"my primary interest was in a quality portable recv'r for commercial broadcast band am/fm and NWS weather that had a speaker and ran off AA batteries. Being able to pick up the other stuff was a bonus. "

Then the R2 will exceed your specs by a lot.
Check the earphones racks at most any store. The Walkman/Ipod products brought out a lot of new ways of hearing thru earphones.

I find that having scanners means I know more about what's going on to affect me than any broadcasters do.

Yesterday's Colorado snowstorm was a classic use for situational awareness during my 50 mile commute.
This morning I diverted around a crash in the interstate because I knew where it was far ahead of seeing the pathetically late/limited/useless traffic signboards that CDOT alleges to inform motorists with. (Also found out it was
caused by someone with a nationwide felony warrant for their arrest.)

Unimogbert