Overnight I received the following email:
This is Sylvia from global radio store in Aliexpress platform, I want to inform you that XHDATA D-808 radio will start to selling at American time 2017/12/09 13:00. The sale price is $69.98[…]
I’m sure we’d all like to hear from anyone who takes the plunge on this unit.
Troy Riedel, is the author of this post and a regular contributor to the SWLing Post. Check out Troy’s YouTube Channel here.
Right now, on Amazon the d 808 ships to US from Israel. Only.
I live in Costa Rica, 808 wont ship to Costa Rica from Israel. Ordered it anyway – the d 808 went from Israel to California to Florida to Costa Rica. Convoluted, but I received it. And waited only 4 weeks instead of the ‘up to 8 weeks’ it could’ve been. With all duties, customs fees, shipping, handling&delivery to my door, total paid
(drum roll please) $108.41.
I just got mine (70$) , took just two weeks (via Singapore mail) from order till reach my hands in Israel. I put it to charge as it came totally dead. Manual claim the battery icon will cycle but not on mine. I’m off shortly to different QTH so I’ll take it with me and continue charge and test there.
I don’t think I’m able to post a link in my comment. I did a series of videos on it on my Youtube channel “Two Hands and a Radio”. Quirky radio. Horrible user guide. Not user friendly. If you can get through the frustration of not being user friendly it performs okay. Way overhyped in my opinion.
My gut feeling is that the D-808 was a no-brainer at $50 and a deal at $70 but $140 is too much. For about $100 USD one can buy the nearly identical Digitech AR1780 or the slightly larger but highly acclaimed Eton Grundig Edition Satellit.
Ok, all for nothing. I just went back to Ali Express to clear the radio from my cart and it now states “This product can’t be shipped to the selected region”. Did a new Ali Express search and it states “Can not deliver to the United States” The prices has also increased to $139.96 U.S. Guess your information was square on.
Chris, Interestingly enough, the D-808 is still listed for sale at Ali Express, Global Radio at $69.98. For kicks I selected purchase and canceled just before paying, so it appears available. You do have to select ship from China in order to purchase from the United States. So I guess the question is would it actually ship if purchased, based on your information. I’m waiting 18 days now for my unit to arrive, really frustrating.
So, tried again – can now select China as the source, but still will not let me ship to a US address. Takes the item out of my cart when I try to check out. Can’t find the digitech either.
I’m imagining there’s a reseller here in the US holding on to these til the $69 price is done, and then is planning to sell here at twice the price or more.
Sorry, it’s a deal at $70. Maybe even $100. At $140, not so much.
Anyone here willing to relay to a fellow enthusiast in the states for shipping plus say, $15 for your trouble? 🙂
So where did you folks get this? The person at Aliexpress now told me today they are no longer shipping to the US due to a “similar product” being available. I can’t find anyone who will sell this in the US.. Has something changed?
You know, Chris, I got this impression from the seller as well. Sounds like a small conflict in market regions. Maybe if you contact them directly through the Aliexpress message system they could work with you?
In truth, I wonder what radio is being marketed in the US that conflicts. Perhaps one yet to be released?
Cheers,
Thomas
That’s what I’m thinking. Something yet to be released – as I’ve seen nothing similar from any US vendors. The response I got was directly from the seller, so they seem to have gotten some sort of cease-and-desist from the manufacturer. Shame, looks like a great radio and I’d love to pick one up even if some international shipping expense was involved.
I got mine two days ago but I’m going to send it back to Amazon. LSB/USB are badly misaligned (in the order of +45 for my reference station of 1215 Absolute Radio that’s spot on, the carrier is floating if you approach your hand to the radio, too. Shortwave and mediumwaves sensitivity and selectivity are on par with the Tecsun PL 380 with a lot of hiss and AGC pumping. Mine is clearly a defective unit, the Sony ICF 7600G seems to come from another planet in SSB/manual ECSS mode.
FM/AIR are very good, but it’s not my land.
I got my xhdatad d808 radio today. I have paid $70 for it. Compare to AR1780 is very similar, but I found external antenna jacks also works on AM band on d808 radio, but not on ar1780
I received my D-808 yesterday, January 5th. It’s a sweet little radio! I plan to post some first impression videos and a SWLing Post article soon. I compared mine to a Skywave SSB and Executive Satellit.
Tracking says it’s supposed to be here by this coming Thursday (1/4). Hopefully I won’t have to sign for it because getting to the Post Office here is a real PITA. If I get it by Thursday I should have time to put up a quick review by the end of the weekend, and a more substantial one soon after. This one took a while to get here!
Dear friend,
Sorry late to reply you, the price is 69.98$now, and there is no discount now. Sorry very much.
Best regards,
Christine
AliExpress increased price of D808 from $69 to $139 really ripoff.
I want to order one but now the price is US $139.96
Hi. Have you looked on Amazon?
Ordered the D-808. Got a $20 discount, so paying US $50 shipped (slow boat from China, may take a month to get here). I also own the AR-1780. If this is indeed the identical radio, it will be a far better bargain for US customers to order this even at full price ($70). Note, while the AR-1780 is a decent performer it lacks some features and ergonomic touches that would make it better. At the current price+shipping from Australia (around US $140), it’s probably a bit overpriced for US customers. Note, according to the web site this radio ships with the rechargeable battery and with a carrying case, lacking on the AR-1780. Also – while I have lots of AA Eneloops laying around, I also have spare 18650s and a charger, so I’m good on the battery front.
James, How did you get a $20 discount?
When they first began advertising, if you stated your intent to purchase the radio and gave them your email address, they sent an email when the radio went on sale. I put the radio in my cart on aliexpress.com, but when I got to the checkout page left no payment option so aliexpress just kept it as a pending order. Then I responded to the email they sent me saying I would like the discount. Somehow they went in through aliexpress.com and adjusted the price while the item was in my cart down from $69 to $49. Then I went back in and paid.
I have ordered one. Look forward to compare it with my sony 2010 and (enroute to me) pl-660.
It’s hard to resist a new $70 USD radio that has true SSB… so I didn’t :^)
It’ll be very interesting to compare the D-808 to the Skywave SSB which I received yesterday. This afternoon I’m heading to a local park to do some casual comparisons between the Skywave SSB, a Sangean ATS-909X, a Eton Executive Satellit, and a Sony ICF-SW1000T.
Guy,
Yes, the Skywave SSB vs. this XHDATA will be an interesting comparison – the latter less than half the price (yeah, no NOAA … but still, less than half the price!). In due time, please let us know how that shootout shakes out.
I will be ordering one (I am on the pre-order list) and I’m looking forward to it going head-to-head with my AR-1780 (a radio that I think performs great despite a couple of QC issues I experienced with mine).
Troy
I grabbed one. I’ll let you know when I get it.
For what it’s worth, I will order one of these and review it. Very curious if it performs as well as the AR-1780.
-Thomas