This was posted 6 years 11 months 22 days ago, and might be an out-dated deal.

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  • out of stock

Dick Smith by Sangean DPR-44 AM/FM/DAB+ Radio $29 w/free Shipping @ Dick Smith / Kogan (Identical to DPR-45, RRP $239)

2420

EDIT 4: Many people have reported cancelled orders via eBay. This is your chance to get revenge - send Dick some negative feedback!

[EDIT 3: Dick's been officially OzBargained. Sold out!]

EDIT 2: Out of stock on eBay! You can still buy on the Dick Smith website if you fancy your chances.

EDIT 1: Also available on eBay for $28.52 after applying C5AUS coupon. (thanks holdenmg)

The DPR-44 is the same as the DPR-45 but Dick Smith branded. A pretty astounding discount, considering that the DPR-45 usually retails for around $175-200.

Features:

■ Unique 3-Band Tuner – access to all radio bands
■ Long Distance AM Reception
■ 45 station presets (15 per band)
■ Large easy to read LCD display with backlight
■ Integrated carry handle
■ Rotary bass and treble control
■ Quality speaker for excellent sound performance
■ Large easy-to-use controls
■ 2 x Alarm Timers with Daily, Once, Weekdays,
Weekends options
■ Adjustable sleep timer
■ Adjustable nap timer
■ Snooze function
■ Auto scan stations
■ Information display for service data
■ Menu - selection of major functions
■ Battery-power indicator
■ Lock switch
■ AC/DC with 4 x ’D-size’ battery compartment

Related Stores

Dick Smith / Kogan
Dick Smith / Kogan
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closed Comments

  • +1

    Crazy good price. Shame it doesn't have a battery charging function like the dpr-25.

    • +1

      RECEIVED REFUND TODAY - 2nd May,
      DAMN YOU DICK SMITH & KOGAN!

      You have SCREWED ME AGAIN!

    • +1

      Just received mine today. I have to say this is the best $29 I've spent in a long time (sorry to those that missed out!) I could go on and on about all its features but it's simply brilliant

  • +26

    I'm confused why anyone would pay $200+ for a portable radio - digital or not. $29 seems about the right price.

    • +4

      Sangean pumps out some good quality radios, but I agree - I wouldn't spend 200 bucks on it. Perhaps that's why Kogan is trying to clear them out.

      The main thing with this one is the reception is amazing. You could be 20km underground in a Kalgoorlie gold mine and pick up 702 ABC Sydney with this thing. $29 is a no brainer for a well made radio like this.

      • +1

        Forgive my ignorance, but I've never heard of these guys (Sangean) before.

        However I bought one for the parents. Thanks very much OP and holdenmg for mentioning the ebay deal!

      • Lol I'm on the central coast and can't even get good reception with this radio for 702.

      • +1

        I bought a Sangean radio with a David Jones voucher when I had no idea what else to spend it on. I think it was about $150 at the time and while it's generally been OK it has this incredibly annoying problem where you go to turn it off it turns itself back on, you have to do it about 5 times in a row to turn it off. I confirmed that this happened with a demo version as well. I contacted Sangean and they seemed completely uninterested in helping me. So I certainly question how good the quality is when it can have such a serious issue that seems to be more than just an isolated incident.

        At $29 though it's a bargain.

        • it has this incredibly annoying problem where you go to turn it off it turns itself back on

          This same model? Did a search and couldn't find any talk describing this problem.

        • +1

          @cheepwun:

          No - mine is a DPR-69

    • +2

      People pay all sorts of $ for things they consider are worth it. Sangean creates some of the best digital radios on the market. Excellent sound quality and DAB reception. $29 is very very very cheap for the quality of components that go into Sangean products. I have gone through quite a few brands of DAB radios and have found Sangean to be the best. YMMV.

    • -4

      I'm confused why people pay $200 for a chinadroids with android 6 and no band 28 ……

      But yes $29 is very cheap …..Will get one, thks

      Wish Kogan still did Dab stereo radios with internet radio…..

      • -2

        What about indandroids?

        • Is there an austroids?

        • @siiking:
          There are asteroids…

  • Great find. Recommended purchase if you are looking for a quality radio.

  • Thank you, OP!

  • Is there a radio I can buy that will play SEN (Melbourne) in Brisbane?

    • +1

      You'll need an internet radio for that. But it won't do the AFL broadcasts AFAIK, as the AFL want all traffic to go directly through them.

    • +1

      Download the free radioapp it has SEN on it and you can listen from anywhere

    • AFL Web site on the phone
      Choose listen live and SEN is one of the providers
      I then connect to a portable speaker - A bit clunky but it works
      Gives me a chance to use the Ryobi site radio from my Mega kit

  • Thanks! Ordered.

  • +8

    Thanks OP. Got one. Don't know why.

    • +1

      If you want to sell it let me know.

      • +1

        Will do mate.

  • +3

    Awesome!! I got it for $9 after I used my $20 voucher that I scored because my Google Home - White was delayed. Double Win!

  • +1

    Thanks OP, grabbed one for Dad well ahead of Fathers Day.

  • The DPR-45 has 'R.D.S', what is that? The only difference I can see physically on it besides the DS logo.

    • +2

      Radio Data System (RDS) is a communications protocol standard for embedding small amounts of digital information in conventional FM radio broadcasts. RDS standardizes several types of information transmitted, including time, station identification and programme information. (Source: Wikipedia)

    • +4

      The DPR-44 does RDS as well, but they haven't put the logo on the radio (perhaps because of licensing?).

      RDS is the broadcasting standard which inserts the station name as data in an FM radio broadcast. So if you see 'Triple M' on your radio display, it's using RDS. It also allows the station to transit the currently playing song title.

      That being said, it would be pretty useless on this radio. The seven segment display can only display six or seven characters at once.

    • +1

      Radio Data System. Basically it is a way to transmit station info on FM. It is not well supported in Australia.

    • +2

      Reviving Dick Smith?

      • +4
        • +7

          In the 80's there was Tandy Battery Club where you could get one free battery a month.
          Maybe they will bring it back as Dick Smith had 12 years supply of batteries when they went under!

        • +5

          Good lord. What next, Brashs? Billy Guyatts?

        • +3

          Waltons Grace Brothers

        • +3

          @mullarpa:

          In the 80's there was Tandy Battery Club where you could get one free battery a month.

          And into the 90's. I picked up a 9V every month as it was the most expensive.

        • +2

          @JohnHowardsEyebrows:

          Norman Ross? Chandlers? Venture? Grace Bros?

        • +3

          @abc: just hearing those names brings back memories. Norman Ross was the first closing down sale I really cleaned up at. Remember buying a Philips CD stereo for about 180 from 600. Thing got used every day for about 10 years befor the CD player cramped it, and served as my computer speakers for a few years after that.

        • @Jackson:

          Those were the days of "proper" closing down sales. I remember Venture's closing down sale at the start was 40% off everything. Puts the 10% start which is common these days to shame…

        • @abc: masters was a joke, only thing I remember getting was a 5 bucks off a 25 dollar extension lead. Worst sale ever, but I have to hand it to the liquidators they must have got a lot of the price if that stock back

        • @abc: Farmers?

        • @Jackson:

          masters was a joke, only thing I remember getting was a 5 bucks off a 25 dollar extension lead. Worst sale ever,

          I picked up stock worth over $10,0000 for under $1,000 so it depends.. not to mention the EGO gear that I picked up cheap.

        • @Boodek: Are you talking about the Auckland department store with the big 2 storey high Santa with the moving finger on the facade ?https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qXIKa3z-hhs

        • +1

          Good lord. What next, Brashs? Billy Guyatts?

          Brashs Super Stores

        • @Maverick-au: yeah I remember you saying that, I seriously went about 6-7 times between Chullora and West Hoxton or whatever that suburb is, and there was not much at all. A friend did get an outdoor activity centre half price from 800 to 400 but it was a really expensive item to start with. May have been partly due to my inability to get there when price drops happened but had no such issues getting bargains at Dickies.

          I did go to pick up some Ego stuff and there was nothing, and there were a bunch of skins for drills that cost more than new ones from Bunnings that were a waste of time.

        • +1

          @Jackson:

          May have been partly due to my inability to get there when price drops happened but had no such issues getting bargains at Dickies.

          The problems you had were probably the lag in them advertising price drops after they had happened in store so if you were going on a regular basis like I was I was in a good position to buy cheap or buy the lot at a fraction of the price.

          Also each store has someone there from the new stock owner setting the price and especially on lot deals there was a big difference between stores on some items.

          And of course plenty of trades and stores got in early for things like pool fence hinges at the 40 and 50% discount time and took them all. Masters should have sold the stock themselves as it would have made them more plus the same discounts across all stores.

        • @MITM: No, I was referring to the department store in Sydney when I was a child. I think Farmers eventually became David Jones!

        • @Boodek:

          No,I thought Farmers became Myer? This is only based on a memory of the Farmers jingle, "Far-mers, for value and friendly service", and I thought I remembered Myer's first jingle being the same, just with'My-er".

        • +1
        • @holdenmg:

          Thanks for the confirmation. But it didn't rebrand as Myer in NSW/Sydney until much later after the merger. 80s?

        • @kiitos: It was Grace Bros in Sydney - my first full-time job was at Grace Bros Top Ryde in 1984. It became Myer sometime later.

        • @Boodek:

          I do remember the Grace Bros in Market St becoming Myer, but I remember the Farmers brand as well. Maybe Farmers became/bought Grace Bros which then was later rebranded Myer?

    • +6

      Well used in the U.K. You can select "Local Traffic Info" and it scans FM stations until the local traffic news is being broadcast then cut into whatever you are listening to. Was mega useful pre-mobiles in the U.K. (Launched 20 years ago) however not so much now.

      Australia will likely roll it out soon.

      • +1

        The ship has long sailed for that kind of RDS in Australia. Its only real purpose these days is to provide a label on the presets in car stereos, and maybe if you're lucky, read out the current song name. The radio stations just don't want to invest money in that kind of thing.

        Most stations do have RDS facilities at their fingertips, but they are usually poorly configured, they'll have the wrong flags set on, alternate frequencies aren't being used by the only broadcaster with an actual radio network (the ABC)…

        • +2

          ABC does try to put meaningful info in their text, eg it's handy that they send out the weather forecast so I see it when I go to bed.

  • Any AUX (& I hope, TOSLINK) out? Can't see from pics.

    Edit: I see pics but didn't read: "3.5mm output connection".
    Bummer.

    • 3.5 stereo out is enough for me so you can pipe it out to a big stereo setup

      toslink or coax digital would be nice but its a lot to ask for at $29

  • Got one thanks

  • Just ordered one on a whim! Hoping the 3.5mm output is stereo…anyone know?

    • +2
    • Quick review: sound is fine, decent mono quality sound from the speaker. Actually I think it flatters the quality of the highly compressed DAB channels. I have listened to DAB on higher end speakers and a lot of it sounds like overcompressed crap, but this little cheap and cheerful mono speaker is perfect for the job of reproducing that crappy DAB sound. The bass and treble controls are a very nice touch. Headphone out quality is very mediocre, maybe a bit worse than a low end Realtek, I'm guessing sub-90dB SNR? But you know, it's 30 bux. Now some cons…

      1. Having the backlight brightness set to anything except off or max causes audible feedback buzz/whine to the speaker. I've seen this type of thing before even on high end laptops; as you dim the backlight, whatever PWM dimming scheme it's using causes RF noise or modulates the voltage in some way that interferes with the speaker signal. So those intermediate backlight settings are useless to me. The headphone out is not affected by this though.

      2. The main selection dial is a notch-type, but doesn't function as such. One notch on it equates to about 1.1415926535 notches. Which means one in every few notches gives you two notches, and then you have to go back finding where you were in whatever list you were scrolling through. Sometimes it glitches too and skips over many and you get lost in that list.

      3. The display panel is a step down from traditional large clock radio type displays. It's not very visible and illuminates a dark room too much at a readable backlight setting. Thankfully you can turn it off and then it automatically turns on to the dimmest setting when a control is pressed (again causing that speaker feedback buzz, but only for 5 seconds before it automatically dims off). So if you want to see what the time is when lying in bed in a dark room for example you can do that without too much hassle.

      4. The rear barrel plug pokes out too far for my cable management OCD. I'll probably replace it with a right-angle one and have it running flush along the back of the unit.

      Thanks for reading.

  • +1

    The only popups I see on their website right now is that 'Someone in X bought the DPR-44 AM/FM/DAB+ Radio'

    Must be popular! I bought one too. thanks!

  • +2
  • -3

    Why (in the age of smartphones)?

    • Why (in the age of smartphones)?

      Let me guess….. You have no emergency food or water supplies, no battery powered radios, no usb batteries to charge any devices, no torches, no UHF radio, no plans, no solar panel to charge phones etc and in the event of a disaster occurring you will rely on those around you or call 000 and waste their time when they could be helping people who really need it.

      • +1

        as far as i know, no smartphone has DAB

      • -1

        Let me guess….. You have no …

        huh?

        • +2

          huh?

          It's pretty simple, you questioned why anyone would have a battery operated radio when there are smartphones. You clearly think that no matter what happens you will be able to use your smartphone to access information. In the event of a widespread disaster (or everyday outages in SA) most base stations will run for 45 to 90 minutes without a backup generator on batteries, our new NBN guarantees us zero communications by phone and ADSL when we used to have them operating throughout the longest of disasters and you will be on your own. If you don't have your own supplies don't think that others will help you.

        • -2

          @Maverick-au:

          You need DAB radio for that?

        • +2

          @AlexF:

          You need DAB radio for that?

          This has AM, FM and DAB+.

  • Thanks OP for making me buy one

  • +1

    I barely listen to radio but see "'Someone in XXX bought the DPR-44 AM/FM/DAB+ Radio" then I got one…..:(

  • +3

    I jumped and got one too - my first DAB Radio - 21st Century here I come.

  • Does Dick Smith / Kogan deliver to Aussie Post Parcel Lockers? Their FAQs are vague on who delivers!

  • Does it have shortwave? I recall spending many evenings as a boy with my grandfather listening to shortwave stations and the amateur radio operators on his receiver. Unfortunately, I can't see any reference to SW in the manual. Is it part of the am or fm bands?

    • I don't believe it does, but this thing can pick up incredibly weak signals very well. Trawling the AM band will probably get you some interstate stations at night.

    • Isn't shortwave almost dead?

      • Stacks of shortwave stations out there still, heaps of international ones. Would be great if it could also cover the HAM bands.

        • Unfortunately SW seems to be dying out. Most of the stations left are local propaganda stations :P

    • +3

      This doesn't do shortwave (1.6/1.71 - 30 MHz).

      The 3-band tuner covers:

      Range
      MW 522 - 1710 kHz
      FM 87.5 - 108 MHz
      DAB 174 - 240 MHz

  • +18

    This item is listed by dicksmithau on eBay.com.au
    for $30.02
    Less Coupon Code: C5AUS
    Applied: AU $1.50
    Nett: $28.52

    Try for Cashback on eBay Australia Purchases (?)
    CashRewards.com.au 1.3% or Pricepal.com.au

    • +5

      I've updated the post with your suggestion. Now I can spend that 48 cents on a soft serve.

      • +7

        I'm not stalking you, I'm following you at a distance to find the 48cent soft serve shop. lol

    • [Edit: OP replied a few seconds before me]

  • +5

    Don't need one, but ordered anyway.

    Reminds me of an old mates favourite saying: "I couldn't afford to not buy it".

    Now to order more D-size spacers for my AA enloops.

  • +11

    Thanks OP. I'm in South Australia so a battery powered radio is a necessity.

    • Hope you don't use D size Eneloops. :p

    • I bought one of those $14 Android TV tuners and a $20 Windows tv tuner specifically so I can watch TV during SA's wonderful inability to keep the power running.

  • AA batteries would be infinitely better than D's.

    • You'd need 27 AA batteries to cover the equivalent of 4 D cell batteries.

      • D batteries are quite expensive and it's uncommon to get rechargeable ones. I bought a little digital radio from Target for $19 and it sufficiently loud around the house (fills the room) powered off 4 x AA batteries. I use re-chargeable eneloops of course :)

    • +4

      Eneloop battery converter AA to D

      • I'll look into it. I need to buy more batteries first.

        • The problem with the converters is that they just won't have the capacity of the D cells. AA and D cells are identical in terms of voltage, it's just D cells have massive amounts of capacity.

          An excellent D cell rechargeable will have around 10000mAh capacity (non-rechargeables can have up to 20000mAh), while AA Eneloops usually only hold 2500mAh.

          So if you choose to get a cheap single battery converter, you'll get very poor battery life.

          There are D converters which allow you to insert three AA batteries into one D battery to get extra battery life (so would be ~75% of a proper D rechargeable), but then you'd need to fiddle diddle with 12 batteries in order for it to work properly…

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