Radio Shack usually have extremely good quality equipment, for the features offered. CB radios were made by Cobra, TRS Model 4 computers were made by Tektronik, microcassette recorders were made by Olympus (the inventor of the Microcassette), some short wave radios made by a very reputed manufacturer (I forgot the name), their metal detectors were also made by a well respected brand. The little cast aluminum Optimus speakers were fantastic, very good quality, ideal to put around in a house.
The reason for their high reliability is, service costs them a bundle, so their equipment is, for the published performance specifications, designed with high reliability in mind. That was true for the Realistic/Optimus brand but might not be true for the other brand names that they carry like Sony, etc.
I also suspect that they down-rate their specification sheets to make sure that people do not expect too much of them, thus reducing the requirement for service. When they hear or use the product, they are usually very pleased.
All in all, most products with their store brand name are of rugged, good quality. You know they'll deliver the performance. Maybe it changed, as they introduced third-party brands, but it was that way ten to twenty years ago.
BTW, to you shutterbugs, I haven't found a better NiMH AA battery charger than the Realistic quick charger. It's expensive, though. On intensive shoots, I like to have 2 of them to keep the cameras and flashes going.
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