from Syracuse, NY

This radio, by far has the best reception of any HD radio I've used. It also has better reception than many analog radios.

Battery life, on a fully charged system, lasted just over 10 hours for me, and I used it all day.

PROS

Great price. You can't beat $50.

Best HD reception I've ever seen in the home/desk market. It doesn't beat the auto HD radios, but, it's better than any tabletop one I've played with.

Great display of Song Title/Arist data of HD broadcasts (what's called PAD)

Support for Song Title/Artist data on non-HD broadcasts (what's called RDS). This was a HUGE surprise for me, because most HD radios leave this feature out for some stupid reason. Thank You!

Great Battery Life.

Works great in the car with an 1/8" to 1/8" cable to your AUX IN. Basically, you can treat this HD radio like you would an iPod or other MP3 player in that regard.

CONS

It doesn't display the Album information on HD broadcasts (or PAD). Many stations transmit it. Most HD Radios don't display it. This is a mistake. I'd recommend another display mode on an HD broadcast when you press the "Enter" button. Right now there are two displays, a large font one showing you just the current channels data. Another one, with a smaller font, that shows you all HD1, HD2, HD3 channels data. I'd want to see another one that used the font size the three lines for the current channel only. One for Title, one for Artist, one for Album.

I wish it had iTunes Tagging. With the USB cord for charging, add another button and you're almost there.

I wish it had more presets. 10 is too limiting given all the new radio stations you can hear (HD2 and HD3 stations). I could easily fill 15 of them, and I'm not in a major city.

On analog broadcasts where it shows the Song Artist/Title (RDS data) I wish the enter key would change the longer field, the RadioText, to the smaller font, and then did word wrapping across the three lines of text that would be available in that mode.

I found a bug in the receiver, for analog broadcasts, where the smaller field (called the PS, or station name) which is displayed next to the frequency, does not display properly if there is a space in first character of the field. It just shows blank. i.e, a station is allowed to send 8 characters to this field, and they often scroll the artist/title/station name in there. If they send "12345678" everything shows up. If they send "1234567" everything shows up. If they send " 1234567" -- NOTHING shows up, it looks blank. I've had my hands on a bunch of RDS receivers, and well, this is the first one to ever exhibit that behavior. Many broadcasters center this field, so if it's not 8 characters, they add spaces to the left and the right to make it look better on most receivers.

Earbuds supplied with the unit are too big. They hurt my ears and basically don't fit in. And I'm told I have big ears!!! I ended up using my iPod earbuds or other high end Sony headphones with this unit to listen.

I wish it had some MP3 capibilities. Perhaps a memory card slot for an SD card so the unit could play some MP3s too.

What's great about it: Great price, best HD reception, great battery life, supports song/title on analog broadcasts too!

What's not so great: No support for Album info, iTunes song tagging, MP3's. Suppllied earbuds uncomfortable.

I would recommend this to a friend!

Sound Quality

Durability

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Customer Rating

Good Buy (no puns intended)!

on January 26, 2010

Posted by: NoMoneyDown

This item is just what I wanted: a compact, portable HD radio to listen to the HD side-band of my favorite classical music station. With this radio, I can avoid the wasteland of contemporary FM radio broadcasting. The sound is good, the controls are intuitive and the reception with the antenna built into the earphone cord is really very, very good (with negligible signal drop-out).

Two characteristics I really like are (a) this item stays on-channel -- it does not revert to the analog FM signal of the station when the HD signal drops-out and (b) the fact that you really do not need a computer to recharge the battery. Quite often, FM radio stations broadcast entirely different program content on the main analog channel and the HD sub-channels, so staying on-channel even when there is a brief signal drop-out is a great feature -- no surprises blasting into your ears. Also, you can use a readily-available universal USB charger to recharge the battery -- as long as you can match the specs (5V DC, at least 500mAh current). I discovered that my cell phone charger is a perfect match for this radio!

What's great about it: Micro-sized but substantial construction; excellent performance.

I would recommend this to a friend!

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Customer Rating

Ditto! Simply dies in 3 months

on March 15, 2012

Posted by: JTOH

from Ohio

Same complaint as MANY others. After 110 days, NO AUDIO! It appears to work fine, I reset to factory default, and any other trouble shooting I could think of but simply NO SOUND..not even static. Dead, dead dead.

C'mon Best Buy, this is s very, very clear problem and someone needs to stand behind this!

What's great about it: clear sound and reception.

What's not so great: Doesn't work!

No, I would not recommend this to a friend.

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Customer Rating

Audio stops working within 90 days

on March 6, 2012

Posted by: Anonymous

from St,.Petersburg, FL

I just had the second unit fail, 91 days after the first unit failed. The 1st unit failed just under 90 days after purchase. Looking at the other reviews, I see this is a known problem/defect. Not good for Best Buy to continued to carry a product with a known life of 3 months.

Too bad because otherwise it's a nice product.

What's great about it: Audio quality

What's not so great: Audio output stops working after a few months.

No, I would not recommend this to a friend.

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Customer Rating

Works for 3 months max.

on January 11, 2012

Posted by: Muppy

from Alexandria, VA

I just returned my third radio and asked for a refund. Love the radio but they're just junk. Seeing how many reviewers have had the exact experience that I've had, I don't understand why Best Buy would keep these on the market without doing a fix. The radio works fine and then one day just dies. All three of mine stopped working in the same way. Turns on, all functions work but no sound. Please Best Buy - fix the problem!

What's great about it: First three months

What's not so great: Only lasts three months.

No, I would not recommend this to a friend.

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Customer Rating

Only lasts a few months

on December 10, 2011

Posted by: rchris

from Seattle

I owned 4 of these, the first was the original purchase, the last three were warrantee returns. Every time the unit would last about 3 or 4 months, then would mysteriously stop working. Each time I took it back, I would extend out the Best Buy service agreement, which would cost about $10, and leave with a new radio. The last unit that stopped working, I just returned it and got a full refund. This thing is fine while it lasts, but since it only lasts a few months, it's a piece of junk.

What's great about it: Low price for a portable HD FM unit

What's not so great: It only lasts a few months, then mysteriously dies.

No, I would not recommend this to a friend.

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Customer Rating

TERRIBLE

on June 4, 2012

Posted by: Guyorange

from Pittsburgh, PA

I have purchased two of these and they both broke after the 90 day warranty and wthin one year; no lie. I'd never buy one again.

What's great about it: nothing

What's not so great: everything stinks about it

No, I would not recommend this to a friend.

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Customer Rating

Worked Great For A Year

on February 14, 2012

Posted by: DoctorO

from Baton Rouge, LA

The HD radio worked great for a year. Then I picked it up one day and could not get any volume. Everything else works but it doesn't matter if you can't hear the radio! I have heard about someone else having a problem with their HD radio. They had to throw it away since the warranty is only for 90 days. Very disappointing. I will probably have to do the same with mine.

I once had an Insignia TV that crapped out within the warranty period (actually within about 7 days). I was able to get a full refund from Best Buy. I will never buy another Insignia product.

What's not so great: If it can't last more than a year, it's not worth having.

No, I would not recommend this to a friend.

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