I have the same two portable radios that Ken mentions. If you want a radio to leave plugged in at home but can take along occasionally, then the Oregon Scientific is the logical choice. But I like the Midland because it only uses 2xAA versus the more typical 3xAA and the text it displays during an alert is more informative. I remember being rather shocked two or three years back when something like "Tsunami watch..." scrolled across the Midland's screen while it started beeping. An earthquake up near the Oregon border triggered a tsunami watch all down the West coast. Luckily, no tsunami developed.

Oh, whatever you get, I highly suggest that it uses SAME technology so you can limit the alerts to just your area. Well, anything "top of the line" should have it, but I'll just mention it.