Revo BLIK DAB

...futuristic designs and the Blik Revo radiostation caught my eye.

What set it apart from the rest? well, not only is it a first rate internet radio its also one of the first DAB enabled radios using the latest DAB+ system, There is also a reasonable FM reciever built in (although after listining to the DAB and internet reception the FM is very ordinary) and there is the option to link your Ipod/Mp3 player or even listen to your pc's ...
...
For those not clear about internet radio,around 10,000 stations are available,free to anyone on the net,everything from background music through heavy metal to drama and even TV audio feeds, plus podcasts and talk radio of every type.

The unit is small,no more than 12 inches long and only a few inches high, the front screen handles all the station info from station name to whats playing with an easy streaming method which is ... more

My wife likes country music, I know I know ! but a lot of people do!! Any way there is a definate lack of music stations in the UK so I thought Id buy her an INTERNET RADIO so she could have access to her country music, To be honest I like 'pop latino' music so I thought I might get to hear a few good Latin stations as well.

I started looking at the various radios available on the net and it soon became clear that more and more products are becoming available in this quite new and exciting internet spinoff.
Most are small with futuristic designs and the Blik Revo radiostation caught my eye.

What set it apart from the rest? well, not only is it a first rate internet radio its also one of the first DAB enabled radios using the latest DAB+ system, There is also a reasonable FM reciever built in (although after listining to the DAB and internet reception the FM is very ordinary) and there is the option to link your Ipod/Mp3 player or even listen to your pc's music library through the Wifi link to the radio.

For those not clear about internet radio,around 10,000 stations are available,free to anyone on the net,everything from background music through heavy metal to drama and even TV audio feeds, plus podcasts and talk radio of every type.

The unit is small,no more than 12 inches long and only a few inches high, the front screen handles all the station info from station name to whats playing with an easy streaming method which is clear to read and simple to use. The speakers are remarkabley good for such a small unit and there is an option to link the radio to external speakers for better performance.

Press button controls are situated on the top panel and a small easy to use remote is included so opperation is childs play after only a few mins with the easy to read manual.
The unit is mains power only,but so small its easy to move and position around the house and as you need to be within range of your wifi internet connection mains power only is not really a downside.

Setting up the unit for the first time was much easier than I thought it might be, the unit serches for available Wifi networks and offers them for you to pick from, once you pick yours it askes for the password you used when you set up your pc's wifi connection (if you forgot it a quick call to your provider will tell you how to retrive it, but you probabilly got it written down somewhere).
Once the unit has the password it connects and never asks again and your on your way,surfing the internet radio ocean of 10,000 stations, A daunting task? well not so bad with this product as you might think.

Included with this radio is access to a wifi radio portal (www.wifiradio-frontier.com) through your pc, This allows you to browse stations from the comfort of your pc monitor,checking out the style of stations there origins and even try them out , if you like them you can access them directly from the radio or add them to your 'my favorites' list through your pc,then next time you switch on your radio there they are on your 'my favorites' list on the radio front panel,easy!
If you simply want to browse from the radio unit its not to hard,stations are broken down into genres and scroll quickly down the front panel.

Not all the available stations are internet only stations,far from it, hundreds of local stations from all over the world are freely available live from the city they broardcast from so if you fancy bluegrass from Kentucky or pop latino from Columbia its there for the asking.

Internet radios are not cheap, around £100-£140 pounds seems the standard price range and I bought this one from John Lewis online for £139 (free delivery) and it came the next day.

Other features include, alarm,snooze and update

Bottom line is, It dose exactly what it says it will, and very well . Its easy to install and easy to use, the down side? well there are 280 country stations available !!

Tip;- once the unit is set up do a software update from the set up menu, it only takes a min and makes sure your using the latest version of the opperating softwear . 

...less