Olive O2M Media Player (Silver) Review

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(More customer reviews)The touch display is really bad - my fingers aren't particularly fat, yet choosing a menu item requires incredible patience and precision - or you end up selecting an option you never wanted. The menu and font designs, the screen sensitivity - pretty bad. The wifi connection keeps dropping. I've been through a number of software upgrades and after each, I either have had no wifi connectivity, or at best it drops after an hour or two. Would NOT buy this product again.

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Insignia Infocast NS-DP3CH - Digital photo frame - 3.5" - 320 x 240 Review

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(More customer reviews)I picked this one up at Best Buy for $40. I am discovering all kinds of internet stations I didn't even know existed. Easy set up..as long as you have a wireless router it will work. The infocast features iheartradio which features many Clear Channel stations. Nice display...you can search by city and format. It also allows you to select favorites and play on shuffle.
The Shoutcast section features hundreds,maybe thousands of internet stations. You go to the search engine,type in the web address or say, oldies, and 25 stations matching that category will show up. The only hassle is there is no place to save favorites,and that can be quite cumbersome.
When you set this up with your computer it will give you a choice of over 1000 apps, like The New York Times,People,Entertainment Weekly and a lot of CBS stuff including stories on their evening news, 60 minutes pieces and the monologues from David Letterman and Craig Ferguson.
Theres a lot of stuff packed in this unit and it is so nice to hear Internet stations that cater to my tastes..a wide variety of oldies from the 50s through the 70s..stuff you can't find on terrestrial or satellite radio. I'll probably upgrade to a more complex model with station favorites eventually,but for $40 I found a gem here and I've been using it constantly.
You might want to check out Best Buy. Last I looked it was going for $50..still quite a deal.

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Logitech Squeezebox Wi-Fi Internet Radio Receiver Review

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(More customer reviews)I've been wanting a Squeezebox for some time but didn't want to pay for the controller. The Logitech Squeezebox software has long been open source and has a large and very active online community that is supported by the company. I looked through their forum (http://forums.slimdevices.com/) and found that one of their senior members wrote software allowing the Squeezebox Receiver to be configured WITHOUT the remote control. A link directly to the software, as reported in a comment to a previous post, can be found at http://robinbowes.com/projects/Net-UDAP. It's not officially supported by the Logitech, but I was able to get my receiver configured with it in less than an hour.
One caveat though; you should be a bit tech savy if you are going to go this route. The software is still in beta, has not been *offically* released (by reading through the thread on this topic (http://forums.slimdevices.com/showthread.php?t=43722&highlight=network+configuration), mostly because the guy who wrote it hasn't had time to package it up). So, currently the software is only available through an online subversion repository, which if you haven't worked with before, could take an hour or two of fiddling around to get repository software and check out the code. The configuration itself is done via a perl command line, so windows users will need ActivePerl. Check out the documentation, it's pretty straightforward.
So if none of that scares you, this is an incredible solution for wireless streaming music from a computer to a stereo for 150 bucks.

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Logitech Squeezebox Receiver - Add on network music player for your Squeezebox Duet System

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Tivoli Audio SBBS Songbook (Black/Silver) Review

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(More customer reviews)I have owned a Tivoli Pal for many years and thought a traveling Tivoli would be great. My wife needed a last minute rush Xmas gift for me and I suggested this without having seen one or doing research, instead relying on Tivolio brand expectations. Expected the radio to be rubberclad like the Pal, the one we got is slick hard to hold onto plastic, looks and feels like the "tansistor radio" I owned 40 years ago. Radio reception is fair, a $75 Audiovox I have in the same room locks onto a distant radio station I constantly listen too. Pluging the A/C adaper in causes static. Sound quality is equal to the Pal which would warrant 2 stars if not for the weak radio tuner.
This was a waste of money


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Logitech Squeezebox Touch Review

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(More customer reviews)I purchased my Squeezebox Touch directly from Logitech, and have enjoyed it enough over the first few days of ownership to write a quick review.
To understand where I'm coming from, it may help to know I enjoy classical music, especially when its reproduced by a traditional stereo system with high quality discrete components. I own a British designed and built integrated amplifier and some tall floor-standing speakers from a Canadian manufacturer. Sound quality matters a whole lot to my enjoyment of music, and that shows in the care with which I select the components in my audio system.
I have owned a number of Logitech's previous Squeezebox WiFi streamers, including the Squeezebox Classic and some Duet receivers, so I am not new to the Squeezebox ecosystem. I keep my music collection as a large library of FLAC-encoded files, so as to avoid any potential losses due to codec compression artifacts.
On receiving my new Squeezebox Touch, I swapped out an existing "Slimdevices" branded classic Squeezebox in my main HiFi system for the new device. The Squeezebox Touch first discovered MySqueezebox.com as its source of music and asked me to provide login credentials, which caused it to upgrade its firmware from that site. After that, it rebooted and was able to connect to my local Squeezebox Server that I have running to serve music around the house. After that, I was able to browse my music collection and navigate to internet radio stations either using the touch interface or by using the supplied remote control.
I noticed that the interface automatically uses bigger fonts if you are controlling it from the IR remote and smaller ones if it finds you are controlling it via the touchscreen, which obviously makes sense when you are within an arm's length of the display.
As a first test, I played back a 96kHz, 24-bit high resolution copy of Marianne Thorsen on violin with the TrondheimSolistene playing Mozart's D-major Violin Concerto. At first I played the tracks via a Benchmark DAC1, which is a studio-quality monitoring DAC for use by mixing engineers. The sound was detailed, rich with a deep stereo image and musically involving. Next, I removed the Benchmark DAC from the signal path and tried again. Once again the sound was clearly better than a CD could provide and very close to that rendered through the Benchmark DAC. There has clearly been an improvement to the quality of the analog stereo outputs compared to previous Squeezebox versions, which was already pretty good.
I then went on to listen to Emanuel Ax, Itzhak Perlman and Yo-Yo Ma playing some Mendelssohn Piano Trios. This recording was "only" in 16-bit/44.1kHz CD quality audio, nevertheless I was soon captivated by the musicality of the performance, and could find no significant short comings of the quality as rendered by the built-in DACs compared to the external, studio quality Benchmark DAC1.
Someone starting to use this system without prior experience of Squeezebox Servers or software might face something of a learning curve to begin with. I can't speak to that, but I appreciate that I was able to drop this new device into an existing system and, within a few minutes, start to enjoy some very high quality reproduction of my music library.
The advantages over the previous Squeezebox Classic are:
* Color, touch-controlled user interface and display
* Ability to play back high resolution music without loss of quality
* Excellent audio quality from the analog outputs; significantly better than previous versions.
Another possible advantage is to use the Squeezebox Touch as a music server as well as a client, by attaching a USB hard drive to the supplied USB port. I have not tested this functionality, so I can't comment on how well it works. This review was mainly focussed on sound quality.
Based on my short experience, I recommend this device highly. I think it is a worthy successor to the Squeezebox Classic, as it provides significantly more in terms user interface and sound quality for the same retail price as the older player.

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Logitech Squeezebox Touch. The color touch-screen Wi-Fi music player that lets you discover a world of music—all through your stereo.

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Logitech Squeezebox Duet Wi-Fi Internet Radio Review

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(More customer reviews)It's hard to review the Squeezebox Duet without comparing it to the Sonos system, current ruler of this class of products.
Since there are already many excellent reviews, I thought I would focus on a comparison of the two, to help you decide which system best fits your needs.
Controller
----------
Both controllers are responsive, pleasant to hold and operate. They are well built, and their LCD screen of excellent quality and easy to read.
Squeezebox: thin, light, easy to operate with one hand, excellent battery life, battery is user-replaceable, comes with charging stand. It also features an infrared blaster and a headphones port, which will be supported at some point in the future (although Logitech makes no promises there have been demonstrations of prototype firmware using both features), as well as a 3D accelerometer (yes, like a Wii remote).
Sonos: bulkier, designed for two-handed operation, battery life could be better, battery is not user-replaceable, charging stand optional.
Networking
----------
I did not compare the two systems in the same location, but they both operate well with a range sufficient for most medium-size houses.
Sonos: uses proprietary mesh networking that requires to plug one of the players into the wired LAN. Other players act as repeaters.
Squeezebox: uses standard 802.11g networking. Can hook up to an existing wireless network, or the player can be used as an access point for the remote.
Players
-------
Sonos offers two players: the ZP100 has a built-in amplifier and the ZP80 doesn't (but it offers a digital output missing from the ZP100). Both players feature an Ethernet hub and an audio input.
Squeezebox: on top of the inexpensive player bundled with the Duet, the Squeezebox system is also capable of controlling all other Squeezebox devices (excluding the first generation models).
Audio quality is comparable, although audiophiles may be attracted by the compatibility with the Squeezebox Transporter.
Server
------
This is where both systems differ radically. Sonos connects to existing SMB shares whereas Squeezebox requires that you install and run the SqueezeCenter server on your computer. SqueezeCenter is open source and runs on Windows, Mac and Linux.
Sonos: less intrusive, no software to install, works happily off a lowly NAS. But: if your music collection is larger than 30,000 tracks, you may hit the limit of the indexing capabilities, a problem with no easy workaround.
Squeezebox: requires simple installation of server software, so you have to have a computer always on. Server is too CPU-intensive to run properly on a low-power NAS such as the D-Link DNS-323
Internet radio
--------------
Sonos: Napster, Rhapsody, Audible, eMusic, Zune Marketplace, Sirius, Pandora, all configurable from the controller
Squeezebox: Rhapsody, MP3Tunes Locker, Radio IO, RadioTime, Slacker, Live365, SHOUTcast, Sirius, most must be configured and authorized from a computer using the SqueezeCenter web interface.
Support
-------
Both companies offer spectacular support through their on-line forums.
Summary
----------
Price: Squeezebox. A three-zone Sonos system will cost you about twice as much as a three zone Squeezebox system.
Capabilities: tie
Ease of setup: Sonos
Ease of use/WAF: Sonos. The Squeezebox interface is beautiful, but Sonos is more logically organized and simpler.
So, should you get Sonos or Squeezebox? It depends. Both systems are excellent.
If you're a tinkerer and want a solid, inexpensive system, the Squeezebox is for you. If you don't mind the added cost, want the best, simplest, friendliest user interface around, Sonos is still the ticket.
One thing is for sure: Sonos finally has some serious competition.


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Listen to the music you love in any room in your home with the Logitech Squeezebox Duet. Play songs stored on your computer, tune in to thousands of Internet radio stations, or connect to online services such as Pandoraand Rhapsody . Plus, the multi-room controller with 2.4-inch color display and scroll-wheel navigation makes it easy to browse, select, and play music from the palm of your hand.

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Logitech Squeezebox Wi-Fi Internet Radio and Wireless Music Player Review

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(More customer reviews)Pros:
-Amazing sound quality
-Burr-Brown DAC (pretty much the best around)
-Easy to configure
-Great interface
-Rock-solid performance (no waiting when you hit play, and no network issues)
-Created for IT people by IT people, but doesn't require a lot of IT literacy to get up and running (and their documentation is great).
-Price
Cons:
-The only thing I can think of is that it would be cool to have a USB port with USB Mass Storage Device support so you can plug a USB HDD directly in to this puppy and rock and roll. But, this is just nit-picking, and they probably didn't include USB because it would increase the price and wouldn't offer a lot of performance to a lot of people.Details:
Every once in a while there is a product so genius that it reminds me why I love technology. I had read up about the Squeezebox and I figured it would be really cool. When I picked it up I immediately noticed that it was small. Smaller and sleeker than I expected. It seems to be made of high-quality materials, and at this point I'm feeling pretty unimpressed about the whole thing (since I figured the sound quality would let me down like most digital audio devices... *cough* *cough* *iPod* *cough* *cough*).
My brother and I plug it in to his Denon receiver and B&W speakers, and we power it on. I immediately notice that I like the interface. It's snappy, and the slide transitions actually look pretty cool. The screen is also pretty nice, so I'm starting to feel good about things at this point.
The configuration of this device was a breeze. It auto-detects networks (with broadcast SSID turned on) and I was able to get it on the network in a matter of minutes without reading the manual. The SlimServer software for the PC is also pretty easy to install and configure, and I noticed that they released the source code for the server software.
I first listened to some streaming radio, and I have to say: I was impressed with the quality of the radio stations. I hate MP3 compression (I use FLAC), but the classical stations actually sounded pretty good to my ears. The best part is that the radio stations just work. No problems. No weird network timeouts. Just on-demand radio by Genre, City, Etc.
After playing around with the radio, I decided to listen to some FLAC that I am really familiar with to get an idea of the DAC and the fidelity of the player. My brother and I were blown away by the sound quality of my FLAC files. It sounds about as good as his Denon CD player, and it puts every other digital audio player I have ever heard to complete and utter shame.
There are a lot of things I like about this product. The fact that they release the source and allow you to create custom plug-ins is cool. Everything about this seems like it's created by some friggin' good engineers that want other IT people to appreciate it.
This thing is simply amazing. For price-to-performance, you can't beat it!

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The Logitech Squeezebox enables you to stream your favorite music to your stereo--even when your computer is off. You'll be able to tune in to thousands of Internet radio stations as well as listen to online music services such as Pandora and Rhapsody when connected to your home's wireless network. Additionally, you can play songs from your personal library stored on your computer.

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Livio Internet Radio Featuring Pandora (WiFi only, Black) Review

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(More customer reviews)There are a lot of buzz about HD radio being the wave of the future. I tried an HD radio, and let me tell you, this internet radio has HD completely beat! I live in an area with poor reception for local stations, and I was tired of having to listen my favorite station through my laptop. Within minutes of taking the radio out of the box, I was connected to my favorite station but then I started exploring. I couldn't believe what I found! The radio connected to my Pandora account seamlessly. I've added stations to Pandora on my laptop and they appear on the radio within seconds! Controls on the radio link to Pandora for "thumbs up" or "down." Fantastic. But the really amazing thing is the intuitive interface that provides access to countless (there must be tens of thousands) of radio stations from around the globe! The interface is so intuitive that the stations can be selected either by region or by genre. All with no buffering! Incredible! For these features, I am deleriously happy with my purchase.
For all of its exceptional qualities, the sound quality is disappointing. With one speaker, the bass is truly lacking (and I don't like heavy bass). The sound doesn't seem "full." There are jacks in the back to connect stereo speakers but I'm not sure how that would work or whether I want to go through the effort. I bought this radio based on a review in the Boston Globe. They mentioned the Squeezebox Boom as having the highest quality sound. Of course, that radio was significantly more expensive and doesn't have Pandora controls. Neither radio has an iPod connection and they don't have back-up batteries. Neither has iTunes tagging (seriously?!).
All in all, I'm very happy. When they develop a radio with audiophile-quality sound, I'll be in line to buy one. Hopefully, wifi/internet radio will really take off. I'd love to have a receiver for my home stereo (since that sends sound throughout the house).
January 2010 edit: I keep this radio in my home office. I still love, love, love it. Recently, I bought a Squeezebox Radio for my bedroom. This edit is to compare the two. I love both of these radios, but for different reasons. The Livio has quality throughout. The two standout features are the controls and the link to Pandora. The radio is so easy to set up and use! The controls are clean and uncluttered. The Pandora Thumbs-Up/Thumbs-down is easier on the Livio than it is on the computer. I also love the interface to find stations by genre. It just works so intuitively for me. On the negative side, it does not have an alarm clock built in. Otherwise, I would have bought one for the bedroom as well.
Now, the Squeezebox Radio: Also easy to set-up. The interface is a bit more daunting than the Livio. More options = more controls to tweak. As other reviewers have mentioned, the presets disappeared the first time the alarm went off. After resetting it, things have been fine. The alarm clock works well. Although the specs don't mention a back-up, I have found that if the router is out of commission, the alarm will still go off, just to a tone from the radio, rather than from the internet radio station. Other people have mentioned that the clock gets too dim at night. Not for me! I am so grateful that my bedroom is now reasonably dark at night! My old clock lit up the joint to the point that I used to cover the clock. Now, it's just right. Plus, the brightness level can be manually adjusted. Funny, someone elses complaint is one of my favorite features. The interface and controls are also more baffling than the Livio. Still OK, I just prefer the very clean controls on the Livio.
As for the sound, this would be a matter of preference. The sound in the Livio is a bit flatter. It seems to be missing some mid-range and higher range. The Squeezebox sound is bright and bold but is lacking in the low range. All in all though, I really like the sound on the Squeezebox. Especially for a small radio. I hope that these comments are helpful to someone looking at these two radios.

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Stand-alone radio automatically connects to the internet and makes NPR stations, programs, content, and podcasts accessible to more people, in more places. Sets up in minutes. Searches for NPR programming by genre, location or keyword. The first and only dedicated device to offer Pandora's signature "thumbs up, thumbs down" controls on both the front panel and a remote, the Livio Radio puts you in command by allowing you to customize the music and programming you receive across any genre, from anywhere in the world, without a required monthly fee and independently of a computer. The Livio Radio makes Pandora accessible to more people, in more places. The Livio Radio, through Pandora and the Music Genome Project, gives its users the power to be their own personal DJ, one that actually pays attention to what listeners like and dislike. With its sleek design and set of features, the Livio Radio goes beyond providing access to free, personalized Internet radio available through Pandora. In the home, office, or anywhere a power source and a wireless internet connection meet, it's a stand-alone radio that connects quickly and plays Internet radio programming through its own speaker. The Livio Radio does not require access to a computer interface or a mobile phone for everyday operation.

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Logitech Squeezebox Radio Music Player with Color Screen (Red) Review

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(More customer reviews)I am a long time owner of Squeezebox products and was pretty excited to find out about the little table top Squeezebox Radio model. I picked one up and thought I would share my thoughts.
The first thing you notice is how much heft this little player has. It is really well built and the fit and finish is superb. It has plenty of weight and solid rubber feet so that it won't skid around on your night stand or table top. The screen looks great and all of the buttons have a nice solid tactile feel. Compared to many other cheap wireless network streaming radios, this device feels an entire order of magnitude better in its construction quality. The only disappointment here is the lack of back lit buttons, for using the radio in low lighting. It's also worth noting that the entire radio has a high gloss finish that will be a magnet for fingerprints. Looks great though!
The biggest challenge for most consumers with this device will be the initial set up. You need to create an account at [...] in order to set up your new Squeezebox Radio. The device uses this connection to play free internet music services as well as download software updates, etc, to the Radio. I already had a Squeezebox account so this was not a huge challenge for me, but it might be for some people who might be confused that they need to set up an account before they can use the device. There is an option to set up the account from the device itself. Don't do this (it is slow and tedious)! Go to the website and set it up in a few seconds and then just type your login and password on the device.
Other than the laborious task of entering my full email and password for [...] the rest of the setup is very easy. The Squeezebox Radio supports push to connect wi-fi set up which is common on many newer model wireless routers. It's similar to programming a garage door opener. Simply point the Squeezebox Radio at your wireless network and for 120 seconds it will try to connect with the push to connect functionality. Then just push the connect button on your router and it's automagically all set up.
Once set up the Radio will update its firmware and reboot, a process that takes a few extra minutes. After that you are good to go.
In addition to the many built in free online services, you can also play your own music through the Squeezebox Server application. I run the Squeezebox Server application on my HP EX495 Windows Home Server but you can also run Squeezebox Server on any Mac, Windows PC or even Linux box (there are even installable distributions for many Network Attached Storage units). This allows the Squeezebox Radio (and any other Squeeze players) to access all of the music on my home network. It's absolutely wonderful to be able to take the little table top radio anywhere in the home and listen to your entire music collection.
Sound quality is very good, easily enough to fill a small to medium sized room. It gets quite loud with little to no distortion and the controls are easy to use to change tracks, change volume, etc. Wireless strength is superb. I get a full signal anywhere within about 40 feet of my router, and the radio works anywhere on my suburban property with no audio hiccups or dropouts.
In addition to the intuitive controls such as "home", "play", "stop", "back", etc, the unit also features six programmable "preset" buttons similar to what you have on a car radio. Setting these up is a bit more of a challenge than you would expect. You are supposed to be able to hold these down on any song, album, playlist, etc, that is being displayed in the radio menu and have it added as a preset. Unfortunately some items don't add correctly and must first be programmed as a "favorite". It turns out that you can only add favorites for some items (such as playlists) from the Squeezebox Server web based menu, which is quite inconvenient. I don't doubt that Slim Devices (the arm of Logitech that makes these devices) will fix this soon enough.
Other minor glitches include some weird alarm behavior (it will show the time of the alarm when it is going off but strangely won't show the current time, which is annoying if you have hit the snooze button a few times and need to know what time it is), some auto dimming issues (the auto dimming works great but gets almost TOO dim in a dark room to see the radio) and a few other very minor nits.
Slim Devices have a long history of enhancement and improvement of device firmware, so I would expect a lot of these issues to be worked out in the coming months. Additionally there will soon be a battery pack and small infrared remote for the Squeezebox Radio available as a $[...] add on purchase. Personally I think at $[...] the Radio should include these items, but considering the great sound of the radio, the high quality screen and the superb fit and finish it is justified that this device costs as much as it does.
Also worth noting is that if you have an iPod Touch or iPhone you can get the iPeng application $[...] from the Apple App Store which makes controlling and programming your Squeezebox Radio an absolute breeze. iPeng is really a must have if you have these devices and want a wonderful pocket control that works from anywhere in your home. Beats the pants off of what Sonus has to offer!
//Update 1 (Nov 2nd 2009)
Yesterday my SB Radio lost all of the preset buttons which is most annoying. It also turns out that many of the requests for fixes around the alarms functionality have not been addressed and don't appear to be scheduled to be addressed in the next release or two of the software. If your primary use will be a night stand alarm clock I would recommend holding off for now until Logitech addresses alarm functionality issues. If the issues are not resolved I will reconsider my four star rating as it should then be a three star product.
//Update 2 (May 13 2010)
Logitech has not only not fixed many of the initial annoyances with the SB Radio, but newer firmware has in fact made the product less stable and reliable. It still does an admirable job of playing your local music library if you run the SB Server on a PC or Mac in your home, but the network streaming functionality seems to be having issues and I've found the alarm to be terribly unreliable. I would now under the current circumstances rate this only 3 out of 5 stars. It's really a shame too, as the "Slim Devices" that originally brought us these problems was very open and communicative about issues and what was being done to fix them. Logitech has little interest in relaying useful information to its beta testers, err, customers and instead gives us the run around with if and when issues will ever be remedied.

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Logitech Squeezebox Radio brings a world of music—free Internet radio, subscription services, or your personal digital music collection—to any space in your home, over your Wi-Fi network.

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