Old
skool, bruv!
Look
at you, you damn hipster. You're so cool that you just don't care
what people think about your 80s clothing, your 50s glasses, and your
90s musical tastes. You rock, Home-slice. However, you do care about
how you listen to your early Radiohead albums, and smartphones and
media players are just... well... too 2016, aren't they? If only
there was a company who still made the classic music players of the
80s and 90s; you know Walkmans and Discmans and the like. There is,
dude. We check out the Groov-e Retro Series.
Your
headline here is that Groov-e, maker of all things musical, have
produced a NEW range of personal CD and cassette players. Yes, new –
these are not existing products that have been around since there was
a Soviet Union. Included in the range is a CD, cassette, and radio
playing boombox, two kinds of personal CD players (one with built-in
FM radio), and a personal cassette player, also with built-in radio.
The designs of all four products have not been modernised at all, and
they look just like the ones you'd fins in Woolworths in 1993.
Awesome.
And
that is the main appeal, isn't it? These products truly are timeless
classics... to millennials, that is. If you're over 50 you still
probably own something like this anyway, and right now you're
wondering what the fuss is all about. Maybe that makes you an
honorary hipster. Congratulations.
Both
CD players function very well, and despite weighing in with low
prices, both have features that you would have found on higher-end
products 15-20 years ago. The cheaper player has 100 second anti-skip
technology, while the more expensive version with built-in radio can
also play mp3 files on CD-R and CD-RW disks. Both come with pretty
standard earbud headphones.
The
cassette player is also great, as not only will it play tapes (raid
your dad's glove compartment, if you're lacking your own) but it also
can be used like a voice recorder. It even has a little built-in
speaker to play back those recordings, making it a decent dictaphone.
The radio works fine, as does the actual tape playing function (the
Lighthouse Family never sounded more 1996-y). Again, earbuds are
included in this very affordable and fun package.
Finally
the retro boombox offers a best of all worlds set up, combing CD,
tape, and radio in one easy-to-carry product. It can be both plugged
in and powered by batteries, and obviously has its own carry handle.
So you can carry it to your friend's house and listen to BROS tapes
all night. DOWN WITH THATCHER! However, there is one slight allowance
for the modern world with the Groov-e Retro Boombox – there's an aux
line-in, meaning you can connect up your smartphone or iPod to play
tunes through the speakers. But doing so would make you a lot less
cool than us, so...
Anyway,
the boombox does a good job at pumping our decent quality sounds, and
the unit is more than capable of 'filling a room' with music. You can
also programme it to play 20 selected tracks, allowing you to skip
past all the rubbish songs on the Now 26 (1994) compilation. Ah,
track programming... remember that?
So
a great memory-tugging range, ideal for those too cool for school, or
just those who would like to buy a new CD and tape player. Because
they do actually exist, tech world.
Boombox
£44.99
CD
Player with Radio £34.99
CD
Player £24.99
Cassette
Payer £17.99
Visit
www.groov-e.co.uk