Updates to Passport to World Band Radio - Edition 2003:
Sony apparently has decided to discontinue production of the venerable
ICF-2010 portable
some months earlier than they had indicated to us last autumn. According to
Fred
Osterman at Universal Radio, the last shipment of '2010s was received in
late November,
2002, and on January 13th Sony indicated that they would be unable to
fulfill dealers'
considerable quantity of backorders, as production had already been
terminated.
There is the faint outside chance that someone at Sony has made an error.
But a check
of American dealer sites in mid-January has most showing the $350-370
ICF-2010 on
backorder status. Should an online vendor state it is in stock, be careful,
as some
have been known to claim that an item is in stock when it isn't, just to lay
hands
on your money.
The '2010, which initially was sold outside North America as the ICF-2001D,
was in
production for over 17 years, possibly a record for a consumer electronics
model.
In recent years it was available only within North America, but as Sony has
been
moving away from consumer electronics manufacturing and into more lucrative
endeavors,
it was decided to terminate the brisk-selling '2010. Sony, as usual, is
tight-lipped,
but possibly the reason is because the receiver's many discrete controls and
components
make it more difficult and costly to produce than newer models.
Fortunately, the '2010 is relatively rugged, so quality used units should
continue
to be available for some years to come.
Universal Radio also reports that Sony of America has changed the optional
120V AC
adaptor for the ICF-SW7600 compact portable. Formerly the AC-E60HG, now
discontinued,
it is now the AC-E60A. The new adaptor is more compact, but there is one
problem:
On its side, it reads, "NOT FOR USE WITH RADIOS." According to Universal,
there is
good reason for this caution, as the new adaptor causes buzzing that
disrupts radio
reception.