SeeingEyeDogg wrote:

"Frank H" wrote in message
.. .
Thanks everyone! Good point about no resale value, but it's not an
issue for me - I just want a small SW/AM/FM radio that I can take
travelling and camping.

My rule for good radio ergonomics is - after initially studying the radio
can the controls be easily and accurately controlled while blindfolded?
Consider this the next time you are curled up in your sleeping bag.

Of course most people don't buy a product considering its resale value. But
that is not the point. The point is if you are deciding to purchase a
product for keeps why compromise on poor ergonomics and memory access? You
will kick yourself every time you turn it on. Then you WILL want to sell
it! In the 1103's case you will either give it away or throw it against the
wall on your way to buying another more user friendly product which you
should have purchased in the first place.
Ref: $130 Sony ICF-SW7600GR - it comes with a Sync Detector which is not
available in any other new portable at any price. It's resale value is not
$zero because it is a desirable product. ALL of its controls can easily be
manipulated blindfolded. Including its memories. Its performance it its
price class is second to none. Especially when teamed with a highly
desirable AN-LP1 antenna.

The Sony SW100 is the same basic design and feature set as the
SW7600GR, including the SYNC, but squeezed into a package the size of
an audio cassette case. It delivers the same radio performance as the
7600, but uses less batteries and is much less weight to carry if
travelling on foot. Being much smaller it doesn't have the same
speaker power or quality, but through headhpnes (or through a hifi
system -- it has an audio-out jack as well as phones) its quality is
superb. That having been said, the quality Sony have managed to
extract from a very small speaker in a very small box is
remarkable.

It's particularly well-designed from an ergonomic point of view, and
they've thought about the problems of operating it in the dark. The
keys vary is shape and placement so you can identify them in the dark,
and there's a small bump just under the phone jack socket to help you
locate it by feel in the dark. The LCD panel has a backlight which you
can turn on, and because it's a clamshell with the keys below the
screen, it (just) lights up the keyboard.

There is nothing cheap about this radio. It was designed as a flagship
of Sony technology to dismay other manufacturers, a "beat that if you
can!" challenge. I think it got killed by accountants after Akio
Morita's death ("Mr Sony"). It was his last personally championed
product, and after he died Sony started listening to the accountants
who pointed out that Sony wasn't making money selling it.

For its feature set, and for a small light general purpose portable
radio package for the backpacker, with very good SW performance, IMHO
it can't be beaten. I think it may be still be available on a few
shelves, although no longer in production. Ebay is a good source, and
it holds its value well if it's the later model with the improved
clamshell hinge and slightly improved performance.

http://www.dai.ed.ac.uk/homes/cam/gadgets/SW100.html

--
Chris Malcolm +44 (0)131 651 3445 DoD #205
IPAB, Informatics, JCMB, King's Buildings, Edinburgh, EH9 3JZ, UK
[http://www.dai.ed.ac.uk/homes/cam/]