I own a Kaito 1102 (because I wasn't willing to deal with the cumbersome volume control on the 1103), and it has been solid and reliable for 4 years. I also own an Eton E5 (a derivative of the 1103 as someone else mentioned, but typically $150) which has excellent sensitivity for mediuwave and shortwave. $80 US has been the standard retail price (via mailorder at least) of a new Kaito 1103 for years.

From Northern California, with my E5, I've picked up AM stations as far away as British Columbia, Texas, and Louisiana. This is just with using the built-in ferrite antenna; no external antenna. Local stations broadcasting in AM HD cause adjacent channel interference on both sides of their signal (for me, 740 kHz causes heavy static on 730 and 750 kHz, frequencies I used to be able to hear fine for DXing).

Good luck!