The downfall of portable DAB radios have always been their lack of battery life. Few models have really been able to sustain themselves long enough to deliver a truly out-and-about experience.
Enter the Ecologic 1, part of a six-strong line-up each of which offers extended battery life and, in the case of the Ecologic 1 and its …
You expect a good radio from Roberts, but the charger, while a good idea seems poorly implemented.
I have a fast charger (4 x 2Ah AAs in half an hour) and all the weight is in the power block - the "charger" is just a carrier with the electronics and a light to show when the batteries are charged. By providing a separate block like that Roberts could have kept the radio weight low whilst giving the ability to charge the batteries quickly, and while the radio was playing.
I guess it is all down to cost, though as my charger cost less than £10 including a set of batteries, I can't see that it would have broken the bank.
...with a nod to the portable radios that could be spotted in many a school playground in the 1970s.
</quote>
Having spent most of the aforementioned 1970s in a school playground (as a school boy) I can honestly say I do not recall ever seeing a radio, whether looking like this one or not.
Why not just use a perfectly good and far cheap analogue radio, which lasts months from a set of batteries, and most of them offer stereo unlike these nasty digital throwbacks to single speak 70s transistor sets.
"A green light indicator flashes while the batteries are being charged and then shows a steady light when the process is completed. The same light also turns red as the batteries near the need for a recharge."
Great, so the 10% of the male population who are red/green colour deficient will hate this.
that this radio would have one speaker, before the pic even loaded? Someone needs to tell Roberts that people like that fancy new-fangled stereo sound that everyone is talking about.
"However, in the radio’s favour is a small lock on the side of the unit that makes sure that the radio can't be accidentally turned on while being transported"
Back in the day, radios had either a nice on-off slider, or you turned the volume control all the way down until it clicked. Both arrangements prevent accidental switching, and actually disconnect the power from the electronics.
So, instead of giving the thing a power switch, it has the usual modern soft-off button, and then a soft lock switch to keep it off. All the time, drawing a little power to enable it to wake up when the soft-off button is poked again.
In school in the late 70s/early 80s had a little pocket radio that I used like a Walkman with a mono earpiece. I don't think that ever killed it's 9v battery in the time I had it.
Slow chargers are much easier on the batteries than fast ones. There's an ideal charge current based on the capacity (two times?); any more than that and you'll cook them in short order, but I'd imagine modern batteries are better able to handle ham-fisted charging.
All the NiCDs and NiMHs I've killed have just died of old age, and my Ansmann PowerLine 5 has revived some pretty poorly ones.
Lame, because the battery does not charge while you are listening to the radio on mains power. You therfore have to remember to have it plugged in and switched off for several hours every few days, complicating your life somewhat.
Good concept though. They should fit a fast charger and fix the above. Yes, fast charging will reduce the battery life but non-hybrid rechargeables would do in this case, are very cheap and you could replace them every year or two, albeit harming the "eco" status a bit.
Personally I am happy with my Saisho FM "ghetto blaster" circa 1986.
I don't see any mention of DAB+ support in the review or on the Roberts website.
Have we really got yet another 'new' product that doesn't support DAB+? Surely it's about time all DAB receivers on sale can support DAB & DAB+ especially newly launched products.
STOP: Well I'm not buying a DAB receiver unless it supports DAB+ as well
This radio is identical to the Roberts Gemini 59 DAB tranny I got at Comet on special offer for £18 a couple of months ago, except for the rechargeable batteries. It's a lovely wee wireless and it's as good as the reviewer says but no way is it worth £50.
Again and again firms lose out to Sony who, on their £50 DAB radio, have a sleep function which turns the radio off automatically after a predetermined number of minutes. A simple piece of chippery which has forced me to buy Sony when I prefer other products.
Register
The downfall of portable DAB radios have always been their lack of battery life. Few models have really been able to sustain themselves long enough to deliver a truly out-and-about experience. Enter the Ecologic 1, part of a six-strong line-up each of which offers extended battery life and, in the case of the Ecologic 1 and its …
Shame about the charger
You expect a good radio from Roberts, but the charger, while a good idea seems poorly implemented.
I have a fast charger (4 x 2Ah AAs in half an hour) and all the weight is in the power block - the "charger" is just a carrier with the electronics and a light to show when the batteries are charged. By providing a separate block like that Roberts could have kept the radio weight low whilst giving the ability to charge the batteries quickly, and while the radio was playing.
I guess it is all down to cost, though as my charger cost less than £10 including a set of batteries, I can't see that it would have broken the bank.
Wot?
<quote>
...with a nod to the portable radios that could be spotted in many a school playground in the 1970s.
</quote>
Having spent most of the aforementioned 1970s in a school playground (as a school boy) I can honestly say I do not recall ever seeing a radio, whether looking like this one or not.
Wot you on about?
Eco/Digital bollocks
Why not just use a perfectly good and far cheap analogue radio, which lasts months from a set of batteries, and most of them offer stereo unlike these nasty digital throwbacks to single speak 70s transistor sets.
Another colour-blind unfriendly product
"A green light indicator flashes while the batteries are being charged and then shows a steady light when the process is completed. The same light also turns red as the batteries near the need for a recharge."
Great, so the 10% of the male population who are red/green colour deficient will hate this.
How did I guess
that this radio would have one speaker, before the pic even loaded? Someone needs to tell Roberts that people like that fancy new-fangled stereo sound that everyone is talking about.
Dumb on-off arrangement
"However, in the radio’s favour is a small lock on the side of the unit that makes sure that the radio can't be accidentally turned on while being transported"
Back in the day, radios had either a nice on-off slider, or you turned the volume control all the way down until it clicked. Both arrangements prevent accidental switching, and actually disconnect the power from the electronics.
So, instead of giving the thing a power switch, it has the usual modern soft-off button, and then a soft lock switch to keep it off. All the time, drawing a little power to enable it to wake up when the soft-off button is poked again.
Sheesh.
Playgrounds and Chargers
In school in the late 70s/early 80s had a little pocket radio that I used like a Walkman with a mono earpiece. I don't think that ever killed it's 9v battery in the time I had it.
Slow chargers are much easier on the batteries than fast ones. There's an ideal charge current based on the capacity (two times?); any more than that and you'll cook them in short order, but I'd imagine modern batteries are better able to handle ham-fisted charging.
All the NiCDs and NiMHs I've killed have just died of old age, and my Ansmann PowerLine 5 has revived some pretty poorly ones.
Not bad but
Lame, because the battery does not charge while you are listening to the radio on mains power. You therfore have to remember to have it plugged in and switched off for several hours every few days, complicating your life somewhat.
Good concept though. They should fit a fast charger and fix the above. Yes, fast charging will reduce the battery life but non-hybrid rechargeables would do in this case, are very cheap and you could replace them every year or two, albeit harming the "eco" status a bit.
Personally I am happy with my Saisho FM "ghetto blaster" circa 1986.
Support for DAB+ ?
I don't see any mention of DAB+ support in the review or on the Roberts website.
Have we really got yet another 'new' product that doesn't support DAB+? Surely it's about time all DAB receivers on sale can support DAB & DAB+ especially newly launched products.
STOP: Well I'm not buying a DAB receiver unless it supports DAB+ as well
Carbon
Odd I always thought it was the amount of Carbon in grams not electrical power that determined how much Carbon you'd consumed in a product...
One of us is wrong....
I feel to be a true Eco product they need to state the Carbon locked up in the production of this radio?
Did they do this?
I've got one!
This radio is identical to the Roberts Gemini 59 DAB tranny I got at Comet on special offer for £18 a couple of months ago, except for the rechargeable batteries. It's a lovely wee wireless and it's as good as the reviewer says but no way is it worth £50.
Why no sleep mode?
Again and again firms lose out to Sony who, on their £50 DAB radio, have a sleep function which turns the radio off automatically after a predetermined number of minutes. A simple piece of chippery which has forced me to buy Sony when I prefer other products.
Does not support DAB+ - no roberts radios do
I was bored, so I asked Roberts:
Thank you for your email enquiry.
None of our DAB systems are DAB+ compatible.
At Roberts Radio we pride ourselves in following the trends of
development in radio broadcasting. For many years now we have supported
the DAB MPEG2 standard, as used in the UK and in other smaller market
areas in Europe.
However as it stands at this time, the UK is the prime market for DAB
products, there are currently no other countries which have the
infrastructure for this model of modulation.
It cannot be deemed as an outdated model of transmission and as new
developments are still coming on line, such as EPG (Electronic Program
Guide), there is still plenty of scope for further enhancements of the
current system.
The 'World DAB' the governing body for DAB broadcasts, have ratified the
new DAB+ standard and certain countries have shown a willingness to
adopt this new standard; however at this time there is no market to
develop radios to sell in. All the countries that have shown an
interest in this are still in the development stage or at best test
transmission stages.
World DAB are aware of this and are therefore sensitive to the current
situation in the UK. This is why they have taken the stance that the
new transmission mode is to be held off in the UK.
The 'new' generation of radios that are capable of decoding the DAB+
transmission will, due to the technology involved be priced in the high
end of the market, due to the extra technology required to decode these
transmissions.
As it has taken the order of nearly 15 years for DAB radio to take off
in the UK, I do not think the new standard will occur overnight and
especially for the reasons outlined, not in the UK.