Don’t buy a DAB radio until next spring.

SteveB

According to this article http://www.digitalradiotech.co.uk/articles/All-DAB-receivers-will-be-obsolete-in-a-few-years-time.php 8 years from now all current DAB radios will not work. To say the least I am annoyed about this, as I have analogue radios that are over 30 years old and are still working well.

Even next spring there will still be a lot of radios that will not be able to receive the new DAB+ standard.

It seems that the DAB signal we get now is MP2 and DAB+ will be MP3. As MP4 is around does this mean that DAB+ won’t last long?

Patr100

MP4 is a video format not audio so I doubt it will affect radio transmissions.

Woby_Tide

the price of the new generation players will be ridiculous when first launched next spring (and probably riddled with bugs) far better to wait 6 or 7 years using legacy stuff whilst they fine tune the newer stuff and have a nice MSE bargain when the old signal is finally switched off

jpe20

The DAB+ technology I expect will come with a price premium I expect so I would not get too excited. Personally if it were me I would wait see what PURE bring out in the spring and make your mind up then after a survey of the market. If you "need" one now buy now for the best price you can afford.

Its a reality of modern day living that these things seem to go out of date more and more quickly these days. Companies will always tempt us with bright new shiny toys which we in main do buy which eventually leave the stalwarts out in the cold.

Jules

ozskin

I used to work as a producer for ITV, it was open discussion of how digi great for govt sell off the old bandwidth and plug the funding gaps, great for tv co's the original arguments of better quality seem to have been forgotten mainly for increased number of channels with more oppertunities to sell ad space and great for manufacturers, we all have to buy new kit. There is precious little in it for consumers except increased cost. be aware as far as i know there will be multiple hd formats to be rolled out so the kit you buy now will not be able to take advantage of the next generation of hd. however if anyone has the front there may be a way to stop paying you licence fee. I will certainly be testing it as the beeb have already set a precident in scotland

Sparkly

I'd be surprised if anything like a DAB radio you buy this year will last 7+ years anyway!. Most of the home tv and radio equipment seems to have built in obselescence too, regardless of build quality. Wouldn't surprise me if my Freeview box and any recorder I buy will become useless when something like 'Freeview HiDef (I made that up though)' is brought in a few years after analogue swtich-off.

markbloke

I don't really expect anything I buy these days to last beyond three to five years in terms of mechanical failure or obsalescense. The silver lining is that technology is generally becoming better value for money as time goes on.
I tend to look on the cost of such things as rental. Thinking you own something outright will make you miserable when you have to pay someone to dispose of it in an environmentally friendly manner.

twe

Sparkly wrote:

I'd be surprised if anything like a DAB radio you buy this year will last 7+ years anyway!. Most of the home tv and radio equipment seems to have built in obselescence too, regardless of build quality. Wouldn't surprise me if my Freeview box and any recorder I buy will become useless when something like 'Freeview HiDef (I made that up though)' is brought in a few years after analogue swtich-off.

Actually this is a reality.... The next generation of freeview boxes will support HD freeview.... That is one of the reasons why freeview boxes have gone down in price compared to a couple of months ago....

ckerrd

twe wrote:

Actually this is a reality.... The next generation of freeview boxes will support HD freeview.... That is one of the reasons why freeview boxes have gone down in price compared to a couple of months ago....

But the bandwith is not there to suuport HD programmes.

This is going to become a real issue if Freeview viewers want HD programmes.

You can have HD but not as many - or loads, badly compressed (like now)

Johnkg

ckerrd wrote:

But the bandwith is not there to suuport HD programmes.

This is going to become a real issue if Freeview viewers want HD programmes.

You can have HD but not as many - or loads, badly compressed (like now)

Good point, but I though the great switch off will provide the bandwidth for HD?

ckerrd

It will certainly provide more, but not enough if all channels want to start broadcasting in HD