 A Good Little Unit |
| Review Date: March 1, 2009 |
| Reviewer: Steve C, Arizona |
| This thing is really tiny! The Samsung HD radio tuner card out of the Radio Shack Accurian radio is as big as the little Coby! It seems too expensive for it's size but it's well made and is actually a model called the Mondo from Revo. Revo makes a similar looking Internet radio that's even more expensive. The curved part is only about as big as a hot dog bun and it has a squarish section on the rear for the connectors. In most respects it's like the Sony XDRF1HD but doesn't get as hot although the Sony comes with a full size remote. When the power is lost the time setting goes back to 12:00 like a VCR but it does keep the station presets that were saved. Also, like the Sony you can't go directly to a frequency with the remote, all you can do is step up and down through the bands or go to a preset. Even though it's small, it receives as well as larger units like the Sangean HDT-1X if you use outdoor antennas. It would make a good component tuner for a stereo system. It has some drawbacks due to it's size though like only having 5 buttons on top so you have to use the little remote for most functions. It has a headphone jack on the rear but you have to use the remote to control the volume which is odd since it can't be more than an arms reach away. Also, it only has a 2 line display and only shows the station call letters and the frequency so you have to press the Info button on the remote to see the title and artist of a song that's playing. It doesn't have any dimming or timed off functions for the display but it will dim and display the time when turned off. One major drawback is the inclusion of a wire loop antenna for AM and a piece of wire sticking out the back for FM. Since the AM loop antenna plugs in with a mini phone plug an external antenna can be connected by buying an F to phone plug adapter and plugging it into the antenna jack. The FM antenna is a different story though. I don't know why the designers at Revo didn't include an F connector for FM like other HD radios use but it's fairly easy to open up the unit and solder in a piece of RG-174 coax in it's place to add a connector for FM. I found that my roof mounted TV antenna worked well for FM and a whip antenna such as a CB whip mounted on the roof makes a good antenna for AM allowing me to receive all the HD stations in Phoenix over 40 miles away. It picks up distant stations well at night but none of them come in strong enough for HD except the Disney channel. The power supply does cause a lot of AM interference like other reviewers said but it doesn't matter when using an outside antenna or it can be replaced with another 12 volt supply if you wish since they are common and easy to find. |
Coby HDR 650
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| Review Date: February 8, 2009 |
| Reviewer: Benny the American, Miami, Florida |
| I hooked up the Coby HDR650 to my stereo system and so far it has worked perfectly well. Most of the stations do not show the information about the title of the song or the singer's name but the sound is better than FM. The price is right and I am happy with the purchase.The delivery arrived on time and in perfect conditions. Thank you. Benny |
Power Supply makes AM band Unlistenable
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| Review Date: January 14, 2009 |
| Reviewer: Matt the Techie, Suburban NYC, USA |
I got the Coby HDR-650 HD radio as an xmas gift, as I was very interested in HD radio. The looks and features of the radio were very attractive - I like the display, but what use is a good looking radio if it can't pick up stations? The power supply that came with the radio (a KY Industries model from China) radiates so much radio noise that I could not pick up ONE station on the AM band. I know it's the power supply, because whenever the KY power supply is plugged in, every AM radio in the room loses all reception whether the Coby is turned on or not.
The FM band is noise free, with pretty good sensitivity. The difference between analog and HD radio is striking - much clearer.
I am an electronic technician, so I decided to try one of my own power supplies with the radio. It takes 12 volts at 500mA, with the positive voltage going to the tip of the connector. What a difference! I am in suburban NYC, and with a clean power supply I can now pick up 35-40 AM stations and 9 of them are in HD.
If Coby changes their power supply to one that doesn't make radio noise, I would change my number of stars to 4, but as it is, the Coby HDR-650 is only usable as an FM radio, not an AM one, and rates a 2. |
Disappointment!
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| Review Date: January 11, 2009 |
| Reviewer: Spaceman Spiff, Wine Country, CA |
The Coby AM/FM Receiver is a distinct disappointment. It has two bands (AM and FM) and the AM band reception was terrible across the entire frequency range. All of my radios (I have several) have good am reception, including my Hi Bunsionc battery powered transistor radio from China, which out perform the Coby. And isn't that an embarassing thing for Coby.
On the plus side, it looks very nice. |
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