Peace at last...until they score that is! (Philips DA1102 1GB)

Member Name: suehome

Product:	Philips DA1102 1GB
Date:	11/12/08 (522 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: Rugged, personal and truly portable

Disadvantages: Bit chunky

My brother is an avid follower of our local football team, and with his season ticket attends most home games. However when they play away or heaven forbid another commitment interferes then the pressure is on to keep up to date by tuning in a radio. Trouble is the rest of the world has to put up with this also until I discovered this miracle little gadget. It's a truly portable and best of all completely personal DAB radio; and inconsequentially for me, a 1GB mp3 player too.

** What's in the Box **

The personal DAB (that's Digital Audio Broadcasting in case you ever wondered ) radio control unit itself. With a white face and 3cm black and white display screen , the unit measures 6cm wide and 9 cm tall, and 1.5 cm deep; so truly portable in any small pocket.

2 AAA batteries; the nice common little tiny ones you can buy almost everywhere.
2 interchangeable back covers, so you can choose between red, white or blue as the mood takes you. The slide on back is slightly rubbery, no doubt designed for shock absorption for when you drop or throw down the unit. Needless to say red was his immediate choice!
The de-rigueur USB cable to connect to a PC for download of music tracks etc. and finally a set of those horrid earplug things that you push into your ears. Apparently the radio aerial is also within these earphones so I was a touch concerned that swopping them for a more conventional headphone set would be a problem, but I need not have worried, the sputnik ones work just fine.

Best of all the quick start guide to use the kit is not much bigger than a large postcard, with just 2 main headings Install/Connect then Enjoy. Now that is my type of instruction complexity.

** Using the Radio **

Slide off back cover, insert batteries, replace cover, pug in earphones to the obvious socket on the top of the unit and press the button in the centre of unit. What could be easier? The screen lights up with an initial display of PHILLIPS but quickly changes to 4 easily understood icons. The radio picture is highlighted with the toggle switch outside the central button and you simply press REC/SCAN to search for all available stations in your area. Both Radio Solent and Hampshire FM immediately appeared so a choice of commentary was possible in our local area. The beauty of the digital signal is the clarity especially since we live in a very hilly area where signal tends to fade and crackle. With the earphones on, only the wearer can hear the sound, so other than a few groans or shouts of encouragement, it's blissful peace until a goal is scored. The simple controls and clear icons make this unit very intuitive to use so frankly the instructions have not really been necessary. Naturally once you have identified your favourites it's possible to set a preset in place to quickly find them again.

** MP3 Functionality **

As I explained we did not buy the unit for it's music capability, but I easily downloaded 100 tracks from the PC onto the memory, by simply connecting up the USB cable. The radio was recognised as a USB mass storage device, so it was simple to just drag and drop selected tracks across. Again it could not be easier to play the tracks, merely select the music icon, and either play all, select artist or select tracks , then press the central button to confirm.

Volume is controlled with up/down toggle and play modes or equaliser effects can be set within the main menu. So simple even a technophobe can use it.

We obtained our radio from Argos price £29.99 (before the VAT rate was reduced) and I expect it to return good value for money. The unit itself is reasonably rugged, the buttons are not too fiddly and the display screen is clear even in fairly bright sunlight. Battery life seems quite good and the volume supplied is more than adequate, so this gadget is actually usable outside. It claims to be a sports model, no go faster stripes, but it would be useful for a jogger or outdoor enthusiast who did not want to miss any sort of broadcast.

Thanks for reading

Posted on Dooyoo and Ciao under the same author

Summary: Personal DAB radio ........plays music too

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