Roberts reveals RD41 DAB radio: high on features, low on style

Nah, Roberts' RD41 isn't quite as minuscule as its RD49, but unfortunately, it's essentially just as ugly. Taking a few notes from tableside radios circa 1990 (and sadly, today as well), Roberts has crafted a fairly well-spec'd DAB iteration that also does FM on the side, can record to an SD card and touts a dozen alarms that can wake even the most notorious slumberer. You'll also find MP3 / WMA playback from the SD card, rewind and pause functions, scrolling text about the station you're tuned into and audio in / out sockets to boot. Word on the street pegs this one at £139.99 ($277), but we'd recommend hiding it somewhere good before company shows up.

[Via The Red Ferret Journal]

[Superprime @ Jan 29th 2008 3:07PM]

Retro

[trumpton @ Jan 29th 2008 3:12PM]

Looks alright to me. Not to my tastes, mind, but not ugly by any means.

[robert @ Jan 29th 2008 8:13PM]

My only problem is with the screen, otherwise it's perfectly fine.

[Yazmilda Almanza @ Jan 29th 2008 3:17PM]

Cute.

[Yazmilda Almanza @ Jan 29th 2008 3:22PM]

Ugly? I think it's cute. Just IMO.

[matt @ Jan 29th 2008 3:22PM]

sweet knobs, give me a radio any day of the week with knobs on it over buttons for everything. i like it

[Andrew @ Jan 29th 2008 5:20PM]

I like it too - agreed knobs and dials are much cooler than generic plastic buttons everywhere.

[Jeff @ Jan 29th 2008 3:34PM]

...looks like a shower radio.

[Miles @ Jan 29th 2008 3:48PM]

It looks pretty awesome.
What are you guys, not with the times.
All the hipsters want one.

[Dude Nerder @ Jan 29th 2008 3:57PM]

I'll never get why these DAB-radios always have to look so retro-ugly

[Matt Peckham @ Jan 29th 2008 4:27PM]

Everything looks good until you get to the ROBERTS logo in that oddly generic typeface. reminds me of CalDor brand stuff from the 80s.

Otherwise, I think it's kinda sharp.

[Evan @ Jan 29th 2008 4:57PM]

I definitely agree. They should consider a new logo...

[macdoc @ Jan 29th 2008 4:54PM]

except for the LCD it looks so 70s-80s get with the program....

[rento @ Jan 29th 2008 5:28PM]

Is not right out ugly but I think I had enough of retro and quirky looking DABs. And the worst is that the better they sound the quirkier they look.

[MurphyMac @ Jan 29th 2008 10:25PM]

Put an Apple Logo on it instead of ROBERTS and people would gush over how cool looking it is.

The power of an established and respected brand, not just Apple, is enormous.

[Eric @ Jan 29th 2008 11:04PM]

Apple? Ha, not that nice bro.

[Sirocco @ Jan 29th 2008 8:00PM]

Continuing where Dolemite left off, why must every device be groundbreaking, aesthetically or otherwise? If this website is do dedicated to the new or beautiful, why compromise?

[seraphaxg @ Feb 4th 2008 2:19PM]

Taking the apple comment, it's obvious that aesthetics are important to people- I've used an iPhone and, to be perfectly honest, other than looks it's far less functional than most any other phone I've owned. This radio, whilst I'm sure it's packed to the gills with features, would never find it's place in my study next to my Samsung BW22 beautifully crafted monitor with blue power button lighting, or my Sony Vaio laptop with x-black screen technology or even my logitech laser MX600 mouse. All of these are aesthetically pleasing ... and functional ... I don't think there needs to be a compromise.

[André @ Jan 30th 2008 5:00AM]

It has some nice features, but I agree, it could be prettier..

André

[mike @ Jan 30th 2008 11:28AM]

Looks... looks... who cares...?
I wonder what the angle is like and the viewability of the LCD.. it looks like it was designed for table top use from a standing position mostly. Which might be quite smart. But, can I see the controls and the LCD well enough from a sitting position as well? And do any of the myriad of timers start a radio recording function and can I program the station too? Because that would be awesome if it all worked well.
Too bad nobody around the US is so modern minded as to drag radios out of a use paradigm which is 10 years outdated to say the least.
How about a little live recording action ala DVRs... that is what I want. Especially so in the car, where every time I want specifically to here some tidbit a truck seems to go buy and drown out the sound.
And I don't care what that looks like either.. just make it functional and make it work!

- mike

[adrian @ Jan 30th 2008 12:23PM]

The design is typical Roberts, Retro with a slighty modern twist. I like it.