Customer Reviews

ETON Mini GM400 Super Compact AM/FM Shortwave Radio with Digital Display

5 star:		(7)
4 star:		(9)
3 star:		(6)
2 star:		(5)
1 star:		(7)

 

 

I just received my M400 and these are my first impressions. The radio is very slim and just a bit wider than previous Grundig models (100 and 300), which makes it a perfect pocket companion.

Pros:
- great SW reception (on par with Grundig G1000, for instance)
- good AM reception/selectivity (strong stations don't bleed too much into the adjacent frequencies)
- solid feel. non-slippery plastic body

Cons:
- some mirror images from powerful FM stations on SW (not a huge problem, though)
- FM is quirky - without the extended antenna only the most powerful stations are heard, but if you extend antenna for just one inch, they overload the receiver so I couldn't listen to some of the weaker stations in my area (like 90.3 or 91.1).
- touching the unit below the LCD panel changes the tuning by a couple of kHz, so I learned to hold it a little lower to prevent a station drift.

Overall, not a bad buy for $30.

UPDATE (after 1 week): I essentially gave up on the FM band in this radio - it's practically useless as it fares much worse that any other radio I have. There's no way for me to change the initial 4-star rating but I'd give it 3 stars based on this fact

ONE STAR RATING!!! I've used this radio for a while now. Please buy something else. It drives me crazy. the drifting is getting worse and I have to retune the radio every 15 minutes or so. Buy the Sangean or a Kaito KA11. I did and now this radio is in a drawer. I will give it away at some point.

I bought this to carry to baseball games and it sure fits in a pocket well. The little speaker does a nice job, talk radio is tolerable and a ball game sounds OK as long as you are in a quiet place while listening. It's not great but for this size radio it's very acceptable. FM reception seems very good, AM is spotty at best, and SW I don't know enough about to inform so I'm not saying a word. A bass boost would have been a great option as well as a lock for the tuning (more on that in a moment).Now that I have said the most positive things I can about this radios lets move on to it's shortcomings.

The volume control is unguarded so when you drop this into your pocket or the supplied carrying case the volume goes to 11 and you either jump like an idiot or your ears are bleeding. Seriously the volume control is very easily rotated so it goes to zero while removing it from the case and all the way up while inserting back into the case.

This radio drifts, and I mean alot. You can tune in a strong AM station and just watch the digital tuning go up or down. Also as another reviewer wrote, if you hold it in the wrong place this will definately move your tuning point.

I wouldn't recommend this radio to a friend. It has a few good points, but the negatives really hold this radio back. I've thought about returning it but by the time I pay to ship it back to Amazon, it just isn't worth it. Sangean makes a good AM/FM pocket radio with a speaker....try that first. It's more expensive but you tend to get what you pay for. Another option is the CCrane SWP. I have one coming in after borrowing a pals. It isn't perfect but it's a much better product.

UPDATE 7-30-10: After I bought two more of these radios for good friends, the two later editions were even better than the first for FM! The LCD display is now excellent! AM reception for the last of the three radios is so dismal that 45 miles from NYC there is NOT A SINGLE AM station that it will pick up, this with "volume set" to "extra high". Note, in NYC and close to the city, AM is good. SW on the last two is exceptional, but still difficult to tune.
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FM: EXCELLENT, sensitive, stable, good stereo earphones. Note, I live in the boonies, do not have issues with overload.

AM: DISAPPOINTING, will not catch weaker stations. Too much 'hiss' and noise on stronger stations.

SW: GOOD sensitivity. DIFFICULT to tune in the higher frequency band (19m and 16m). You will miss (skip) many stations when manually scanning this band.

OTHER: Build-Quality is EXCELLENT. The accessories are nice and good quality. The radio is too wide for my palm. This destroys its "thin-ness" appeal. Speaker output is "high-pitched", this elevates unnecessarily static and noise on both AM and SW.

NOTES, two weeks after the first purchase and a trip to Europe: I love the easy to read (without glasses) ALARM and CLOCK functions! A real shame that the AM section is so poor, else I would give this radio now five stars. SW is actually "good" (I am comparing to "Grundig Buzz Aldrin G6", and the SANGEAN built "Radio Shack DX-398" Do not forget, this is a $30.- pocket radio.)

Three IMPROVEMENTS which I would like to see: 1. Snooze button 2. Print a table of the Meter-Bands frequencies on the back. 3. Give the radio a higher contrast LCD display (even my $9.98 CASIO solar calculator can do better.)

The radio does NOT have a sleep timer as listed. The PACKAGING says it does, the listing say is does, but it's NOT there. After not finding it in the manual, I checked the Eton website -- where it's also not mentioned. Actually, that's the only reason I give it one star. For the money, it seems quite well built and works well. As long as you don't need the sleep timer.

I have owned several Grundig radios in the past and have always been satisfied. Unfortunately, I find that this model does not live up to the previously highly regarded name of Grundig.
The general quality of the radio's presentation is excellent, as is the design of its exterior. It is my opinion, however, that the quality of the electronics is terrible. I believe that Eton have (re-)designed the radio's electronics; my guess (as a layman) is that the design may be ok, but that the quality of the electronic components is sub-standard. Truthfully, I cannot even receive one of the strongest local fm radio stations. The shortwave reception is practically useless.
I regret that I have bought two of these radios as presents and I am embarrassed before my friend to whom I have given one of them. The other radio I haven't even unpacked. I realize that the radios are low cost, but counting on the name of Grundig, I did expect them to work properly.
I cannot recommend this model to anyone.

I purchased this radio during the Amazon sale, which is a very good price. I was not expecting much, but I am actually quite impressed with this unit, for the money. I wanted a small AM/FM shortwave, with alarm functions, for travel. The performance on AM and FM are the usual for a radio of this price class: plenty good enough for local stations. The shortwave portion is really good for an inexpensive radio. When I read reviews for a radio like this, it seems some people are expecting a YB400 instead of a cheap radio. I have a Grundig YB400, and it far outperforms the M400, but it was far more expensive as well. This unit packs well, performs well, and the travel alarm is as handy as a pocket on a shirt.

I gave it a 4 star rank for one reason alone, the tuning control is a bit fast for the SW bands. You have to get used to the fast travel, and learn to use your fingernail to tune slowly. Once you learn that, it works fine. I actually copied some code on 40 meters with this little rig, which surprised me as it does not have a BFO.

I recommend this unit highly, as it more than delivers value for the money.

This is a nice looking unit. However, I was unable to turn the radio "on" after just 3 weeks of very light use. I tried replacing batteries with several different brands but no luck.

First, I bought the Mini GM400 ...sounded neat, had AM, FM, and shortwave. It looks and feels nice enough. I put batteries in it and put it on the seat of the car to take to work the next day, and when I later walked past the car, I could hear the radio playing?! As it turns out, it turns itself on if it's over 75 F automatically ...a defective radio. Grundig said "Not normal". Ok, I tried the AM, the main thing I would listen to. Noisy, buzzing, weak, no matter which orientation the radio was held in and no matter how close I was to the actual transmitter. And on shortwave? Nothing but noise and more noise. Sorry. This is a return for 2 reasons: defective and horrible performance. Tried upgrading to SolarLink ARCFR360, still manufactured by Eton, and ...same horrible performance. Well, FM worked on both radios and one weather channel worked OK. But AM? What garbage ...why print it on the box if you the quality is so poor that you cannot listen to it? That's false and misleading advertising! No more Eton or Grundig products for me, forever.

Horrible AM float. Won't pick up AM 20 miles from station. I loved my Grundig mini 300. This thing is worthless. Waste of money. What idiot let this out of testing to sell?

I like that this radio is pocket sized while being very capable for it's small size. It's not a concert hall in your hand but it does very well for being so small. It has one feature that I didn't expect nor was it mentioned in any review of it I found.......the the tuning dial is a bit stiff to turn. On the surface this might seem like a defect but after some use I came understand that the stiff dial also held the station not allowing the dial to get knocked off station in handling. Very handy.

Overall I give this little radio a 10 for being a good simple companion that doesn't take up a lot of space. In fact, this radio could be used in place of an ipod type player for folk's like me that don't need ,or "get", what's so great about the whole mp3 thing. I like that all I have to do is just turn it on. No messing about downloading or other such junk. Just play it while I save a major bucks over an mp3 player.

I recommend it highly.