I recommend you Howard leight. If you are having any doubts, let me settle them. This headset is well made. Yes, even the battery compartment door everybody and their brother has complained about. Mash the release button is fully on it before you try to push the cover off and you shouldn't have any trouble with it breaking. The FM radio tuner is the best I have seen yet and I have owned them all including the Peltor and the 3M Tek. I live in a rural area and all of the stations I listen to are 40 miles away or further. This tuner has no problem finding the stations and holding them with no drift or problems related to the direction you happen to be pointed.

I have a few different headphone/radio combo units that I used to use when jogging. Then I read several reports that when the radio receives a signal it produces electro-magnetic waves, and being located in the headphone unit that puts it very close to the brain. The farther from a tower the stronger the electro-magnetic energy becomes as the radio powers up to pull in a distant, weak signal. I have switched to a noise cancelling headphone unit to which I can connect any source (radio, ipod, etc.) or use them alone to cancel out noise. I have been using the John Deere noise cancelling headphones, but just today received the Audio Technica NC phones I ordered as the Deere phones don't cancel out enough of the noise for my taste and I read good reviews of the Audio Technica phones. Haven't tried them yet. I usually keep the radio or ipod in a jacket pocket. Works for me.

Service tech came and determined the unit needed refrigerant..at a cost of 454 BUCKS!!! ok, perhaps that is the going rate...Then he says he has bad news, the compressor is shot..I said it was running during the period of time he was adding refrigerant, and he even noted the sound was now better from the compressor.. /for this part, let's say you come to a unit and find that by putting guages on the system while it is running, it is low on refrigerant. You must also check for airflow problems as this will alter guage readings. If it is real low, one would have to assume a leak. So, you inform customer and if okay, you pressure test the system or use a leak detector to find the leak. The refrigerant is escaping somewhere, (that is, if guauges indicated a leak, i.e. loss of refrigerant. Lets now say the unit was not too low on refrigerant and a leak is suspected and wasn't found in a visual looking over of the system. One could just add some refrigerant and let the customer know that if the unit is low again (low/no cooling), then a leak test of some sort would be advisable. Time 1-1 1/2 hrs at the going rate and 1 to 2 lbs of freon ($20 a lb?). One would have to have a good running compressor in order to fill the unit. Normal way would be to vapor fill (assuming R-22) and test superheat/subcooling at this time. Also, a indoor coil check would have been part of initial inspection as well as a filter check. If one added liquid freon (jug upside down) one could damage the compressor by letting liquid enter into the compressor where only vapor should be. You can't compress liquids, only vapor. That would damage the compressor and you would hear a different noise. (rod knocking sound) That is a rough version of a service call I would do. I did add dye for one company as that was their policy. It shows up visually a month later on most leaks. Leak detectors are better to use. Dye sucks. .at an additional cost of 2500 bucks they could replace the compressor, but there is no guarantee that the issue of refrigerant would not rear it ugly head at some point in the near future.. //Depending on the age of the unit, you would be better off dealing with them on a new outside unit and indoor coil. That is, if you can trust them. Besides, one would have to pressure test the unit after putting in a new compressor. Also, during that testing, a vacuum is pulled once or twice. Loss of that vacuum means a leak and has to be found/repaired. Be it in the new braze joints or old leak. It has to be found. Could be in the indoor coil and not repairable. That tech is either new or not well trained. Probably both. He needs more training, which companies are sadly unwilling to do. I hope you can set up a meeting with a service manager and get this straightened out. Maybe this company will back up their work, maybe not. Stopping payment will get their attention. Check BBB and other references to see who they are.

Trying to block out engine noise vs. general noise around you (like snorers, people talking, children crying) will be 2 different things, I've learned. I've recently hit the big-box electronics store and a specialty music/guitar store, and also read so many earphones' reviews on the web, I'm dizzy. And disappointed. (I'm also quite disappointed that Best Buy, Sony's stores and Brookstone have so few models that you can try on there -- before you plunk down your money, then get them home and decide they don't work well for you or fit well. Radio Shack won't let you take anything out of the box. Best Buy does have some Bose models ready for you to try on -- it was noticeably different than the other models there: blocked out the surrounding sounds, and you know what that store's like. I might hit the Bose outlet near me before I plunk down THAT much money, tho!) Things I've learned, via actual try-ons and reading reviews (to give you a head-start on that): 1) Few options will block out people's voices (I'm now dealing with a horribly chatty person at work who sits maybe 20 feet away -- I'd like to drown her out.) 2) Earbuds (in-the-ear) give you a good fit but can get uncomfortable after even a short time. 3) Foam earplugs have sometimes worked for me, but some squiggle out, lose their tightness in the ear. 4) On-ear headphones: Not so great; over-ear headphones: Much better, tho some look like you're ready to direct planes to the gate. 5) Foldable earphones, which mostly have the hinge at the top, have a tendency to break right at that point. That's a big criticism among Amazon's customer reviews.