KaitoKA2031 AM/FM NOAA Wearther Radio with Alert & Sleep/Wake-up Timer

I bought this one because, frankly, I liked the way it looked. I was searching for a possible travel radio with an alarm. Even though this radio meets my AM/FM/WX criteria, this is not the radio that will fill that need for me.First, it's bigger than it appears on screen. It is approximately 6"W x 3.75"H x 1.25"W. Definitely bigger than the travel size I am looking for.Some have made negative comments about the menu system, but really, it's about the same as any other radio of this type. Not bad at all, except that (on my radio) the tuning buttons are quite hard to push, though my experience has been that they will probably loosen up over time.Speaker sound is on the high side, and therefore somewhat tinny. Definitely best for talk/news radio. Headphone experience is better (and recommended) but it's mono in both ears.I've decided to keep this radio because it's a really good option for a power out or emergency kit. It takes three AA batteries, which are easy to find, picks up AM/FM and weather, has a clock and TWO alarms. I did some daytime testing of the AM band and was able to pick up stations in major cities 200+ miles from me, which is about the same as my higher-end AM/FM/SW radios.Finally, it's kinda built like a tank, especially for a radio at this price range.So, if you're in the market for a radio with these features, for the purposes I've outlined here, this could be a good choice for you.

Need to be an electronics expert to figure the operation of this radio out.

This radio seemed to be exactly what I was looking for and at a price that matched my occasional use. UNFORTUNATELY, the radio I received was apparently defective - at least I would guess that was the problem with it as no other buyers have mentioned abnormal battery consumption. The one I rec'd went through two sets of batteries after only 6 hours of actual play time and 4 or 5 days had elapsed. I read Amazon's return policy and did return it asking for a replacement but instead got a refund from Amazon. I think Amazon is a great place to shop and I do so often. I also use it to get opinions from actual users before buying a product. Since the Kaito didn't work and I had the refund, I read reviews, shopped around and found a very nice Eton/Grundig E100 for a few dollars more. It doesn't have NOAA but it does have SW and living in AZ, that may prove more useful to me, since we rarely have huge weather problems. The Eton E100 uses only 2AA batteries and has some really nice features. Consider it if you want a bit of an upgrade from this Kaito.

This AM/FM/TV/weather band radio is quite a bargain right now at $19.95 on Amazon from Kaito Electronics. It best use is as a small portable or as a table radio, but it is definitely not a pocket model in size (for reference it is about the same size as that of a KA1102 AM/FM/SW receiver). It is a PLL (Phase locked Loop) synthesized, fully digital radio with a nice speaker although somewhat limited in its bandwidth as discussed briefly later on below.The radio has some synthesizer noise evident, but I have found that this noise is only significant for the weakest stations, especially on the AM band. As with all the other bands, TV audio reception on channels 2-13 is also very good. It is very well made and has numerous features found only on radios costing much much more (a rear stand for setting the unit up on a tabletop, a quite long telescopic swiveling antenna, a DX/local switch, timed backlighting (8 sec), a lock switch, an earphone socket (earbuds are not provided), an AC adapter socket (the AC/DC adapter is not provided), a standard external antenna jack (the antenna wire is provided), a clock that can be displayed with the radio both on and off, two alarms, sleep and snooze modes, FM monaural as well as stereo capability, but NOT manually switchable to help with receiving the weaker stations, manual digital frequency entry and stepped as well as automatic scanned tuning, 20 preset memories (10 each for FM and AM) for storing station frequencies, an automatic NOAA severe weather alert/alarm mode, etc,).Thus, it is also a very good emergency weather radio since all 7 standard USA NOAA weather channels are preset in memory (with slightly lower available volume since the transmitters are limited to a detection range of ~50 miles with typically only 100 Watts of broadcasting power). The geographic stations within this range are extremely well received by this radio at their individually assigned broadcasting frequency for that area.It is also a good radio for daily listening, however there are no treble/base controls so music is not as fine as it would be on more expensive radios, but it is certainly adequate for voice and some music listening. It doesn't come with either a carrying pouch or batteries (it takes 3 AA's which provide the power needed for the digital system) or anything else but the radio, a length of antenna wire and a brief, but readable manual. For the current price it is extremely well worth the money. It comes with a standard one year Kaito warranty according to another very reliable radio website. It is a good radio and I recommend it.UPDATE: March 26, 2008-Eventually I found that my unit had severe problems with overloading, i.e., a large degree of signal distortion that was especially obvious at moderate to high volume levels. This distortion was found to be prevalent on any station using the FM stereo circuit and this condition was especially obvious using headphones. Using just the internal speaker however this problem was far less noticeable, but still needed further scrutiny by the manufacturer. The unit's FM monaural reception was absolutely fine using either the headphones or the internal speaker however. Since there was no mechanism built into the radio to turn off the FM stereo circuit and instead just listen using the monaural mode, I sent my unit back to Kaito and they promptly agreed and sent it back to the factory overseas for repairs.

I have been searching for a AM/FM Portable with presets for months. I saw this unit at Amazon (Amazon gets the highest rating for price and service) and after reading the specs. bought it. The unit looks good, feels good, and the programming for the presets is easy. The negatives are, reception is fair (sound has static), an AC adaptor is not included. I have not used the radio functions yet but look at that as a real plus and plan to take the radio with me on any trips we take because of it. After using it for weeks I would buy it again