Ooh im all bronze! Could it be, ratings are showing up in the left hand column? it can't be working ...
Ooh im all bronze! Could it be, ratings are showing up in the left hand column? it can't be working - can it?!. All r/r/c's are much appreciated; I'm saving up for next year so can do w/ all the money I can get!! RIP Holly
Member since:27.07.2006
Reviews:238
Members who trust:89
- Introduction -
I bought the white Pure One (or Pure Digital One) DAB radio for my mum for Christmas last year, as the small radio she used in the kitchen before 'going digital', offered a pretty rotten reception.
Its been used quite a fair bit throughout the year and from what I've heard/seen, the overall opinion of this product has been really quite high. I originally bought this on Amazon UK as I say about a year or so ago as the customer reviews of this particular product/model all seemed very complimentary and I would have to agree with most of what they said. Its not the cheapest of the cheap but its certainly not overly expensive, I seem to remember paying about £40 for it, compared to around £20-£30 being the price of the cheapest ones around, yet its simple to use and has some pretty neat functions.
- The Basics/Background -
First of all, Pure are specialists in digital audio devices. Their website proudly proclaims that "PURE is the UK consumer electronics company that started the DAB digital radio revolution, and now dominates that market worldwide, consistently delivering products with an acclaimed mix of high performance and ease of use." (taken from the 'about' section of the official Pure website, see:- http://www.pure.com/about/), so its nice to know that the product is made by a company who, to put it basically, know what their doing (not that others dont but its always nice to buy products from companies that specialise in that product type, you know they are particularly
knowledgable about making the best quality possible for such items).
Now the main reason why someone would buy this is, incase your not already aware, it offers not only FM radio but moreso its a DAB radio. What does DAB stand for, I hear you say? well, DAB stands for Digial Audio Broadcasting and it basically means your getting the radio equivalent of Freeview on your TV. DAB, or digital radio, offers more radio channels than you get on bog standard analogue (AM/FM) radio and the sound quality is alot clearer and thus better, although be aware that, also like Freeview, you may not be able to receive all the stations everywhere, the signal may be weak in some areas that are a long way away from the DAB radio transmitters.
Some of the channels that are available on the DAB platform include BBC6, BBC7, 1 Xtra, Capital Life, Planet Rock, BBC Asian Network and so on.
- What Does It Look Like, Style Wise? -
The radio itself has a gloss finish with the knob and buttons being chrome/silver looking. The gloss finish is perhaps a little much but the radio I bought is in white (to go with the kitchen colours lol though you can also get it in black or pink(!)) and so its not so noticeable, it depends on your taste whether you like that so much.
- Is It Easy To Work & What Features Does It Have? -
Yes it seems very easy to use. There's a big knob on the right of the unit which you turn to tune it and when its set to digital radio (you can listen to either digital DAB or FM radio) and you turn the knob, it'll automatically search for the next available channel.
The display screen above the knob shows quite alot of useful details and when you turn the knob, it automatically switches a nice white backlight on the display screen, so that you can easily read what it says. The screen tells you the time, the strength of the radio signal and the name of the channel you have it tuned to. It also has 'now playing' information, where the information is available anyway, which will tell you in a marquee effect (scrolling along from right to left on the bottom of the screen) the name of the show that your listening to and it sometimes even tells you the name of the track being played, which is very handy if you want to know what that great catchy new song is or what the funny game show or comedy show is, so you can recommend it to your friends and family. The backlight I think is one of the best features of this item actually, its not too bright and garish but yet it really effectively lights up the screen and makes it very easy to read quickly, so I'm impressed with that.
Around the knob are various other, small silver buttons. These allow you to do more basic things, including adjusting the volume, select a preset channel (this product allows for up to 20 preset stations), switch between DAB and FM, scroll through a list of all available stations, access the menu (for adjusting the time etc.), set up or adjust a timer (like a sleep timer, so that you can set it to switch on automatically at a certain time) and so on.
The buttons are smaller than the main knob but their not overly fiddly to use I think, with decent spacing between them so you shouldn't accidentally press two by mistake, like with small mobile phones and the like.
- Whats The Sound Quality Like? -
Not bad at all, considering the price. For music, its not the best of the best, neither it is appalling, its pretty middle of the road stuff really. My parents were saying recently, after bringing it through to the living room to listen to instead of our old hi-fi as that only has FM radio and the reception was breaking up badly, that the sound quality is good enough to listen to on high-ish volume around the whole (average size) living room as a replacement for the hi-fi radio, its just when music tracks are played that you can hear the quality isn't as good as obviously a larger hi-fi would give you, with proper speakers etc. which should be expected.
Considering its only an average size and its not meant to be a hi-fi replacement, I was quite impressed that they were able to use it to listen to Radio 4 in good quality with it sounding pretty close to the hi-fi, though I certainly wouldn't say you can throw out a hi-fi with £100s worth of sound equipment to use this instead of course and its not the best of the best for playing music tracks at high volume, where it can sound a bit tinny but for its size and purpose, it does pretty admirably I thought.
- How Portable Is It? -
Not as portable as you might like it to be. It can be powered by, obviously, mains adapter, which is included when you buy it but it can also be powered by batteries. Great, thats very portable I hear you say, right? well, kind of. Unfortunately it requires 6 c cell batteries, which aren't the kind of batteries your likely to have on you. However all is not lost, as you can purchase a separate item called the ChargePAK, which is a long rectangular item that connects to the radio. When its connected to the radio and thats connected to the mains, it automatically charges the ChargePAK and once thats fully charged, you can take the radio with the ChargePAK wherever you like and it works like batteries. It apparently offers up to 35 hours of use with a fully charged ChargePAK, which certainly isn't bad. However, the main downside to this ChargePAK, in my eyes anyway, is the price, which comes in at a not so cheap £25-£30! add that to the £40-£50 price tag for the radio and it suddenly doesn't seem all that cheap, well either its not all that portable if you don't get the ChargePAK or its not all that cheap if you do buy it, or shell out for the c cell batteries... so that, to me, is a fair downside to it.
However, if your simply wanting it to replace your old, small FM radio in your kitchen or bedroom and you'll only really need it powered by the mains, then this does very well. Its easy to use, you don't need to be a 'techy' or geek to figure out how to use it and it has some pretty nifty features, like the cool backlight and the channel and programme/song information.
- Conclusions -
I think, all in all, it depends on what your looking for, if you want a fully portable digital radio, this might not be the best available option but as a mains powered radio used, like I say, in a bedroom or kitchen, I think this is a very capable and good radio, so I would recommend it. I'm happy with my purchase, the one I bought gets used particularly on Sunday mornings by my parents, they enjoy taking it out to the conservatory and listening to the radio and then moving it through to the kitchen and possibly the living room later on. Its not so large that its too much of a hassle to move from room to room, so long as you can plug it into the mains, so I suppose it isn't entirely non portable, though it isn't the most portable of items either. The sound quality is perfectly acceptable given the size of it and the quality of digital broadcast we get is alot better than the dodgy FM signal we get in the kitchen, I know that much!
If your unsure, I would recommend that you search for more information online about DAB reception in your area, if its like Freeview I imagine you can enter your postcode somewhere and it'll list the channels/stations you should be able to receive in your area and you can decide if its worth it for you. Also I would recommend that you extend the ariel quite high to give you the better chance of receiving stations.
I would recommend this radio, I think this item has been quite a hit in my household and I dont regret having bought it for my mum. I know its been used a fair bit and the DAB reception is alot better in the kitchen than the old FM radio reception ever was, so its an improvement for my ears when im in the kitchen on a Sunday morning and for that im grateful!
Thanks for reading my review and for all r/r/c's.This review was originally posted over at DooYoo UK under my name which is the same name as here, IzzyS.
How helpful would this review be to a person making a buying decision? Rating guidelines
From the world leaders in DAB comes a DAB and FM portable radio that looks good, sounds ... more
great and is unbelievably easy to use. With its stylish exterior, chrome controls, and great audio performance, ONE looks and sounds fantastic, wherever you listen....
Postage & Packaging: £7.31 Availability: Usually dispatched within 1-2 business days...
From the world leaders in DAB comes a DAB and FM portable radio that looks good, sounds ... more
great and is unbelievably easy to use. With its stylish exterior, chrome controls, and great audio performance, ONE looks and sounds fantastic, wherever you listen....
Postage & Packaging: £7.76 Availability: Usually dispatched within 1-2 business days...
Advantages: Great sound, affordable, a great introduction to DAB radio Disadvantages: screen could be permanently back lit, not keen on the large control button
gecko24 18.11.2007 (18.11.2007)
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Review of Pure Digital ONE
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