Instant Radio version 2 - My Review

Buy it: http://www.magigadgets.com/InstantRadio.html

(note to mods: I'll change to Penguin link once we start selling it!)

Demo:



Price: About $50, depends upon exchange rate

Many different people have tried to create a similar gimmick where sound suddenly appears from nowhere. However none have come even close to the exceptional effort gone into this device. Version 2 screams "polished" in every way, from the care and handling taken before the gimmick is shipped out, to the little box it arrives in, and the color manual you receive.

Enter Instant Radio verison 2 ...

What you get

A large plastic bag containing:

- Nice plastic carrying box with the gimmick
- Radio gimmick (size of a small box of raisins)
- Two wires from the gimmick with a speaker and switch
- Various pieces of velcro and pins
- Small cushions, so you can customize how the switch works
- 12 page color manual
- Radio dial
- 1 color business card with a radio picture

So much care has been taken into the entire package. Wires are wrapped nicely with small black ties, like you'd get with a commercial electronics product. There's so many clips, velcro hookups and gadgets that allow you to easily customize it to your own outfits. There's even a serial number on the box, and "Quality Checked and Tested" note. Now that's some nice customer service!



The Switch and Speaker

In a device like this, the design of your switch will make or break the product. And luckily the switch is GENIUS! Not only does it fit where it's supposed to quite well, it does so WITHOUT ANY SEWING OR CLIPS. So changing shirts of jackets are no problem, you just grab the equipment and stuff it into the new outfit and you're good to go. Better yet, the pack comes with several small cushion pads you can insert into the switch to customize it for your body type. Overweight, skinny, mesomorph - no problem. And even better - it's a non-slip design so it won't move around while you walk from table to table.

The speaker is the size of an oreo cookie and can be mounted anywhere you want within about 2 feet from the device. Pull out how much wire you need, and wrap the little tie around it to hold the remainder in place. It's EXTREMELY LOUD. And no I don't mean it's just regular loud, it's EXTREMELY FRIGGIN LOUD, even outside. I had to adjust the volume to 10% for indoors, otherwise it scared the cat.


The Device

The gimmick contains an on/off switch (tight enough so you don't turn it off accidentally) and volume knob. The two buttons are used to "Reset" and "Scan". The manual says that it auto-scans and finds a station when you turn it on. The Reset is only necessary if you move cities and the stations change. I haven't needed to press Scan yet, since it always has a radio station ready to go.

I put it on a hard rock station, but when I turned it off and back on several hours later, it has a totally different station. So I'm unsure if you can lock and hold a particular station.

To get your own music, theoretically you can carry around a FM transmitter and just mash Scan until you find it, however the amount of pocket space used for this may not be worth it. Plus I'm unsure if you can keep that station between power offs/ons, causing you to mash Reset and Scan seven-billion times to find it again. Overall, that's NOT worth it to me, IMHO of course.

Lastly, it runs on 3 AAA batteries. I bought some Energizers from my local grocery store, and it's lasted me a long time.





The Manual

You also receive a large 12 page color manual, with pictures of all the components included and descriptions of what each does. Shahid Malik really did a great job on this as well:

Contents:
- Care and Caution
- How to operate instant radio v2
- Manual scanning and reset functions
- Assembling and installing in jacket (or short sleeved shirt)
- Alternative setups
- How to use instant radio v2
Activating the radio
Powering the radio on/off
Testing the reception
Silently auto-scanning
Breathing techniques
Handling tips/instructions
Scan feature: radio test and auto-scan test
- Ideas and effects to get you inspired and started
A shining example of what NOT TO DO
A few ideas ...


Questions and Customer Service

Every question I've had to Shahid has been answered within 6-10 hours, so I'm pleased with his response times (even to my stupid questions). He also hangs out on the Cafe, and has answered many issues posted in the thread quickly.

Questions you probably have:

Does it pickup AM stations? No, just FM.

Can I set it to a specific station? No, you hit Reset and then Scan until you find your station.

Is there a LED display for the current station? No.

Does it require sewing? No - you receive a special non-slip rig to hold the actual radio device, and many velcro with clips for the other items.

Do I need a jacket? No - a short sleeved T-shirt can be used, or a jacket, long-sleeved shirt, even a loose tank top if you do it right.

How long does it take to setup in a new outfit? About 5 minutes.

Do I need additional items to set it up for another outfit? No, just re-use the clips and such.

Where can I mount it? Anywhere on your body or clothing!

Any other clothing requirements? Pants/shoes? No - you can wear a g-string, no shoes and a t-shirt if you desire.

How do I store it? Just pop everything back into the hard plastic box, and you're all set for running through the airport, stick into your travel bag, whatever.

If a wire breaks, is it easy to replace? I haven't taken my apart, however I can see HUGE solder points where everything is connected. Popping it apart and re-attaching new wires I don't think would be an issue, even for a novice.

How long will this last? Hah, it's a radio! I have this old, beatup $5 radio I got off Amazon 6 years ago. I got it in water, dropped it on concrete at least 10 times, and it still runs fine. This thing will last you probably 25+ years.

What type of batteries does it use? 3 AAA batteries

Can you hear it outside? You can hear it from across the street...

Does the squeaker have the same design? I asked already, and Shahid said yes.




Conclusion

I'm excessively happy with this gimmick, especially for $50. When Penguin finally picks it up, it'll sell out IMMEDIATELY at their low prices so keep an eye out. The care and detail that's gone into this outdoes every other magic device I've purchased (sans The Revelation by Dean Dill). It almost rivals a commercial product with the color manual, little ties on the wires, packaging and overall design. To say this is a quality product would be the understatement of 2010.

If you're looking for a fun opener (Hey guys, you seen the Apple iPen? It does radio too!), something unusual to add to your magic presentations, this is $50 well spent.

Highly, highly recommended.


The Official Spam







Wizard Product Review with Instant Radio v2:

btw: I stole the embedded picture idea from evanbishop

Haha, consider it sharing an idea

GREAT Review akira! I've been looking forward to this!

Shahid said that Penguin is not interested in carrying these.

Anyone know why?

Great review. Good to hear that its that good. I pre ordered mine like 3 weeks ago. I kinda want to get a real apple and put on a dile and say look at my apple I-pod and make it play. This will freak them out.

Aces that's a very clever idea I like it.

-JT

I'd get a Banana and say: "Screw Apple, I am a Banana (if you've seen the 'I am a PC' ads, you'll understand)" and go from there.

haha, I'm so stealing one of these fruit ideas. Awesome for a gig coming up this weekend.

I started inserting this into my Liquid Metal routine, where they stick their finger out. I touch my finger to theirs and a radio plays. Must be chemistry. I told this girl to turn around and see what station came out when I touched her butt.

LMFAO. Win.

Post of the ever?

Thanks miniserb725.

Lets keep this going to see how many good ideas we can come up with.

Thanks again akirafist for a great review.

Well you get a radio dial, and a business card with a radio pic on it.

So I've done thus far:

- Stick dial in people's hand and turn. Say it's using their body as an antenna
- Stick it on their head
- Manually opened my friend's mouth and it played when was open
- Touching people's finger
- Touching people's butt
- Touching the back of people's head when they weren't looking. Got a laugh from their friends
- Pretended to discover the iPen from Apple
- Said I had a radio in my underwear and adjusted the obvious way

Said I had a radio in my underwear and adjusted the obvious way ( LOL ) now thats funny.

This is funny stuff. Not something I'd use, but awesome.

-JT

I took this to Best Buy for some fun. The only downside was the MASSIVE amount of interference in the store, which caused all the stations to have static. Despite this, I waved my hand over radios, asked clerks if the TV's had radio built in, touched 2 CD's together, pressed the X button on the PS3 and asked what was wrong with it, turned the knob on every appliance, etc.

Never gets old. My GF wanted to kill me.