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| Freeplay Corporation Freeplay Plus Radio | 
 enlarge | Brand: Freeplay Corporation
Category: CE
This item is no longer available
Avg. Customer Rating:  7 reviews
Sales Rank: 24098
Color: Black
Media: Electronics
Batteries Included: Yes
Shipping Weight (lbs): 6.5
Dimensions (in): 8 x 11 x 8
MPN: FRP
Model: FRP
UPC: 614672001298
EAN: 0614672001298
ASIN: B0000YCFCC
Release Date: September 29, 2006
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| Features:
| • | AM/FM/Shorwave | | • | Charge the battery by winding up or with solar panel | | • | Optional AC adapter | | • | Detachable LED Light | | • | Large, comfortable, integrated handle |
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| Editorial Reviews:
Product Description
The Freeplay Plus Alternative Power Radio features a 4-way power system that enables operation anywhere and anytime. It's great for outdoor use and at times of emergencies. Flexible power sources include: Power your radio and light by hand winding up the Freeplay's generator; Set the radio in the sun and use its built-in solar panel; Charge the built-in rechargeable battery pack with the optional AC adapter; Stores the excess power from the wind-up generator, solar, and AC in its built-in rechargeable battery pac 6-Foot long retractable reel AC cord Built-in speaker Convenient rotary controls Unit Size - 11 W x 8 H x 8 D Unit Weight - 5 Pounds Includes built-in rechargeable battery pack (fully charged battery will operate radio up to 40 hours) An Absolute Must for any Home Emergency Kit
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| Customer Reviews: Read 2 more reviews...
 Do Not Buy Freeplay Products January 7, 2008
2 out of 2 found this review helpful
I purchased a freeplay flashlight, and when I really needed it, it would not work. The company acknowledged the fatal flaw in the design but would do nothing for me. The rating system does'nt allow zero stars, but these guys deserve minus stars.
" Not only is the spring prone to the problem you've come up against, its coiled energy (even when "unwound" it is still partly coiled) makes it dangerous to open the case, so repair is difficult and replacement is the only practical option in such a situation."
They said that I should buy a new one, you've got to be kidding me!
 Great Radio! July 27, 2007
0 out of 1 found this review helpful
I love this radio! The main reason I bought it was to have for emergencies, but when I want to go outside on the deck and listen to radio I just grab the Freeplay Corporation Plus. Most of the time it charges in the sunlight. A few times when it gets a bit low I crank it. The reception is very clear and pure.
Recently when I let my Freeplay radio sit outside to charge the solar panels I forgot about it, and it was pretty thoroughly rained on. I hurriedly wiped it off and tried it out. It worked, but the sound seemed a little scratchy. So I let it sit for a few weeks to dry out more thoroughly. I just tried it, after cranking it up, and it works perfectly again.
It makes me feel more secure about emergencies, knowing that I have this radio/flashlight.
very disappointed June 2, 2007
3 out of 8 found this review helpful
I'm very disappointed in this radio. I bought it thinking it would give me "hours of freeplay" without having to burn up batteries and winding it up, while working outdoors.
But I find that after a 60 sec wind up, the radio lasts no more than 15-20 mins, which is meaningless if I'm outdoors focusing on projects. Having to walk away from my projects every 15-20 minutes to wind this thing up does not equate to "freeplay." My labor and time is not free.
If I got an hour of "freeplay" I'd be happy, and that was my expectation.
I love the engineering idea behind this radio. But the idea did not transfer well from paper to reality. If I lived in the African bush where there was some kid who could wind this up every 15 mins that would be a different story.
So now I'm stuck with this $100 radio that I'll have to plug in like a conventional, which I could have purchased for $20.
And how do I get to the blessed battery? I need a phillips screwdriver I think. One thing I didn't explore is putting the battery on a full charge over night with a 6vdc adapter to see if the radio would hold a charge longer. But the radio didn't come with a charger and I have to buy one.
Also, I thought the solar cell on top of the radio would allow it to play continuously in sunlight, but that's not the case either. But that's not the case.
Freeplay obviously pays their advertising/marketing folks more than their engineers, because I fell for the pitch. This radio plays no longer than my Grundig wind up radio, which is a 1/3 of the cost.
VERY DISAPPOINTED! If someone has recommendations on what I might be doing wrong, I'm all ears b/c I'm a big proponent of green energy! But I'm not an advocate of donating my green to worthless causes.
Wow February 17, 2006
19 out of 19 found this review helpful
I'm new to short wave listening but am impressed with this radio. AM and FM are much better than the FR-300 I have and better than the Sony home stero and the "jambox" in the workshop.
The light works great and will light a room quite well. Its not a spot light, but doesn't profess to be. One candle power is what its rated at but I think its more. It shines across the back yard nicely. I like the magnet mount on the back of it and 6' cord for mounting somewhere other than in the radio.
The short wave is very nice and has a fine tuning knob that comes in handy for bringing in those distant stations. I have listened to South America, China, Germany, BBC, and many others that I'm not sure where they are because of the language barrier. I'm sure one was Russia and one was Japan. There are more short wave stations in english than I thought there would be, like the one from China I happen to like listening to. The four page pamflet that comes with it suggests a short wave antenna will help reception. A length of speaker wire and an alagator clip will do the trick but I haven't tried it yet.
There is some fadeing but I'm still able to hear whats said on most of the frequencies. I live in the south east US [ an hour from the ocean ] and I hear reception is better here so yours may differ.
The hand crank is a bit stiffer than I expected, but for one thats rated at 10,000 x 60 cranks I would expect something solidly built and it seems to be just that. Just crank it 60 times [ two minutes ] and it plays for about 20 hours depending on sound level and usage of the light. This is the main reason I bought this radio.. no wall plugs, no batteries, no problem. You can depend on this baby to perform when the batteries die in everyone elses and they come to you for world news or weather reports. Being a scout and then in the military many, many years ago, I have always believed one should "Be Prepared" and this radio is a good start.
I haven't tried the solar panel yet but if it works like everything else I'm sure it does what they claim it will.
This is a solid radio that I would recommend to everyone.
The only cons are it didn't come with a ac/dc adapter plug [ though takes one ] but getting one at radio shack won't break me if I get too lazy to crank it for two minutes. It seems a bit large for what it consists of but I haven't opened it to see why all the room was needed so untill then I'll trust that they knew what they were doing.
Lastly I'd like to thank J&R who sold me this and after buying it on Tuesday morning I got an email Tuesday night saying it had been shipped and it was at my door Thursday afternoon.
Competent but overpriced, lacking advertised feature January 9, 2006
19 out of 22 found this review helpful
When it came time to replace my broken Grundig AM/FM/SW radio, I looked around for something a bit more full-featured.
The Freeplay Plus works as well as the Grundig on all radio bands. Neither better, nor worse. The crank is slightly more difficult to wind, but not terribly so. The solar panal is a plus. The large flashlight is removable, a plus, but seems less brilliant than the smaller one on the Grundig.
Most intriguing in the list of features to me was:
"Jack for optional headphone or external shortwave antenna (both not included)"
Finally, I would be able to use an external antenna in a jack instead of clipping it to the telescoping antenna, which over time, is what broke my old Grundig.
The manual however makes no mention of a jack for an external antenna. There is no dedicated jack for one, and the only jack into which an antenna plug may be inserted is the headphone jack. From the feature list, it would appear this is what one is to do.
But as headphone jacks are wont to do, the speaker is thereby disabled. I take it on faith from the feature list that the antenna functions well in that jack -- but if one is unable to listen to the radio because of it, I think the feature is of questionable use.
Sad to say, it was for this feature I spent $99 for the Freeplay Plus emergency radio instead of $39 for a new Grundig which works just as well. Minus four stars for deceptive advertising.
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