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Reviews For: Grundig YACHT BOY (Porsche) P 2000

Category: Receivers: General Coverage

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Review Summary For : Grundig YACHT BOY (Porsche) P 2000
Reviews: 13MSRP: 99.00
Description:
Sterling silver World Receiver designed by F. A. Porsche. Frequencies and SW bands can be directly keyed in. 2 international times are adjustable.
14.2 x 9.2 x 3.5 cm small and 330 g light
(without batteries).
Product is in production
More Info: http://www.grundig.com/produkte/audio.html
# last 180 days Avg. Rating last 180 days Total reviews Avg. overall rating
00131.3
KF4AR Rating: 2003-08-13
More Yugo than Porsche Time Owned: 0 to 3 months.
I bought a P2000 at Radio Shack in the spring of 2003 at a close out price. It was pitiful on all bands. It failed to pull in the local AM station 7 miles away, failed to hear all but the loudest SW stations, and was very insensitive on FM. The FM was also plagued by bad images, and I live in a rural area. I can't imagine trying to use it in an urban setting. The processor noise was very disturbing. I would like to think this was a good design ruined by cost cutting measures. Grundig should've spent as much on the radio as they did the cowhide cover and Porsche designed case. I guess after paying royalties to Porsche for the use of their name, there wasn't much money left over for circuitry. A good case of a pig in a tutu. I sold mine on eBay for what I paid for it. I sold mine on eBay for what I paid for it.

I give it a 5 for styling and looks and a 0 for performance. Save your money.
FALCON Rating: 2003-07-16
Bad! Audio Time Owned: 0 to 3 months.
I bought one of these at the local R/S and returned it the next day.

It looks great but I found the performace to be almost the worst of any radio I have used in its class. Reception sensitivity was mediocre in both am & fm. The worst thing was the sound quality. I have several 30yr old cheap transistors in my collection that sound better than this. Im not a HiFi sensitive person but I found it to be irratating to listen to just because of the poor audio.
I recently looked at another one as I like the styling and size but it sounded the same. My mini 100pe even sound better.
LNXAUTHOR Rating: 2003-01-20
OK if purchased at discount Time Owned: 0 to 3 months.
The Grundig 'Porsche' is a small radio, so don't expect the greatest sound unless you use earphones (which are included). A clip-on, magnetic leather cover is included, and the radio can be played with the cover on. The radio requires three AA batteries and a 4.5V external adapter may be used. It does not have an external antenna jack, but the $9.99 Radio Shack shortwave wire antenna may be used instead and clipped onto the P2000's telescoping antenna. The radio's ergonomics are quite good - and even this 'ham-fisted' SWL'r could easily navigate the buttons. The downside is that there are only five memories for each band: AM, FM, SW1, and SW2. No real big holes in SW coverage, but you must use a switch for SW1 (2.30-7.4 MHz) or SW2 (9.4-26.1 MHz). Switchable 9/10MHz for AM. Mono/Stereo switch doubles as local/distant for SW. The radio hosts dual-clock times, sleep mode, and a radio or buzzer alarm.

I was skeptical about the reception performance of the unit, but have found that it (at least for my purposes) can receive all the major shortwave stations I listen to (BBC, DW, RN, etc.).

Pros:

- cool looking
- earphones and cover included
- small (4"x3"x1") and lightweight (300g)
- nice ergonomics
- direct frequency entrie via keypad
- one year warranty
- inexpensive! (see below)
- backlit LCD (when light button pressed)
- dual-clocks
- two types of alarms
- SW coverage 2.30-7.4 MHz and 9.4-26.1 MHz

Cons:

- only tunes in 5MHz increments; no fine-tune knob
- frequency display uses 'Chinese' method
- no external antenna jack
- so-so audio (due to size of speaker and radio, but compensated by use of earphones)

Overall impression:

This compact radio, now part of Radio Shack's worldband lineup, was purchased while on sale at Radio Shack for around $60US (Jan. 2003). The build quality is very good, and the radio has a solid feel unlike other much larger portables. The warranty card has a Lextronics address. It took only a minute or two to set up the time for each clock, set the default clock display, and enter my favorite stations presets in AM/FM and SW.

I purchased the radio due to its small size and features (multi-band, clock and alarm). I don't expect my P2000 to perform like a Grundig Satellit 800! If you want better performance and sound, try the Yacht Boy PE 400 or Sony SONY ICF-SW7600GR - but you will pay more than twice as much as I did (and can anyone ever find a Sony on sale?).