I bought this mainly to listen to NPR on 93.9 FM during my commutes to work and while at the office working late, which seems to occur far too often. I had also bought the Sony SRF-59. Surprisingly, the Sony SRF-59 had great difficulty picking up the NPR station inside my office building while the Coby CX-90 picks it up loud and clear! So the Sony stays at home and the Coby is the one I take with me.
Ok, first the bad stuff:
The Coby CX-90 I received looks a bit different than the one in the picture. The faceplate on mine is more brownish than black, and the backlighting on mine is amber, not blue. I'd rather have it in blue but, oh well. The fit & finish and overall quality of the exterior plastic casing of the radio isn't top notch, but it's not the worst I've seen either. It's pretty much what you'd expect from the Coby brand name. I'd say the biggest downside of this radio is the relatively short battery life. It uses two 'AAA' batteries and the instruction manual states battery life is 20 hours. I use a set of 750mAh rechargeable batteries and it seems like I'm only getting about 10 hours out of them. Although, my batteries are old so that may be the fault of the batteries not the radio.
Now the good:
Very compact and lightweight. I like the modern styling. It looks more like an MP3 player than an AM/FM radio. I can enjoy listening to the radio and still look modern and hip, instead of like I just time-warped in from the early '80's. The digital tuning is great, no more fiddling with a thumbwheel and guessing if you're on the right frequency. 10 memories per band make it even easier to tune in favorite stations. A handy hold switch locks buttons from being pressed unintentionally. And the best thing about this radio is excellent reception on both AM and FM bands. As I previously mentioned, it outperformed the highly lauded Sony SRF-59. AM reception is very sensitive. I live in NJ but I've been able to tune in 1080 WTIC in Hartford CT (Red Sox), 1210 WPHT in Philadephia PA (Phillies), 1350 WOYK in York PA (Orioles), and 900 CHML in Hamilton ONTARIO (Blue Jays).
By the way, on Coby's own website, they list this radio as having a belt clip and a built-in speaker. To set the record straight, it does not have either of those. I sent an email thru their support page to point this out and have them correct it but so far they haven't.
I am very glad I picked up this radio. This being my first Coby product, I have to say I did not have very high expectations of it performance wise. But for me to say I prefer my Coby over my Sony, I think pretty much sums it all up.
Update on 4/30/2010:
I've had this radio for 1 year and 8 months now and still use it everyday. I've gone through several sets of earbuds, but the radio itself is holding up very well. All of the buttons and switches still work great. The only visible sign of wear is some slight rubbing off of the silver finish around the top and bottom edges of the radio.
I also want to mention that during the time that I've had the Coby, I also tried the Sony SRF-M37V. The advantage of the Sony is that it only uses 1 'AAA' battery, but I think the FM reception is not as good as the Coby. On the Sony, I hear some bleeding of an adjacent station while listening to NPR. I have not experienced that problem with the Coby. Another thing with the Sony that I'm not crazy about is that it breaks up the 10 FM memories into two banks. To switch from one bank to the other, you have to change the band from FM1 to FM2 and then you have to cycle through AM, WB, and TV to go back from FM2 to FM1. I also think the Coby radio fits more comfortably in the hand with it's slim oblong shape, whereas the Sony feels very chunky. So once again this Coby radio has Sony beat.
Coby has corrected the product description on their website and no longer list it as having a belt clip and built-in speaker. But I still wish they would correct the picture to accurately show that it has an amber backlight, not blue.
I like Coby CX90 so much that I even bought a second one, in the black finish. I'm keeping it as a backup unit (not that I expect my first one to break anytime soon!). At the price point of $17 or less, this is a great value for a true digital tuning pocket radio. Coby CX90SVR Digital Pocket AM/FM Radio, Silver
Coby CX90SVR Digital Pocket AM/FM Radio, Sliver This radio arrived broken. It shuts itself off while tuning and freezes up at random times. The waranty directs you to the website for "FAQ". There are no FAQ's about their pocket radios. The Operation Guide states the next step is to call their technical support. It also states that if the radio is returned for repairs, you have to enclose a money order for $6.00 for return shpping. I'll also have to pay to have it shipped to them. As if that weren't bad enough, they may replace any defective parts or the whole thing with "refurbished" (Used) parts. So I'll be out enough money in shipping to pay for an entirely new radio, which would be no better than the "refurbished" one I may get back. I guess it's true what they say, "you get what you pay for". Don't waste your money on this one! - Am-fm - Coby - Radio - Digital Tuner'
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