Ellamae Mckinzey

I want it to be great – Josh On –
I also have a Grundig YB 300PE – which really is great, the reception is fantastic, the interface is simple and it has endured daily abuse for 8 years or so – but it doesn’t play MP3s. I wanted a YB 300PE that played MP3s and the G4 looked like it was the ideal solution. I read the reviews warning of difficult user interface but that didn’t deter me because I figured I could learn to love the quirks.

A year later, I am still trying to love it. The user interface is appalling, browsing, playing, pausing, fast fwding MP3s and toggling between radio and MP3 functionality should be simple, the problem has been solved before many times. However, Grundig somehow made it an arduous endeavor mainly because of the dual use buttons.

In my opinion having two functions on a button triggered by a different duration of depression is almost always a bad idea. To put that behavior on the most important button on the device was a fatal design decision. You toggle between MP3 and radio modes using the on|off button with a short push, and turn it on and off with a longer push. If there was immediate feedback about the success of your action it would be easier to manage, but the display is cryptic, and the MP3s fade up – so there is a delayed response to your input making it very frustrating.

Similarly with fast forward|next track and rewind|previous track. A quick push takes you to the next track and a longer depression fast forwards, again though, the feedback is flawed. Fast forwarding doesn’t update the screen with a precise display of seconds – but rather updates periodically – so it is hard to tell if you are actually forwarding or not, and you can not tell where you are up to. The short press to the next track is equally frustrating because of the fade up on each track – you have to wait to find out which track you just moved to – with not sensible track info displayed on the screen. Finally because they are dual use buttons it is easy to skip a track by mistake when you were intending to fast forward. I use this to listen to longer podcasts and these quirks make it an endurance test.

I like the size, the rechargable batteries, and the fact that it plays MP3s at all. The FM quality is not as good as the YB 300PE – it often has noise in the background that the YB 300PE doesn’t have.

I still want the YB 300PE with MP3 functionality done properly. Why doesn’t it exist
Grundig G4 AM/FM/SW Portable Radio with MP3 and SD Player: Grundig: G4 FM/AM/Shortwave Portable Radio with MP3 and SD Player Keep the comforts of home with you, even when you�re far, far away. This AM/FM radio also offers 10 Shortwave bands, so you can access news, weather and entertainment from wherever you may be. Set the alarm to your favorite station, and wake up with a song in your heart. – read more.