Cheap personal DAB radio

dixie_dean_2

Hi

Not sure if this is the right/best place for this as shopping isn't really my thing but I just got my dad a DAB "walkman" for his birthday so he can listen to the cricket wherever he goes! M and S seemed to have the best/cheapest one and when I went onto the site it had a random £19.50 discount on it. Quidco also offer 5% cashback so all in it's well under £50 which is far cheaper than any others I've seen.

seth

dixie_dean wrote: »

Hi

Not sure if this is the right/best place for this as shopping isn't really my thing but I just got my dad a DAB "walkman" for his birthday so he can listen to the cricket wherever he goes! M and S seemed to have the best/cheapest one and when I went onto the site it had a random £19.50 discount on it. Quidco also offer 5% cashback so all in it's well under £50 which is far cheaper than any others I've seen.

Do you have a link as the cheapest DAB radio on ther M&S site seems to be around £39 and searching for Walkman does not provide any items that are cheap. Walkman is a SONY brand / Icon / Trademark.

Which make model did you get?

OwtForNowt

seth wrote: »

Do you have a link as the cheapest DAB radio on ther M&S site seems to be around £39 and searching for Walkman does not provide any items that are cheap. Walkman is a SONY brand / Icon / Trademark.

Which make model did you get?

I think he means this one;

http://www.marksandspencer.com/gp/product/B001CEKT5O/sr=1-12/qid=1249656508/ref=sr_1_12/278-1814884-3122752?ie=UTF8&node=&m=A2BO0OYVBKIQJM&keywords=dab&mnSBrand=core&size=9&rh=n%3A42966030%2Ck%3Adab%2Cn%3A43992030&page=2

sprogs

I would guess that it is this one - the £19.50 is taken off at the checkout which would make it under £50 as OP mentioned:


Touch Personal Radio

£69.00


Product Code: T04331

MrsBartolozzi

I think it is this one, as it's the only one with a £19.50 discount. I think it might be an M&S own model.

Edit:
That'll teach me to refresh the page before posting, others get in first.

lofielectronic

Does anyone know if this takes batteries or is rechargable and if so how long its lasts?

My midsize one gets through batteries very quickly and rechargable ones only last a few hours in it?

colmil

A word of caution, a year ago a friend bought me a Philips personal player like those shown, however, this ran on xxx batteries and they never lasted more than three days!
I gave up in the end.

PDC

I've found this with all digital radios. They seem to use huge amounts of power.

looking online I found this, http://www.electronicsweekly.com/blogs/engineering-design-problems/2009/07/digital-radio-working-hard-on.html which was interesting.

Hopefully future digital radios will be less 'power hungry'

quoia

PDC wrote: »

I've found this with all digital radios. They seem to use huge amounts of power.

looking online I found this, http://www.electronicsweekly.com/blogs/engineering-design-problems/2009/07/digital-radio-working-hard-on.html which was interesting.

Hopefully future digital radios will be less 'power hungry'

But the article you quote is not really relevant and potentially totally misleading.

Specifically

QUOTE: "I measured a power consumption of 2.9W when the PSU was NOT even connected to the radio"

and when connected it consumed a further amount of

"about 1W during standby or normal operation"

As pointed out, the radio actually consumed just one third of the power that the PSU itself consumed even when it was just plugged in and not connected to anything.

This is the case with many things that run on low voltage DC from an external PSU - typically a "13 amp" plug-in black cuboid unit.

Doesn't matter what device is attached, OR NOT, to the end of the cable.
Mobile phone, MP3 player, normal AM/FM radio, etc. etc.
This type of PSU uses power whilst ever it is plugged into a live 13A socket, and often more than the device itself.

Mains devices usually have zero power consumption when turned off because the unit's On/Off switch is in the circuit BEFORE any internal transformer or electrical components of any sort.

I've several DABs.

I have a small mains powered one, and, as described above, when the switch on the front is OFF, it uses no electicity.

I have a small portable ROBERTS Gemini 59 (cost me just £17 from Comet) - has the external PSU transformer if required - but also runs on 4 x AA batteries.
I get about 24 hours listening on a set of NiMH rechargeables

Also a PERSTEL Adapt DR101 pocket DAB (size of a packet of 20 cigarettes) that I got from https://www.scan.co.uk a few years ago for under £30.
It takes 2 x AA and I can get 10 to 12 hours from a pair of NiMH cells

Digital units currently (will always ?) use more than analogue but don't be misled by the whys and wherefores of the issue

seth

I have a pocket DAB player and the battery life is not good.

The problems seems to be that the DAB format has not really been widely adopted as FM is still popular.


Also the chips sets for DAB are not developing at the same rate as Mp3 chip sets.

There are several reasons for the slow uptake of DAB.

1. Market interia. People have FM radios and the replacement cycle is years (think about DAB in a car). I think all new cars come with DAB or will do as the government plans to phase out analogue
2. The coverage in some areas is poor compare to FM, but as the digital deadlines approach this should improve.
3.The sound quality on DAB was reduced to alow more channels, not sure this matters in reality especially for use on the move with headphones.
4.Internet, satellite and other forms of media are fragmenting the audience.
5.Recent reports of poor reception on the move (there was something on the BBC London news a few weeks ago) continue.


I'm sure that the DAB radio that the OP refers to is MUCH better than my old portable DAB and the Magicbox phones are well regarded. Also recent advancements in reception technology make me hopeful that many of the reception problems have been sorted out.

Reviews

http://www.nevadaradio.co.uk/acatalog/Magic_Box_hand_held_personal_DAB_FM_radio_.html

http://www.amazon.co.uk/product-reviews/B0014QZ0DG/ref=dp_top_cm_cr_acr_txt?ie=UTF8&showViewpoints=1

(I love the one about pointing at the satellite. I know what they mean though you have to line up with the transmitter. The problem is the lack of a decent antenna as the headphone cable is used. Mine DAB unit has a telescopic antenna, this one is much smaller and newer. The internal battery will pack more power than 2 x NiMH AA cells.)

A few specs here: http://www.radio-now.co.uk/handheld_pocket_dab_radio.htm


Battery pack is internal rechargeable.

Also noticed they fit this stuff in a DECT phone

http://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B000HUOCYS/ref=asc_df_B000HUOCYS403048/?!!!!!ciaouk-ce-mp-21&creative=7966&creativeASIN=B000HUOCYS&linkCode=asn

lofielectronic

Thanks seth and pdc.

So does anybody know why DAB radios need so much power when fm ones need so little?