User Review: Etón Scorpion

I am a beginner in the world of hiking gear so I had to do a little research to find that "all in one" device to fit our needs. At first glance the unit is impressive. Solar, dynamo and D/C power options, cool.

When I opened the package and held it for the first time I could tell this thing was DURABLE.  The screen for the clock/am-fm-weather is backlit so you can see it at night, a plus. The flashlight is just FANTASTIC! It has a VERY bright and clean beam that is non-adjustable but a great median between spot light and a dispersed beam. I am very impressed by the brightness of the 3 LED's and the lense.

Powering the unit with the small solar panel is easy. Just point it at the sun and the battery indicator shows that it is charging. Using the dynamo crank is stiff at first, but after about 200 to 300 cranks it becomes very light and smooth. I did not purchase the D/C charger.

The speaker gets quite loud. It's kinda cool that you can plug in your ipod/iphone/mp3 player into the aux jack and the scorpion effectively amplifies the sound your unit is playing. I'm a huge fan of the option to scan for channels by holding the tune button down. I mean really, who wants to sit and peck buttons until a station comes in. 

The antenna extends, swivels and collapses nicely. The caribiner is tough and holds the unit securely to my pack. It is pretty light considering all that it can do. I will say that I can think of a dozen other things that could have been put in the place of the bottle opener.

Cons:

• Nowhere in any video or article I've seen did anyone say that you have to "contact www.igo.com for purchasing cell phone charging equipment" as the instructions say. I found this link for product registration that says they will send the proper adaptor for the phone when registered, www.etoncorp.com/productregistration

All in all it is a great unit and for the price, purchased on Amazon, it is worth every penny. Oh, and buy a screen protector for like an ipod or iphone and trim it to the size of the solar screen.  It scratches VERY easily.