Etón E100 AM/FM Shortwave Radio

Wonderful and extremely portable AM/FM/SW radio
Eton/Grundig has also done it again! I needed a small AM/FM/SW radio for travel and have compared several portable receivers including the Kaito KA11, the Grundig G6 Aviator, the Grundig YB-550PE, the Sangean ATS-606AP, the Kaito KA1101, the Kaito KA1102, etc. I am still not done with all my evaluations, but I definitely think that the Eton E100/Grundig G100 is a great, extremely small (one of the smallest available!) and inexpensive and yet a very excellent receiver! I am extremely impressed right out of the box how well it performs even for quite weak signals and with the antenna on SW not even extended.

PROS:

1) Comes with a slip case, earbuds and a very readable manual
2) Excellent weak signal reception on ALL bands. It really performs very well!
3) It has a tone switch (Music/news), Mono/Stereo switch with stereo only through the earbuds as well as a three position Local/Normal/DX switch (RF gain attenuator).
4) Lock switch and backlight (if pushed and held for 3 seconds, the backlighting will stay on as long as you wish)
6) Numerous tuning methods available including a fine tuning knob, a great feature that is shared by the Grundig YB-550PE.
7) Very high quality and very readable display with numerous icons for battery life (while off) and signal strength meter (while on) and that works extremely well, Mono/stereo settings, wide/narrow tone filter setting, etc. Clock time and station frequency are displayed simultaneously while on and clock time and alarm time are displayed while off.
8) Very long battery life using only 2 AA batteries
9) Easy presetting system for 200 memory locations
10) It has a nice and very easy to use reset button
11) It has an internal group of setting for storing key performance features such as 9/10 kHz steps for international travel, optimization of power for Alkaline or for using externally charged rechargeable batteries (see below), 12/24 hour world clock time, system wide settings information, etc.

CONS: These are all very small however and of no great significance to me whatsoever (and only added for completeness sake)!

1) Smallish speaker, but the sound quality is very good for its size.
2) It doesn't recharge the batteries internally and the battery compartment door is NOT attached to the radio
3) There is no external antenna jack available
4) Band scanning is a little slow compared to several other portable receivers (as well as muted during scanning).
5) The tone switch is not as effective as on some other portables
6) It doesn't come with an AC/DC adaptor charger unit

Great all around radio
The Eton 100 is a great little radio. There are only two reasons why it did not receive five stars. The first reason is that the radio doesn't come with the A/C adapter. For occasional listening and portability this may be a plus, but I leave this radio on all night long. Thankfully it has a sleep timer. The other reason is that the volume button is extremely sensitive. I have tried to adjust the volume in the middle of the night and the slightest bump can increase the volume immensely. At times I find this humorous unfortunately my wife does not.
The pros of this radio far out weigh the cons. It is small, fitting in a back pocket, cargo pocket, or a backpack easily. Make sure to engage the lock button or you might have a paper weight when you reach your destination. It is very rugged; I have taken it on several camping trips. The radio has great AM/FM reception, I live approximately 60 miles from most of the stations I listen to and haven't had any problems. As far as shortwave is concerned I am just beginning to listen so I can't report on that aspect of its performance as of right now. The sound is great considering the size of the unit.
Overall I consider this to be a great all around portable radio.

Excellent Radio
This radio is fantastic. Clock w/ alarm, lighted display can stay on for a few seconds or indefinitely.
Scans a huge range for shortwave and picks up AM and FM especially well. 2 AA batteries seem to last forever. It's very small and I only paid $28 on ebay w/ shipping for a brand new radio (unopened & unused).
Doesn't get the sideband & ham, but I didn't really want to listen to that smack-talk anyway.

An excellent radio!
Please understand that this radio is NOT a DXer's radio. It lacks single side band (listening to hams and utility stations) and dual conversion circuitry (image rejection). However, it is a superb radio for listening to major broadcasters such as the BBC World Service or Radio Canada International. It is very small (about the size of a pack of cigarettes) and only requires two AA batteries. The signal/battery life indicator are handy features. It is also has very good weak signal sensitivity. If you are looking for a small, basic radio that DOES cover the full SW spectrum, then this radio is a good buy.

Poor Performer
I have 2 other SW radios with a lower price than this one and the reception for each is much better. Disappointed.