At first I was not impressed compared to the older Grundigs, but the reviews coming back are pretty good darn good in terms of performance, usability, quality, and fun. I would like to see one in person myself to play with.
Radio Intel did some reviews here:
http://www.radiointel.com/review-etone1.htm
http://www.radiointel.com/review-etone1photo.htm
monitoring times review from 2005 in PDF
http://www.monitoringtimes.com/html/...k-etone1xm.pdf
These reviews are a bit older, but my rekindled interest is due to some recent comparrison reviews that had come out recently. One was comparing it to the SW-77, ICF-2010, Sat 700, and maybe something else. Generally the problems with the original batch (explody batteries) is fixed and is being done by R.L. Drake Co, who also helped design much of the circutry. I understand that they are also providing coverage extending beyond the warranty if the E1 is bought at an authorized dealer (including hand calibration!
). Of course this is just hearsay, but it is apparent that Eton is motivated to keep the E1 buyers happy. There had been some talk that the E1 was going to be discontinued, which probably is because of the re-branding effort to call it Grundig Satallit 1000. Personally, I find that the E1 without XM avaliable from Universal Radio for a $100 savings is the one to get, but I am really sorry I missed the deal back in December when Circuit City was dumping the E1XM for $225 with free shipping.
I just was not in the market back then or even looking. If I was, I would have snapped one (or two for that price) up.
From what I can gather the Cons on the E1 are:
Eats batteries like a fat kid eats cake on XM mode, ok on batts in other modes.
NO internal ferrite MW(AM) antanna
(plan on an external loup, but at least your not "turning" the radio to Dx now!)
no carry handle (big whoop
)
oddball external antanna receptical
(big whoop, get a $14 adaptor from RS, its a legacy connector from grundig's German days, enjoy the nod to heritage where you can get it)
The pros are:
impressive sync detector
Great sound
well built/nice to the touch
Squelch display matched to S-meter
Beautiful display and interface
easy to use with tons of features and memories
alpha tagging i believe.
passband tuning
Stick a decent sized ferrite rod in there, sell it for $400 with or without Xm and I'll buy one within a year. maybe dump the Xm and give it a MP3 record/playback capability instead.
Eton-e1 Portable Receiver
Linear Mode
