[SwindonTim]

Anyone got any experience of the CRD36 by Roberts? I'm looking for a DAB Clock Radio/CD player for around £100 and can't find any reviews of this new one from Roberts...

[SwindonTim]

Noone got one of these then?

[theonlyrick]

I'm looking for reviews as well.

I've got quite a wishlist: I want DAB, CD, good alarm features, a remote, an aux input would be nice. (Ideally I would also have internet radio, but the only machine that does all of the above is a £500 Denon machine from John Lewis. That's a lot of money for a clock radio!)


There's a very similar machine w/out a remote (Sony Dream Machine) and there's also a triangular Pure DAB/CD player.

For me I'm choosing between the Roberts and the Pure, as they both have a remote. I want to try out the Roberts though, as I've had one of their top-of-range DAB radios before, and its usability was awful.

If I find anything out about it, I'll post back.

Richard

[KJ Palmer]

I've got a CRD36, and find it's very good for what it is. DAB and FM reception is good, despite only having a wire aerial, plays MP3 files on SD cards (2GB cards work) and CDs very well (unlike the Pure Chronos CD which it replaced) and doesn't hum, like some other DAB bedside units. Doesn't record, which is a shame, or have tone controls, but they're only quibbles.

The sound is quite neutral I find, which is good. It does have an aux in, no line out though. I haven't tried the alarm feature yet. In general the remote is easy and intuitive to use, quite large though as it takes normal batteries, which I prefer. Display is nice and large, and restful orange/black rather than the usual blue/white, and the dimmer is quite effective.

Nice unit.

[theonlyrick]

I ended up going for the triangular Pure radio. It has a CD, a remote control, and aux in. I'm very happy with it (if I was choosing again though, I might go for the iPod dock version).

The only negatives to it are:

• The common problem of a lightweight gadget being pushed around when trying to press buttons that are on the side (and that need a lot of pressure). ie: You need to hold it down to press the buttons, otherwise it starts skidding round.
• The CD takes about 20 seconds of spinning up until it starts playing. Not awful, just weird and annoying.
• No random mode on the CD.
• The remote control doesn't let you set sleep minutes.