Customer Ratings & Reviews

the purchase of a SONY Radio ICF-XXXGR

The purchase was very satisfactory and reasonable deadlines but beware of taxes of customs of the country to which it goes addressed the SONY radio, to my have taken me about € 41, I am referring to customs in Spain

Great! But!

I found the reception excellent for receiving SSB. That's what I principly purchased it for while I'm sailing in the Bahamas. I occasionally use the FM band receiver and it's fine. However, presetting channels for the SSB is very hard. I think they left out one step in the manual. After about a dozen or more tries I figured it out. About a month later I wanted to add a few more and could not do it again, so I still haven't added them! Maybe next winter one night in the Bahamas I'll figure it out again, mean while I have the 4 frequencies in there that I need and don't want to lose them! Quite a few boater's listened to it also and were very impressed. One purchased one right away. Another I talked to also had the same problem programming presets but managed to figure it out. However, they also couldn't remember how to do it again!, Also, watch out putting it in the case as the "power" button turns on easily and drains the batteries.

Durability Issues and Complex Operation

If this is the one electronic device in your life you might actually learn to operate it effectively. That being said, the reviewer above who notes the complexity of what should be a simple operation of presetting the stations is absolutely right. You have to literally follow the diagrams in the oddly and inconveniently shaped manual to do it. Why they didn't make a manual you can fit inside the radio case is a real problem. Has to do with writing out the directions in five or so languages.
The antenna is very delicate and mine broke at the top and I cannot inexpensively replace it. I also lost the AC adapter. But it's got a pretty long battery life. One real pain is the beeping signal the weird "stand by" device lets out autonomously. This effectively turns off reception until you figure out how to stop it - one seemingly cannot simply disconnect it. The keyboard layout is also rather odd - with the all important "enter" button, but a tiny round dot at the lower left bottom of the facing. All in all, reception is ok for a portable, but takes an experienced hand to get the most out of it.

Lousy

I have the ICF SW 7600. The unit does not receive any FM stations. The AM stations are feeble at best and need constant resetting.