Dear Lucky,

In MY OPINION, $450 is a very LOW price with regard to what you get.
You can lower the price by buying a (Drake) refurbished unit, but I
would recommend that you deal only with a reputable SW dealer such as
Universal or Grove for this. You still want them to "check-out" your
particular unit prior to shipment (as you may know, quality-control on
these units hasn't been all it should be).

I would not count too much on the Eton E1-XM (formerly the Grundig
Satellit 900) being a substitute for the Sat800. I certainly wouldn't
be the "first kid on my block" to buy a new Chinese-manufactured
receiver, especially from Eton/Grundig. You need to wait at least a
year (and a real-world report in PASSPORT) before you know how these
things are really assembled and are performing. (Newsgroups such as
this are also helpful, of course.) I do not believe that the
forthcoming E1-XM will have the specifications of the Sat800 (and I,
for one, have no interest in "pay-radio." Why didn't they at least
offer Sirius as well if this is going to be a "satellite" radio? Why
no built-in stereo? Why no HD-radio? Why no DRM? I feel that this
radio will be obsolete even before it is introduced! Sorry about the
diatribe!).

I do not think the price of the Sat800 will drop in the near future
unless some dealer (such as The Discovery Channel this past summer)
were closing them out, and then you would probably not be able to have
your unit checked out. Even with a warranty, it is somewhat of an
inconvenience (and it is expensive) to ship a unit to Drake, though
their service and turnaround are positively top-notch.

Finally, you'll never "outgrow" a Sat800. Even if you were to buy one
of the Supersets (such as an AOR AR7030 Plus), you would use your
Sat800 for MW and FM as well as for more casual listening.

I hope the above is of some use to you and that it aids and encourages
you in your purchase decision.

Best,

Joe

"Lucky" wrote in message ...
After doing some more reading on it, I see what you mean. It has fine sound
quality for most people and offers some nice filter selections. I think $450
is kinda overpriced though. It should more like $300-$350 tops. But, if that
new Eton model comes out or the sat 900, prices might come down alot and
I'll grab one then. Seems to be a good all around radio.

Lucky