Griffin Radio Shark review

Griffin's AM/FM receiver, the Radio Shark, is shaped, appropriately, like a dorsal fin.

Once you've installed the supplied software and plugged the Shark into a spare USB port, it allows you to tune in to any AM or FM radio station within range and listen to it on your Mac. You can also record the output of any station, and recordings can be scheduled to start and finish whenever you like.

Getting started with the Radio Shark is reasonably straightforward, but it could be even simpler. With the software installed and running, your first task is to seek FM and AM stations and name them so you can find them easily later. This is aided by the Seek button, which scrolls through the frequency band and stops when it tunes in to a station. However, the display shows only the station's frequency, so you must name it manually. This fine if you know the station that broadcasts on each frequency; if not, you'll need a copy of the Radio Times or access to the Internet to check station names. It would have been so much simpler if the Shark was compatible with the Radio Data System (RDS), which broadcasts station names, and could name stations automatically.

Once you've set up all the stations you want, select the one you want to listen to from a drop-down menu on the main application window. If this was all the Radio Shark did, it would be little more than an amusing curiosity. However, the device's strengths lie in its ability to 'time shift' radio and schedule the recording of your favourite programmes.

Time shifting allows you to pause and rewind live radio. Sensibly, it's switched off by default and needs to be activated from the Preferences panel as it needs around 600MB of disk space per hour for buffering. With time shift switched on, you can set the maximum amount of disk space used for buffering, which dictates how long you can pause for.

Scheduling a recording is fairly simple, but there's no link with an online electronic guide so you must do it manually. Recordings can be named and you can record in AIFF (uncompressed) or AAC, they can also be passed to your iTunes library.

If you like to listen to The Archers while you work, the Radio Shark may be just what you need. Yes, you can tune in to Internet radio broadcasts, but unless you have a broadband connection, quality can be patchy, and navigating different stations on Internet radio is never easy. The ability to record radio output is useful and the time shift feature will allow you to answer telephone calls without missing a beat.

We would have liked RDS compatibility to make tuning easier. And, of course, the ability to tune into DAB stations would make the Griffin Radio Shark a killer, but that will have to wait for the next version. In the meantime, if you're happy with AM and FM and have £55 to spend, this fish is a good catch.