i.Tech was a new name to me and the one positive to come out of a day spent at a conference a couple of months ago. This unit is 37.5x11x13cm this allows space for two speakers and thus a perfectly acceptable stereo sound.

It comes with a small 24 page manual that in places could have been a lot clearer, however once you have managed the initial scan - I am told this is automatic on a new unit - there is less you need to do.

This is a DAB and FM radio, a nine piece 60cm rod aerial gave me perfectly acceptable reception. It can be run either from mains - via a supplied adapter - or from 5x'D' cell batteries - not supplied - the nominal battery life is up to 10 hours. The unit weights around 1.7kilos (without power adapter or batteries)

See also: DAB Radios

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If you have MP3 files on a Secure Digital (SD) or MMC card then it can play these for you, a nice idea but surely it would be far better if it could also record to these cards like Pure Digital's 'Bug'.

It has an internal memory giving you some 'recall' on what has been played or said. In practice this means anything in the last ten minutes - provided it has been on for that length of time - can be replayed.

It has both a clock - time displayed even when off providing power is on - and alarm so you can use it as an alarm clock. There is also a sleep timer so you can drift off to sleep to your favourite type of music.

The unit has both Aux In and Aux Out sockets meaning you can connect to other devices - say to record - or from them to replay through the Xfm.

It is possible to setup favourite stations both on DAB and FM so minimising the time taken to swap from one favourite station to another even if they are on different bands.

My only real problem during the test period was with the original scanning as the manual was misleading, however as when you purchase it there will be no information on the unit and providing - as the manual states - that the scan is automatic my problems overwriting what was already there would only apply if you moved to a different area and needed to rescan. However as new DAB stations come online this is a requirement and perhaps someone could look at the wording and do what it says - as I did - and then rewrite it saying what the correct procedure is.

This is a nice DAB unit that also has FM, the ability to replay anything from the last 10 minutes of broadcasting and replay the contents of SD and MMC cards, certainly worth consideration.

I am told it is available in Dixon's and Curry's stores,  there is a special offer available until mid August for 10% off and then the extra 10% off part exchange for your old radio bringing it down to £80.99.

Update : The i.Tech Xfm DAB radio is now available from Amazon for only £39.99 from the following link :

http://www.amazon.co.uk/exec/obidos/ASIN/B00077DGNO

http://www.itechdynamic.com/