Portable Weather Station

Reviews

We have had projection alarm clocks for many years. This one is the best so far. The outdoor temperature feature seems silly but we both enjoy seeing it in the middle of the night.

This item is smaller than expected.. construction feels very light and cheap. However the projection works good and I really like the outdoor censor.

don't even bother, material is cheap and not worth it I would gone to the movies with what I spent on this thing and it would be more fun.

We love this clock. I wish you could turn off the temperature reading and simply do the clock but overall, very happy.

While you can't be too visually impaired to read this clock, the size of the projected display can, to some extent, be adjusted, though like everyone says it could be brighter - your bedroom has to be quite dark to see it well. I love watching the outdoor temperature progression through the night, it's nice having one clock that two people can easily read, and I like that the time is synchronized with the Denver atomic clock.

Reviews

UPDATE (3/1/2010): La Crosse appears to have shut down: The phone number for their Customer Service Manager (Diane Keller, Manager - (888) 211-1923 is disconnected, and the main number 1-608-785-7935, also appears to be broken. I get a fast-busy signal most of the time I try to call, and if I do get through, it goes straight to a voice mail voice mail machine, appears to be ignored (I've left two weeks worth of daily messages and nobody ever calls back) My email messages are all ignored completely as well. I'll update this review with any updates. ----- Original Review ----- I ordered this clock as a "present for myself" back in December. When I put it up in January (I'm on the road far too much), it wasn't working. I've sent in at least 4 separate (but related by caseID) support requests, and keep getting back a canned "It's always the battery" messages from them. It's not any of the 5 or 6 brand new batteries I've tried. The clock doesn't have enough "power" to lift the second hand from the 10 o'clock position towards straight up. As soon as I take the clock off the wall and lay it "flat", it starts working, as it doesn't have to fight gravity. Having given up on "online support", I've resorted to calling daily. I have yet to actually talk to ANYBODY at La Crosse. After 5 minutes "on hold", you're forced to leave a message. So I have left messages asking for somebody to call me back so we can work out a way to replace this defective clock. Nothing. No response at all... Support via email or phone is a TOTAL black hole.

Love this clock! Love the modern look, the simplicity of the display and of course love the radio control feature! Since buying this clock a few years ago, I've slowly been replacing the rest of the clocks in my house with RC clocks. There is nothing more cool than to wake up the day after Day Light Savings twice a year and see all your clocks are already set to the correct time! Plus, with the regular updates, my clocks are NEVER slow or fast. All are consistently 4 seconds faster than my cell provider. My only gripe is the wood frame. The color is beautiful and rich. But I live in Utah, in a dry climate and a few months after I bought it, the joints in the wood began to separate in 2 of the 3 places it's joined together. So I'm a bit disappointed in that. The separations aren't huge, but if you're 6 feet or closer, they're definitely noticeable. But even that said, I think I'd get another one.

This is my 2nd atomic clock. I so like the precision and accuracy of these products and the fact that they work so well without outside apparatus to catch the signal sent to the clock.. My personal sense of perfection is this lone symbol. My own life can take a lesson with that observation.

La Crosse Technology WT-3122A 12 1/2-Inch Wood Atomic Analog Clock - Purchased as a gift for my wife who hates to be bothered with maintenance on anything. She teaches. The clock sits on the wall in her office. She says that all she did was put the batteries in it, and the clock did the rest. "It keeps great time and matches my office," she said. If she's happy, I'm happy. The trial is coming. We'll see what happens when daylight saving time springs forward. We'll see if the clock is as smart as it says it is.

Looks great....big numbers and clean face make it easy to read. Perfect for older people. Works perfectly.

Reviews

If you enjoy comedy, and you haven't had the pleasure of hearing Michael Flanders and Donald Swann's hilarious act before, then this is a good candidate for you. Although, I would say that you may want to pick up "The Complete Flanders & Swann" instead of just the best of, because you will miss out on some very funny stuff if you purchase this instead of the complete collection. Nevertheless, this is a good starting place and certainly a less expensive option than the other. Flanders and Swann were Michael Flanders (actor and singer), and Donald Swann (composer, pianist, and linguist) and together they wrote, and sometimes performed their marvelous songs. Known best for a series of Animal songs, the most popular was probably "The Hippopotamus", they also wrote many songs commenting on popular culture, "Song of Reproduction", and the oddities of life, "The Gas Man Cometh", and even occasionally politics, "All Gall". All of them are delightful and funny, as is Michael Flanders commentary between each number. Sadly, neither Michael Flanders nor Donald Swann is with us any longer, but they will never be forgotten as long as their music and their humor stay with us. This best of retrospective consists of 10 songs from their 1960 album "At the Drop of a Hat", and 10 songs from their 1964 album "At the Drop of another Hat". It closes with an encore of "The Wompom", which appeared on their album "The Bestiary of Flanders & Swann" from 1961. If you appreciate English humor at all you are going to love this CD, and if you are anything like me you will pick up on new things each time you hear it and grow to love it even more. Your only regret from buying this would be that you will likely realize that you should have bought "The Complete Flanders & Swann" box set, but you have been warned.

This takes a careful listening, but as one's ear grows accustomed to the delightful English diction, mirth grows. I found myself laughing out loud, and I haven't done that in a long time.

Combine John Stewart ("The Daily Show") with cabaret and set it in 1950's England -- you've got Flanders & Swan. Funny. Insightful. Cutting. Wise. Fun. How can you go wrong? The singing duo were a delight and their humor feels as timely now as it must have forty years ago. Highly recommended.

Flanders and Swann were brilliant, witty songwriters who wrote acute but subtle satire (among other things). In spite of the title, this record is not a "Best Of" collection, but a repackaging of their two best-known albums, "At the Drop of a Hat" and "At the Drop of Another Hat." A lot of people don't realize that there were two recordings of "At the Drop of a Hat": the first, produced by George Martin for Parlophone, was recorded during its original run at the Fortune Theatre in London in the late '50s, and is much better than the Angel Records version recorded on Broadway. This reissue, unfortunately, uses the Broadway version, in which Flanders seems a little bored with the material (or perhaps unsure that the American audience will get some of the jokes) and tends to rush the punch lines. This collection also omits one of the best songs from "At the Drop of a Hat"(which certainly belongs on any CD with this title), the conscientious-objection allegory "The Reluctant Cannibal." While this is well worth listening to, your money would be better spent on the original "Hats" in their complete form (with "Cannibal"), preferably the Martin-produced version, if it's still available.

This live recording of some of the best loved Flanders and Swann songs is truly a transport of delight!

Reviews

My brother out-law hooked us into this by giving us the Bestiary album. We enjoyed the songs so much that we went looking for more. The humor is very English, the historical references are sometimes dated (and therefore educational) and the music is first-rate. I must also add that the lyrical complexity is something that bears more than one listen. Flanders manages to squeeze so much meaning out of so few words, that one picks up new insights even after many listens.

First heard this when I was in grade school and 50+ years later am still singing the songs on it. We used to listen to it when we came home from school for lunch and with the family after dinner. It never lost it's appeal.

I count myself a rare American who appreciates this recording. My uncle sent it to me on tape when I was quite small. my mom, ever handy with the censor's razor blade, let it go--untouched--in spite of the song about madeira, which I now know is about an old man doing the nasty to a young innocent lass. back then, of course, I thought it was about cake! with both mom and uncle passed on, I wanted to buy up what music of theirs I could locate, and I fortunately found the Complete Flanders and Swann, apparently no longer available. i bought up the copy and didn't get scalped, somehow. 45 years after the songs were sung, "Transport of Delight," "Soung of Reproduction," and "reluctant Cannibal," and yes even "Song of the Weather," still reverberate in my mind. i used to sing "The Gas Man Cometh," from the "At the drop of Another Hat" show album, in performances as a teen-ager, and sometimes even got good results. any of their albums are money well spent.

For those of you who grew up with the UK recording of "At the Drop of a Hat" be warned - in spite of what it says on the box this is NOT the recording of the 1959 show at the Fortune Theatre. This is the Broadway show. The identity of the recording can be determined in the first minute from Flanders' introduction of Swann as "noted composer, pianist, linguist, also contains lanolin" - in the Fortune Theatre recording he is introduced as "noted composer, pianist, linguist, and all round egghead". There are substantial differences in the two performances, not least of which the pace which is a lot quicker in this recording, lacking the elegant timing which characterised the UK performance and which is comparable to the available CD of "At the Drop of Another Hat" (which WAS recorded in the UK). Many of the jokes and asides are different - for instance in "Have Some Madeira", the Fortune Theatre recording includes an aside "He slyly inveigled her up to his flat, to view his collection of stamps [aside] All unperforated! ha ha ha ..." clearly this was regarded as too risqué for the US performance. The songs are the same vintage and hilarious Flanders and Swann but the presentation, to me, is nowhere close to the quality of the earlier performance - it sounds to me like they were by this stage tired of the material and "going through the motions" for an audience that they did not relate to in the same way as an English audience. Incidentally - Too Many Cookers, Vanessa, Tried by the Centre Court and The Youth of the Heart were not on the original LP recording and judging from the acoustics these were recorded elsewhere. The sleeve notes identify these as being recorded in 1957, 2 years prior to the Fortune Theatre performance.

My father used to work in the kitchen, cooking or cleaning, with music playing in the background. One of his favorites was this album by Flanders & Swann. He had seen the show and loved the record. I sang the songs through my childhood and now I sing them to my children, my co-workers, my friends! I only just realized that I can get the original album on CD. WHAT JOY!!!

Reviews

This is a satire of the annoying disc jockey "personalities" who are all-too-apparent on radio today. As is so often the case with this sort of satire, it mimicks what its mocking a little too closely while not providing enough in the way of humor. There are some good pieces, like the PDQ Bach folksongs, but the music faded to the background when viewed alongside the obnoxious radio personalities. Some of it, was not only annoying, but kind of poinless, like the Elvis parody. I'm a huge fan of PDQ, but this album was too much even for me.

Okay, I am not really a listener of classical radio stations, so I cannot comment on whether this send-up of classical radio stations is really fair. But, when I am trapped in a car without my IPOD, I do listen to many pop radio stations and the material on this CD with lots of annoying and stupid DJ chatter is all too familiar. But that is the problem. Listening to this CD is like watching a comedy skit that goes on and on longer than it has to. Yes I did laugh a few times at the material and the liner notes. But I cannot say this is really even "average" PDQ material, hence the below average rating.

Ok, it's not better than Citizen Kane. It's just that I played "Jocko" on this CD and had a great time doing it. I'm glad so many people reviewed and liked the recording. Elliott Forrest

Let me say at the outset that this is not my favorite PDQ Bach album. I agree with other reviewers that the PDQ Bach works themselves are somewhat less inspiring that on other albums. But there is one aspect of this album that needs to be pointed out: it is an absolutely devestating parody of what has become of classical music radio stations. More and more I find (and apparently Schickele also finds) that classical stations have become watered-down affairs, bland, inoffensive-- "relaxing" they call it. Music for people who basically don't like music very much. You know, background music that you don't have to pay much attention to or think about too much. Basically, high class muzak. This album takes that whole thing on in spades. In fact, in some sense it's really too true to be funny. I swear, the classical station in Boston must really have a "no minor keys until after 11pm" rule, and if they're not quite "all Pachelbel all the time!", they certainly play at least 33% obscure baroque works, while playing maybe 2% romantic and *zero* percent 20th century. So while the comedy on this album may not be the very best, the parody is absolutely spot-on. For that, I say "Kudos!!"

This is a CD that in several places brought tears to my eyes -- tears not of sadness, but of laughing so hard I cried. The hilarious parody of obnoxious and insulting sports talk show hosts (Jocko) reminds me of some all-too-real jerks on the radio now. The "Enos Presley" songs, Hound Dog and Love Me, were the real "tear jerkers" if you know what I mean. They are foisted upon the hapless "Prof" Schikele by his rambunctious co-hosts Jocko and Blondie, who figure that the station owner never listens and so it's okay to play something that's not classical on this otherwise "all Pachelbel all the time" station. "Enos," who didn't mind his name until they started calling his brother "Elvis the Pelvis" -- actually has quite an incredible voice: a combination of Elvis, Buddy Holly, Roy Orbison, and others. He is backed by an authentic and straight-faced "Jordanaires-like" group that is the perfect foil to his over-the-top parody of 50's Elvis-style pop.Other hilarious songs are the four "Folk Song Upsettings" for soprano, piano, and "devious instruments" including Prof hitting himself over the head with cardboard tubes. The reason I give this only a 4 rather than a 5 rating is that some of the actual PDQ instrumental music isn't that good. Sure, it's obviously not SUPPOSED to be good, but I mean it isn't bad or zany enough to be as funny as earlier PDQ Bach pieces like "My Bonnie Lass She Smelleth" and "Shleptet" and "The Stoned Guest," all of which were more inspired comedically and musically.Still, this is definitely a CD to make you laugh. The best parts make it worth going through some less inspired sections.

Reviews

Great, strong, clear sound and will fit in large tool bag. However, unit does not charge M12 batteries, nor does it charge the iPod.

Ok I'm gonna be real with this review, i'm not gonna compare this thing to other high doller radios or any of that crap. This is a jobsite radio which i use it for. I could careless that it doesn't charge batteries because its meant to be used on the jobsite where most of the time there is no outlets around or if they are they are being used buy other tools. Yes it does take 3 or 4 aaa batteries, i can't remember, haven't changed them since i got this 3 months ago. They are used for the clock and station presets anyway so no big deal. If you do use at your shop it does come with an ac adapter. The radio is small which i love but also packs a pretty good punch. Yeah its not as loud as the Bosch but hey its only 1/4 the size so i'm not complaining. The batteries for me have seemed to last around 5 hours which i think is ok. 2 batteries gets me through the workday. The covered mp3 case is very nice since my mp3 player cost more than this radio. To me this thing is great. FM reception is good, loud enough i can hear it where ever i'm working, small-doesn't take up much room in your truck, built very well and for 99 bucks you can't beat it.

I bought this radio for use in my postal vehicle. The size is perfect and I can get a lot of stations with quality sound. The "mute" button is a great feature, rather than turning sound down, the presets are handy also. I use it approximately 3.5 hrs a day and have to recharge the battery after every use to make it through 2 days (7hrs). After trying a regular boom box, this radio has better sound and is built to last.

I'm a residential handyman, and although I rarely take a radio on the job, when your alone its nice. I've owned the big dewalt, the makita 18v bmr100, and now this. What enticed me was the small size. carries ok into next room but not floor to floor. If you like loud this is not the radio for you. the sound is great for such a small size. won't disturb neighbors. I'll likely use this radio more than the others because of its ease in portability, dang its small! The others are just to big/heavy. If you own other m12 tools this is a steal on ebay for 40-50 bucks

After reading all the good reviews I felt a little let down. I was primarily disappointed with the sound. Even though it has an "equalizer" it's just a bass and treble setting. On the plus side, the MP3 compartment is great and the side handles are a nice touch. Not the greatest radio but it's better than silence.

Reviews

Loved the concept of having an emergency power source, weather and FM radio, and flashlight/room light easily accessible in the event of an emergency. I especially loved the idea of a hand crank in the event of an extended outage. However, I must add myself to the disappointed group. The instructions said it would come uncharged and needed to be charged for a day. It seemed to fully charge within a very short time (couple hours) and the detachable flashlight did not light at all. I kept it plugged in the full 24 hours hoping the flashlight would then light up but it did not. Not even a dim stream of light. Absolutely no light shone from this flashlight. This would not be very helpful in an emergency. Given that an emergency power station needs to be reliable, I had to one star this as this product appears not to be so.

My Dad had mentioned to me that he would like to have an emergency radio so I began searching for one for his birthday. I found two different models of Black and Deckers and started comparing them both. After reading lots of reviews and comparing I decided on the SS50B and I could not have made a better choice! My Dad just loves this radio. When I mentioned maybe getting one for him for his birthday he said all that mattered was that it had a crank and that he did not need all the extras. After I gave him this one he said he was glad that I had gotten him one with all the "extras" on it. The LED light is bright enough to comfortably read with, the flashlight is very bright and works well, the AC plug (yes, we have been experimenting just in case we need it for real) will charge our cell phone and actually run the coffe pot! It picks up the weather and radio stations nicely and has the emergeny channels plus AM and FM bands. We tested it to see how long it would hold a charge and it held a very powerful charge for a week. Our whole family now feels a little safer when a storm comes through and my Dad is very satisfied with his birthday present and he especially loves all the little "extras" !

I'm on my second one that has not worked properly out of the box. The first came and was not in new packaging, but the flashlight was super dim and it charged in just 30 minutes. It should of taken alot longer than that. The second was packaged nicely, but the USB caused loud buzzing through the speakers and the weather alert function did not work. I've returned them all and will avoid this model.

Disappointed. Looks great, but did not work AT ALL. This was a gift for someone, so it was sad that after charging for days, it still not turn on and nothing would happen. Defective product I suppose. Now, after the holidays I had to return it and get a different product.

My husband bought this after reading many reviews for other similiar products. It was the best price for the size and functions. All the functions work, flashlight (good rechargeable flashlight), weather radio (I had no problems getting the NOAA signals), AM/FM radio (decent speaker and sound quality), all the outlet plugs, led bar light (very bright). Once the Stormstation was fully charged, I was able to charge my cell phone with no problem using the USB output plug. The main output plug is only 50 watts and may not run a lot of things. I did try to use my laptop with it, but the power requirements were different and did not work. This is something to consider if you have a laptop or other item. I haven't had to use the hand crank for a charge yet so I'm not sure how it will do. I rate the powerstation 4 stars because the instructions could be much better, it would be nice to have a case for storing the unit and AC adaptor together and one of the led bulbs on the light bar went out shortly after I got it and there doesn't seem to be any way to replace it. I keep the unit plugged in to maintain the charge when the power is on that way the Stormstation is always ready, although not required. Also so I don't misplace the AC power adapter. I would reccomend this to anyone looking for an all-in-one emergency item.

Reviews

Cheap and would not buy again. Thought seriously about returning the radio but it worked outside. Does not work in our bedroom which is where we need the radio at night. The sticker that has the radio tuning stations on it is crooked inside the radio case so tuning is somewhat challenging. The instructions are not clear. I still do not know if the radio has to be on for the emergency alert to sound or if it comes on automatically when set to alert. Anybody know? Overall, try to find something with a little more quality.

Should be zero stars in the review, but it will not accept 0. Very hard to insert the batteries, poor design and cheap materials. Weather channel selector is hard to work. The NOAA alerts are not received by the radio. Weather stations are not set correctly, you can hear bleeding from other weather channels. Would not recommend this item.

I admit I bought this radio on price alone. I was interested in basically just the weather broadcasts. But it is difficult to find a portable unit that doesn't offer AM and FM. The radio receives excellent reception. And the speaker sounds exceptionally well for such a small portable in my opinion. The only major drawback to this radio to me is its terrible battery compartment design. The unit takes four AA batteries, one on top of the other, rather than straight in a row. This requires that you squeeze back the little holding spring at the top to insert the battery beneath. Its always been my opinion that all battery compartments on anything are designed by the sadist on staff at whatever company is producing it. But this one offers very little lee way even by the generous standards of terrible battery compartments. In my first try at inserting the batteries I managed to break one of the little retaining springs. Rather than return the whole unit, I fixed the problem by inserting a small piece of aluminum foil to allow the battery to make contact. Since this radio will be almost exclusively used as a portable unit by most customers, I felt compelled to mention that the battery department leaves a whole bunch to be desired. One other observation. This radio is just a smidgen over and inch wide at the bottom. Although it has two little rubberized feet, it is so narrow that unless it is placed on a dead level surface, it tips over easily. This radio would be useless on a camping trip or picnic if you expect to place this on a rock, or the ground. It will continuously tip over and drive you crazy. The three star rating on this radio is for the good reception of the weather forecasts, and the excellent FM reception as well. Its overall design is however very substandard, and not very well thought out.

I received the radio in time for Christmas but the weather channels don't function. I double checked the frequency and also had another weather radio which works, side by side to this radio. It does receive am + fm but not the weather channels.

We've had this radio for a couple of months. We bought it just to use as a radio for our bathroom and it works very well. Last week, however, six tornados touched down in one county over. Needless to say, we will be using the alarm portion of this radio next time we have severe storms. From what I hear, this is a great product to have for such times. We have high expections. Hopefully, it will meet them. If it doesn't, I will write another review.

Reviews

have owned several sets of small walkie talkie type radios - this set is the best yet - use them hunting - scout camp - and on the road when traveling with other cars - easy to use - scound is clear

The Midland LXT480 Series GMRS/FRS Radios are professional quality. They have 22 transmitting channels, however, channels 1-7 and 15-22 require an FCC license. To obtain a license, contact 1-888-CALL FCC and request form 605. Serious penalties could result for unlicensed use of GMRS channels. I might be safe transmitting high power on GMRS in the Avatar (Hallelujah) Mountains, but Big Brother has a mighty long arm. I'd rather not risk it unless faced with a genuine emergency. In such a case, forgiveness is easier to obtain than permission. This leaves 7 transmission channels for unlicensed users like myself. The power setting for transmitting on these 7 channels (8-14) is permanently set to LOW at the factory per FCC regulations. Channels 1-7 and 15-22 can be set on high power. On the bright side, each channel has 121 privacy codes. Therefore, the remainder of my review covers only 7 channels set on low power. In spite of the limitations, I am pleased. In several tests with both radios inside of brick houses one mile apart, separated by woods, a hill and a few other buildings, the audible was consistently clear and sharp. This is all the distance I needed. Another desirable feature is the vibrating call alert. This is great in more ways than one when silence is important. In normal call mode, press the call button on one radio and the other radio rings like a telephone. This is a great option. In regions of the country where many cell phones find dead zones, these radios can be life savers. Every company I've ever dealt with from automobiles (gas mileage) to radios (range) advertise the extremes of their products under ideal conditions. Since I'm unable to verify these claims while orbiting the earth or in the or the Bonneville Salt Flats, I'm compelled to go with 5 stars until I can prove otherwise.

but my wife is about half a mile away at home, I am in a very large office building and we can hear each other very well. Easy to use, lots of features - tremendous value! I give 4 stars because of the claimed 24 mile range is booooooogus!

When we went up to a cabin in the mountain last month with lots of foliage around, we were pleasantly surprised at how well these walkie talkies work. We were able to keep in touch within a mile from the cabin. We are aware that these will not provide the distance listed, especially in steep terrain with lots of trees blocking the signal. That being said, these work really well, and the sound is clear. The double-charger base is a nice touch. If I leave the radio on, even without using them, the battery lasts about 24hrs. They are certainly not the smallest/most-portable radio around, but for the price you can't beat it.

Just the product I was looking far. To be used on ranch and hunting lease.

Reviews

The product is decent, but not very useful for my applications. I am a supervisor for a security company which provides service to bars, dance clubs, sports leagues, and other clients. In the bars and dance clubs, any loud music totally distorts the sender's voice, no matter how it is held, pointed, or oriented. Whisper mode with the Security Headsets I bought with it helps a little, but it's often a best-guess as to what is being said. Any dense metal nearby (such as an overhead I-beam) completely scrambles the transmission, whether or not the metal is in the line-of-sight to the receiver. At our sports league (a large indoor facility with brick walls), reception is decent, but ranges over 200ft get incrementally staticy, and often require transmission repeats. When using the PTT, the button must be held for one full second before transmitting. While I appreciate the value of this to prevent accidental keying, it is inconvenient when calling a colleague for an emergency situation. There is little difference between the range of the low-power FRS and high-power GMRS channels, maybe only a 10% increase in range, and even that is at the cost of clarity. I would expect an increase from 0.5 W to 5 W to give a more pronounced range and clarity boost. I haven't tested this in the open yet, but the range is still disappointing. I understand that the "36 miles" is pretty much only valid on open water, but I expected at least 3 to 6 miles in the city; I am lucky if I get more than 6 to 8 blocks (and that's with pervasive static). Our old Kenwood radios at least get a mile, and I didn't have to pay $85 for an FCC license to use them. The included boom mic headsets are atrocious. I can't speak to the sound quality on them, because they're always transmitting. All six of them (I bought three pairs of radios) seem to have a short in the PTT that makes it continually transmit, with intermittent (less than one second duration) breaks. I am still working with Midland to resolve this. I am glad that I bought the separate security headsets, or the radios would be totally useless to me. I like the feature set, especially the dual-monitor. WX band has poor reception, but I suspect that's largely due to the city environment (even though my city has a NWS station). The programming is fairly straight-forward, but the manual does not go into much detail about the "Group Mode" and how it can be used. The "Direct Call" feature is tone-only, while the description implies that it supports and private conversation (which it does not). The "Call" button is too-easily pressed, and we are plagued with accidental 5-second call tones (the Call button is not locked by the "Key Lock" feature). Battery life is much better than other radios I've owned, about 24 hours of use on FRS channels (haven't tested extensively on GMRS high-power, but I imagine it's less). The battery indicators do not accurately reflect the amount of battery life actually remaining; the display typically goes from 3 bars "full" to zero bars "almost dead". There is very little warning that the battery is about to die, and this causes problems for us. The radio itself is not very durable. On one radio, the best clip snapped off while I was attaching it to my belt. On another occasion, with the radio clipped to my belt behind my back, the antenna snapped off when I leaned back against a wall (and not even with all of my weight)! I'm afraid of what might happen if the radio is accidentally dropped or bumped in my line of work. This is decent, durable radio for quiet, open surroundings. If you plan to operate in the city or in a loud environment, or in any situation where you wouldn't put a china vase, keep your expectations fairly low and you'll be happy. Is it worth the price? Absolutely. Does it deliver on ts promises? Not even close.

I recently purchased these back in January. I have had Motorola and Cobra's before, but not that happy with their range, about 1-1 1/2 miles. I took these out with me on a day hike 2 weeks ago. I live in Idaho and it was cold and snowing a lot. My partner's wife decided to wait in the truck, so we used this to test these radios. Very hilly terrain. Conditions sucked, cold, blowing snow. We got about 3 miles separation is all for the day, but they worked great. I dropped mine in the snow several times, banged it on trees, sat on it. It held up great. For the money these are great radios for in the field. I love them and have since purchased two more. Oh ya the batteries held up great as well, we had them on for about 6 hours.

Well... These radios are a really fantastic ones, in terms of price/characteristics relation. They have a good constrution, quite strong enough. They come with 700mAH batteries, which I strongly recomend to change them immediatly, because if you use these radios with full features and for a several hours in a day, the original batteries won't help you. I'm using Duracell Type AA rechargeable batteries, 2650mAH and it is more than enough for several days. About range, I believe they can do 36 mille, but... you must be at an environment with no obstacles at all and with excellent weather conditions. Other way, you will never reach 36 mille. Until this moment, the best range I did get from them it was almost 5 mille with lots of obstacles, because it was in a city environment. Off course there was a lot of broadcast noise, but they did the job. But any way, if you planning some outdoor activities like mountain bike, climb, or else; some off-road trip; or some 'airsoft' game like I mostly use them, this set of radios will be fantastic and will do the job. And honestly, you will never regret yourself about the money you spend to buy these superb radios!!!

Very happy with these radios for what they are. Th range in good when open field and pretty good with obstructions. Buy these, you'll be happy.

My roommates and I all have dogs who we sometimes walk late at night.It's great to have a walkie talkie and be in constant communication with one another so none of us think twice about being out alone. Ths unit also works well if you're running errands and need to check at the house for an item OR if you're in the store and someone at home forgot to put something on the shopping list. (Saves minutes on your cellphone too!)

Reviews

This is a fantastic book and the art is incredible. I highly recommend it.

This book was a wonderful way to introduce or reinforce the water cycle. The comic book-type format added humor and interest. The artwork was delightful. It provided a perfect match for the text.

The Snow Show reads easily and is a delightful story but by the end I was amazed at how much I had learned about snow. Details that were new and fascinating to me as a Minnesotan who lives with snow for many months each year. The side humor is very clever and the illustrations are magical. I highly recommend it!

Reviews

If I were editing the book I would have told the author I want it to look like this: 10 pages on the idea of the weather channel and how it got to cable, 5 page pictoral of hot weather channel chicks, 12 pages on big storms the network has covered, 2 pages on how much of a weeny Paul Goodloe is and 230 pages on Jim Cantore. Folks, Jim Cantore IS the weather channel. He is on the edge of your seat entertainment that dares weather to take him on. Whether he is chasing after ann F-5 tornado with a paddle to stop it, surfing the waves of a cat 5 hurricane or reporting from a blizzard in a speedo, Cantore takes the worst mother nature has to offer and laughs at it. Yes, there are some other strong anchors at TWC like Sharon Resultan, Dr. Paul Kocin and Dr. Steve Lyons, but they are cluttered up by goofs like Goodloe and Bob Stokes. Stephanie Abrams is pretty hot. Cantore needs to pull a Sting and just leave the weather channel. If there were a cable channel just called Cantore that featured Jim going to places with the most horrible weather in the world, I would watch 24/7. I do realize Cantore can't do 24 hours worth of shows, but he would have to give his approval for any show on the network. If it gets Cantore approval, it's must see TV. This book missed out on a chance to tell the legend's story, but it does mention him so it's a good read.

This book is a business story of how The Weather Channel became one of the leading media brands in the nation. It is not a "behind the scenes at TWC" tale, although a few pages in the "afterword" give readers a brief glimpse at how it all comes together on air. The most fascinating parts of Batten's story are the tales of how TWC came to be in the very beginning, from the early company history, to the initial concepts and business plans of the late 1970s and early 1980s, to the 1981/1982 start-up, to the birthing pains caused in part by a messy corporate divorce with one of the founding partners. The book also provides an interesting glimpse into how the cable TV landscape was first settled by pioneers like HBO, ESPN, WTBS/CNN and, of course, TWC.The latter half of the book deals with many of TWC's forays in the 1990s, including the highly-successful weather.com website, as well as several international ventures). But the final chapters lack excitement or drama.The book has 264 pages, and it's not a hard read. I think the same story could have been told more effectively in about half the space, leaving out many of the details. The authors of this book focus almost exclusively on the TWC dealings and strategies at the corporate and operational levels. A better story could have been told by weaving in more perspectives from other TWC people, namely the on-camera meteorologists, some of whom have been with TWC since the very early days. Combine the best elements of this book (the first half of the story, in particular) with a real 20 years of "behind the scenes", and you'd have a compelling tale that would appeal to audiences beyond the book's target audience (TWC die-hards, business students, weather and media professionals).Finally, the book provides 16 pages of full-color photos, but none appears to be older than 1998. Why didn't the authors add photos from the early days? Those of us who have been TWC fans for many years would have appreciated seeing some of the old faces, old graphics, and old technology that have made The Weather Channel the familiar and trusted friend it is today for millions of people.Despite its flaws, I recommend the book for those who are interested in TWC specifically, or in the media or weather businesses in general.

This is an interesting book, using the Weather Channel as an example of the birth of specialized channels in the early cable market. Now we take the plethora of channels available to us as a given (57 channels and nothing on), yet in the early days it was a fight to get a new channel carried over cable systems. The Weather Channel succeeded through a strong idea, people that believed in it, and being on the cutting edge of technology. While I expected this to be a straight story of the birth and growth of the Weather Channel, I was surprised to find that it was that, as well as a musing upon communications, and what makes a successful channel, and a successful company. The actual history is only a bit over half the book. The rest looks at the technology involved, and the lessons of leadership, and new ventures. Finally it concludes with some interesting first person stories of experiences in the building of the channel. An interesting read. Not exactly what I expected, but still a fascinating glimpse behind getting a specialized cable channel up and running, and successful for 20 years.

For those thinking about buying this book. One word of caution, it is NOT specifically about TWC. It is more about creating a business from the ground up and ignoring critics, blah, blah, blah. I was hoping for a behind-the-sences type of book on TWC, but this is not the case. A pretty dull book IMO, but a great book if you're a business person.

I'm so old that I remember when Cable TV promised to give commercial-free programming in return for the customer's subscription fee. That seemed like a great idea and I've often wondered why -- and how -- it disappeared so quickly. Batten's book certainly answers that question. This book, which could use some careful editing and does not speak well for current literary standards at the Harvard Business School Press, tells a fascinating story of the building of a little empire. Batten's insights on leadership are intriguing, too, and he certainly doesn't hesitate to point out areas where he feels he could have done better. All of that will be helpful to the reader who wants to learn about building a business from "scratch." It's encouraging to see how the weather channel has evolved. We can hope they'll soon improve on some of their current shortcomings. One I find particularly annoying, for example, is "your local weather" "on the 8s" which never has my local weather but instead gives me the weather in Chicago, Atlanta, Boston and other major geographic points -- a ridiculous time-waster, at the very least, to someone deep in the Nebraska woods! More useful would be a temperature map of the regions surrounding those areas. The subtitle: "The Improbable Rise of A Media Phenomenon" is a bit misleading. I can't imagine how such an idea -- that is, the idea of presenting nationwide and even worldwide current weather on television -- could possibly NOT have occurred to someone once satellite images were available. The improbability, it seems to me, was that noone would come up with the idea.But media phenomenon it is and although the book isn't a phenomenon, it is an intriguing look at building a modern business and should be especially useful to budding entrepreneurs.

Reviews

Teruyo Nogami, "script girl" to Kurosawa-as of this writing is still alive-and is one of the last close associates of Akira Kurosawa to be able to tell us about the man, his working methods, and the conditions of making some of the 20th century's finest films. This charming book is written with respect, and the conviction that Kurosawa was a great filmmaker. There seems to be a lot of repetition in the stories told about and by Kurosawa, but there are some new bits and pieces, too. It is fascinating to hunker down in the cold with Miss Nogami, as she helps in the filming of "Dersu Uzala", for example. She is able to make you feel as if you were there, with her simple, clear descriptions. An absolutely delightful book, and a necessary part of your Kurosawa bookshelf!

This book is obviously quite useful to studying the personality of one of the most influential filmmakers in the world. The author is sincere but somewhat naive by Western standards. A devoted assistant to Kurosawa, she was with him throughout the most significant years of his long career and certainly knows more than anyone else could of his personality and professional behavior. There is an extraordinary amount of repetition in the text, so that one is constantly feeling one is rereading the same pages over and over. Still it is essential reading if one is offering a course on his films - as I am - or preparing a report for a class.

This is a biographical book by a Japanese woman who worked with one of the greatest directors of all time,Akira Kurosawa. She was his script girl and friend, so she saw him at work, as well as in the midst of intimate moments. In other words, she was poised to tell us some profound things about the man, but she fails to do so. There are some funny moments, some touching moments, but the supposition that this book gives you an in-depth look at how he actually worked is a lie. It only recalls a few different anecdotes from his sets, out of a possible million. On the technical side, this is light reading, so those of you who want to start exploring Kurosawa could start here. On the other hand, this could bore you because a lot of this is about Nogami's feelings. Also, be prepared to be surprised by the Japanese sensibility: as his subordinate, she really viewed Kurosawa as being better than her. If you really want to understand HOW Kurosawa worked (multicamera set-ups, telephoto lenses), read the books by Stuart Galbraith IV and Stephen Prince, not this one. Shut up, Martin Scorsese. I hate you and your recommendations.

My Kurosawa library is pretty full. Heavy, academic tomes like Stephen Prince's "The Warrior's Camera" and informative and personal showcases like Donald Richie's "The Films of Akira Kurosawa" can do a lot to deepen one's appreciation for the master filmmaker. Only "Waiting for the Weather" can make you smile, make you feel like you are sitting right there, caught up in the whirlwind of genius holding on for dear life and enjoying every minute of the ride. Teruyo Nogami is a familiar face to most Kurosawa fans, having appeared in the 2001 documentary "Kurosawa" as well as lending her insights to the various Criterion Collection releases of Kurosawa's films. I can't picture her as anything else than a pleasantly smiling elderly woman, little realizing the will-power and strength that must have been necessary to serve as an assistant for the fierce personality of Kurosawa for so many years. Nor did I realize that she helped raise Juzo Itami, one of the greatest of Japan's modern filmmakers, best known for his comedy "Tampopo". In "Waiting for the Weather", Nogomi, or Non-chan, as Kurosawa called her, waxes nostalgic about all the trials, tribulations, exaltations and boring down-times that went into creating some of the greatest moments ever caught on film. Her entry into the film world came through correspondence with Mansaku Itami, a famous director in his time although now somewhat forgotten, and then continued organically until her being hired on for an experimental new film called "Rashomon", which would change her life forever. From then on, she was a constant presence on Kurosawa's set, staying with him even during the dark times of "Dersu Uzala" and all the way until his final film "Madadayo" and his death. She was never a great mover or shaker, just someone who helped get things done, and was an essential piece of the Kurosawa machine. There are so many scenes and memories in this book that put a human face on Kurosawa, and that are so pleasantly described, that it would be impossible to pick out a favorite. Imagine Kurosawa and his team taking a break from intense work of filming "Rashomon" to climb nearby Mt. Wakakusa and engage in some impromptu late-night dancing and stripping down to their underwear. Imagine sharing a laugh when the cages holding the crows for the climatic scene in "Dreams" were thrown open, and the black birds just sort of wandered around instead of taking off dramatically. This is the kind of nostalgia that Non-chan shares, and every word paints a vivid picture of affection and love for the human being behind the legend.

What do you do when you stand next to greatness? And? You are possessed of an unassuming wit and courage, strength, loyalty and passion? Why you wait until the Master is gone and then write your memoirs to share with the world and you get the single greatest Western observor of your nation to write the introduction, thats what you do, then you get a super cool Canadian to get a wonderful small press in California to publish it in English for you! That is what No-Chan, as The Sensei always called her, has done and anyone who loves film and or Japan must be deeply grateful to her and the peerless Donald Richie for bringing her recolections of Kurosawa to us in an excellent translation. Run, do not walk, to purchase this warm, honest, intelligent, funny and sad volume!

Reviews

I actually bought this for my boyfriend who was having trouble sleeping because he has tinitus, ever since he started using this he says that the rain setting drowns it out perfectly and he uses it every night. When it arrived, I appreciated how small and discreet it was, and so did he.

Bought two of them because they work great. We have them in both of our kids room and leave the ocean waves on all night.

I liked the different choices of sounds on this, but the on/off/volume switch started shorting out soon after we got it. We can barely keep it going now.

This is a waste of money. You only get 6 songs and it breaks so easily. It's better to either buy a relaxing CD or download a ton of relaxing songs, put them on an ipod/mp3 player and hook it up to a small speaker to play repetitiously. I suggest Celtic Twilight, Vol. 4: Celtic Planet. Excellent CD.

I own multiple Homedics SS-2000 sound machines and have been using them daily for at least 5 years. They are the perfect way to go to sleep if you need to hear "white noise." It includes a total of 6 different sounds: rainforest, ocean, heartbeat, summer night, rain and waterfall. My very favorite is the rain sound because it's so relaxing and peaceful. I also enjoy the ocean and waterfall sounds very much but rarely set it to those just because I like the rain sound so much more. The Homedics SS-2000 also includes a timer in 15, 30 and 60 increments so that it will shut off automatically if you don't want it on constantly. And there is a volume control. My only small complaints are that the cords are very flimsy, the sounds in general are somewhat low (that's why I purchased multiple sets) and sometimes the buttons don't always turn correctly (but after 4 years of use that can be expected). The price on Amazon is very reasonable as I can remember paying more than this. These are made in China and can also work on batteries (a total of 4 double-AA) but I do not use the batteries because it doesn't offer a very long life (maybe 2 nights tops). If you're looking for a long-lasting sound machine that you can use on a daily basis than this is for you.

Reviews

This item is pretty cheap, but u get what u pay for. They force you to chose a set amount of time it will stay on u cant even turn it on and leave it on. You end up having to turn it on over and over if ur trying to use it over night to drown out noises. the so called white noise which is what i purchased it for has a strange repeating and annoying rythmic ticking sound its not soothing at all. i wouldnt purchase this product unless u only need a sound machine for a max of 60 min otherwise your having to turn it on over and over which gets old fast.

Hello All - I purchased the Conair Sound Therapy a month or two ago and it has already paid for itself. The desing is cool with a built in calming night light and the 10 different sounds that it will create for you to relax to are interesting. I use the white noise and the waves though mostly. I did not give the unit 5 stars but only 4 because I was a bit unhappy that the unit has 4 programmed times to set it to, and it does not have a setting that allows you to just have it on all night long. I turn it back on a couple of times in the evening as the longest it will run is 1 hour. Overall though, it is a really cool device. Hope this helps anyone else when trying to make a decision.

I decided to send a letter to Conair regarding this product and I figured it could speak for itself as a review. If they answer me I will post their response: To whom it may concern: I would like to comment on a newer product that your company put out this last year. I believe the model number is SU12R Sound Therapy with night light. I currently own the older model, the SU1W and love it for my son who has been sleeping with the white noise feature since he was a newborn. We are about to have our second child and wanted to purchase another one however I cannot find one reasonably priced since it is no longer being manufactured. I originally just intended on buying the newer model (which I assumed would be better) until I was informed by a friend that it is worthless. The whole point of having a sound machine is to be able to have the sound run as long as you want and this new "feature" that fails to give you the option of turning off the auto-timer is completely rediculous. If I am sleeping with noise on and it stops, it wakes me up. The same thing goes for my son. If I turn his sound machine off, he immdeiately wakes up which defeats the whole purpose of having it on to assist in a restful sleep. I don't know how a company this big could overlook such an obvious problem. I have read reviews on the newer model and they are terrible. No one wants to buy this model for the same reason. I have looked into getting the older model but they are selling for around 7 times the MSRP because they are discontinued and probably in high demand seeing as how the new ones are a joke. I do not want a fancy sound machine with lots of bells and whistles. I do not want an alarm clock on it or a night light or a radio, etc. etc. I just wanted a simple sound machine. I like the look of the new model and the night light is an okay feature (assuming you have the OPTION to turn it off!) but pretty is pointless if it is not functional. I am hoping that this was just a huge oversight on your part and your company is in the process of fixing this mistake and putting out a new version of this model or something. The price on this simple sound machine has always made it my first choice and I hope to be able to purchase another from you soon. Please let me know what is being done about this as I will be shopping around for a new brand if there are no other options from you in the near future. I hope that this letter will be passed on to someone who can help to fix this problem. I know I am not the only person with this complaint. It is the only comment on it at all when I check the reviews on it and looks like the reason for it's (what I can only assume are) poor sales. Thank you for your time.

This machine would be great if it wasn't limited to a 60 min. run time.

I bought this after a homedics model i'd been using for years mysteriously started turning itself off. I figured, if all i need is some white noise, a cheap machine should be up to the task. not so! this thing sounds terrible, the "white noise" is irregular, and most of the other sounds are of unlistenably low quality. As others have noted, the "timer" feature is not a feature at all, but a limitation. The longest this will stay on is 60 mins. There is no way to bypass the timer. don't waste your money. this is a piece of junk.

Reviews

I recently purchased this item and just want to say that it is great! I was worried that for the price, I wasn't going to get an accurate count or that the radio would be lousy, but I am happy to say I was wrong! The radio is strong (though it cuts out, which i think is because it has an internal antenna) and easy to use, and the count (so far) is accurate within 2 steps. I highly recommend this product!