C. Crane Sonido Radio
by Sangean
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List Price: Category: CE See more product details |
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Customers in the UK,
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for British Pounds
Digital Cameras Photo Reviews of C. Crane Sonido Radio
Customer Review: A Radio everyone should have
Summary: 5 Stars
The radio is clear, crisp and the sound is terrific. You get what you pay for. This was well worth it.Customer Review: Better Than Most
Summary: 4 Stars
When my nearly 20 year old Sony Dream Machine cube style alarm clock radio finally gave out I decided to go in search of the best night stand alarm clock radio money could buy. The requirements were design style, sound quality, reception, ease of use, and a back light that goes completely off so that I can sleep at night. After a good deal of research I zeroed in on the Tivoli SongBook ($159) and the Sangean Sonido ($99). After trying both, here's what I've found:
The Tivoli SongBook has very attractive, modern styling (I prefer the black model), exceptional sound quality (like having a $1,000 Bose next to my bed), terrific reception (I don't even need to extend the antenna to get my favorite radio station clearly), very easy to set/update the clock and alarm times, and a back light which thankfully goes completely off. I decided to give the Sonido a try because of the SongBooks negatives - the alarm must be turned on everyday buy pushing down and holding the alarm button for a few seconds (easy to do, but I fear the day that I forget), no alarm snooze (I just turn the volume down), and the display, with or without it's beautiful blue back light turned on, is small and difficult to read, even from only a foot or so away while lying in bed.
The Sangean Sonido looks nice, though not quite as attractive a design as the SongBook (the shinny silver buttons have got to go!), cost's $59 less than the SongBook, has a more readable screen than the SongBook (with back light that goes completely off), has an alarm snooze, and has an alarm that stays on from day to day. While I haven't made my final decision yet on which to keep, I'm leaning toward the SongBook given the Sonido's shortcomings - to get my favorite station clearly I must extend the antenna directly upwards creating an unsightly mess, while much better than a Sony Dream Machine the speaker audio quality is only about half as good as the SongBooks (I think this is what really spoiled it for me, though in the end it might be good enough), and even though the display is nicer when the radio alarm sounds the display shows the radio station number, not the time!
Both the Sonido and the SongBook have their own pluses and minuses, either one being a very good choice. Hope this review helps you decide.
Update: In the end I decided to go with the Sonido. I exchanged my first unit and the replacement had much better audio quality (though still not as good as the SongBook). The reception remains less than stellar, but while using the SongBook I was late for a meeting because of it's lack of full alarm function features, so it had to go.
Customer Review: good solid radio
Summary: 4 Stars
I've owned this unit for about a year. I go to bed to it (sleep function) and get up with it (alarm/radio) almost daily. 80% NPR and 20% classic rock.
Pros: Good am/fm reception. A/C and D/C power options and timed backlit display are necessary for use as alarm clock. A/C plug is included. Speaker is fully adequate. Stereo headphone output is nice feature. Case quality is good and rubberized buttons are a nice touch. Good to have at least one weather-band radio at home.
Cons: Ocassional unexpected behavior regarding alarm: I set radio and get buzzer or vice versa. Rare enough and easily dealt with so as to not outweight the positives for me. I could use more than 5 FM presets--minor compliant. Analog TV reception feature no longer relevant in US after February 2009.
There are lots of cheap radios being sold at big box stores that provide very lousy reception. This is not one of them. Lots of great features wrapped up into a solid, quality product. Difficult to find a similar set of features in a comparable product at this pricepoint.
Customer Review: Solid
Summary: 4 Stars
I bought this radio to use primarily on weekend camping trips. Overall it is great little radio. The sound quality for a 3 inch speaker is top-notch. It only gets distorted with the volume near max. The features are easy to figure out even without instructions. The materials are of high quality. The only beef I have is that the AM reception is not as good as other Sangean products I have used. It is good, just not great. The FM reception is above average and very clear. Also the battery life might be the best I've seen in a portable radio. Four cheap D batteries have easily lasted two three-day trips.
When at home we use this as a kitchen radio. It's small footprint and aux. input have proven to be very useful in this role. I love the weatherband features, particularly the standby alert for severe weather.
Overall it has proven to be a solid radio that serves it's purpose very well. I would strongly recommend this product if you are looking for good sound quality in a small, well built package.
Customer Review: Great portable radio
Summary: 4 Stars
This is a great, but not perfect, radio. After hearing much about the C. Crane radios and reading reviews, I thought I would give the Sonido a try.
I am a UPS driver, and need a portable radio for my package car. This model definitely meets most of my needs. For it's size, it kicks out an adequate amount of volume. It uses 4 D size batteries and a week into it (10 hours a day) it still has 2 of 3 battery indicators remaining.
The only knock on it is that there are a couple of AM channels that should be coming in somewhat better than they do. Other than that, I would highly recommend this radio to anyone who is looking for a smaller, attractive, and great sounding radio.
**UPDATE**
I finally had to change the batteries. At about 80% volume, roughly 10 hours a day, they lasted 14 days...so approximately 130-150 hours. Not bad!