My experience has not been that same as yours. As I said in an earlier post, I have a Midland 74-250C portable and an
Oregon Scientific WRS-101 .
The Oregon Scientific is MUCH easier to set than the Midland, has lasted several days on battery power, which is about the same as the Midland, is built as solid as the Midland even though it is primarily a desk-top unit (I have taken it camping with the scouts - just clip off the base and it is a portable), and has very good reception. One is in my basement and the stations come in very clearly. Even if reception was bad, it will accept an external antenna.
I liked the Oregon Scientific WRS-101 so much that I bought a second one for my bedroom and gave one as a gift to one of my best friends. The Midland portable sits in a drawer unused. It is just too much of a pain to keep the batteries charged and every time it looses power I have to reset it - and I hate how the menus/buttons work.