Don't let aesthetics fool you. Whether you're new to shortwave or a veteran listener, avoid this radio. I liken it to a moderately attractive girl who turns out be insipid the moment she opens her mouth. This radio has none of the features normally associated with modern shortwave radios (e.g., memory presets) and I experienced annoying signal drift that required me to continually re-tune the radio (what you'd expect if you put a digital tuner on an analog tuned radio.) If you're looking for a great shortwave in this price range, check out the Grundig 400. See . . . I'm not prejudiced against Grundig, just against the radio that turned out to be such a tremendous disappointment last Christmas morning after weeks of anticipation.