Etón FR400 Special Edition Pink Crank-Powered Emergency Radio with AM/FM, NOAA and TV-VHF

Amazon Customer Reviews

(5 out of 5)

Excellent Weather Radio. It works Great

After noting some less than satisfactory reviews by others on similar Eaton products , I decided to go ahead and buy this product. I found that the FR400 meets all my criteria in a weather radio. First, the crank system covers our communications need should we have an extended power outage.This past week, over 100,000 people were without power in our area. The crank generating system works excellent. It actually works easier than I thought that it would. I also find the Alert function very important. You simple turn a Selector Knob to Alert, and when the National Weather Service issues an alert, the radio comes on automatically. This alert gives you advance warning of dangerous weather, and can save your life in case a tornado is about to happen near you.It also warns you of other bad weather conditions such as extreme straight line winds and hail. Flood Warnings are also covered in these alerts.

Yes we have tornado sirens for impending tornados. Since we have satellite TV reception, we usually lose our TV signal just as the bad storms get close to us. With the FR400, we easily can slide the selection bar and tune in any of several TV stations, and pick up the sound portion of the broadcast. We can also access our local FM and AM radio channels.The reception is excellent on both AM and FM bands. I have mine set to Channel ll the CBS TV affiliate in Dallas/Fort Worth. The tuning bar reads TV2. Channel 5, a lower number would be set on TV1. We consider this product an excellent value, and recommend this model due to the included AC Adapter. The included cell phone adapters fit both my wife's cell phone and my own. Hers is an ancient Motorola and mine is a recent LG. There are excellent set up instructions should you need them from the Eton website. It's actually very simple to set up. Lights, Sirens, Radio, Crank and Auto settings are clearly marked. Dialing is no problem, and the TV and Weather Service reception is excellent. This product has it all, and is a must for having a dependable weather warning or disaster communication radio.

(4 out of 5)

Surprised at how happy I am, especially after several negative reviews.

This radio is reviewed on Amazon several times, but most are under the Red Cross version's listing, even though this is exactly the same radio. I read several negative reviews prior to buying this item. Well, as it turns out I think this is a nice little unit. I would describe the sound overall as good. Maybe I'll amend this review in the future, but I'm happy with the features, design & performance.
Opening the battery cover and connecting the battery was just that simple, and it has remained securely closed. Maybe the design has been modified because that procedure has gotten a lot of negative feedback, but I can't see any reason there would be a problem. The cellphone charging cord & several connectors (let's be honest...we're never going to use this) were included, and my Sanyo phone is covered.
This is a light, inexpensive case. The tuner seems fine. Here in NYC I've had no trouble tuning in the various AM & FM stations that I like. This is not a high-end indestructable radio. I think this is a good, relatively solidly built & designed radio that can be used every day. I charged it over night with the included adapter. It's brought me a few ballgames over the past few days without needing a charge (I'm just going to let it drain completely once to complete a battery cycle). I like this little radio very much.

(3 out of 5)

It's the Little Things That Raises Questions

It's the little things that define the quality of a product. Having just received the Eton FR400 I can't attest to how well it will work under emergency conditions -- which is, after all, why one buys something like this. But there's a few little things that make me nervous about its quality and design.

The plastic strikes me as cheap. How will it stand up to getting knocked around?

The case is a textbook case of poor design. It fits the radio so tightly that it turns on switches when you insert the radio -- if you can get the radio into the case. Plus there's no room for the AC charger. This may sound peevish, but it's this kind of poor craftmanship which can be symbolic of a short sighted company. What good is a case if it's a pain to use? What good is it if it turns on features that drain the battery? What good is it if you can't carry accessories that comes with the radio?

And the key question, how good is a company that puts out a product so poorly designed? Was Eton trying to cut corners? If so, where else did they scrimp? Did anyone test the case before manufacturing it? If so, what kind of standards do they have?

Bottom line: the device has all the features listed here, but their execution makes me wonder if it was worth getting.

(4 out of 5)

Info on Digital for this item...

I needed more info on this radio and others so I called Amazon tech support. I was given the Eton customer service number: 1-800-872-2228.

The Eton FR400 has TV capabilities that will become obsolete in 2009 as the signals will all be switched to digital for the TV portion of this radio. All other functions will work. The updated model, Eton FR405, is the same as this radio only without the TV signal capability. The FR405 is only available at Best Buy at this time. For my money, the FR400 with TV capabilities, while the TV signals last, is a better buy.

This radio is water resistant. A waterproof model would be perfect. We've lost a couple of cell phones in the river and water kills them fast. Sun dried cell phones are never the same if they even flicker with life at all. So, now I look for waterproof when buying anything that might get wet or fall overboard. An emergency radio is in that class.

Another newer model coming on the scene soon will be the Eton FR1000--no TV capability, but it will come with a walkie talkie. This is being tested now and should be the next model you will see on the market.

Eton does not make a GPS system combined with NOAA radio capabilities. They also do not have a unit with both shortwave and NOAA combined--apparently the circuitry on the two things are not compatable. No one has this.

I want something that will be equally useful on land, at sea or in a vehicle. I want an "emergency" unit that packages many of the things I may need for "survival" communication. Okay, I really meant everything I might need. :) I haven't found the perfect NOAA radio yet.

The other thing that is not available is an NOAA radio with digital TV. Apparently, the digital components are too expensive at this time to add this feature to these radios and maintain a decent price point. So, companies are simply deleting TV from the mix.

This model, Eton FR400, will charge a cell phone battery. None of the connections come with the unit. You send in for them. The first cell phone adapter connector is free, additional ones cost $5 each. Eton tries to keep a number of cell phone battery charger adaptors in stock, but you may want to see if they have your specific adaptor before making a purchase because they don't carry them all.

Amazon has inflated the retail price on this unit. It sells for $60 directly from Eton, plus $10 shipping.

The unit is larger than I expected. This is okay, but wouldn't a cell phone sized unit be wonderful! Waterproof of course.

UPDATE 2-7-2008: The Eton FR1000 has been released this month. I haven't seen it on Amazon yet, but it is available at some other retailers. Check online. The retail price is $150.

(3 out of 5)

broke down too fast

radio features are good. however after only a few months the on-off switch no longer works properly and radio can now only be used on crank or battery -- not plug-in so I'm not sure that the alert works.

Myself, I prefer products that are going to last several years with ordinary use.