FM/AM Radio with preset buttons.........
HHGTTG
Posts: 5,941 Forum Member
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..............where have they gone?
I have a radio in all rooms of the house bar the bogs but my radio in my shaving room is an old Grundig with dial tuning only and is not in a position to plug it into the mains easily. However it runs for months on 4 or 6 AA batteries. But dial tuning is a pain should I quickly want to change the station.
I wanted a small-ish replacement of table top size, with presets but all I can seem to find now are radios with FM/DAB to get this facility. To my mind DAB is a con really, as there is only one station on DAB that I require and cannot get on FM and that is R4 Extra - all the rest are rubbish pop music stations IMHO.
All of these DAB based radios are relatively battery hungry though, or at least require C or D cell batteries for which I don't have a charger, should I choose to use rechargeable batteries - which is the obvious way to go.
However I continue to search as I may have missed one somewhere.
I have a radio in all rooms of the house bar the bogs but my radio in my shaving room is an old Grundig with dial tuning only and is not in a position to plug it into the mains easily. However it runs for months on 4 or 6 AA batteries. But dial tuning is a pain should I quickly want to change the station.
I wanted a small-ish replacement of table top size, with presets but all I can seem to find now are radios with FM/DAB to get this facility. To my mind DAB is a con really, as there is only one station on DAB that I require and cannot get on FM and that is R4 Extra - all the rest are rubbish pop music stations IMHO.
All of these DAB based radios are relatively battery hungry though, or at least require C or D cell batteries for which I don't have a charger, should I choose to use rechargeable batteries - which is the obvious way to go.
However I continue to search as I may have missed one somewhere.
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I think the analogue preset radios are dying out though, cheapo crap power-hungry DAB radios are now generally cheaper. Government seems to have conveniently abandoned its energy saving policies when it suits them, in favour of being able to sell off more radio spectrum when they kill off FM radio... which they will undoubtedly try to get away with at some point.
http://www.amazon.co.uk/Sony-ICF-M260-Digital-Tuning-Portable/dp/B00005K4IN
All the controls and the large blue lit display panel are on the top and the panel is clear and easy to read. The sound quality is great and you can turn the volume up high with hardly any distortion, and at normal listening level with no distortion at all and a full rich sound.
It's a bit pricy at around £70 but for the price it's excellent value and very easy to use.
Which? tested 42 Roberts radios in the last all brands group test, all either DAB only or DAB/FM combis (unfortunately not the R9928 though due to it being FM only), and the Ecologic 4 is a Best Buy. It's been a Best Buy since it came on the market in 2007, so has stood the test of time well and the build quality has remained high.
Just for interest to give you a cheaper option, in the Which? testing, John Lewis's own badged DAB radios all scored highly and the large majority were Best Buys, and more importantly maybe, were extremely reasonably priced, if compared like for like to the competition.
Looking at the J.Lewis website right now, I see they have 59 FM radios all brands (some are DAB/FM), and for example their own badge Aston DAB/FM radio has 10 presets and costs £40. I suggest you browse their radio lineup and enable the FM transmitter option check box, then look for models with presets. Of their Roberts DAB/FM range I would only consider the Ecologic 4 worth buying in the under £100 category. Over £100 any Roberts radio should be good.
They have the Roberts Ecologic 4 priced at £69, and remember you get their 2 year guarantee on the entire range of radios. Sorry none of the radios have AM though.
There's several multi-band radios with loads of presets on Amazon but none table size, instead all are portable eg the Tecsun PL-600 with up to 600 presets for £65: http://www.amazon.co.uk/Tecsun-PL-600-Shortwave-Reception-Dopobo/dp/B00EME9GVY/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1411437517&sr=8-1&keywords=tecsun+pl-600
Perhaps you could also consider a portable but table size CD player with AM/FM radio and presets, for example the Roberts CD9989 Swallow 2 at Amazon for £57.46: http://www.amazon.co.uk/Roberts-CD9989-Swallow-Radio-Player/dp/B00551UPP4/ref=sr_1_1?s=electronics&ie=UTF8&qid=1411437219&sr=1-1&keywords=Roberts+CD9989
I have a Roberts Ecologic 4 in the kitchen and a great radio it is too. However it is adjacent to a mains supply.
I am now thinking about a Roberts Duologic radio but it method of presets is a bit clumsy but it does have a built in charger for its D cell batteries and I could buy some high capacity ones (4000mAh) from 7dayshop. This would at least save me from having to buy yet another battery charger as Ialready have two that just do AA/AAA batteries.
Also I am having second thoughts as to where this new radio might go i.e the bathroom to replace an ageing Sony AM/FM portable with 4 presets and runs forever on AA batteries, or my Shaving room. I don't think my partner would get on too well having to twiddle a rotating knob to select a preset before pressing it to get that station.
I will look at all your suggestions but am put off eBay to some extent, even though I have an account with them and have, in the past, bought some odd things I couldn't buy elsewhere such as a watch back remover etc.
I've been very disappointed with DAB, because even though I live only 16 miles from the DAB transmitter, the local BBC station can't be picked up satisfactorily, even in an upstairs room. The ground is totally flat all the way to the transmitter.
There's the Roberts Stream 205 with stereo sound and mains/battery powered, and from reading the Which? review it's easy to set up the wi-fi connection and stream channels. In addition to all the internet stations it has FM (as well as DAB) and can receive podcasts and BBC Listen Again services. The reception and sound quality is good for all sources.
You can save via single button (blue lit) presets, 5 FM stations, 5 internet stations (and 5 DAB), and it remembers your 10 last played stations that you can choose from a Favourites list.
You can also connect a USB flash drive and listen to recorded music you have made previously (although you can't record from the radio), and you could also listen to any content you have on your computer/s. There are lots of positive reviews on the net, from J.Lewis and Amazon to name but two, as well as good pro reviews, and it's on offer at the moment at Go Electrical for £122.90 although there's only 3 left in stock as I write. As I said pricy, but maybe worth it for all the features.
Which? reckon that on batteries (6 x D) you can listen to wi-fi internet stations for 20 hours (35 on DAB). You can use rechargeable batts but you'd have to recharge them somewhere else as the radio won't do it.
http://www.go-electrical.co.uk/roberts-stream-205-dab-fm-and-wifi-radio-in-black.html?gclid=CLjM9sOf98ACFfSWtAodnEYA_w
Edit: whilst looking at the internet radios bit rates via Google, I found this DS thread about internet radios from April 2012. One poster has the Roberts Stream 205 and likes it, and all the 31 posts are interesting, for once no daft posts or silly comments: http://forums.digitalspy.co.uk/showthread.php?t=1656555
I think they are more battery-hungry in all modes than analogue radios, they tend to use digital processing for everything they can, prior to the final sound stages. Things are probably improving though, especially at the top end (Roberts Ecologic radios) but I'm sure they remain battery-hungry at the bottom end of the market where cheapo and inefficient components prevail.
Thanks for you time and effort but that's a bit OTT for my needs, to be honest with you.
I had a look at the Roberts Duologic this morning in Currys. It wasn't a very good example and the display model in black, was very shop soiled and the soft feel rotary knobs were sticky to the touch - yuk!
I am not sure however that I am convinced about the selection of presets ,by rotating a dial and then pressing it in (radio has to be held with another hand to stop it sliding) but it does have the facility of onboard charging.
The Roberts Gemini is better in having individual presets for each station but needs 6X C cell batteries, that have to be charged externally (if rechargeables are indeed used) and I cannot be bothered to go to the extra expense of buying those plus a dedicated or universal battery charger - this little experiment is getting rather out of hand, now just for a new source of talk radio in the bathroom or spare bedroom.
I use this radio in my bathroom. he batteries that ARE included last a long time.
It only has one Favourite to store, however I have DAB Radio Clyde 1 on Favourite button and my boy just presses FM to get his Radio 1 .
It is only mono with one speaker but its actually not too bad a sound.
However it has a 3.5mm jack INPUT for my iPhone headspeaker 3.5mm which means A 3.5MM TO 3.5 MM cable will connect the iPhone to my NAS Hard drive for streaming my favourite music, or I can use internet radio on my iPhone.
http://www.amazon.co.uk/3-5mm-Stereo-Jack-Plug-1-2M-Black/dp/B00077DC3S/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1411485774&sr=8-1&keywords=3.5mm+to+3.5mm+cable
If I was you I would put some of your favourite music on your phone and with the 3.5mm cable try out the sound quality of various radios.
It takes 6 X C size batteries and have ordered those as well from Amazon. I'll see how they perform and then may buy the Energizer Universal battery charger and some 4000mAh rechargeables from 7dayshop.com