The $48 Alternative to the $219 Tivoli PAL: The Sangean MMR-77

I purchased my Tivoli PAL  about 4 years ago for $130. It's a great radio with an automatic recharger. But its price has skyrocketed. As I write, it goes for $219. If you don't need an iPod auxiliary port and need a reliable, strong-performance radio for the outdoors and want to save $171, you might take a look at the Sangean MMR-77 Emergency Radio. You can power it by winding its crank or plug it in. No, it does not substitute the PAL; however, it is a cheaper portable radio that is not dependent on AC power. If you're just chillin at the beach or going fishing, I doubt you want to take a $219 radio along. Also it seems wise to carry a high quality emergency radio in your car trunk. You never know when you might need it.

As far as the MMR-77's quality goes, here Herculodge reader Tom Welch writes the following:

The Sangean MMR-77 emergency radio has strong crank mechanism, well built, sized for portability, and gives decent AM/FM performance when you consider its intended function and design limitations (antenna less than 12"). My friends have purchased Eton and Kaito competitors; they have all been disappointed with mostly the build quality and durability of their emergency radios. A neighbor has owned the Sangean MMR-77 for 3 years and the radio is still in great shape despite heavy use including camping trips and cross country RV travel. About 30 seconds of cranking the dynamo gets you 3 hours of radio listening time. I like the tuning and charging LEDs, water resistance, buzzer, and illumination lamp is pretty handy in an emergency situation. IMHO, Sangean has done a nice job in picking the right features for most emergencies while delivering a product at an affordable price point for consumers.

Comments

[Tom Welch]

Jeff: The Sangean MMR-77 emergency radio has strong crank mechanism, well built, sized for portability, and decent AM/FM performance when you consider its intended function and design limitations (antenna less than 12"). My friends have purchased Eton and Kaito competitors, they have all been disappointed with mostly the built quality and durability of their emergency radios. A neighbor has owned the Sangean MMR-77 for 3 years and the radio is still in great shape despite heavy use including camping trips and cross country RV travel. About 30 seconds of cranking the dynamo gets you 3 hours of radio listening time. I like the tuning and charging LEDs, water resistance, buzzer, and illumination lamp is pretty handy in an emergency situation. IMHO, Sangean has done a nice job in picking the right features for most emergencies while delivering a product at an affordable price
point for consumers.

[Tom Welch]

Go to http://www.sangean.com/downloads/flyers/MMR-77.pdf to learn more about this neat emergency radio. BTW, I read this morning that Sangean will soon be coming out with some new radios including radios in different colors, about time! Right now, I'm gettin into ultralight radios that 1st must run on AA batteries and 2nd have decent battery life. I have been using the Sony SRF 59 since January 2004, this puppy runs on a single AA battery for over 100 hours -- how an beat that?

[Jeff McMahon]

I've added your comments to the post. I'll have to check out those new Sangeans. Thanks.