Etón FR500 Solarlink (Black)
by Eton
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List Price: Our Price: $64.99 You Save: $35.01 (35%) Availability: Usually ships in 1-2 business days Category: CE See more product details |
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Digital Cameras Photo Reviews of Etón FR500 Solarlink (Black)
Customer Review: Some features work but could be better, shortwave is useless
Summary: 3 Stars
Parts of this radio work acceptably but not well, others don't.
The unit seems to be very durable and would probably be very useful during a disaster. There are many ways to power it and with the free cel phone adapters it would do a great job of keeping you in touch with the outside world. The built in flashlight is fairly decent although my unit arrived with one of the LEDs non-functional. If you leave it near a window, the built in solar panels seem to do a good job of keeping the battery charged.
The interface isn't too bad but could use some improvement. The power source knob is a little confusing and not well documented, but can be figured out by turning it to one of the 4 settings until whatever you want to happen happens. The display has a light, but the button to activate it is difficult to find in the dark because it is the same shape as several other buttons near it. The snooze button is similarly tiny and hard to find in the dark.
Weather radio reception is loud and clear and the alert feature is somewhat useful. It doesn't seem like you can listen to the radio or use the unit as a flashlight while the weather alert feature is enabled.
The AM/FM radio reception is just ok. It's very difficult to tune stations in, as the tuning is analog and sometimes turning it small amounts in a direction results in the frequency changing in the wrong direction. It takes a couple seconds of gentle nudges to get the frequency correct.
The shortwave radio simply does not work for me without any sort of external antenna. I can't pick up a single station. I imagine that even with a proper antenna, tuning would be very difficult due to the knob being very imprecise. When in shortwave mode, the display shows you the frequency in MHz and will only show you the frequency to the nearest 5KHz.
Overall, I'd say it's good for emergencies, but not well suited for daily use. It might be a better idea to get one of the less expensive units which lack a clock and shortwave radio.
Customer Review: So-So
Summary: 3 Stars
Customer review from the Amazon Vine™ Program (What's this?)
I already have a Grundi FR200 and, having enjoyed that radio, use it as something of a benchmark for crisis radio gear.
The FR500 is more bulky and feels less sturdy than the FR200. It could be that it has better lightweight materials or could be more cheaply made. I have only had it for a couple of months and it works fine though usage has been light.
An added feature is the solar power panel. This worked inside through a window but does not seem to last long. Still, the core of the rechargeable radio remains the hand crank. This one works and has an added light to indicate charging. However, I find the crank on the side of the FR200 to be easier to use.
As for the radio itself, FM and AM reception was okay (I am in SoCal). One weather band came in, though there was some interruption. Nothing at all came in on the short wave.
The siren works but having owned radios and flashlights with that feature for years I have never had the plausible occasion to use them. The flashlight also works and is more obviously useful. I like the placement -- on the side -- better than on the front as in the FD200.
The knobs are not very ergonomic. There is nothing intuitive about them and they are literally all over the flashlight (on the side, on the top but underneath the handle, on the right near the bottom between the case protrusions, on left near the bottom between case protrusions).
Customer Review: Design is a little strange
Summary: 3 Stars
Customer review from the Amazon Vine™ Program (What's this?)
Our radio arrived non-functioning. The indicator lights turned on, and all features except the radio worked. After about an hour of trying to get it to work, we banged on it and that fixed it. I have no idea how that helped. I find the design of the multifunction knob and the band selecting knob to be quite strange...they are the silver tubes in the cutouts in the picture. Not very intuitive. The solar panel is built into the top of the handle...where you would be holding it if you were carrying it on a walk. That doesn't make much sense to me either because your hand is blocking quite a bit of the panel so the unit won't be receiving much light for charging. I think the smaller unit like the American Red Cross FR150 Microlink by Eton is at least as good as this unit unless you need a feature that this unit has. One such feature is that this radio takes batteries while the other doesn't. I haven't had the need to use this during an actual emergency yet, so I'm not able to report on the features' use for emergencies.Customer Review: Pretty Good Radio
Summary: 3 Stars
I bought this because it was featured on Good Morning America. Gotta trust Sam Champion!
The first radio had a broken solar panel when received. Communication with Amazon.com, returning the broken radio and obtaining the replacement was fast and easy.
The radio sounds just fine and the features seem to work.
I think the instruction booklet is hard to use because of the size of the illustrations and some of the explanations are minimal.
I am trying to determine if the solar panel is actually charging the ni-cad battery. There is an indicator light, but it does not seem to change. I have not yet used the toll free number. That will be my next step.
Customer Review: Emergency Radio
Summary: 3 Stars
I did significant research to find an emergency radio for myself and my kid's homes in view of the way things are in the world at present. I settled on this model for several reasons and am mostly pleased with the purchase, but.... I do wish it were waterproof and I do wish it had a wider range of reception. It also does not come with an adaptor which to my way of thinking should be standard equipemnt with such an item. However, for a price you can order one from Amazon.com to fit this radio. It takes a bit of poking around to get it going and the tuning is touchy but all in all it works and I am glad I got it.