Sangean PR-D7 Digital Portable Radio with Built-in Battery Charger, AM/FM, (White)

Cons would like it smaller. Pros will fill small room with sound and good reception. Features I was not expecting, a switch in the battery compartment to toggle between rechargeable batteries and non rechargeable batteries. I am not sure exactly how long the batteries last, but I would say about 5 eight hour days. So just plug it in about once a week and it will charge with radio off. I think it has an alarm I don't use. And the clock is viewable at any time. It took me a year to notice it even had a clock feature.

I recently read analysis of the Sangean PR-D5 vs. the Sangean PR-D7 radios. The reviews missed the point: These two Sangean radios target different market niches and needs. The PR-D5 is essentially a table radio while the PR-D7 targets folks that need a radio for domestic travel. I'm sure the engineers at Sangean see it this way. Why not buy both radios?The Sangean PR-D7 has a clean crisp sound with very low noise floor on AM and FM bands, a great improvement over Sangean radios of similar size such as the ATS-505 or the ATS-909. BTW, I've tuned in all the major stations in the greater Phoenix area without a problem including the hard to catch 89.5, a classical station.I have been very surprised at the overall performance of the PR-D7 radio and listen to this radio on a daily basis. The Sangean PR-D7 ($59# does 90 percent of what the Trivoli Songbook does at 25 percent of the Songbook's $200 price tag.Still, the PR-D7 could use a multi-voltage AC adapter and a lock switch to be a complete global travel radio #like the Sangean ATS-606). Also, when traveling, cloth pouch would be a really nice touch. And while I'm making my wish list, the PR-D7 in a red or yellow case would be neat and easy to spot in a hotel room so you don't leave it behind.One of the things I like about this radio are the controls, easy to learn and use, plus you can see the frequency and time on the display.Update September 2008: I just recently purchased Sanyo's Eneloop AA rechargeable batteries for my PR-D7 giving me greater flexibility when enjoying this wonderful portable radio. I highly recommend Sanyo's Eneloop batteries.Last week, from my greater Phoenix location, I picked KNX 1070 Los Angeles about 10PM in the evening.Update October 2009: After owning this radio for 2 years, my little PR-D7 fell off a second story balcony and is now in pieces, so I ordered a second PR-D7 this morning. I suffer from cancer and kidney disease, so I've been in and out of the hospital several times this year, each time, my little Sangean PR-D7 went with me.One of the neatest features of this PR-D7 is the no hassle recharging of the AA batteries, the radio automatically does this for you!!!BTW, I ordered this radio from Amazon on a Friday morning and received the radio the next Tuesday morning. How's that for service!!!UPDate June 2013: Thank you all for all the good wishes. I'm ordering a new PR-D7 in black b/c I like the color. I'm now doing three hours of dialysis per session, the very minimum and my monthly labs are very strong.UPDate June 2014: Ordered a second Sangean PR-D7 radio recently in black and noticed a few cosmetic changes to this radio. I no longer take the PR-D7 radio to dialysis or the hospital. I now pack a Sangean DT-180 pocket radio in my go bag. I would love to able to buy this radio in red or yellow colors

Overall, this radio fits the bill. I use it in the Master bathroom and for this application, it works fine. The only negative would be the sound quality of the speaker. It's a small speaker so I did not expect it to be audiophile quality. However, I wish it had a bit more mid to high range fidelity especially with voice tones. Generally I listen to news and voices are a little muffled and not as clear and distinct as I would prefer. Not a major issue. Just something I wish was a little better. I like the ability to use either dry cell or rechargeable batteries for power and to charge the batteries in the radio. Soft touch buttons are very nice and it tunes into most AM or FM channels that I listen to. It was easy to program the pre-select buttons and I didn't need instructions to setup the radio. Solid build quality and looks great. Hoping it meets the longevity test.

Quite an impressive little radio. My old cheap GE "work radios" (radios I use while painting, sanding, fixing stuff, etc.) were both having issues, and I was spending way too much time just trying to tune them in, positioning them, and trying to keep them tuned in -- instead of working on whatever projects were at hand. I was not using battery power, so I always had to use an extension cord. This required some planning ahead (long extension cords) if I wanted to listen to the radio in a place far from the house. These radios were about 25+ years old, and had cost about $10 each. I could not find any good little radios in that price range today. I considered the Sony ICF38 for about $25 on Amazon. (This model is similar in style to my old GE radios.) But, some (not a lot) of the reviews complained of poor reception. The Sangean PR-D7 was twice as expensive, but had digital tuning and was capable of recharging rechargeable batteries -- and had great reviews. So, I decided to give the go-ahead to it, so that I could have more freedom of movement when working in different locations (battery-power w/ recharger built in), and reportedly excellent reception. I got the Panasonic Eneloop AA rechargeable batteries, as they had great reviews. (All batteries are not the same, apparently, to my surprise.)The FM reception on this radio is excellent. Haven't used the AM too much, but it seems good. Tuning and operation are simple. Sound quality is excellent -- way better than I expected. No hiss or background noise, super-clear, crisp audio. Digital scan tuning is very fast, and you can tune automatically (letting the tuner pick up the next strong signal), or you can tune manually (setting the frequency on a station that does not come in too clearly.) It has a digital clock display that is always on, and orange back-lighting for 10 seconds when any of the buttons are pressed. The 5 pre-sets for FM are very handy. (There are also 5 for AM.) The ability to re-charge the rechargeable batteries within the unit itself is a big selling point. I don't know yet how long the batteries will last on a single charge, but my experience with battery-operated radios is that the don't last long. So, rechargables is definitely the way to go. This radio permits you to recharge the batteries easily without removing them from the unit, simply by plugging the radio in to an electric outlet while the radio is turned off. There is a blinking red LED light that indicates batteries are being charged, and the light goes off when fully charged (or, it may stay steady on when fully charged -- I can't recall.) This is the Rolls-Royce of "work radios", and is a bit expensive for this purpose. But, it will save me a huge amount of time by not having to fiddle with sub-par radio reception, and not having to worry about extension cords.For a "work radio" I highly recommend this one, even though it is definitely expensive. However, because it is so good, I will be extending its use beyond my workshop/ work/ yard projects -- into everyday use on the patio, living room, etc. I was totally unfamiliar with the Sangean name until I began searching for AM/FM portables on Amazon. I would not rule out the Sony ICF38 -- since I could have purchased two of these for the price of one Sangean PR-D7. But, the Sangean exceeds my expectations in all areas and will serve double-duty as a work radio and as an everyday radio.