Overview
It would be fair to call the Highway 300Di a futuristic invention. Reports claim that a car driver does an average of 20 percent of listening in the car. And to furnish this report , Highway 300Di, the jazzed up in-car adapter, provides its in-car-radio-listeners all the facilities a digital radio renders. A handsome number of stations is ministered. Exquisite radio stations such as BBC 6 Music and Planet Rock is also made available. The designers have worked on BBC 5, talksport and Absolute Radio, the prevailing stations, to enhance their digital sound quality.
Pricing and availability
The kings of the audio world have given birth to yet another amazing audio system. The numbers have been released. The products are available at the Halfords, the retailer based in the UK. Anyone who desires the product could drive away with it by shelling out £179.99 only.
Whatâs great?
Loads of advantages are attached to the tag, The Highway 300Di. High end engineers have come together to create this off the edge gadget which delivers an amazing digital radio reception. The in-car adapter doesnât just look smart, but carries smart features too. It is a user friendly one in terms of handling and portability. Advantages which aren’t available even on normal digital radios, such as pausing in between, rewinding and other such atypical features make The Highway300Di stand out. It automatically updates and maintains the various different stations even when one channel or station is being played. It claims to have a mind boggling DAB efficiency.
The minds involved in this revolutionary invention designed the product to be made up of 3 main devices. The main unit, controller and the aerial. The main unit basically deals with the connection, i.e., it connects the instrument board to the music device, be it the iPod, mp3, mp4, iPhone, iPad or any Smartphone or for that matter even a USB device. The second unit that goes into making this gizmo is the controller, which is removable. Seated anywhere in the car, the user is at peace to read from the display, consisting of OLED, that are bright enough for easy viewing from any angle with any amount of light.
The light placed behind the buttons on the controller give out enough light energy to reduce the strain in changing stations, pausing and rewinding. The aerial has a dual place job to play. It will be placed on both sides of the windshield to provide maximum and best possible output. As the Halfords play a monopoly in this field, the buyer could assure himself of no loose cables and ill fittings. Another interesting fact to chew upon is that there is no fitting cost till the year end, though after at the beginning of the next year a sum of £24.99 has to be declared.
Things to watch out for
Highway 300Di is specialized in rendering complete control over the iPod, iPhone and iPad. USB memory sticks are also ruled over by the device. The picnic mode, is an out of the world concept, wherein, when you stop at any place, you could still listen to your radio or play music from music devices, with the ignition switched off and the car keys removed. Another similar advantage is that, when you stop for a very short while, say for around 15 minutes or so, you can put your device on stand by mode. The moment your start the engine again, the music starts from exact point it stopped when you switched off the engine. The collaboration of PURE and Halfords, made it possible to install the device for free within the year end, which makes it more popular at the present.
Verdict
While there are mixed feelings about this invention, few believe that one can’t operate the Pure unit through the existing in-car audio system, and with the existing steering wheel controls, etc. On the other hand are eager buyers, wanting to buy the product before the year end , for the installation will be billed come 2012.
Word around the web
Colin Crawford, Pure’s director of marketing says, “It’s very much an end user, entry level, product but something much better than Highway is needed as we move toward a much more dramatic change with digital radio.”
“Highway 300Di lets them access the same great content and user experience in-car that theyâve come to know and love in their home. We are delighted that the countryâs leading car audio retailer will be making Highway 300Di available to its customers; this is an important step forward for the sales of in-car digital radio adapters and will be a significant catalyst in helping digital radio switchover,” says Paul Smith, Pureâs general manager.
