[Mike Walker]

I just received my Insignia NS-HD01, and it's taking forever to charge the battery for the first time.


When I first got it, I listened for a few minutes to make sure it worked, then plugged it in to charge. That was 12 hours ago! It's still only indicating two of three bars on the "charging" screen.


Has anyone else experienced this? I tried first charging it with my computer's USB port. A half-hour ago, thinking it might not be getting enough juice that way, I plugged it in with a cell-phone charging device that converts AC to a DC on a mini-usb.


Suggestions? If it never shows "charged", should I at some point unplug it, and run the battery down, then try again?

 

[DrDon]

That's what I'd do. I run mine all the way ..and I mean ALL the way down the first use. Granted, it's an old NiCad habit, but it serves me well.

 

[Mike Walker]

Dr. Don, I'm taking your advice, and running the battery down now. Once it's down, I'll recharge the unit, and see if it takes a charge in a reasonable period of time. If not, back to Best Buy it goes.


I called Insignia's help line, and was advised to just take it back. At least I think that's what she said...the language-barrier was pretty profound!


Guys, I'll pay more for a product to get tech-support from an American, or at least a Canadian or a Brit.

 

[mdovell]

I wish electronic companies would be a bit more detailed in terms of charging. I have laptop batteries two years old that are now at around 70% of capacity

The whole reason I bought two is that incase one wore out..

 

[Mike Walker]

Well I'm six hours into my "run-down" experiment. The radio is still playing away, despite the fact that the battery indicator has been on the lowest bar for 5 1/2 of those hours.

 

[Rasterfarian]



Quote:
Originally Posted by DrDon /forum/post/18113552


That's what I'd do. I run mine all the way ..and I mean ALL the way down the first use. Granted, it's an old NiCad habit, but it serves me well.

I still do that, too. Old habits die hard.

 

[Mike Walker]

Well, I ran it all the way down. The radio ran for about 8 hours before it went "kaput". Now it's about six hours into charging, and we're up to two bars lit with the "charging" message. The third will not light. It never seems to complete the charge cycle, but the battery did last 8 hours on the rundown.


What do you think? Would you return it? It's bothersome that on this brand new unit, it never indicates that the charge is actually complete!

 

[Rasterfarian]

How long is it supposed to last on a full charge? 8 hours sounds pretty good to me.

 

[Mike Walker]

It's supposed to last 10 hours, but we all know about those estimates. For most of the rundown, it wasn't even driving headphones, so in actual use it would probably be less.


The fact that it never seems to go out of the charge cycle concerns me. It's been plugged in 7 1/2 hours now, and only two bars are lit. In fact, the third has NEVER been lit.

 

[blehmann]

I have the NS-HD01 as well. I charged mine overnight the first time, so I don't know how long it took. But subsequent charges go from 0 to 3 bars (full) in about 3 or 4 hours. Then it displays a message saying "Fully Charged" or somesuch.


Sounds like you got a dud. I'd return it if I were you.


- Brian Q.

 

[Mike Walker]

Thanks Blehmann, that's what I wanted to know.


On a positive note, this thing has amazing reception on the headphone cord antenna! And the sound with my Bose on-ear 'phones is fantastic.


I live in the deep-fringes...50-70 miles from most any station, and still get multiple stations in HD. Plus analog FM stereo from 60-80 miles away sounds great...with the headphone cord! Amazing! Best sensitivity of any Walkman-type radio I've ever seen. My Sony and Sangean portables are going to get a rest. Maybe a long one! I'd love AM! Some of the most innovative programming in the foothills and mountains of northwest NC is on AM. A station in West Jefferson, NC has fabulous, live local bluegrass music on Saturday mornings. But they also stream in stereo over the web. You can't have everything!

 

[Mike Walker]

I swapped over the weekend. My new one works perfectly...charged from zero (wouldn't even turn-on when I got it) to full in about 2 1/2 hours, and read "charging complete", as it should.


Reception seems identical to the first one I got...which means simply amazing for a device of this type...remarkably better than my previous favorite Sony and Sangean pocket headphone stereo radios.

 

[Jim1348]

That is good to hear. From my perspective, one of the benefits of HD radios has been that the analog side seems to be more sensitive and selective than ever. I bought a Radiosophy HD100 a while back to use in my horse barn and it rarely gets used for HD now, but I do use it to listen to my legal, license free FM transmitter in the house. They are probably 150 feet apart. I tried my C Crane and a Cambridge SoundWorks, but the Radiosophy HD100 is hand down more sensitive and selective than those radios.