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Electronics : Pure One DAB/FM Portable Radio - White
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Rating: 
- Love it
I don't get decent fm reception where I live, but with this little chap I'm perfectly happy listening to what I want.
The sound quality is great, it looks smart and I have superb reception without needing to have the aerial out (one of my bugbears as I always seem to knock them and lose reception).
Set up wasn't tricky, but you do have to press a couple of buttons and twiddle the middle bit when you want to change station. If like me though you pretty much have your favourite one that's on most of the time, this isn't a big issue.
I can't really see why it not having an off button is a major problem - surely if you have to press a button to turn it off, just flicking the switch at the power point isn't too much trouble? That seems like a very minor point to be sending it back for, when it really is a lovely little radio.
Rating:
- no on/off switch
Don't know (yet) if this applies to all DAB radios, but the Pure One has no way to turn it off except by unplugging it! It has a 'standby' button, but even in 'economy mode' it continues to draw power (1W) even when not in use! As we are all being urged not to leave our TVs on standby, for very good reasons, I can't believe Pure are producing a radio that can't be turned off. I'm sending it back.
Rating: - Great radio - shame about the clock
At the time of writing, 21 of the 25 reviews give this radio five stars. This tells you almost all you need to know. You'll almost certainly be very happy with the radio.
The other four award it four stars. Take the trouble to read what they say because they pinpoint one of the irritations I have found in this otherwise excellent radio.
The basic problem is the process for selecting stations. Before buying, I read the description that says the radio has 20 presets. I thought this would mean I could simply switch between preset stations by pressing one button. This was a feature I was looking for.
But this isn't how it works. Look at the picture. To select a station you press one of the small silver buttons which is labelled Presets. The screen then shows the name of the station stored on preset number 1. If you want this station, you press the big button in the middle. But if you want a different station you have to turn the big button to select the one you want. As you turn the button the screen shows each preset station in sequence. When you find the one you want, you press the big button to select it. The same process is used for selecting stations that are not stored as presets except that you start with the small button labelled Stations instead of Presets.
So instead of one action to select a station it's three - (1) press small button, (2) turn big button, (3) press big button.
If, like me, you have two stations that you listen to most of the time, you can use the small button that switches between FM and DAB as a preset button instead. If you're on a DAB station, pressing the FM/DAB button will take you to the last FM station you were listening to. Pressing the button once again will take you back to your last DAB station. The radio produces excellent sound on FM so it makes no difference in my area whether you listen to DAB or FM. This would not be the case in all areas.
This radio, like so many other items on sale today is made in China. The only disadvantage seems to be that its clock display appears to be running on Chinese time, with 65 seconds per minute instead of the 60 that are the norm for this time zone. (It's lucky that the clock doesn't also show days of the week. It's a little known fact that Mao Tse Tung was a great fan of the Beatles and it was through the influence of their music that he decided to switch China to eight days a week. This partly explains the country's economic success in recent years.)
"What can all this mean?" I hear you ask. If you will give me your very close attention I will explain.
What this means in practice is that the minute numeral (that's "minute" rhyming with "innit", not "my newt") on the time display will advance by one every 65 seconds. (Seconds are not displayed so you need to watch a clock with a second hand to check this.) So, for example, imagine that the minute numeral advances to ten past the hour at, say, three seconds past the minute. It will then advance to 11 minutes past the hour, not 60 seconds later but 65 seconds later at eight seconds past the minute.
This pattern continues every 65 seconds until around 58 seconds past the minute, by which time the minute numeral is advancing almost a minute late. However, at this point the clock makes an adjustment and just five seconds later it advances by a further minute. I hesitate to call it a correction because the clock is still not correct but at least it's only three seconds or so slow. This adjustment brings the clock the closest it gets to being accurate. It then begins the 65 second cycle again, losing five seconds every minute.
To find out why this might be happening I turned to the Pure website since although they don't make the radios they presumably produce the design. I was relieved to see under the Frequently Asked Questions section a question on why the clock on the radio was showing the wrong time. Briefly, the answer says that the time is broadcast by the broadcasters and if it's wrong on the radio this is because they are broadcasting the wrong time. The radio just displays what it's told by the broadcasters. So all is clear. The broadcasters are working on a 65-second minute, not the Chinese after all.
I turned to the BBC to find out why they had adopted this unusual practice. They denied that they transmit a time signal based on a 65-second minute. I have no way of checking this as I would need a second DAB radio to confirm whether they use conventional minutes or not. But I'm inclined to believe them and think it's more likely that the radio is doing this odd timekeeping.
Does this matter? Probably not. It's just bizarre that any software programmer would have chosen to make a clock advance one minute every 65 seconds instead of every 60 seconds. But if you find you've missed the first minute of a radio programme through relying on the clock radio for its start time, now you know why.
Post Script. I have now been advised by a Chinese friend that I was under a foolish misapprehension if I ever really believed that the Chinese use a 65-second minute. As for the eight-day week, this was just a case of half-remembered misinformation - it was actually a hard day's night that was the inspiration for the Chinese economic success.
Rating: - Great value for money and superb design
If you are in the market for a DAB radio, then this is great value. It is easy to set up and a joy to listen to.
Rating: - Excellent quality & value
I've had my One in my kitchen for about 7 months now and am very happy with it. It looks neat, the signal is strong, nice full-bodied sound in both FM and DAB modes. I find the buttons/dial combination quite intuitive, the dial just changes its function to suit the context, rather like the the select/reject buttons on a mobile phone. Just press the button and it switches on/off quickly, no need for fiddling about when you're short of time. Excellent value for money.
- Love itI don't get decent fm reception where I live, but with this little chap I'm perfectly happy listening to what I want.
The sound quality is great, it looks smart and I have superb reception without needing to have the aerial out (one of my bugbears as I always seem to knock them and lose reception).
Set up wasn't tricky, but you do have to press a couple of buttons and twiddle the middle bit when you want to change station. If like me though you pretty much have your favourite one that's on most of the time, this isn't a big issue.
I can't really see why it not having an off button is a major problem - surely if you have to press a button to turn it off, just flicking the switch at the power point isn't too much trouble? That seems like a very minor point to be sending it back for, when it really is a lovely little radio.
Rating:
- no on/off switchDon't know (yet) if this applies to all DAB radios, but the Pure One has no way to turn it off except by unplugging it! It has a 'standby' button, but even in 'economy mode' it continues to draw power (1W) even when not in use! As we are all being urged not to leave our TVs on standby, for very good reasons, I can't believe Pure are producing a radio that can't be turned off. I'm sending it back.
Rating:
- Great radio - shame about the clockAt the time of writing, 21 of the 25 reviews give this radio five stars. This tells you almost all you need to know. You'll almost certainly be very happy with the radio.
The other four award it four stars. Take the trouble to read what they say because they pinpoint one of the irritations I have found in this otherwise excellent radio.
The basic problem is the process for selecting stations. Before buying, I read the description that says the radio has 20 presets. I thought this would mean I could simply switch between preset stations by pressing one button. This was a feature I was looking for.
But this isn't how it works. Look at the picture. To select a station you press one of the small silver buttons which is labelled Presets. The screen then shows the name of the station stored on preset number 1. If you want this station, you press the big button in the middle. But if you want a different station you have to turn the big button to select the one you want. As you turn the button the screen shows each preset station in sequence. When you find the one you want, you press the big button to select it. The same process is used for selecting stations that are not stored as presets except that you start with the small button labelled Stations instead of Presets.
So instead of one action to select a station it's three - (1) press small button, (2) turn big button, (3) press big button.
If, like me, you have two stations that you listen to most of the time, you can use the small button that switches between FM and DAB as a preset button instead. If you're on a DAB station, pressing the FM/DAB button will take you to the last FM station you were listening to. Pressing the button once again will take you back to your last DAB station. The radio produces excellent sound on FM so it makes no difference in my area whether you listen to DAB or FM. This would not be the case in all areas.
This radio, like so many other items on sale today is made in China. The only disadvantage seems to be that its clock display appears to be running on Chinese time, with 65 seconds per minute instead of the 60 that are the norm for this time zone. (It's lucky that the clock doesn't also show days of the week. It's a little known fact that Mao Tse Tung was a great fan of the Beatles and it was through the influence of their music that he decided to switch China to eight days a week. This partly explains the country's economic success in recent years.)
"What can all this mean?" I hear you ask. If you will give me your very close attention I will explain.
What this means in practice is that the minute numeral (that's "minute" rhyming with "innit", not "my newt") on the time display will advance by one every 65 seconds. (Seconds are not displayed so you need to watch a clock with a second hand to check this.) So, for example, imagine that the minute numeral advances to ten past the hour at, say, three seconds past the minute. It will then advance to 11 minutes past the hour, not 60 seconds later but 65 seconds later at eight seconds past the minute.
This pattern continues every 65 seconds until around 58 seconds past the minute, by which time the minute numeral is advancing almost a minute late. However, at this point the clock makes an adjustment and just five seconds later it advances by a further minute. I hesitate to call it a correction because the clock is still not correct but at least it's only three seconds or so slow. This adjustment brings the clock the closest it gets to being accurate. It then begins the 65 second cycle again, losing five seconds every minute.
To find out why this might be happening I turned to the Pure website since although they don't make the radios they presumably produce the design. I was relieved to see under the Frequently Asked Questions section a question on why the clock on the radio was showing the wrong time. Briefly, the answer says that the time is broadcast by the broadcasters and if it's wrong on the radio this is because they are broadcasting the wrong time. The radio just displays what it's told by the broadcasters. So all is clear. The broadcasters are working on a 65-second minute, not the Chinese after all.
I turned to the BBC to find out why they had adopted this unusual practice. They denied that they transmit a time signal based on a 65-second minute. I have no way of checking this as I would need a second DAB radio to confirm whether they use conventional minutes or not. But I'm inclined to believe them and think it's more likely that the radio is doing this odd timekeeping.
Does this matter? Probably not. It's just bizarre that any software programmer would have chosen to make a clock advance one minute every 65 seconds instead of every 60 seconds. But if you find you've missed the first minute of a radio programme through relying on the clock radio for its start time, now you know why.
Post Script. I have now been advised by a Chinese friend that I was under a foolish misapprehension if I ever really believed that the Chinese use a 65-second minute. As for the eight-day week, this was just a case of half-remembered misinformation - it was actually a hard day's night that was the inspiration for the Chinese economic success.
Rating:
- Great value for money and superb designIf you are in the market for a DAB radio, then this is great value. It is easy to set up and a joy to listen to.
Rating:
- Excellent quality & valueI've had my One in my kitchen for about 7 months now and am very happy with it. It looks neat, the signal is strong, nice full-bodied sound in both FM and DAB modes. I find the buttons/dial combination quite intuitive, the dial just changes its function to suit the context, rather like the the select/reject buttons on a mobile phone. Just press the button and it switches on/off quickly, no need for fiddling about when you're short of time. Excellent value for money.