Tom Likes His Insignia Portable HD-NS01 Radio But Worries About the Battery

Thanks, Tom WC:

I have been looking for an affordable and portable HD radio for a while now. Earlier this week I bought the Insignia portable HD radio HD-NS01 from bestbuy. It's about half the size of a blackberry and I'm pleased with the performance so far. Battery life gets me through a full workday and reception is pretty good even at work in a granite building. So far, I've used it connected to several different radios and the sound quality is good. I am concerned about the non serviceable battery though, it will eventually run out. Best of all, it's on sale for 40$

I should note that there's no AM reception, but I don't consider that a deal breaker for this particular item. I do really like AM, but I bought this mostly as an accessory to add HD reception to my current radios (which of course already have AM) at a low price. The HD-NS01 fulfills this requirement nicely. An important consideration is that the headphone/aux cord is the antenna for this radio, so a short aux cord will give less than optimal performance.

Comments

[TomWc]

I should note that there's no AM reception, but I don't consider that a deal breaker for this particular item. I do really like AM, but I bought this mostly as an accessory to add HD reception to my current radios (which of course already have AM) at a low price. The HD-NS01 fulfills this requirement nicely. An important consideration is that the headphone/aux cord is the antenna for this radio, so a short aux cord will give less than optimal performance.

[Gary]

It's a shame that so many products built in the past several years have batteries that are not easily replaceable by the user. For example, iPods, iPhones, iPads, some Apple laptops, many Palm PDAs, the CC Witness. The list goes on and on.

With these devices it would sure be convenient to have the ability to swap in a freshly-charged battery when needed. And being able to replace the battery yourself when it's no longer taking a full charge, rather than having to pay a service fee to have this done, is a big plus.

[Keith Beesley]

I just got one, too, and I love it. Great reception and sound, and hears all the HD stations in my area, as well as a couple of non-HD stations that are hard to get on my other radios. The supplied earbuds are the first ones I've tried that actually stay in my ears :-)!

Obviously not built to last a lifetime (what is, these days?), but I'll enjoy it until it dies.

BTW, some of the HD2 and HD3 subchannels in my area are actually AM stations, so I don't have to totally give up AM when listening to the Insignia. It would be nice to have the full AM band, though; and a few tone/EQ controls.

[Tom Welch]

Grace Digital coming out with new internet radios: http://www.twice.com/article/455336-Grace_Sharpens_Internet_Radio_Focus.php