is something common, as well as for me expected in a radio so small. What sets this unit apart from all the others I own in my opinion is its price and solar power. It is without a doubt the cheapest weather radio I have come across that is solar powered. Big, small, or otherwise. Even though one has been able to buy solar powered calculators at discount stores for less than $10 for years now, for some reason the weather radio industry has treated solar power as something still high tech and to be appreciated only in their most expensive units. My only other solar powered radio cost me over $60. The only possible down side that I should mention about this radio is that it does not take batteries. It would have been nice if they included that option. But they didn't and its either the solar power or crank. This could be a very big negative for some folks who would feel comfortable knowing they could just stick some batteries in it if all else fails. Although 90% of the time the solar power is all you should ever need, if you will routinely keep this in a rather dark place, or happen to be lost out in the savage wilderness someplace with this radio in a continuous cloud cover, be ready to do a whole heap of crankin'. All in all, its finally nice to see a very reasonably priced unit that is solar powered and of a very quality build and design as well. I highly recommend the Eton for a portable unit that can be taken anywhere easily, powered effortlessly, and gives quality performance all in one package.... |
Excellent Item for Travel, Backpacking, Camping, Etc
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| Review Date: July 1, 2009 |
| Reviewer: golem, CA, USA |
This is truly a phenomenal product. Everything works as described, including the cell phone charging which can be quite a boon when going away from electricity - abroad, to other countries, or hiking/camping/backpacking.
The light - powerful halogen type LEDs that power the device, as strong as a good bike light. Battery can be charged via solar or hand crank. Three to five minutes of hand crank has given me over two hours of battery life, and still no sign of dying battery. That's quite a great find for people who need a flashlight all the time like I do.
The radio - a bit weak with the speakers, but works. Includes a weather band. A bit of a blah item, especially since the dials pop off all the time.
The charger - Great little device. Can charge all your Apple iPod products, including bluetooth headsets, and your iPhone. A big reason I waited for the next gen Eton charger was for the iPhone charging...really great and works well. Charge your iPhone, iPhone 3G (and probably the new 3GS).
Well worth $30 |
Very good product for what it's designed for
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| Review Date: July 10, 2009 |
| Reviewer: Amazon Feedbacker, CA & TX |
I read numerous reviews about this product and had concerns re: people's feedback -- quality, lack of A/C power adapter, time/effort to recharge a cell phone, USB charger which is useless when there's no power, etc. But I decided to buy one just because I've got a young family and it's my responsibility [gulp] to be at least minimally prepared. You got to admit that these storms in recent years (not to mention tornados, earthquakes, fires, and other disasters that occur constantly) demonstrate that help may take days or weeks to arrive. That's a long time when you remember that lights, ATM's, radios, etc don't work when bad things happen.
So I pulled the trigger w/ low expectations and am I glad I did. These FR-160's are ideal for their purpose: they provide basic lighting & communication (read: radio/weather) in case of emergency. The quality was shockingly good for only $30. And they're small -- pretend your hand is in a mitten and subtract your thumb...about that size. They're not meant to provide music for a party so don't expect it amazing quality sound. They're not designed to be used on the ocean as your boat's only radio. Don't drop it off a cliff and expect it to be good as new. They're designed to be a compact combination radio/flashlight that can be a lifesaver if you ever need it.
Keep safe...
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The Perfect Emergency Radio!
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| Review Date: September 5, 2009 |
| Reviewer: William L. Drevo, Jr., Texas |
| The reasons this Eton-manufactured emergency radio is the ideal emergency radio are: 1) small, compact size, 2) shock-absorbing case, 3) sensitive AM/FM/NOAA Weather tuner picks up weak signals, 4) handy 3-LED flashlight on left-hand end of the radio's case, 5) Earphone jack under dust cover on the right-hand side of the case, 6) USB port under same dust cover on the right-hand side of the case, 7) All radio bands will run 4-5 hours at low volume on full charge of the internal NiMH battery, 8) Solar panel on top of the radio's case is strong enough to power the radio indefinitely (as long as the solar panel is 'seeing' daylight), 9) the internal NiMH can be re-charged via the solar panel during daylight hours, an external transformer or the hand-cranked dynamo. You get all of these features for the low price of $30, plus free 'Super Saver' shipping from Amazon.Com. You can pay a lot more for an emergency radio and get a whole lot less! |
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