Portable Shop Radio

[Dave Schreib]

I am in the market for one of those portable radio/cd players that HD and Lowes carry - mainly for contractors. Anybody have one and want to share your experience?

[Adam Strong]

I have the Dewalt and have no complaints. Saves me the space of having a separate charger for my 18v Dewalt packs out on the counter in the shop. It will also run a LONG time on a fully charged 18v pack. Sound quality and radio reception is great, aux plug for an Ipod works as it should. It does everything I expected it to do when I bought it... Can't really ask much more.

[Carl Babel]

+1 on the DeWalt, but I think that a lot of this might be driven by which brand, if any, of tools/batteries you already own.

I have the DC011, so it will only charge older (pre LiIon) batteries. There is a new one out: the DC102. It is more expensive, but will charge LI-IONs as well as NI-Cads, has a digital tuner, a built-in power strip, and a better back-up battery (my DC011 eats AA batteries). One downside: the DC011 has a nice little weather-resistant box for an MP3 player on the side; the DC102 does not.

If you aren't heavily invested in any particular brand of tool/battery, Milwaukee makes a very cool little jobsite radio that can run off of their M12 batteries. It has a compartment for an iPod/MP3 player. It does NOT charge the batteries though (what were they thinking?).

[John A. Schaefer]

+1 again on the DeWalt.

I have the DC011, and it's a workhorse. But I also have DeWalt drills, saws, and flashlights, so it was a natural for me. YMMV.

[Mike Reinholtz]

While it won't charge batteries, I have the older Milwaukee model that has Rockford Fosgate speakers- it sounds fantastic! If you run it off batteries, be warned that all that volume and bass come at the price of run time. Even with freshly charged 18V batts I would be surprised if it lasts 2 hours. All my cordless tools are Makita, but the little radio they have (in my opinion) stinks.

The Bosch radio is extremely nice and has a built in CD player. A guy I work with has it and we all like it, just pricey

[Chris Kennedy]

I have the Bosch power box, and I really like it for several reasons:

1. It will recharge my Bosch batteries.

2. It will run off my Bosch batteries.

3. It has a CD player.

4. It has a GCFI and four sockets..

I often use it when I am working in the yard, both as entertainment and as a power strip to power various tools with one extension cord. I bought it before iPods and MP3's were prevalant, and if there was one thing, I would like to be able to patch my iPod directly in (maybe the current ones versions can -- I don't know). I think I have seen adapters for them advertised.

The thing is a beast. I have never treated it well, and it has always been there for me.

Oh, one complaint -- the clock sucks rocks.

Cheers,

Chris

[Ben Martin]

I have had the Ridgid since it came out, no complaints here. The ability to charge the batteries isn't of much value to me since I only use it in the shop or outdoors and don't have any Ridgid tools anymore.

[Mark Elmer]

I have the Bosch as well. I use it in the yard, garage and woodshop. It would charge Bosch batteries and run off of them if I had any. My son hooks up his ipod to it somehow through the AUX feature. I mostly use the radio and CD features. The clock is never right.

[Greg Roberts]

LOL. Here's my idea of a portable shop radio!

Greg

[Van Huskey]

Nothing like a horn... makes more sound than a router with less than 1 watt!

LOL. Here's my idea of a portable shop radio!

Greg

[Scott T Smith]

My experience with the Milwaukee radio's has been different than Mike's; I've had two of them and was disappointed in both. The only reason that I bought the second one was because I figured that the first one was defective - wrong!

The sound quality is poor, the volume "jumps" around as your turning it up and down, and the reception is not that great either.

Since I had other Milwaukee tools, the radio was a natural fit (same battery).

My brother has one of the Bosch radio's in his shop and is very pleased with it. The sound from it is fantastic.

[Doug Carpenter]

Ipod plus earmuffs.

[Greg Roberts]

Nothing like a horn... makes more sound than a router with less than 1 watt!

It doesn't charge batteries though!

Greg

[Mike Hicks]

Ipod with a set of Bose speakers that came with a laptop works really good and sounds great.

[Chris Nolin]

I have the Makita "BMR100W 18-Volt LXT Lithium-Ion Cordless FM/AM Job Site Radio". I like it's form factor, and it's tough enough (I accidentally pushed it off a bench and it fell three feet to concrete with zero damage). What I don't like about it is the fact that it doesn't charge the battery, just plays off it. I also don't like that there's no bass/treble adjustment. It seems set at a very high bass level that becomes even more annoying with ear protection on, which seems to allow only the bass through. Since I have the Makita cordless tool set, I want a Makita radio to charge their batteries, but this one falls a little short.