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Philips AE5900/05 - DAB Clock Radio
See it at Amazon.co.uk for £51.99Average Customer Rating
(4.0 out of 5)
Amazon Customer Reviews
Most Helpful First | Newest First | + Share56 of 56 people found the following review helpful:
Could Have been 5 stars....
(4 out of 5) by Ms. L. A. Roney on Jan 16, 2008I have used my clock radio over a week now, but I still keep my old AM set on the bedside cabinet also.... why?
The day I got my new radio I was pleased as punch, it's a lovely box, and although I see it's starting to creep up in price now, it's still worth it. Anyhow, it is real easy to set up, plug it in and it autoscans and gets all the stations with no problem and in fact, cleaner and better than my Grundig DAB in exactly the same position. Next, presetting the stations, what a carry on, the instructions are totally wrong in this and I was beginning to think I had bought a lemon and was getting the boxes together to send it back when I read the fix for this in these reviews (phew) The sound from the radio is pure quality, like a Bose or a Bang and Olufsen and the finish of the cabinet is excellent also. The setting up of the alarms/sleep/snooze etc is pretty straight forward too, a couple of runs at it and you could do it in the dark ok. Now apart from the silly mistakes on the presetting instruction, I have another couple of things that are bugging me also. The digits on the clock are far too small to see without fumbling about for my glasses, the "dim" function is in fact a complete blackout, you cannot set the volume for the radio alarm, I could waken up quite comfortably to a talk radio station at level 7, but no, I get near blown out of bed with a blast of lvl 20 - silly imo. it should retain the level you turned it off at. Apart from that, I do really like it, I listen to a lot of radio, from Planet Rock to 5Live and they all sound great from this box - even in mono! however, I still keep my trusty old sony by the bed with its big orange digits shining in the dark - much needed for a myopic old git like me :)
The day I got my new radio I was pleased as punch, it's a lovely box, and although I see it's starting to creep up in price now, it's still worth it. Anyhow, it is real easy to set up, plug it in and it autoscans and gets all the stations with no problem and in fact, cleaner and better than my Grundig DAB in exactly the same position. Next, presetting the stations, what a carry on, the instructions are totally wrong in this and I was beginning to think I had bought a lemon and was getting the boxes together to send it back when I read the fix for this in these reviews (phew) The sound from the radio is pure quality, like a Bose or a Bang and Olufsen and the finish of the cabinet is excellent also. The setting up of the alarms/sleep/snooze etc is pretty straight forward too, a couple of runs at it and you could do it in the dark ok. Now apart from the silly mistakes on the presetting instruction, I have another couple of things that are bugging me also. The digits on the clock are far too small to see without fumbling about for my glasses, the "dim" function is in fact a complete blackout, you cannot set the volume for the radio alarm, I could waken up quite comfortably to a talk radio station at level 7, but no, I get near blown out of bed with a blast of lvl 20 - silly imo. it should retain the level you turned it off at. Apart from that, I do really like it, I listen to a lot of radio, from Planet Rock to 5Live and they all sound great from this box - even in mono! however, I still keep my trusty old sony by the bed with its big orange digits shining in the dark - much needed for a myopic old git like me :)
11 of 11 people found the following review helpful:
good sound
(3 out of 5) by bodrick on Feb 11, 2008 (London)Nice crystal clear balanced sound.
Weirdly, however, I found that the sound degraded when the aerial was raised. Possibly something to do with noise in my area - difficult to say.
A negative point is the very bright light on the display. I have to cover it up with a book sometimes when i sleep. Buttons are a little small and fiddly, and could do with more presets. Would have gotten 4 or 5 stars if not for these points.
Otherwise a very good digital radio, and seems like an excellent price especially when compared to people like Pure.
Weirdly, however, I found that the sound degraded when the aerial was raised. Possibly something to do with noise in my area - difficult to say.
A negative point is the very bright light on the display. I have to cover it up with a book sometimes when i sleep. Buttons are a little small and fiddly, and could do with more presets. Would have gotten 4 or 5 stars if not for these points.
Otherwise a very good digital radio, and seems like an excellent price especially when compared to people like Pure.
29 of 31 people found the following review helpful:
phenomenal
(5 out of 5) by P. Adams on Dec 24, 2007my bro got a dab radio and was singing their praises, so i decided to relegate my little raggy 10 year old sony fm thing to my office and took the plunge to buy this, for £29.99.
wow - what a bargain. this radio has seemingly excellent build quality and a really nice style. the carry handle makes it look really neat. the display is nice enough and i'm blown away by the range of stations and quality of the sound, straight out of the box. no mucking about - just switched it on, it scanned for channels and then i'm away.
i reckon i'll probably spend as much time listening to my radio now as i will watching sky!
as for astronaut's review, if he/she checks the packaging he/she may find the uk power cable tucked under the eggbox packaging - it isn't visible at first sight.
as other reviewers have stated, it has uk and european cables as well as a 3.5mm to 3.5mm lead for connecting mp3 players.
all in all, i'd say this is possibly my best purchase of the year and an utter bargain!!!
wow - what a bargain. this radio has seemingly excellent build quality and a really nice style. the carry handle makes it look really neat. the display is nice enough and i'm blown away by the range of stations and quality of the sound, straight out of the box. no mucking about - just switched it on, it scanned for channels and then i'm away.
i reckon i'll probably spend as much time listening to my radio now as i will watching sky!
as for astronaut's review, if he/she checks the packaging he/she may find the uk power cable tucked under the eggbox packaging - it isn't visible at first sight.
as other reviewers have stated, it has uk and european cables as well as a 3.5mm to 3.5mm lead for connecting mp3 players.
all in all, i'd say this is possibly my best purchase of the year and an utter bargain!!!
7 of 7 people found the following review helpful:
Good quality DAB if you can put up with some minor annoyances
(4 out of 5) by Lianne Chatwin on Nov 7, 2008 (London)I pretty much agree with many of the other reviewers; this is a fab little DAB radio, looks really nice, is sturdy, and the sound quality is pretty damn impressive. For the price, this is pretty near perfect, if not for 2 rather annoying features:
The backlight is bright. Very bright. I have a large bedroom and it pretty much lights it up at night, I have to cover the display. The dim option just turns the light off completely, but for some odd reason, you can only do this when the radio is on, when you kind of want to be able to see the display!
The alarm function for me, on a radio, is essential, I use it to wake me up in the mornings, however I want to be able to choose what volume the radio that wakes me up is, with this you can't. The designers obviously think that people like to be scared half to death in the mornings, as the radio comes on loud and then promptly gets louder until you leap out of bed to turn the thing down.
But I can live with these annoyances - everything else about this radio is perfection!
The backlight is bright. Very bright. I have a large bedroom and it pretty much lights it up at night, I have to cover the display. The dim option just turns the light off completely, but for some odd reason, you can only do this when the radio is on, when you kind of want to be able to see the display!
The alarm function for me, on a radio, is essential, I use it to wake me up in the mornings, however I want to be able to choose what volume the radio that wakes me up is, with this you can't. The designers obviously think that people like to be scared half to death in the mornings, as the radio comes on loud and then promptly gets louder until you leap out of bed to turn the thing down.
But I can live with these annoyances - everything else about this radio is perfection!
7 of 7 people found the following review helpful:
Too good for the bedroom.......
(5 out of 5) by Ian Wantling on Feb 9, 2008 (Rochdale)I bought this as a replacement for an old led clock radio, but once I'd heard the sound from it I decided the right place for this was my kitchen. The quality of the sound is utterly AmAzInG ! ! ! A really rich and deep bass with clear clear music coming from its tiny speaker, it really is a mini boom box ! The unit itself is compact and stylish and will look good anywhere. All the menus and features are easily mastered. You will struggle to find anything better.