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39 of 41 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
Works as promised., July 19, 2008
This review is from: Life Gear LGTF38 LED Flashlight with LED Reading Lamp, NOAA Emergency AM/FM Radio with Alert and Weatherband (Tools & Hardware)
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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53 of 64 people found the following review helpful:
2.0 out of 5 stars
Beaware of the Nicad Battery and On/Off Switch, October 14, 2008
This review is from: Life Gear LGTF38 LED Flashlight with LED Reading Lamp, NOAA Emergency AM/FM Radio with Alert and Weatherband (Tools & Hardware)
The big problem with this radio is 'two-fold'. First, you can easily be fooled by turning 'off' the Volume knob (and hearing the 'click'), thinking that you shut-off the radio. WRONG! You must THEN remember to slide the power switch to OFF as well. If you don't, despite not hearing any sound, the radio will still be 'ON'. And if you had the power switch in the Rechargeable Battery position previously when you shut off the Volume knob, that would severely 'wear down' the internal Nicad battery (after about an hour of having left the power switch in the ON position). And if you discharge a Nicad battry (unlike a NimH) too much, it will never again hold a decent charge...if any at all. The same holds true if you just leave the radio 'playing' with the rechargeable batteries, and leave your home for an hour without shuttting it off. If the Nicads are drained beyond the time that they hold a charge, you will never again be able to recharge then fully or possibly even partially (especially via the crank.)
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14 of 16 people found the following review helpful:
1.0 out of 5 stars
Not so good, August 2, 2008
This review is from: Life Gear LGTF38 LED Flashlight with LED Reading Lamp, NOAA Emergency AM/FM Radio with Alert and Weatherband (Tools & Hardware)
The first time this item was received it was a piece of junk...didn't work at all. I returned the item and it was reshipped. The second one works okay...so far. I ordered an AC charger from the manufacturer, but as of yet it has not been received. I keep getting put off and told that it takes a very long time for the USPS to ship this item. I find it hard to believe that it takes almost a month for the postal service to deliver this item. I probably will not order any other items from this manufacturer.
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