For grins, I include a Business Week review that's decidedly mixed. Based on my 2 minutes of fiddling, I agree with most of the review...especially the over-reliance on the remote for control of the radio. The radio seemed a little deaf, too...but admittedly conditions were not good. We're in a store with a lot of metal and glass walls/ceilings, and it's packed full of electronics that're in use and no doubt making tons of RFI. Plus that telescoping antenna...while a good compromise, is still a compromise. And let's not forget that the store is literally at the base of the Prudential skyscraper, where at the top there's six Class B FM stations pumping out about 20,000 watts ERP each! Talk about blanketing interference!!
For what it's worth, Sharper Image was also selling the Boston Acoustics Recepter HD tabletop HD Radio as well. Although the demo unit on the floor was screwed up somehow...the control buttons didn't work right. The radio kept switching to the AM band and wouldn't stay on the FM band, nor would it output any sound. And unlike the Sangean, the BA was kinda shoved in a corner. :-(The text on the little price card for the Sangean reads:
- Handsome AM/FM/HD Radio featured superior reception, improved bass response and the most realistic acoustic reproduction.
- Features dual alarms with a "Humane Waking System" - wake to a gentle buzzer that gradually ramps up, or to an HD Radio station.
- Plugs into outlet with the included AC adapter. Credit-card-size remote runs on on 3V (unreadable) battery (included).
- $249.95 / SE701- 3 year replacement guarantee $49.95 / 90-day warranty
4 comments:
“HD Radio on the Offense”
“But after an investigation of HD Radio units, the stations playing HD, and the company that owns the technology; and some interviews with the wonks in DC, it looks like HD Radio is a high-level corporate scam, a huge carny shill.”
http://www.eastbayexpress.com/2007-03-07/music/hd-radio-on-the-offense
“Sirius, XM, and HD: Consumer interest reality check”
“While interest in satellite radio is diminishing, interest in HD shows no signs of a pulse.”
http://www.hear2.com/2007/02/sirius_xm_and_h.html
"U.S. automakers not jumping into HD Radio"
http://www.reuters.com/article/ousiv/idUSN2632750220070427?pageNumber=1
"Bridge Ratings: Sweat the cell phone and don't count on HD"
"In other words, Bridge says interest in HD radio is decreasing even as your station works hard to increase awareness. What can I possibly add to this honest and bleak picture that I haven't said before? My well-intended warnings about HD's "premature death" seem to be rearing their ugly heads almost two years later."
http://www.hear2.com/2007/04/bridge_ratings_.html#comments
"But is 'availability' of HD radios the problem?"
"And one broadcaster reported to me that he asked an iBiquity rep how many HD radios had actually been sold as of the most recent accounting. And this was his answer: 150,000."
http://www.hear2.com/2007/04/but_is_availabi.html#comments
"Is Pay-for-Play HD Content on Horizon?"
http://rwonline.com/pages/s.0049/t.4028.html
"HD Radio Effort Undermined by Weak Tuners in Expensive Radios"
http://www.mp3newswire.net/stories/7002/hd-radio2.html
"The FCC Tunes Into HD Radio--And May Turn Off Distant AM"
http://blog.washingtonpost.com/fasterforward/2007/03/the_fcc_greenlights_hd_radio_n.html
“RW Opinion: Rethinking AM’s future”
“Making AM-HD work well as a long-term investment is seen as an expensive and risky challenge for most stations and their owners. There is the significant downside of potential new interference to some of their own AM analog listeners as well as listeners of adjacent-channel stations.”
http://www.rwonline.com/pages/s.0044/t.557.html
Consumers are not interested in HD Radio, and reception is problematic, even with external antennas.
Man...someone's got an ax to grind!
I guess my real question is, can I play DDR on it?
I'm perplexed. How would you play Dance Dance Revolution on ANY radio, much less an HD Radio?
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