It's easy to feel green with the Summit
Written: Feb 26 '07
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Product Rating:
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Pros: Solar and hand-crank power. Decent Audio Fidelity. Sturdy Construction
Cons: FM and SW reception. Dismally dim display. No wake up to music function.
The Bottom Line: Great portable radio with multiple power sources. Excellent as a travel radio, bedside radio, or emergency radio.
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| kb9vrg's Full Review: Freeplay Energy Summit AM/FM/SW Radio |
I had wanted a nice somewhat portable radio for trips or for listening to radio throughout the house. A lot of the radios I found either didn't have the capability for rechargeable batteries, lacked features, or were too small to be practical.
The Freeplay Summit is a digital tuning AM/FM/Shortwave clock radio with a twist... The Summit can run off of hand-crank power, Solar power, or off AC power. This is all possible due to the Freeplay Summit containing a rechargeable battery and a built-in solar panel and hand-crank generator.
The radio comes with a charger to use to charge the radio when a full charge is needed or when you may want to use the radio for extended periods of time where there is not sufficient light to keep the charge maintained on the radio or you don't wish to crank the radio. The wall charger will give a dead battery a charge in 24 hours.
There is a solar panel along the top of the radio. This charges and powers the radio when there is sufficient sunlight. Freeplay states that the panel is capable of charging the unit to 100% in about 40 hours of sunlight.
The Hand crank is on the back and is usable in either direction. Unlike some earlier hand cranks, this one can not be over wound. A green light on the back indicates when the crank is being turned at a sufficient speed to charge the battery. The manual gives a time of about 30 seconds of cranking for 30 minutes of radio, or a total of 40 minutes of winding for a complete charge.
The Summit features AM, FM, and Shortwave reception and digital tuning. Reception on AM is above average and I was able to listen to almost all the stations I wanted to without much issue. FM reception is not as good as I would have liked. This is hampered somewhat by a very short (10") telescoping antenna. However, all the local stations I wished to listen to came in just fine. I can not comment on Shortwave reception as I have not used it, but with only a 10" antenna, shortwave is probably sub-par.
The sound of the small speaker is perfectly suited for talk radio listening, with a pleasant tone. Music tone is similar to most portable radios.
I have not done a full estimate of run-time on this unit, but in the year I have had it I have only plugged it into the wall three times for a full charge. Usually the unit is sitting in my living room by the patio door or in my bedroom on a window sill, so it gets a fairly constant charge during the day. I usually listen to 1-2 hours of radio on it per day.
The construction of the unit is very solid, with a grippy rubber-like surface. There is not a carrying case included, which is very disappointing for a radio that is surely going to be packed along for camping trips or other travel.
Using the unit is fairly straightforward. The display is quite dim, and even with the light is hard to read under dim lighting conditions. There are many buttons on the front panel, and they are all the same shape and size. It will take some time for one to be able to use the unit in the dark, but all the key buttons are in logical locations.
The unit does contain a clock and alarm function. The alarm is surprisingly loud, but does not include the ability to wake up to the radio. There is also a sleep function, which is sort-of backwards. Instead of counting down incrementally, it counts up starting at 10 minutes up to the maximum of 60.
Overall, a nice portable radio for use just about anywhere around the house. It's large enough to be solidly built, yet small enough to throw in a bag without too many issues. Not having to pack batteries or a charger is a REAL plus.
Recommended:
Yes
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Epinions.com ID:
kb9vrg
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Location: Pewaukee, WI
Reviews written: 36
Trusted by: 1 member
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