Radio Reviews

I bought this [thing] at [a local retailer] for my art studio. I just wanted something cheap and simple. Little did I know that it would sound this good. Believe me, I'm a nut when it comes to having all the surround speakers, a powerfull receiver, etc. So I mean it when I say the sound is amazing with this unit. I thought the "surround mode" was a gimmick. I was wrong. The Philips sounds better than some of the nicer stereos I've owned. Ain't that a kick?

I've always felt Philips electronics are head and shoulders above the rest. I have a good stereo setup, components, but as an extra (or even as your main system if you don't have another setup), you can't imagine how fabulous the sound is that emanates from the AZ1560. I was blown away when I heard it at my brother's, who's a real music / equipment buff and only uses the best. I could swear it was coming from his regular stereo system. I believe the AZ1560 has recently been discontinued, but was able to get one of the last three units they had. I'm sure some of Philip's other boom boxes sound great, too, and I wouldn't hestitate to buy any Philips product. But, if you can get your hands on this model, it's the very best sound I've heard from a boom box and I've owned four. Packs an incredible punch for the buck!

I have been a musician all of my life. Grow up to the sounds of big band. Played in the Navy. This boombox has a big sound from a small source. Five stars for sure.

I CANT BELIEVE HOW WELL AND REAL THIS SMALL BOX SOUNDS. EVEN IN OPEN SPACES LIKE PORCHES AND TERRACES. THE FM RECEPTION IS OUTSTANDING. THIS IS THE BEST RADIO I HAVE EVER HEARD BY FAR (YES, INCLUDING THE BOSE WAVE RADIO).

I have owned two PAL radios for a year and I am about to buy two more as gifts. The sound is incredible for the size, the battery life is long, the tuning sensitivity and rejection of adjacent stations is terrific. I carry one around the house as I do work and we bring one when we travel.

I've owned a Tivoli PAL radio now for several months -- it is most amazing. Not only is the sound incredible and clear, but from this small box, you *think* you're hearing stereo, as well as a wonderful bass with good highs and mids.
You can hook up a portable CD player or MD to the mini-plug in back and get wonderful sound as well. The analogue dial pulls in radio stations really well, and the antenna makes it work even in the trouble spot I live in.
Based on this model, I purchased other Tivoli products and they all are stupendous. I cannot say enough good abou these audio products!

I read the reviews on most of the low priced frs radios and selected Panasonic. I ordered 2 of the TR320's, and 1 of the TR325. Difference is the 325 has vibe ringer (havent used yet) and scramble mode (havent used that either). I think you probably need two of the 325's to use scramble mode. In any event, it seems the 320's are exactly the same except for these 2 features.

I used these 3 radios while skiiing in Beaver Creek. It is a dense ski village, so the range wasn't terrific with all those tall buildings and narrow pedestrian ways. Still, I think they did fine. Especially on the mountain. Sound quality is great. My little one had trouble keeping the button down during his talk time though, so he would be choppy. Some training helped that, but a biggger button would be nice.

Only problem I had was they have an auto shut off mode default set for 2 hours, and we didnt know this before hand. It is programable for 1,2 and 3 hours. Maybe it can be set not to go off? Havent looked that up yet.

I purchased a set of NiMhd batteries for these, and the charge level indicator acts strangely due to the lower voltage (1.3v vs 1.5 for akaline). Still, it is the only way to go, as you will use a lot of batteries if you use them much- even if you dont talk, but just monitor.

I dont trust the belt clip on the mountain (in snow!)- but the battery compartment latch is top notch! keeps it closed till you open it. Many other radios and battery devices have problems here, especially if you drop them.

Would prefer a stubby antenna, but this flip up probably helps with the range.

Overall though, the quality is there! You cant go wrong with the 320 or 325.

I have had a pair of these for a couple of years now and they have come in very handy. The Call Button is something that my neighbor's talk-about radio doesn't have and comes in very handy to get someone's attention before talking. The batteries seem to last forever as well.

After conducting a thorough evaluation of most two-way radios from Internet reviews, I purchased two Panasonic KXTR325S Radios. I will say that I am very pleased with the performance of this product. They look great and have a good quality feel about them, plus there are a number of exceptional features about this model that make them a good buy. I especially like the voice scramble and the private talk capability when used in crowed areas. I did find that the buttons are small which might be a problem when wearing heavy ski gloves, but otherwise there was no problem using them with bare hands. My wife and I have used them while hiking in the Rocky Mountains and experienced good range and sound quality. Range was especially good for almost two miles as long as both units were within the same canyon, however this was severely reduced between canyons.

I identified one major problem with the belt clip, which should not be trusted. On one hike, my wife sat down to rest and the radio came off her belt; we didn't discover this until much later so by the time we returned to the site it was gone. I did reorder a replacement Panasonic radio and but will not use the belt clip provided with the units. We both now use a small pouch to secure the radios to our belts so this problem will not happen again. I highly recommend these radios to anyone who is interested in purchasing such units. Even without the rebate, these radios are well worth the price.

First, these radios don't have a great range (we get about 1/2 mile or so in our neighborhood). They use little AAA batteries. They don't have privacy codes, etc. But, I rarely have one away from my side.
Our old house has an intercom system which probably hasn't worked since the Bradys were happily married. Replacing it would have cost over a grand. FRS to the rescue.
We bought the pair, as well as 12 rechargeable batteries and a charger, and now we just put in the batteries and clip them to our belts or drop them in our pockets and go about our business. The next day, we swap out the old batteries, and they are good for another day.
The squelch works great, but rarely, we get mild interference, so we switch channels. (To be honest, I doubt we do that more than once a week.)
The bottom line is that they are small enough, that you forget you have it on until the other person needs to reach you.
Get a charger, you wouldn't want to have to feed these things batteries.

The unit uses AA batteries so they are cheaper and longer lasting than AAA. It has a battery strength indicator.

The unit is feature rich with NOAA weather channel, 22 chanels and subcodes, and even several ring tones. You can turn off the subcode feature to be compatible with older radios. It is compact. It has a keypad lock feature so you can put it in your coat pocket or purse and still receive transmission.

The only drawback is the belt clip should be tighter. It can drop if you bend down to pick up a child.

...

I purchased a pair of these radios a few days ago ... and have been very pleased with them... I was still very pleased with the performance and range of these units. We seem to be able to get ~1 mile range through some fairly heavy forest without any real trouble, and quite a bit further depending on terrain. The sound quality is quite good, with the person on the other end remaining clear out to the very extremes of the radio's range. The auto-squelch is also nice, although it would be useful to be able to turn it off (which you can do on more expensive Uniden models) as I am convinced that I could get a bit further range that way. These are also really, really small; the entire unit fits in the palm of my hand. For comparison, it's only 2/3 the size of my Nokia 3360 cell phone.

I would have to recommend these radios for the casual user. If you need 5+ miles range under all conditions, you should re-evaluate your price range. If you need some walkie-talkies for family use a few times a year, I don't think you will find a better product. Frankly... if we ever need better radios, these will make great toys for the kids!

An outstanding CB radio for my Jeep. For under $40, there is no reason to purchase a higher priced model for your portable needs. I would suggest a magnetic roof top mount antenna for increased reception. However, the factory antenna is adequate for 3 to 5 mile reception on level terrain. This model accepts ear buds which greatly extends battery life because you are able to monitor at much lower volume. A must for travelers.

This product will go through sleet or snow. It has 15 mile range and is a great deal. I can't believe how cheap it was.

Mike Siegel

We ordered two of these Midland units through Amazon and LOVE them. We use them in tandem with friends on camping and road trips and have found them reliable, light, and providing great audio clarity plus weather reports. We also got rechargable batteries and a lapel mic unit (Radio Chack) which compliment the unit's versatility. Absolutely recommend it as a first-time buy or for a more seasoned user.

I love this item. Couldn't bring myself to shell out the bucks for the Bose and am smugly pleased I didn't. This is a must-have in my kitchen.

However, if you need a clock and presets but still want great sound, I recommend the Boston Accoustics Recepter Radio. It's got comparable sound and has similar reception and sound integrity. It also avoids over-designed buttons and "features". It runs about $50 more.

Let me agree with all of the positive comments other reviewers before me have made. As for the negatives in the 1/14/04 letter, I can assure you that the plug length and the fact one must dial past AM to reach the FM band in no way compromises the quality of the Sangean WR-1.

I also own a Bose Wave radio with CD. I've always thought it to be a a good radio with good tone. But, my new Sangean WR-1 has every bit as good tone, especially on the bass notes. And, the Sangean has superior reception of FM stations. Stations which come in fuzzy on the Bose come in clear as a bell on the Sangean, even with no external antenna.

Conclusion: If you don't need a CD player, the sound is at least equal to the Bose and reception is even better. And the Bose costs $500 vs. $110 for the Sangean. As a fringe benefit, the Sangean is more compact, taking up less room on your table, dresser or desk, and can be used with earphones. What's not to like?

I purchased this radio because of the review that stated "FM reception is good with either the built in or external antenna." We have terrible FM reception in our neighborhood.

I am very impressed with the reception from our new Sangean and we aren't even using the external antenna!

I got this clock last year for Christmas and I loved it. I think it is an awesome alarm clock. Not to great of a radio though. You have to adjust a large antenna that is a wire to get any reception at all. Other than that it is awesome. (...)

Terrible radio poor reception and poor sound quality but used strictly as an alarm clock this thing is very good. They clearly did some research before pumping these things out. The volume for the alarm isn't adjustable it is preset at the perfect sound level and the samples are just annoying enough so that you can listen for a few minutes before getting up but not so annoying that you throw the thing across the room or scramble for the snooze button. Works for me and I am a very heavy sleeper.

I was looking for an alarm clock that did more than just the normal annoying beep, and this one does. There are seven funny phrases, with different accents, telling you to get out of bed. They make me wake up with a smile and I am really glad that I bought it!!

a while ago, i saw a pair of walkie talkies in my friend's room and we decided to play with them. We stuck a pair of headpones in each, and we went into the woods behind his house and started spying on his neighbors. This was a whole new thing for me, and it was unbelievably fun. Soon after, I got myself an upgraded pair of his, which are the walkie talkies you're looking at. The range hasn't failed me yet, and I've gotten pretty far from the other walkie talkie. Also, it has a great lock feature, which lets u put it in your pocket or quickly grab it withouth worrying that u changed the channel or volume or something. This has saved me a great deal of time while spying. The function of going into those subchannels didn't have and effect on blocking out my friend's early model of these, but whatever. All in all, you should definately buy these walkie talkie over any others.

We took our 220s to Disney World and it made the trip much more relaxed. When my husband and I took the kids to separate areas of the park, we could instantly communicate if there were long lines or a change in plans. Even though lots of people were using them, we had no trouble finding a clear channel without others on "our" line. Now I use them to monitor the kids while they're out playing in the neighborhood. Just one beep and they know it's time to come home, and it gives me peace of mind to know they can call if they need help.

Just bought these radios. So far they are everything they were advertised to be. Wife and I tested the range from vehicle to house in suburban setting, consistently over 1 mile range. The radios are very easy to operate and work well with the other radios I have tested them with(Motorola and Radio Shack). I found these to have better clarity than the Motorola's as well. Battery life is about as advertised and with the NiCad battery charging time is about 3 hours. There are radios out there with more features but my five star rating is based on getting what you pay for.

...Things I Like:
The build quality.
Fit and finish.
Good sound at reasonable levels.
Nice, small yet functional remote
Straight forward controls.
The ability to turn the unit off from the remote
The ability to store 30 radio presets regardless of AM or FM
Price ...

Things I Don't Like:
The AZ4000 does not remember where you left off on a track.
You can not turn the unit on from the remote.
The AZ4000 does not read ID3 tags.
Scrolling Text. I find it slow & annoying.
Song titles appear only after the track begins playing.
There are no tone presets.
There is no way to dim or turn off the display (except when using battery power)
There are no auxiliary inputs.

The Basic Package:
For starters, I need to say that I am happy with my purchase of the Philips AZ4000/17 as it meets my basic needs for which I bought it for.
I have yet to find the perfect portable MP3 audio device and the AZ4000 is not perfect by any means, but it is a solidly built machine that does many things quite well.
Most of my gripes have to do with the lack of functions that I think a MP3 machine should have.
The AZ4000 is a solidly built machine whose fit and finish are exemplary for a portable boom-box.
The styling is quite unique and does not look very much like anything else out there.
The controls are straight forward, easy to understand and are tight fitting.
The AZ4000 has a manual volume knob, which I prefer to the up & down arrow buttons frequently found on portables.
It runs on 8 D cell alkaline batteries and it also uses a detachable power cord instead of a wall-wart type power supply which is a good thing.
The remote is small and controls Volume, Source Selection, CD Transport Functions, Tuner Scan and Presets.

...The Sound:
The sound is very good for a boom-box in it's size and price range. I compared it to about 7 other MP3 capable boom-boxes at a local retailer and it sounded better than all that were there, including the Sony Sports ZS-X3CP.
In a small room at moderate levels the AZ4000 does an admirable job of reproducing audio from all 3 sources, CD, MP3 & Tuner.
The sound does fall short of a good mini shelf system with detachable speakers or the Bose Wave CD-3000, but the Bose does not play MP3's and costs considerably more.

Functionality:
The controls on the AZ4000 worked well, as expected. The AZ4000 plays MP3's and CD's quite well, but what surprised me was that it played badly encoded MP3's better than any other MP3 portable I have tried.
When I first began shopping for an MP3 machine, I brought a few CDs with MP3's burned at different bitrates, both constant and variable.
The AZ4000 played all of the MP3 files, and it played a few that none of the other units were able to play, including the Sony ZS-X3CP.

Utility:
Although the AZ4000 is well built and quite sturdy, it's cloth exterior and finer finish makes this machine more of a home machine that can be moved from room to room or used in the garage and patio.
It really isn't an on-the-go beater to toss in and out of the car on a regular basis. For those who need more of an outdoor, weather resistant machine that can take daily abuse, the Sony ZS-X3CP would be a better choice.

Dislikes:
My biggest complaint about the AZ4000 is it's MP3 feature set and considering this is a MP3 music machine, Philips really missed the boat on this one. Unlike many portable MP3 players, the AZ4000 does not remember where you left off on a track. To make matters worse, there is no direct numerical entry or even a times ten (X10) track advance. So if you are 3 minutes into track 145 and have to stop for some reason, you lose your place and to get back is a pain. There are a few other things that are on my dislike list but this one impacts me the most...

I've had this boombox for about 5 months now. After a month or so, it stopped recognizing CD's, both CD-Rs and regular audio CD's. I returned it (just past the 30 day warranty, but a nice rep from pcconnection.com still exchanged it) and my 2nd one has not had any problems whatsoever. The sound is awesome. I usually turn the UltraBass off to conserve battery power, however. This is a hefty boombox (especially with 8 D cells) so I wouldn't want to walk up and down the beach with it all day, but it's nice to have at a picnic. Technical specs say there is a 3 band equalizer (Treble, Bass can be set from -5 to +5) and then there is the UltraBass button (which overrides the regular Bass setting). I don't know if I'd call that a 3-band EQ, but I'm not into marketing... The remote offers every function except setting the sleep timer and turning the unit on. I imagine that you can't turn the unit on with the remote because that would require the boombox to use up some kind of 'standby' power - draining batteries. I paid [$$$]for the unit and compared it to the Sony MP3 boombox at the same price. I like the looks of the Sony more, but I knew that I'd get better bass from a bigger boombox. I also haven't had much luck with Sony portables and FM reception. I really enjoy the AZ4000's radio reception (& 30 presets).

This is the best sounding boom box I have heard in years! Compares only to the Bose Acoustic Wave Music System that cost me ($$$) and does not play MP3.

The MP3 playback can only display the song after it is playing so it can be difficult to search for a song if you do not know the album number and song number. A minor drawback is that it is bigger than your average boom box but the sound more than makes up for that. For me it is all about the sound so for me this is the best MP3 boom box in the market.

i have had this for about 6 months now and i love it. the bass is realy good. i have realy enjoyed this system by rca

I recieved this CD Player about 2 or 3 years ago. At the time it was more, but the same quality. Except for the speakers. It seems that within this time RCA went ahead and add a lot more bass to the system. I could have used that now, but mine isn't bad by any means.

The system has a very nice design, and built very well, in my opinion. Although my speakers aren't as nice as the ones now, mine still gets great bass, and, as the others have said, it gets very good radio reception. Also, the program feature is a very nice thing to have, especially since it programs across multiple CDs. Most CD players have it, but it is still nice to add. Overall, a great product, especially now.

I got this for christmas after many hours of comparison shopping online, i picked out this one because of the price, and features. It has worked like a dream, its easy to move around, the sound kicks [butt], and it picks up good radio signal too. The only minor drawbacks are, when it shuffle's songs, you cant just set it for one disc, and when it changes cd's, its quite loud, other than that, its everything i wanted in a stereo.