Customer Reviews: Read 19 more reviews...
 Your Never Alone With A... Personal DAB Radio September 23, 2008
I became hooked on DAB Radio about 4 years ago and now have 6 radios. I was initially cautious about buying any personal DAB radio because of the reviews. However, I bought this device a couple of years ago and used it to for my hour long journey to and from work via train, tram/bus. This reasonably priced device worked great and made the long journey bearable.
My only criticism is reserved for the design such as: the colour (white), having headphones sockets on the side rather than the top (or bottom), not being able to attach a carrying strap (though I think there are two very small holes provided for this purpose) and the headphones that came with the radio. However as other have confirmed, generic ones work fine and will still act as the aerial.
To keep the radio clean and scratch free I invested a few quid for a perfectly fitting TUCANO Rapida XS camera case which also has a neck/shoulder strap. The case is made of Neoprene and accommodates the headphone jack on the side of the radio. I would always recommend the purchase of 4 * highest rating Ni-MH rechargeable batteries (2 for use and 2 for spare).
In summary, a great sounding and reliable DAB radio with a few minor design flaws.
 Useful radio........ July 24, 2008
1 out of 1 found this review helpful
I paid less than 20 pounds for this, from a large branch of a well known supermarket who were obviously trying to get rid of them.
I like the rubberised case, but like others would prefer the headphone socket at the top, so can put in a shirt pocket. Lack of power adaptor not such a problem. It says 4 volts, but will work fine on 3 volts. I paid 8 pounds for a suitable mains adaptor from a certain High St electrical retailer. It takes the same sized 'tip' as my Sony radio, but plug is at a different polarity. The annoying thing is that when used with a mains adaptor, the backlight stays on all the time, there is no option to turn it off.
I use rechargable batteries for everything. I put in 2 fully charged 2000mA 'AA's and got 5 hours of them before the radio died: not too bad. Shame there is no facility to recharge batteries using the mains adaptor like on some other pocket radios, as annoying to keep having to take them out every day or so to recharge. In my locality, there are a few 'dead' spots where DAB fails completely....no FM available as a backup!
I use my own earphones rather than the bundled ones as more comfortable. More than adequate sound quality and plenty of volume when needed (to drown out overloud inane mobile 'phone 'calls').
Given the lack of FM and rechargeable battery capability, I would not pay 60 pounds for this radio, but given what I did pay it is a bargain for what it is.
This radio is similar to those branded Grundig, Mikomi and Wharfedale. The latter 2 named have FM and rechargable batteries, but the radio's display are all the same.
 Anti-Climax June 4, 2008
Was great for a while and then one day decided to stop picking up ANY BBC stations at all. The main reason I bought it was for Radio 5Live and Radio 5Live Sports Extra. So without being able to get any BBC stations the radio is basically useless to me
Power Guzzler February 24, 2008
1 out of 1 found this review helpful
I wanted a personal DAB radio & spotted this item. Its very functional & simple to use. Headphones a bit too big so try others as they seem to work as the aerial equally well. Only drawback is the power consumption. I get less than 4 hours out of AA batteries (even when I resist fiddling about with the controls) Would have been nice to have an AC adaptor supplied - otherwise an excellent little radio - crystal clear sound & I only get the digital "burble" when I lie down with the headphone lead curled up on my chest!
Better than Expected... February 10, 2008
3 out of 3 found this review helpful
I was a little unsure about this radio before I bought it - the reviews made it sound a bit pants. So I bought it from a retailer with a good returns policy if it turned out that it was. So far, I've used it for a week, and am nothing but impressed with it.
The Setup:-
Well, I bought this product and got it working whilst waiting for the bus home - it comes with everything you need, including batteries! Simply a case of installing the batteries, connecting the headphones, turning it on and tuning it in.
Usage:-
The controls are fairly simple to use, up/down to change the volume, left right and click to select the channels, and some further options selectable via the menu's. It can sometimes be awkward selecting channels with the joystick, as sometimes when you click, you accidentally move the joystick and it selects the wrong channel. Or if you're out of range, the channel will revert to what your listening to, rather than just taking you back to the selection manually, annoying if you're listening to a 'BBC' channel, then want to listen to a 'Smooth' channel. I have been very impressed with the sound quality and reception though. Channels with higher bandwidths work very well, the low bandwidth ones (traffic/birdsong) less so (unsurprisingly). I use this daily on the train and bus to and from work, and only when in a dip on the train does it drop out. It does seem to depend which type of train I travel on, the newer ones seem to cause more interference trouble than the older ones.
The battery life is rubbish when compared to an FM radio, or even many of the newer MP3 players. I would say that battery life is 4-5 hours, however I've switched to high power rechargables, and power adapter at work, to keep the costs down.
General:-
When you first take the unit out the box, you might be surprised at how 'cheap' it feels. The main case is in shiny white plastic, and the front is of a more soft touch rubber which is much nicer. Unfortunatly the dimple on the joystick has already turned yellow after just a weeks use, and I would say that I keep fairly clean hands.
The Blue lit screen is reasonable to use, except in really bright light, but thats just a case of moving slightly.
The volume is a bit all or nothing - the first level of volume above silent is surprisingly loud; not deafening or anything, but it is a large step. Then the maximum volume isn't really massively high, maybe its because of the headphones, but you can still hear some external noise. But the headphones are comfortable for my ears even for a few hours use. I've tried some other 'phones that I have, and all work fine with the radio (given that it uses the headphones as an aerial) so as I have a habit of destroying headphones in quite a short time, I'll have no trouble changing them at a later date.
All in all, if you're after a cheap personal radio, with DAB features, I would highly recommend it, but be aware of the 'features' so that you're not disappointed.
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