Pure Digital The Bug

Pure Digital The Bug is an excellent Radio - allows use of external Ariel (essential in SW Scotland). I am unsure if it is upgradeable to DAB+ (probably isn't). Styling is either to your taste or not. Scrolling text needs more customisation options. EPG works well when flashed to 2.2<.

I believe i have been wrong-footed by changes to DAB standards since the Bug was launched, resulting in the need for software upgrade. This in itself doesn't work via all PC's because of hardware incompatibility. Sometimes you're lucky, but others....it all depends on indeterminate factors between the PC & Bug. Even USB standards have changed! DAB broadcasts will never be as HiFi as old FM radio, as the bandwidth is curtailed to squash more stations in. But at the time, I couldn't find a radio I could use easily to 'time-shift' programs by recording them, usually to a cheap but reasonable-quality SD card from e-buyer.

This is definitely a gimmick product, but does have a happy look about it! I received mine as a birthday gift....perfect! Very handy not losing alarm settings after power cuts, and being able to do timed recordings. Lots of new features when it first came out. The 4-way switch IS a bit finicky- but the firmware may also be responsible for several issues.

Pure Digital The Bug, a good radio in principle but not very practical in the long run as the rocker switch is so hit and miss. I am going to replace mine with the new Pure Evoke 3 as soon as possible

The Pure Digital The Bug is my first DAB Radio so I don't have any other points of reference but I would say that the radio is fairly easy to set up and that reception is good with the supplied telescopic aeriel. I've also tried the radio way from home a couple of times with good reception.

I choose The Bug because it offers the abilty to make programed recordings VCR style. When these are saved to the optional SD memory card they can be transferred to a protable media player.The recordings are made in MP2 format rather than MP3 although The Bug can play back MP3s saved to an SD card from another device Don't be fooled by the tinny looking speakers, they really are tinny. I've invested in some half decent computer speaker to get the sound up to bearable quality but I'm more picky on sound than some. The controls remind me of something on a personal FM tuner from one of those high street shops where everything costs a pound. The main toggle control is slow to respond and far too easy to toggle the wrong way. The blurb makes great play about it's Wayne Hemingway design. Mr Hemingway should stick with fashion design or whatever it is he made his name with. His quirky design gets in the way of the products functionality in a number of ways.

Although The Bug does pretty much everything I expected it to do it fails to do it with any style.....it's like a work in progress that need a bit more sorting.

I paid about 125 pounds for mine but prices have come down now so I guess value for money is now higher than I've indicated.

The Pure Bug DAB digital radio is a unique combination of design and digital technology. It's definitely a gadget first and a radio second, but don't let that put you off buying one.

It works pretty much like a Sky+ box that allows you to pause live transmissions while you make a cup of tea. You can also rewind approximately 12 minutes to the start of a radio show when you think you've missed the start. Apparently you can also record to an SD card, although this function appears to be very intermittent on my Bug. You can also play MP3's stored on the SD memory card on your Bug. A 128Mb card should store about 2 hours of recordings at 128kbits, and you can also connect the Bug to your PC via a USB connector. Connections and plug-in points at the rear of the unit are somewhat fiddly, and those of you with bigger hands and fingers may find it annoying when you want to install an SD Card or plug your USB cable from your PC to this unit.

The design of the Bug is probably its major selling point. The design is all down to a combination of 'Pure' technology and by Wayne Hemmingway of the Red or Dead brand going a bit crazy with a designers pen and sketch-pad.

The bug is 'very' unique, and the sizable backlit screen sits on top of the main body giving it an overall look, which is purposely designed to resemble some kind of 'insect'.

There are six preset buttons running along both sides of the screen that allow you to control the Bug in terms of station selection and its general settings. To further enhance its insect-like appearance you can set the screensaver to show two blinking animated 'bug-eyes'.

The Bug is available for purchase in black or white, and overall, the design concept should allow it to fit in with most modern home decors.

The base of the unit houses 2 x 3-inch speakers and a rocker type control button, which is used to control the majority of the Bugs features. It's nice and simple to operate (if not a little bit fiddly again) and set alarms etc. Most, if not all available DAB stations are displayed by name as you scroll through the ever-lengthening list of stations.

You can set two separate alarms with either a bleep or a radio station. It also allows various combinations, such as, for one alarm setting it will wake you with the radio and for the next one, an annoying bleep. Monday to Sunday, Monday to Friday or Saturday and Sunday configurations are available to set, and there is a configurable snooze feature. You can also set recording timers (up to 9) utilising the Bugs clock, although mine can sometimes struggle writing to it's SD Card?!

Audio quality is good with a S/PDIF output for connection to an external amplifier and speakers or other digital audio equipment. The Bugs own speakers give an 'above-average' impression of audio. The Pure Bug will be most at home in your kitchen, bedroom or study, it doesn't deliver the decibels to entertain a large room, but it does a generous job in a smaller room where a lower volume is more than acceptable.

The Pure Bug DAB Radio is a first-rate gadget, and one you are not likely to grow tired of.

Good products should be identifiable at first sight, and there is nothing more true than for consumer electronics. The Bug looks unlike any other radio I ever saw.

If, like me, you buy the Bug for recording programs be aware that the controls on the playback are poor.

When I first started experimenting with preset recordings I found there was no fast-forward, pause or rewind etc.

I got in touch with Pure and was told that I needed to upgrade the firmware.

They offer a download from their web-site which can be read via the usb port on the radio.

I would advise that if you are buying a Bug make sure the latest firmware version is installed before you buy. Upgrading was a complete mare because it only works on some computers. Pure support were not very helpful on this.

My first attempt at upgrade failed completely, and going by an email thread that I found I was not the first person to have this problem.

I managed to get the upgrade to work on a friend's laptop but it left the radio unable to read the sd memory card at all.

I returned to the shop where I bought the radio and managed to swap the card (which was a Lexmark) with a different make (Fuji) that did work.

I now have the full controls on playback but they are not great. There is no pause, only stop (which puts the recoding back to the start), and the fast-forward is little use if you want to move more than a couple of minutes through the recording. It jumps through at around 10-15 second intervals and when I tried it over about 15 minutes it had shuffled the track so that playback was stuttering and I had to start again.

I also found that downloading a track via the usb onto my computer was extremely slow.

AMAZING, I won the Bug radio on Birmingham Galaxy 102.2. WOW WOW WOW, this is my first digital radio and, I am amazed, I am able to get crystal clear reception of all the stations and I'm even able to pick up Choice FM London, from my house.

Bit of a weird nav button though, but it still works. The volume it gets on the the small speakers, is also wicked!

A good, different looking product with some good new features. The Bug also seems better at finding poor signal transmissions than the Evoke-1 that I previously had.

The Bug however is a really buggy radio, seems that the manufacturers have rushed this radio through their testing. There is a software upgrade available, but this causes new problems including not being able to record to the memory card at all! The navigation button is terrible to use.

Pure Digital The Bug - After reading all the favourable press about the Pure Bug, I decided to part with my cash and get one - one word, BRILLIANT. This unit is my first DAB unit and what an introduction to the world of digital radio, crystal clear reception, great display and loads of functions. Only complaints are pity no remote control. I have just got a 256 mb sd ram card and recording and playback of mp3's is an absolute joy.

The Bug

Pure Digital - the leading manufacturer of DAB Digital Radios has teamed up with Wayne Hemingway, the original designer behind the Red Or Dead fashion label, to create The Bug - and the result certainly gets the thumbs up from us. This wacky little device is all about fun, and you will just love the way the LCD is perched at the end of that gooseneck stand above the main unit.

The Bug's not just about looks though. You can pause and rewind live radio to a cache of built-in flash memory, buffering between 5 and 12 minutes of audio according to the broadcast quality of the radio station. There's also an SD card slot which, as well as enabling you to play MP3s, can be used to record tunes as you hear them or set up timer events to record whole shows in advance.

Recordings are made in MPEG-2 format, the same one used for digital radio transmissions.

Sound quality is great and you get nice touches such as a USB port so you can read the SD memory card directly from your PC. There are also analogue and digital audio outputs, plus an alarm clock.

Overall it's a wild bug, its a quirky appearance and cool range of features makes it a winner!

For more details feel free to log on to http://www.thebug.com

Mehul Patel is the MD of KIPL.Net - a Digital Services firm, he can be reached on [email protected]