Life Gear LGTF38 LED Flashlight with LED Reading Lamp, NOAA Emergency AM/FM Radio with Alert and Weatherband Review

Average Reviews:

(More customer reviews)I bought this for my mother initially after a storm knocked out the power and we had tornados in the area. She had neither a battery-powered radio nor a functional weather radio (her house has a large hill blocking all the National Weather Service signals from reaching her).

It is rather nice in that it includes a lot of features that are handy.

1. It has a plug for a cellphone charger. At least at this time, you can order a charger plug for many different cellphones directly from the website and just pay shipping (around $5) so that you can charge your cellphone off of the hand crank. Very good idea.
2. There is an LED flashlight on the front and an LED area light that flips up from the side. These are not going to blind anyone, but they will adequately light up a room or help you navigate through a dark house.
3. The FM/AM/Weather radio is functional and adequate for the intended purpose.
4. It has a build-in clock and alarm. Unfortunately, the alarm on/off button is located on the top of the unit and will easily get bumped such that you are turning on/off the alarm accidentally any time you reach for the device.
5. It includes the rechargeable battery in the package, and it will also run off of regular batteries. The hand crank can be used to charge the rechargeable battery or you can charge from a wall plug, also included.
6. It is not a heavy device and would be very easy to carry around. It does have an included carry handle that flips up from the side opposite the lamp. Unfortunately, it's not that robustly built, either, and wouldn't survive a lot of abuse.
7. There is a built-in hazard alarm/light, but it's of dubious usefulness. As mentioned above, the flashlight is not very strong (though adequate for a flashlight), but it is flashed on-and-off with the alarm and likely wouldn't be spotted all that far away unless in pitch black darkness. It also plays an alarm noise over the built-in radio speaker, but again, the speaker isn't very loud. You could easily talk over this and carry on a conversation without yelling with this alarm going off. You'd be better off just yelling.

Overall, this a great emergency utility that should be in anyone's kit at home or in the car trunk. The hand crank can help make up for not having fresh batteries in or having forgotten to charge it with the wall plug.I'm so impressed with this unit overall that I'm investigating Life Gear's other devices. This is great for Tornado Alley residents, coastal folks who are subject to hurricanes, earthquakes, or even blizzards. I can't think of any natural disaster this wouldn't be at least somewhat helpful in.

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Product Description:
3 super-bright LEDs flashlight4 LED reading or map lampCell phone charger NOAA emergency radio with alert AM/FM and weatherbandAlarm clockEmergency signal flashers and siren3 power options: crank AC or DC

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Desktop Rapid Charger 110Vac Review

Average Reviews:

(More customer reviews)This rapid charger now costs about as much as the radio !!

Standard Radio Co. discontinued this model in July 2009, but internet retailers have hundreds of them according to stock inventory, and the price, as of late August, is now somewhere under $70 -- an incredible value.

The successor, the HX280S, appears to be distinguished only by a higher capacity battery.

The factory battery for the HX270S now costs nearly as much as the radio, but the factory operator's manual says you can expect about 300 recharging cycles out of the pack. That's a lot of use.

Moreover, addressing my concerns about finding a battery years after the radio has gone out of production, Standard Radio includes an alkaline battery pack that takes six conventional "AA" cells. You will find these anywhere.

Single-use AA batteries, including the newest "lithium" type cells, provide the best way to configure an emergency radio for the jump bag on your boat. You simply put a fresh set in there at the start of the season, and you KNOW they're fresh up and ready to go.

(Rechargeables of all types lose their charge sitting in the bag, even when the radio is turned off.)

Performance reviews are everywhere. Add me to the list of those who find the receive audio clear, nice and LOUD if you need it, and with a good midrange for voice clarity.

Transmit audio is also good, but take care to speak closely to the small pinhole to the right of the LED. They've set the mic gain for close-talking to cut background noise. So if you're more than an inch from the speaker grill/mic hole, the volume of your transmitted audio is very low.

Receive sensitivity is excellent, and the ability of the receiver to reject a transmitted signal from a nearby radio on a (different channel) is very good. This is crucial in crowded harbor areas and along city waterfront where there are many signals from multiple sources NOT on the channel you're using.

The catch that holds the battery packs is a little questionable. The tab, on a hinge, has only a small plastic ridge that sits in a groove when you snap it over the back of the battery housing. I will watch out that this does not wear out, causing that catch to fly open. The company says the fit is watertight, and guarantees it against moisture damage.

The radio is water resistant; consider it safe against splashes as well as if you're in the water with it radioing for help. (Don't go diving with it.) If you want it to float, get one of those waterproof radio bags for $15 and use the elastic straps on the bag to keep it handy. There's a clip for the back of the radio that you do NOT have to install if you plan on using a waterproof bag (that makes the radio slimmer).

Programming the radio is unremarkable. Eight positions can be filled with a combination of weather channels and marine VHF channels, and the radio can detect the severe weather signaling tone from the National Weather Service. This allows you to put the radio on scan and hang it from your bimini top or wherever, and if a storm kicks up you get an alert tone.

The scan rate is very rapid within the VHF marine channels. If you include any weather channels, the scan circuit hangs on those channels looking for the presence of this severe weather tone. Not big issue.

The function "BEEP" is a constant irritant on digital cameras, radios, GPS and all manner of consumer electronics. The HX270S allows you to DEFEAT the BEEP with a setting labeled STFU. I don't know what this means. Probably Japanese for "mute."

Good radio. Go get one before they sell out.

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Product Description:
STANDARD DESKTOP RAPID CHARGER 110VAC

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Bushnell Onix400 Waterproof Hiking GPS Review

Average Reviews:

(More customer reviews)This is one of those products that can either be a great thing or can be a great disappointment...All dependent on actual need / intended use.

For me, it has been a great product that met my needs.I like to do a lot of camping and hiking in the middle of the woods and all I need from a portable GPS is just the basics.Let me mark locations, get me from the car to the camping site or marked locations and get me back.For this, I don't really need advanced features such as street routing, a POI database filled with restaurants, gas stations, etc. For that, I use the navigation system on my car.

Having said that, pretty much, any of the portable GPS devices meet my requirements but what attracted me to the Onix 400 was the addition of the XM Weather receiver. That extra feature, for me was worth the price as it does come in handy to be able to see when storms are coming, their severity and to be able to estimate roughly when it will be on top of you and how long it will be before it passes once is on top of you.

While the GPS with the Weather feature has been great on my outings, I do have a few complaints, which I did make sure Bushnell knew so that they can improve the product.

1. While XM does seem to work during bad weather provided the device is out on the open, it is useless when one is stuck inside a tent while waiting for the rain to stop.The GPS does have a connector to allow peripheral devices to be connected, including an external antenna, but Bushnell does not offer such an antenna.The closest they have is a headset with an antenna, but is not designed to take the role of a real external antenna. Cable is short and because of it being a headset, I don't believe it will be a good idea to leave it out on the rain for any extended periods of time.

2. The cost of extra batteries.Only Bushnell batteries can be used due to their design.These batteries are not cheap to be able to buy a couple of spares, so one has to trade real time info for battery life. Pretty much, to extend battery life, once you get to where you need to be (Camping Ground),turn the unit off and if the sky shows signs of bad weather approaching, turn it on, wait for the XM signal to update the Weather info, then turn it off again.

For me, this has not been a major issue, as turning the device off is what I would have done anyway with any other portable GPS without XM and turned it back on when on the move.Just thought other users may want to be aware of this.

In summary, if you are looking for a portable GPS specific to outdoor activities and would like to keep an eye on severe weather, this is a GPS for you.

If you want to use it as an MP3 player or for urban door to door navigation...

Have you looked at Tom Tom or Garmin?

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Product Description:
Introducing the world-s first handheld GPS to combine navigational aids, satellite photography and XM weather on a single screen. It shows you the perfect pinchpoint for this wind. And how you should dress for the day. NEXRAD weather data downlinked via XM Weather, layered over a georeferenced satellite map of your location keeps you prepared. It-s all housed in a rubberized defensive armor built to XPX7 waterproof standards, with a high gain SIRF GPS receiver. In your palm.Features: Layer a satellite photo, topo map, compass, navigational aids and XM services on a single screen with TruView Navigation Extra-large 3.5- full color LCD Downloads and displays georeferenced satellite photography Displays XM weather data on the GPS map* XM Satellite radio entertainment including XM sports* SafeTrack battery conservation mode SiRF® GPS receiver Digital compass Embedded 128 micro SD card Rugged rubber armor Waterproof (IPX7 rated) *With XM Satellite subscription

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