I bought one several weeks ago, from a Walgreens. After removing it from the package it ran for several hours until the power source drained. I found that it receives good reception on both AM & FM, the weather band is a vague. As for winding it up, after about a minute of steady winding (slowly, as long as the charge light is lit) I get about 15-20 minutes of power on this radio. For the price, I paid $19.00, I believe it's worth having it in my backpack.