I have the same problems as suzy216. It worked great the first time I used it--worked for about an hour on a 30 second crank with great reception. Now, it dies within minutes after a 2 minute crank AND a day-long soak in the sun, but the flashlight still works! I'm encouraged by the positive reviews and will exchange for another. I have faith that my particular unit was just a lemon, but what a hassle!
I've been putting together a "go bag" - an emergency pack - and wanted to either get this radio or the $50 one, but picked this one for the size. I'm really impressed with the sound I got out of it as well as the reception- the weather station came in loud and clear, for example. And I love the fact that I don't have to worry about constantly feeding it batteries; I can just crank it up or let it soak up the sun and go. As for using the flashlight, it's about as bright as any flashlight I ever had and the radio fits well in the palm of my hand for that. Couldn't be happier with this!
I have tried and returned the radio as it has poor reception in my area of the north woods of Wisconsin. All my other radios pick up all 3 public radio stations here, but this got only one of the 3. Nice size and easy to crank when needed. I had purchased another LL Bean solar/crank radio 15 years ago that was larger, but worked beautifully all those years with great reception Iit fianlly broke at the antenna and couldn't be repaired), so I was hoping to get another of equal quality.
I bought this last christmas for my husband as his mom had one she loved. After months of husband owning it he complains that it does not work right and never has. no radio reception so he took his to moms house to see if it worked and still does not where hers works great. so am left with a radio that is junk. which was the main reason for buying it. very dissapointed with this
