Sangean PR-D2 AM/FM/TV Stereo Digital Q-Radio (Gold)

Rating:
Summary: Great Bedside Radio
Review: This would appear to be a car radio circuit put in an attractive, rather retro looking package. You get your five preset buttons, and the display is in a panel that looks like it would be at home in a dashboard as well as in the radio you're given.

You get car radio performance out of the radio circuit as well. First night I got it, on the AM side on a spring night I got New Orleans, Toronto, and Cleveland. The FM circuit appears to be just as solid, giving good reception on stations that usually are not easy to hear on the radio it replaced.

There's even a terminal to attach an external AM antenna to this thing; unfortunately there's no provision for an external FM antenna. The FM sound quality is solid, even though stereo can only be had through headphones. As a radio, this would be useful for sports fans and other AM listeners who follow teams in distant cities at night.

The clock radio part is very basic, however, with only one clock or alarm setting. When the radio comes on, as noted below, the display shows the frequency instead of the time; you can't set up for a different display. There's no fancy stuff that allows you to fall asleep to one station and wake to another, or to adjust the sleep and wake volume to different settings. The only way you get a clock memory is to add the batteries that power the radio itself: four D cells. The whole package is rather heavy with the batteries in.

If your needs for a clock radio are very basic, this would work fine. If the performance of the radio is more important than the performance of the clock, again this is a good choice. If you need a multifeature clock radio, look elsewhere.

Rating:
Summary: A lot of radio. Not so much clock.
Review: This would appear to be a car radio circuit put in an attractive, rather retro looking package. You get your five preset buttons, and the display is in a panel that looks like it would be at home in a dashboard as well as in the radio you're given.

You get car radio performance out of the radio circuit as well. First night I got it, on the AM side on a spring night I got New Orleans, Toronto, and Cleveland. The FM circuit appears to be just as solid, giving good reception on stations that usually are not easy to hear on the radio it replaced.

There's even a terminal to attach an external AM antenna to this thing; unfortunately there's no provision for an external FM antenna. The FM sound quality is solid, even though stereo can only be had through headphones. As a radio, this would be useful for sports fans and other AM listeners who follow teams in distant cities at night.

The clock radio part is very basic, however, with only one clock or alarm setting. When the radio comes on, as noted below, the display shows the frequency instead of the time; you can't set up for a different display. There's no fancy stuff that allows you to fall asleep to one station and wake to another, or to adjust the sleep and wake volume to different settings. The only way you get a clock memory is to add the batteries that power the radio itself: four D cells. The whole package is rather heavy with the batteries in.

If your needs for a clock radio are very basic, this would work fine. If the performance of the radio is more important than the performance of the clock, again this is a good choice. If you need a multifeature clock radio, look elsewhere.