Most people rate Sony portable radios with 4 to 4.5 stars. This concludes that Sony portable radios are well liked and preferred. You can read reviews of the portable radios on most sites where you can purchase one, including Amazon.com.
No, Sony portable radio players don't have CD players built in them and cannot play CDs. Sony does make CD radio players, but they are not marketed as portable.
Kenwood portable radios are generally reliable and worth the cost (several hundred dollars). If one happens to have problems after purchase, they come with a warranty and you can take the radio to Kenwood authorized service centers for a free repair.
You can find ratings for the best portable radios and the largest selection at bestbuy.com in the section Portable Radios and Pocket Radios, listen to your favorite stations.
I would recommend a portable radio that has only a few buttons easy to carry around and is attractive in appearance. Sony makes very good portable radios I would look there first.
Yes portable radios pick up the same stations as a regular radio there just portable instead of having to be plugged into a wall outlet.
Motorola offers some of the leading portable radios on the market today. Many of Motorola's portable radios are used by emergency personnel in the most extreme environments. High quality Motorola portable radios range in price from around $100 to more than $1300 for some of the highest quality portable radios.
Kenwood portable radios are radios which allow you to speak with people up to 5 miles away. They are very durable but can also be a little bit pricey.
Portable radios that are small in size and that offer both AM and FM radio which charge by usb are available. You can find them online by visiting http://www.alibaba.com/showroom/usb-charge-portable-speaker.html which offers some selection on these sorts of portable radios. Some retail stores could possibly also help you find the types of portable radios you are looking for.
From my experience, most portable radios take either quite a few AA's, or a few 9V's. Also you can get radios that need C and D batteries.
The transistor!
There are many portable radios out on the market and they should be sufficient for your needs. The best brands are the Sangean DT200V AM/FM/TV Radio and the Sony SRF-H4 AM/FM/Weather/TV Radio.
Radios are made around the world by different manufacturers. For instance, Sony radios are made in the country of Japan.