I also received a replacement G3 for the unit I described last week. This unit was never opened before it arrived, as all seals were intact. However, it has the incorrect 6 volt wall wart supply that Eton had supplied with earlier units. That is easily addressed, and does not warrant a second return to Amazon.com.
So, Amazon did hold their end of the bargain.
Performance of this unit seems to have typical QC and performance for the model, per numerous reviews on other web sites. At least this sample has adequate RF shielding of the display, so the whine present on previously tried samples was not apparent.
The Eton E5 is a real receiver; the successor G3 is a cut above a toy. AMBC quite deaf, audio tailoring is screechy to the point of irritation. The volume control program is quirky.
HF and SSB reception on the whip antenna compare to the old Sangean 909. FM reception is a cut below a second production run GE Superradio III or the E5...RDS is just a plaything from the 8 bit computing era, but still is underutilized by broadcasters. The sync detector feature is a joke, as is LW reception with an appropriate antenna system.
In essence, this G3 was worth the $52 price, but no more. I'd rather have a second used-as-new E5 for that expenditure. No future money will be spent on any new Eton/Grundig product. This is based on over 40 years of experience with broadcasting and receivers.
Ed
I don't think the display is as well shielded on my replacement G3 as it is on the one Ed got. I noticed several stations on the 49 m SW band (for example 6010, 6090 and 6125 kHz) that have an annoying background tone that varies in frequency with the number of bars on the signal meter. It sure seems like the radio is actually picking these tones up from the display. This happens on sync AM, non-sync AM and SSB (and on both sidebands in sync AM and SSB). These tones are not heard on my Sony 7600GR or CCRadio-SW.
And of course the MW band has unwanted tones all over the place, either from the display or the other digital circuitry.
Also, the keypad is somewhat erratic on my replacement G3. Often pressing the Up button activates the Page function (the button on the keypad just above the Up button).
Posted by: Gary | April 18, 2013 at 11:44 PM
No matter how good the reception is on a radio, if it cannot last for more than two to three years, that is a big waste of my hard earned money. I used to have the Grundig G5, an excellent receiver when it was new, but only after three years it developed a "PLL circuit not locking problem" where it won't tune to a frequency after the battery voltage fall slightly after nominal use. That is a big shame on Eton.
On the other hand, my two 8-year old 7600GRs, although suffering from sub-par audio (compared to G5), are working like the day they were brand-new in my hands. I will personally nev
Posted by: sam | April 19, 2013 at 05:09 AM