A decent emergency wind-up radio, albeit a bit dated
This is the Grundig FR-200. It's decent, but I do have some nits.
THE GOOD:
* Sound quality: Although mono, it's adequate.
* Battery life: The unit uses three AA batteries, plus a small plasti-sealed NiCad pack (about the size of an olive) for the recharge crank. I've been able to run the radio for an hour or two each day, for several weeks, before having to change the AA's. {BTW, I use Tenergy 2600 miliamphr NiMHi AA's in this, and they work great}. I rarely use the crank-driven NiCad, but it's runtime is rather modest - a full minute of cranking yeilds 45-60 mins of listening ... at a very modest volume.
A Good Value but I'm Disappointed
As an emergency radio, it works great. The "crank generator" is relatively easy to use, the case and controls are solid and the sound quality is very good. It is not the flimsy plastic emergency radio I have seen elsewhere.
However, I was looking for a radio with excellent AM reception. Grundig's reputation and reviews of other similar radios made by the same manufacturer (It is not made by Grundig) made me think this unit would meet my needs. Regrettably, the AM reception is no better than my cheap Walkman combo tape/radio. The frequency fade is average. It also doesn't have a jack to plug in an external antenna.
I didn't meet my needs, but it is a Good Value for its intended purpose.
FR200 is a good radio
Smaller then I had imagined but good sound. Need a power supply (adapter) if you are going to listen to it regularly. One model comes with an adapter if you can find it. Sturdy radio, sound is good, battery life seems good also.
Grundig is a good radio, but I wanted weather channels also.
This is a very handy, size, radio with great reception. The only drawback is that it does not have weather channels as I thought it did when ordering. Very good for price but I would opt for an all in one, which would include SAMI weather channels, if doing again.
Good but not great
The reception is strong and clear on AM and FM, but virtually non-existent on shortwave. That's fine, because I didn't plan to use the shortwave feature anyway. Build quality is average.
The dynamo crank is cheap and I suspect it will break at some point. Following directions EXACTLY (90 seconds vigorous cranking, no flashlight, low volume), I was able to achieve between 20 - 30 minutes of use time. Nowhere near the 40 - 60 minutes specified.
I got mine on Ebay for $27.95. That's about what it's worth. It will go into my emergency kit and who knows, maybe someday I'll be glad I have it.
