Home > Consumer Reviews > Cobra PR-190-2 VP Micotalk 10-Mile Range 2-Way Radio - 2 Pack

I own a tri-level house, My wife's office is on the third level, mine on the ground floor, I have a very bad left knee, hardly wants to bend making stairs a very difficult trip, tried using our cell phones, wow!, too expensive!, yelling makes us nervous and almost unintelligible, so we have tried this Cobra PR-190-2VP microtalk 2-way radio, well it works just fine for this limited use and as long as it does that, I will be happy, the sound is very clear and is very easy to use, the batteries are NO GOOD!, two would take not even the slightest charge, found some name brand on sale at a nationally know "drug store", they were already charged so there was no lag time, my advise is to get the batteries first, buy the radio and throw the cheap batteries away!

We live in the hills of TN, where my husband & sons traverse & hunt regularly, these little babies do what they say, no problems getting a clear signal over/under hills, hollows & ridges! They work just fine!
As a matter of fact, I believe this is the same set my husband had me re-order for a monthly give away for the kids youngsportsman.com website for the month of August '08 see then here: http://www.youngsportsman.com/

As an inexpensive pair of "walkie talkies", these are fine for kids. As a previous reviewer noted, the very fine print states that you indeed need an FCC license to use most channels ("A user must be licensed prior to operating on Channels 1 thorough 7 or 15 through 22, which comprise the GMRS channels of this radio"). My biggest complaint, however, lies with the made-in-China rechargeable batteries--at least half of them would not recharge, and yes, I did try them in different combinations and in both handsets and with both leads of the charger. The units chew through battery life so quickly that you definitely will want rechargeable batteries. Consequently, I have more than doubled the cost of the units by purchasing quality rechargeable batteries (you need a total of 6).

We bought these to use on a cruise ship. Our cousin used the same model on a Carnival cruise and they worked great for him. We took them on the Freedom of the Seas which is currently the largest cruise ship and we were disappointed. They only worked occasionally. After the second day we stopped carrying them around. I understand that it is a large ship with a lot of structure for the signal to go through, but what we couldn't understand was why they would work only half the time when we used them in the exact same location. At one point my daughter was looking down at us from our room 3 stories up and we were talking on to her on these and she wasn't getting the signal. But at another time they worked from the same location. We tried making sure they were fully charged, but still didn't have good luck. We did hear other people though.

Well, we finally got ours to work. Instructions are very limited, found more information in amazon reviews than the instruction manual or cobra.com. We thought our radios had charged overnight but did not have plugged in all the way (difficult to insert.) I can not verify the range, it works fine in and around the house. Will test range later. Of the many channels only a few worked for ours (channels 8 - 14 are all you are allowed to use anyway.)

Size is right for small pockets and lightweight enough for the smallest of children. Better than the cheap toy brands we have had in the past. Judging by other reviews, these are fine as toys. However, if you NEED a radio that works well at distances, you may be better off spending the money for better quality.

P.S. Some radios are said to contain lead, no mention of lead contained in packaging or the product on this model.