Best Buy Takes HD Radio Portable

Is $49.99 cheap enough to entice consumers to buy a radio? Yes, a radio. Not an HD Radio (which of course it is)...just a radio. Look around, most people buy things that have radios in them...clock radios, car radios, home theater audio systems (stereos if you like), etc. Outside of radio enthusiasts when did "Sam and Sally Smith" last buy a standalone radio? Exactly. One notable thing missing from this unit is any kind of digital media storage. Seems like a no brainer, but I guess that addition would of killed the $49.99 price point. Here's the Engadget story.

Insignia NS-HD01: first-ever portable HD Radio on sale at Best Buy

by Darren Murph, posted Jul 12th 2009 at 12:01AM

Remember that first-ever portable HD Radio prototype we peeked back in May? Turns out Best Buy just let loose the real-deal, today announcing immediate availability of the Insignia NS-HD01. Needless to say, the big box retailer and supporters of HD Radio alike are hoping that this subscription-free player will finally put some much-needed wind behind the sails of the format, and while it's pretty simple in nature, the sub-$50 price tag could place it squarely in the "impulse buy" category. The relatively brief specs list includes a color LCD, rechargeable Li-ion battery, a 3.5 millimeter headphone jack, a bundled armband and ten user-selectable preset memory channels. You can catch the full release after the break, and the player itself in your nearest Best Buy.