Customer Reviews

Milwaukee 2590-20 M12 Radio

5 star:		(15)
4 star:		(12)
3 star:		(5)
2 star:		(7)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

I heard high praise for the Milwaukee 2590-20 M12 Worksite Radio. Incorporating DSP technology, its FM was supposed to be stellar in spite of a measly 6.5-inch rubber-coated telescopic antenna.
My radio, costing $99 with free shipping on Amazon, arrived yesterday. I took the small radio out of the box. Yes, it's small, measuring 7 inches in height and 10.5 inches across. With Gotham City flares and a unabashed red color, a construction worker should be able to spot it amidst the dust and rubble of a jobsite.

The first thing I had to do was get a Phillips screwdriver and remove the back-up battery compartment on the bottom. A single AAA battery keeps time and presets when the radio isn't powered.
I played a few stations around 8 P.M. and was impressed that the weak KPCC 89.3 came in loud and clear regardless of the position of the FM antenna. Was it the DSP technology compensating for the lack of antenna size? I can't say for sure. Other FM stations came in loud and clear with the exception of 88.9 KXLU, perhaps the weakest station on the dial. The DSP proved futile in the face of this lethargic college radio station and I got a lot of static. So for hard-to-find stations, let's be clear: The 2590-20 is no FM powerhouse like the Grundig/Eton S350DL or the C Crane CSW. But to be fair, I don't listen to 88.9 and I'm sure the 2590-20 will meet 99% of people's FM needs.

On AM, I got excellent reception but, ironically enough, the strongest AM station 640 showed up with a little background hum. Rotating the radio minimized the unwelcome sound, but I could still hear it. Go figure.

The speaker sounded loud and clear. I was very happy with the sound on both music and talk. So far so good.
But then the presets. They're a drag. The same odious presets on the C Crane CSW, which I had just happily sold. You get 10 presets (numerals 0-9) for both AM and FM. But there are no individual preset buttons, just one preset toggler that you scroll and you can only scroll upward. This isn't a pure preset system. This should have an industry-wide name. Call it SEMI-PRESETS. So readers be warned.

Comparing the Milwuakee 2590-20 to the Tivoli PAL
I decided to wait until the next morning and compare the Milwaukee Worksite radio to another commonly used "on-the-job" radio, my analog Tivoli PAL. I also wanted to see differences in day and nighttime reception.

Funny, the notorious aforementioned KXLU came in with surprising clarity on both the 2590 and the PAL. I'd give a slight FM edge to the 2590, which grabbed 89.3 with no antenna adjustment. With the analog PAL, you spend a lot more time locking in FM stations.

AM was almost a draw. I got slightly better reception on 640 with the PAL, but the 2590 had better reception on 710 ESPN. Also I should add here that background noise on 640 was less evident in the morning than it was last night. Other AM stations were about equal. Both radios barely received 1260, which on a scale of 1-10 I ranked a 4 for both. In contrast, using my Sangean PR-D5, with a 200mm ferrite, as a benchmark, I ranked 1260 with a 9 score.

Both the PAL and the 2590 are capable performers on both AM and FM and should meet most workers' reception needs.

Both the PAL and the 2590 have an auxiliary for playing an iPod or some other MP3 player. The PAL has a headphone jack; the 2590 does not. The 2590 has SEMI-PRESETS and the PAL does not. Let me say, the worst thing about the PAL is finding stations and locking them in.

Speaker Sound
While the 2590 gets loud and sounds good on both talk and music, I have to say it fell short of the PAL sound. The music tones were far warmer and richer on the PAL. Of course, sound is subjective, but there was a bit of tin and chilliness in the 2590 that I might not have noticed had I not done a side by side sound comparison with the PAL. However, in general the 2590 produces a lot of sound for such a small radio and I believe it will meet most people's listening needs. Also, the 2590 has an equalizer, which the PAL does not, and the cold tones may be the result of too much treble. I got up from my computer just now, reduced the treble and did "warm up" the 2590's sound a bit.

Price
The PAL comes with a rechargeable battery but the price is $220 on Amazon.

The $99 2590 does not include the M12 12-Volt Lithium-Ion, which costs about $40. Also you must by the 12 V charger, which costs another $44. So with a slightly better speaker sound, is the analog PAL worth $42 more than the 2590? Putting myself in the shoes of a construction worker, I'd buy the digital Milwaukee 2590 over the PAL unless I could find a new PAL for $150 or so.

I'd give the 2590 five stars if it had a better preset system, so 4 stars.

My compliments to the exhaustive comparative and contrasting discussion of the the previous reviewer. Having said that, one cannot have too high of expectations of a radio designed to get beat up, and costs a mere $99. I own an a Tivoli Audio product, the iPal, and I put these two radios in totally different leagues. A worksite radio, a dedicated worksite radio that is, is designed to do two things: 1) Play loud, and 2) do so in a harsh environment. I believe the Milwaukee does both reasonably well. The Tivoli iPal? Well, it sits on my desk and plays beautiful public radio offerings.

The only other worksite-type radio I have to compare the Milwaukee 2590 to is my second generation Bosch Power Box. Instead of the cheesy 6' wire aerial, I held out for the rubber duck style antenna. When I think of Bosch, I think of the phrase, "You may find better, but you'll never pay less," phrase. Knowing Bosch's history of fine German engineering, I will say that their Model 4410 10" SCM saw is if not the best, the heaviest. As an aftermarket accessory, I sprang for the while plastic pod that attaches to the side for protecting my various iPods.

The 2590's sound is adequate and the styling is very attractive. I like the front hatch area for stowing my iPod Touch when I want to play tunes through the radio, especially when working in basements or other areas that are not so RF signal friendly. If one keeps the radio's utility use in mind, then I'd have no probem recommending it to a friend, no problem at all.

My only criticism of the Milwaukee 2590 radio is that although there is a 12V power supply (it's one of those ugly black cube thing transformers that plug into the wall), someone at Milwaukee totally forgot to design the unit to charge an M12 battery at the same time as the radio is playing off AC power. Like the dual 110AC/18V new-ish Dewalt fluorescent work area light, you can either run off battery until it dies, or you can plug the unit in and run off shore power, but you can't charge an M12 battery.

For me, this single lack of battery charging issue keeps the Milwaukee 2590 worksite radio from getting all five stars. Other than that, the 2590 is the Mini Cooper of jobsite tune shooters.


That's what I think.

This thing is built like a brick! I suspect one could pound nails with it or chizzle ice off a windshield if you were so inclined. I should have read the dimensions better because the pictures are deceptive in that this radio is much smaller than it looks online. Sound exceedes my expectations for such a tiny package. Bass response is solid and the built in bass/treble adjustment is helpful. Keep in mind it only connects to MP3 players/iPods via the 3.5 mm jack so it neither charges nor controls your player so skipping songs requires you to open the compartment and touch its buttons. The radio's heavy-duty buttons are a bit touchy requiring a full press-n-release before they'll acknowledge subsequent presses--this results in sluggish scrolling through the presets. Which are by the way limited to 10 and cannot be directly accessed. The external power cord can limit which outlets it'll work with because the transformer is at the plug rather than in the radio's chassis, though the cord is of a pleasingly thick gauge. The radio reception is fantastic. In our lab it grabs just about any Twin Cities' (St. Paul/Mpls) station we want, including small-wattage, non-NPR public stations without as much as any static. In the pilot plant however only the major commercial stations come in...this room is about 20 feet under ground under a multi-story R&D facility constructed of reinforced concrete, so I'm not sure what electronic signals can get through down there. For reference, no cell phone carrier that we've used has a phone that gets reception down there. Because of this type of jobsite, our mighty red radio will not be in a dirty, dusty environment but a steamy, sloppy one so time will tell how well it endures emulsifier, shortening, steam, and sanitation checmical exposure...I'll try report back with an update. For a work radio it's nearly perfect aside from the quibble on iPod control, but security comes at a price so put it on shuffle and forget it...and that's what playlists are for, right? A simple, heavy-duty, two-button RF remote with iPod control in the radio for skipping songs would have been the clincher for a 5-star rating but certainly pushed the price way up...I'm just sayin'. At it's current price though, move the transformer inside the radio and add another 5 presets or so and this is a 5-star item.

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.

This is an awesome jobsite radio. The sound is excellent, it's much lighter than previous models and is smaller in size. The I-pod dock is a great addition to the previous model too. My husband is working on an army base in Afghanistan and I sent this to him. He and all the other guys there just love this radio! They say it makes there time so much more bearable. I have a feeling there will be lots of these being requested for Christmas gifts this year!

I work in the construction field where hulking in tool after tool from my truck is an everyday hassle. So when I was in the market for a solid worksite radio, what I didn't want was a big Dewalt brick of a product. Granted, the Dewalt is a good quality radio, it's just too big. So I found this Milwaukee on Amazon, and after reading a few reviews, I decided it was just what I needed.

Boy am I glad I chose it. It's unusually small, but very solidly built. My 80gb ipod (5.5 gen) fits snuggly into the provided compartment. There's an auxiliary cable already inside the compartment, with an elastic band that holds the ipod tightly in place. My biggest concern was battery life, especially since like all radios not named Dewalt, this one does not charge the battery while it's plugged in. As it turns out, it hasn't been an issue thanks to the very fast battery charger. In 20 minutes, the battery is fully charged and ready to go. And I've gotten 5 hours out of one charge. Now, carrying around the charger, battery and radio would seem to be a hassle if you, like me, don't own any other Milwaukee products to interchange with. I have to say, it has been no problem whatsoever. I bought a small Husky brand tool bag from Home Depot, and all three items fit perfectly inside. The bag itself is about half the size of a Dewalt radio, so you're still saving space. Add to that the sound quality, which is astounding considering the size difference, and you end up with a very good option for those wanting to stay away from the yellow, or wanting a smaller radio.

Pros- Size, battery life and sound. Ipod shock resistant and weatherproof compartment
Cons-Battery doesn't charge while radio is plugged in.

After spending a fortune on D batteries on our beach trip last summer to fill up our old boom box, I knew it was time for a change. I wanted something I could plug my iphone into, something small, durable, and a rechargeable battery. My Google search with this criteria led me straight to the M12, and man am I glad it did. Check out the YouTube video of this thing if you question its durability. I haven't been to the beach yet, but I did bring it with me to play a couple hours of tennis with some friends. The battery indicator didn't even drop, and I had it at 3/4 volume. My iphone fits into the compartment perfectly, as I stream endless commercial free music via Rhapsody, Pandora and Slacker via the 3G network (iTunes is dead eventually). I have a $3000 JL/Alpine audio system in my car, so I know really good sound. Of course I wasn't expecting much more than clear sound from the M12, and of course no bass to speak of. Listening to this little guy inside from 8 feet away was sort of disappointing. It's not until you get it outdoors do you see how this thing just seems to cut through all the ambient sounds of the outdoors and delivers clear rocking sound to my ears even yards and yards away. For me, this is the perfect travel radio. Also, the charger works well...only 30 minutes to charge the 6 hour battery. One of the prongs was bent on the charger (this is common in the reviews). Be a man and fix it yourself if this happens to you. It wasn't hard to figure out. Peace and great music to all.

PS. The radio comes in well, even without the antennae up for many stations. I don't listen to radio (too many
car commercials and other retarded ads), but thought I would be helpful.

PSS. To maximize the sound quality, I like to turn it up to about 3/4's, bring the bass down 2 notches, and the treble up 4 notches. Turning up the bass too high will cause the sound to be pretty muddy in a hurry. This isn't meant to provide dance floor bass....

I was amazed at how small this radio is. I didn't think that it would work for me at all, but I was surprized at just how big it sounds. It has very good sound quality. With your eyes closed, you would swear that this was a much larger unit. The only fault that I could find with it was the low battery life. With a full charge, the battery only last about 4 hrs with the radio on. I looked for a power adaptor that would plug into the cigarette lighter, but Milwaukee doesn't make one. They make a charger that plugs into the lighter, but that just charges the battery. If they made that power adaptor, this radio would get a perfect rating.

I will make this simple I wanted a small radio with a big sound to bring to the job, this does that. SOund is ok but for $99 it is what you explct. What it does not do what I need is

1. Charge the battires!, it woudl be nice if I didn't have to carry a seprate charger.
2. Charge my ipod/iphone. I can't tell you how many times battries go dead or someone needs a charger.

Basically a ipod doc works better for me than this it is smaller and will charge my ipod/iphone.

I bought this for my husband for a christmas gift. It's really nice but he has an M18 charger so it didn't work. We had to return it. It was also really small. I would spend the extra money and go with the bigger one. By the way, I had no idea Amazon doesn't do free returns.