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Satzuma USB Radio Pig
by thriftygiftyisme
=Satzuma USB Radio Pig=
A couple of friends and I have a little tradition for Christmas that we spend a maximum of £5 on an item that is a novelty item.
Mine was the Satzuma USB Radio Pig - that was Christmas 2012
=Price=
It had to be around £5 as that was our budget .
=USB Radio=
This is a ... fully working USB Radio, that is designed to look like a pig.
=Shape=
The shape is a round shape with two small ears, which are used as buttons and there are two small black eyes attached, although these are decorative purposes. The pig has four small legs which gives it a stable
base.
=To Use=
This is so easy to connect, you just hook into a USB point on your laptop or computer and your ready to use, my computer has Windows 7 and there was no additional programs needed to upload.
=Radio Station=
The radio station element is controlled by the ears, you use the left ear to search for a station, and the range is from 82-107FM, and the right ear is the default station
At this point I will say there is nowhere to see what station you are connected to, its a bit of trial and error.
=On/off and Volume=
Even though this is powered by the computer, the tail acts as the on/off switch flicking it up and down, and to change the volume you go side to side.
(You can also use batteries in the Pig, if you wanted to use it away from the computer, although I leave mine upstairs on the desktop computer as I have digital radios throughout the house).
=Speaker=
You can also use the pig as a speaker for your computer, there is a cable that is included within your set, again this is by USB port.
The volume is not brilliant, but it does give the pig a second use.
.
=Quality=
At the end of the day it is a novelty plastic pig, the quality is ok, I've had mine 15 months, and it gets used about a couple of times a week both in the function as a radio and as a speaker, and it works ok.
=Novelty=
This is a novel idea it would make a great gift for anyone that loves pigs, and at £4, its not going to break the Piggy Bank.
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Roberts CR9971 Chronologic Vi Dual Alarm Clock Radio
by Seven17
I bought this alarm clock because I'm sick of waking up to the boring same old alarm every day, and instead I wanted to wake up to a different song or Radio 4 news. So I bought this.
For build quality this scores top marks, It's made of solid plastic all round, the buttons depress only very slightly and the little aerial that ... comes with it is quite strong too. It's quite resistant to knocks and scrapes; no scratches on this so far and I have dropped it accidentally (shoved it off the side table in a rush) with no harm done.
The speaker in this thing is disgraceful, but for £18 what do you expect? I wasn't too bothered about this given it's price tag really. The radio sounds tinny, there's no bass at all and all presenters sound like they're either underwater or have colds. At high volumes the sound is strained and whiney, it really struggles here.
The alarm is easy to use, set and get used to. You will need the manual to understand the menu's and settings but it only took me about 10 minutes to fully understand and get going. There are confusing things in the menu which require a little more knowledge before fully understanding. like A AO (Radio set) 1-5 1-7 5-7 (The football scores, or could be the days for the alarm to come on. )
After the alarm goes off it will spend 1 hour with the radio on before it switches off. You can use the buzzer alarm if you prefer but this kind of defeats the point of spending extra money on an alarm clock radio. You can also use this as a regular radio and just turn it on during the day without the alarm going off.
The volume does go quite loud for a little alarm clock and I often find that any more than a quarter of the volume is more than sufficient to get me out of bed. Any more than this and I'd be startled out of bed in a blind panic to immediately turn it off. It should really be a gradual thing.
The dimming feature on this works extremely well. Within half a second of me turning the light off the screen dims down and vice versa. The display is quite dim when the lights are off but not so much that you can't see it. The display is just green and is very clear.
Overall a great little alarm clock and worth every penny at just £18. It helps to keep the volume low if you want a gentle start to the day. Nothing like waking up with Chris Evans screaming at you under water with a cold...
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Tesco Value CR-106 Clock Radio
by boredindunoon
From the old fashioned brass bell alarm clocks to the latest DAB digital radio that comes with an arsenal of features, when it comes to picking a method of telling the time there are far more things to consider other than "can it tell the time." However if your really just in the market for something cheap and basic then on ... offer is this Tesco Value Range CR-106 Clock Radio.
It is very easy to use, taking less than a minute from unpacking to plugging in to setting the time. The buttons on top of the clock are rather stiff so you will have to press them pretty heavily. Another advantage is that it is small, lightweight and compact, combined with the good length mains cable this is a perfect example of a product you can take while traveling (if like me your a heavy sleeper and the battery powered clocks don't wake you.)
The LED front is very bright so it can be easily seen in all lighting conditions. It's a tad too bright at night especially if you wake up and it's glaring at you. This clock radio lacks the features to change the brightness of the display that some more expensive models have. However it wasn't expected at this price range.
The radio itself sadly isn't very good. It comes with a short aerial and it is very hard to find a decent reception with it. If you mange to find a good reception on one channel and you decided you want to change to a different station then you will usually have to readjust the cable. Not only that but if you walk to close to the clock when the radio is on, or place a mobile phone, or have a TV switched on near it then the sound quality does suffer massively.
Another disadvantage or maybe an advantage is that it generates a lot of heat when in use. It can become very hot to the touch and more so if left in sunlight. While this is good to make some toast or to warm up your hands it does worry me a bit.
The final thing to consider and a failing of many electrical powered clock radios is that it is a bit noisy, producing a constant "humming" noise. It's not really that noticeable but you may want to think about where you sit the clock.
Overall a good value radio alarm clock that does what it says on the box. If your looking for a good quality radio look elsewhere, but if a basic clock that will wake you up is what your after (and this one is certainly loud enough to do so) then its worth adding to your shopping basket
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