The Insignia NS-HD01 is the first portable product of any kind to feature iBiquity's HD Radio technology, which allows users to listen to more than one version of the same radio station, in better audio quality. The player's full-color screen also shows station and song titles, which is more than I can say for my car radio.
Peripherally, the product has a lot to recommend about it. It's very light, for one thing, much more so than most iPods. For walkers and joggers, it comes with an armband, as well as a unique USB-based charger. And it enables up to ten presets, which can be easily set and maneuvered without very many buttons. The radio is easy to use and easy to figure out.
There's one big problem, however- the radio function doesn't work very well. On one occasion, I walked around downtown Philadelphia for over an hour while listening to the radio, and not only did FM stations cut in and out repeatedly, but I frequently got "channel no longer available" error messages for alternate HD channels. I mean, I know AM signals are known not to work among lots of buildings, but this is HD radio- it expect its signal to be a bit stronger. And I had the same problem again listening in my office, which is on the 12th floor of a downtown office building.
The radio worked better when I tried it at home (I live in the suburbs), but the alternate HD channels still weren't 100 percent reliable, especially two AM sports stations that are HD3 channels for their corporate-sibling rock stations. And finally, after I set HD channels as presets, they failed to save- the HD3 channel I saved as Preset 1, for instance, was instead saved as the corresponding HD1 next time I turned the radio on.
The Insignia portable HD Radio is a good idea for a product, and I expect future versions will be much better. But for a product like this to succeed, it has to be more dependable.
Insignia Portable HD Radio With Armband
3.5mm output jack
Headphones
Ten station presets
Full-color screen
USB Cable
MSRP: $49.95.
Available at Best Buy
Companies Mentioned:
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I'm not sold on the whole HD radio thing. If it was 10 years ago maybe, but we're moving into the direction of fully-customizable listening experience. FM just isn't going to cut it anymore.
LA Times also has an article.
http://www.latimes.com/business/la-fi-hd-radio8-2009aug08,0,2289079.story
Stephen,
Thanks for the honest review. Reliable reception is the Achilles heel of all digital medium and long range radio and TV. HD needs to fall back on "old style" analog to be continuously heard. I question its future viability.