DAB Radios now available at Argos (in store) for under £20, but be quick!

madfrenchgirl

it all depends on the quality of the system you buy and people's tastes:

I bought a ministry of sound midi system with CD/mp3 player, DAB and FM: I have very good speakers on it and the quality of sound is perfect. the choice of channels is brilliant. The system was 70 quid delivered from Inest.

I bought it for listening to PlanetRock in my kitchen (nothing like classic rock to wake you up in the morning) and to all my rock CDs.

Now to the problem of Freeview radio versus DAB: Freeview radio is full of ultra commercial trite.

Now, you might argue that my signal is very good because I am in Southampton: but let me remind you that even FM would not work in slightly hilly areas 10 years ago. Give DAB a chance.

C_Ronaldo

martyw wrote: »

From past experience I've learnt never to buy anything by Bush, Alba, Goodmans or Matsui. Build quality and lifespan are inevitably poor, and not surprisingly performance too. (You may not realise how poor until for example you hear what good DAB radios actually sound like)

Cheap is just cheap. Read independent reviews (such as Which mentioned above, or specialist magazines) and go for VALUE instead!

.

ill correct because from my experience matsuis products have done well for me, ive had a matsui portable tv for 8 years and its still working, i had a matsui vcr which worked for 5/6 years until it broke but i got alot of use out of it, i cant comment on bush, alba or goodmans but because theyre cheap it neccessarily mean theyre of poor build quality etc

DragonDosh

Hi,
Just a note about decent (or not!) products if it's any help:

I have a goodmans micro system DAB, which also has a CD player, has a timer function and separate speakers.
Sound quality is good - which could be down to the "proper" speakers, seperate to the set, rather than an integrated one.

Now and again a station sounds like its underwater or blowing bubbles but it's usually temporary and re-scanning can help.

I think "station unavailable" is sometimes down to the area you're in ... there's one I liked, which I think has disappeared as I can't find it wherever the set is "living".

My current frustration is with freeview/satellite. I can't get freeview in my area (not even all the terrestrial), even with a signal booster. Can't find a free satellite system that has all feeview channels (so far) and don't want monthly sub. Annoying.

steve_green_3

madfrenchgirl wrote: »

it all depends on the quality of the system you buy and people's tastes:

I bought a ministry of sound midi system with CD/mp3 player, DAB and FM: I have very good speakers on it and the quality of sound is perfect. the choice of channels is brilliant. The system was 70 quid delivered from Inest.

I can't believe that you're claiming that it's all about the quality of your system when you've just said that your midi system only cost you £70. £70 for a hi-fi system is right at the absolute bottom of the price range, so I'm afraid that your system is bound to sound significantly worse than hi-fi systems that cost a few hundred pounds.

Now, you might argue that my signal is very good because I am in Southampton: but let me remind you that even FM would not work in slightly hilly areas 10 years ago. Give DAB a chance.

The sound quality issue has nothing to do with your reception quality. The problem with the sound quality is that the radio stations are actually broadcast at poor quality, so even if you have perfect DAB reception quality the sound will still be poor.

scotty76

Just a quick note to say that when I was on the hunt for a DAB radio and wanted some alternatives to Pure Digital and the other usual suspects I eventually stumbled across Revo who I've never seen mentioned anywhere:

http://www.revo.co.uk/

John Lewis stock their range.

Hope that's of use to someone.

martynelmy

Thanks for the info, the cheapest DAB set on the Argos website is £29.99 (inc FM), is the sub 20 quid only in stores?

Let's face it a 30 quid radio is a 30 quid radio. The DAB technology olny costs the manufacturer 50p more to add to a set (remember when telextext TV's were more epensive! we will see the same with Freeview soon).

Cheap-DAB may give you no better (worse??) quality than FM. but what is does give is CHOICE. So if you want a set for the kitchen or a kids bedroom 30 quid is great (whatever the technology) if you want HiFi you need to pay probably at leat (say) £150 for a tuner (whatever the technology).

end of rant!

anafurn wrote: »

I bought an Alba from Argos in Brighton this morning and it's working fine in my office right now. Not as good quality as my wood-case Roberts at home but for the price it's fine. Thanks for the tip.

Idiophreak

L.S.D. wrote: »

Here we go again. GET YOUR EARS TESTED. I'm sick of people running down DAB radio. I'd happily give them a blind test to compare FM with DAB etc & I know they would not be able to tell the difference.

Err...not knowing much about these things...if I wouldn't be able to tell the difference, why would I pay £20 for a dab radio when I already have an FM one?

Just for the extra channels?

caroleiw

I've just replaced my radio in the kitchen with the Alba TRDAB2830 from Argos and it's great. Finally no fuzzyness and no rap interference. Even tells me what I'm listening to and who it's by - didn't know they did that.

I can now switch easily to Chris Evans at 5pm and wont have to keep turning the tuner or moving the aerial to get a better reception. Then at 7pm straight over to Radio 4 for The Archers. How sad am I !

So thank you Martin and moneysaveruk for the top tip - even DH is pleased with it - perhaps our hearing isn't as sensitive as everyone elses.

giuliasaab

Several points here.
My guess is that freeview radio is better than DAB because it's got a socking great aerial in the loft. DAB radio only has a little stick. And modern TV amplifiers are better than they used to be.
We have a Roberts DAB radio in the kitchen because I thought Roberts were the best for portable radios. It has no tone control and far too much base. Not a happy bunny.
I'm sure Matsui is the brand name Currys/Dixons use, and any given product could come from whichever manufacturer gives the best deal to them. I don't expect they all come from one manufacturer. I've generally found these products to be good value.
Agreed on Alba, Bush, Goodmans. Always thought of them as cheap and inferior quality.

stamford

giuliasaab wrote: »

Several points here.

We have a Roberts DAB radio in the kitchen because I thought Roberts were the best for portable radios. It has no tone control and far too much base. Not a happy bunny.

They were the best but are now rubbish the brand is owned by Glen/Dimplex/Morphy Richards they claim to be hand made in South Yorkshire but I suspect that might just involve sticking a badge on a Chinese import