Emerson RP6248 AM/FM/TV Radio

The Emerson RP6248 is a really nice portable radio to have just about anywhere you need one: at the office, the beach (when it's summer), in the kitchen, porch, garage, or as a bedside radio, you name it. By the way, the Emerson RP6249 is the exact same radio, except it's gray instead of white. I happen to have the RP6248 as pictured.

There are a ton of features you get with this radio. For starters, it is a multi-band radio. You can listen to AM, FM, TV channels 2-13, and NOAA weather band. I personally find it strange to listen to TV audio without watching the video to go with it, but I consider it a bonus anyway. The weather band is activated by a large one touch button on top of the radio. Any time you want to check on the weather, just press the button. Press the button again to go back to what you were listening to previously. The radio also has a built-in digital clock. The clock displays the time as well as the date and there's a button you can press for momentary blue backlighting. There's also an earphone jack for private listening (earphone not included though). A built-in handle flips up for easier carrying if you need it. When not in use, the handle folds back down and is recessed completely in the back of the cabinet.

I like rugged sporty styling of the radio, with it's rubber coated knobs and antenna tip and a speedometer style tuning dial. Overall, the cabinet has a nice solid feel to it with excellent fit and finish. The only exception to this, I would say, is the carrying handle. Though it recesses nicely into the cabinet, it doesn't have a very comfortable feel to it. Even when the handle is in the fully upright position, it's at an angle to the radio. So that when you lift the radio up by the handle, the front of the radio will be angled downward. And the plastic is quite thin so you can't really wrap your hands around it with a good grip. The knobs though, feel good and operate smoothly. The tuning knob feels precise with no "play" in it. The tuning dial is about as accurate as you can expect from an analog tuning dial. You can find the approximate location of your station by looking at the dial but for the most part, you'll be tuning by ear.

As for performance I would rate it good all around. I had no problems tuning in all of the AM and FM stations I normally listen to and was able to receive all the TV channels clearly. Keep in mind that this is not a GE Superadio or a CCRadio so it would be unfair to make comparisons on that level. Weather band came in good as well after I fine tuned it with the knob on the back. The volume of the weather band is lower than that of the regular radio bands so you have to turn the volume up. But this is not a defect of the radio as they tell you to expect this in the user's manual. One note about the telescoping antenna is that it only goes straight up, it does not swivel. Soundwise, it's pretty much what you would expect from a portable radio. The sound is clear and pleasant but we're not talking hi-fi here.

I also want to mention a few things about the clock feature. I have seen this radio advertised in some places as a clock radio. I suppose technically this is true since it is a radio and it does have a clock. But normally, to me, a clock radio is something you use to wake yourself up in the morning. This radio will not do that since there is no alarm feature. The clock is just a clock. You cannot set it to turn the radio on or off. I just wanted to set the record straight on that. Also, maybe it's just because the lighting in my room is dark, but I find it a bit difficult to read the time on the clock. It seems the background of the clock is too dark. Good thing though that it has the backlighting feature, no problems reading it with the backlight on. By the way, the digital clock does not require a separate battery. You might think that would mean you'd have to reset the clock every time you unplug it or change the batteries. But actually no, there's a special circuit in the radio that stores power for the clock to keep it running for several minutes while unplugged and with no batteries!

Though the radio is portable, it can just as well be used as a table radio. It has a built-in AC cord. That means no wall wart when you plug it in. If you have batteries in it, the radio automatically switches to AC when you plug it in. It's a good idea though, to take the batteries out if you're using AC, just so you don't forget and end up with leaking batteries. If you do want to take it around as a portable, it takes 4 "AA" batteries. There's a storage compartment underneath the battery door for the AC cord.

Well, that's about it. Not bad for a $11.99 radio (got it on sale at Kmart).