Cisco-Linksys Wireless-B Music System WMLS11B Review

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(More customer reviews)MY BACKGROUND:
I have always been an ardent musicphile and have subsequently grown a respectable collection of music.With a little less than 1000 CDs, physically finding the music you feel like listening to was always a chore (although there is much to be said for spending some quality time rediscovering that CD that you forgot you had).SO, I jumped on the MP3 bandwagon a couple of years ago, ripping my entire collection (up yours RIAA) onto my server.Having them on my server has made it easy to listen to whatever I like pretty much anywhere in the house where there's a computer (both son's rooms, living room, my office).I converted to iTunes recently when it became available for the PC (much nicer to synch the iPod with than MusicMatch ).BTW, I'm a software engineer and gadget freak, which explains why my house is wired with CAT6 cabling and why even my 3 year old son's computer is running at Gigabit speeds on our home network. :-)
Okay, enough babbling, onto the review:
WHY I BOUGHT IT-
I'd been toying with the idea of picking up one of the portable media players ever since they came out a year or so ago.I couldn't justify spending the cash on the designs that were out there until I found the Linksys WMLS11B.It is very aesthetically pleasing, but more importantly, it has a very nice (and large for the form factor) LCD screen and looks basically like a boombox that can play all your MP3s.Whenever I can (when the weather and family allow) I try to work from my deck or screened-in porch.I'm somewhat tired of having the iPod earbuds sticking in my ears and plugging a pair of powered computer speakers into the iPod is a hassle.
FIRST IMPRESSIONS-
For $180 ($250+ MSRP) I expected something a bit more substantial.It's not badly constructed, but seems too 'plasticky' and lightweight for the cost.Anyway, after about ten minutes, I had it configured and working on my wireless network (Linksys 802.11g).Incidentally, you need to set it up with an ethernet connection to set it up initially, but I could not get it to connect to any of my computers directly and had to finally just plug it into a router.The very first impression was that I had messed something up with the wiring because I had to have the volume all the way up to hear the music.After goofing around with everything, I decided that it was set up correctly, but just lacked the power to play adequately in anything else except an absolutely quiet room (with the sound level at MEDIUM, you can barely hear noise coming from the speakers).
PROS -
-Nice to look at
-Sound quality is pretty good once you hook up some nicer powered speakers
-Easy to set up
-Fairly compact
-Fair selection of internet radio stations
CONS -
-The included speakers leave a lot to be desired
-Must use MusicMatch (it sucks!!) or Rhapsody (a RealOne company, which if you didn't know, is run by Satan)
-For some reason, I can't get it to play more than ten songs from a playlist.
-The interface is HORRIBLE!Very non-intuitive and I spend more time scrolling through my collection than actually listenting to music.Most frustrating is that after you scroll down for a couple of MINUTES and find 'Modest Mouse', if you change your mind and decide you want to listen to 'Menomena' instead, the interface tosses you back to the top-most menu, meaning that you have to select 'BROWSE' then select 'ARTIST/ALBUM' then scroll down for several more minutes to get back to the M's....Even a submenu that allowed you to scroll through the alphabet and select, say, 'M' and then browse all the M's would be VERY nice.If the playlist function worked properly, then you could invest some time and set up your favorite songs and/or artists, but for spontaneously searching through your catalog... uhh, you won't.
-For some reason, I occasionally lose signal with my network and it can't find the server (even though I have my laptop receiving 54Mbps with excellent signal strength right next to it).Not a frequent occurence, just puzzling.
-Being 802.11b based, it only supports WEP and not WPA.:-(
-No carry handle
-The remote is pretty good, but doesn't work unless pointed directly at the unit and from within a very shallow angle from center.
-No headphone jack on the front
-Too many cables sticking out of the back.Cable management is so easy, yet apparently an alien concept to most manufacturers.
CONCLUSIONS:
It's just frustrating to have something soooo close to being good, but having some poor design muck it up.I really wish they'd assign it a more iPod-like interface (where you can use the back button to go to your previous menu level and selection).I also wish they'd find some way to tap into iTunes as a server or roll their own (okay, I can dream).I believe that if Linksys were to revamp the interface firmware and take care of some of the problems with the 'music server', it would be worthwhile.Unfortunately, I've dealt with Linksys for too long to even hope that they'd bother to update this version.They will instead release a newer, improved version which will make this model the MP3 Edsel.
I'm going to return this to the store today as I have a 10 day 'remorse period' that expires on Monday.
Nice try Linksys, better luck next time. :-(

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Product Description:
The Linksys Wireless-B Music System lets you bring the digital music stored on your computer to your Home Entertainment Center, without running cables through the house.Using a wireless connection, the Music System finally frees your digital music collection from those little computer speakers to play in full glory through your stereo system.|||The Wireless-B Music System sits by your home stereo and connects to it using standard consumer electronics cables.Then it connects to your home network by Wireless-B (802.11b) wireless networking, or if you prefer, it can be connected via standard 10/100 Ethernet cabling.Using the included remote control and the built-in LCD menus, you can browse your MP3 or WMA formatted music collection on your home PCs by title, artist, album, genre, or playlist.

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Myine Electronics IR001 WiFi Internet Radio Adaptor Review

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(More customer reviews)The press release from Myine Electronics states "Myine's Ira Wireless Internet Radio is designed to harness the universe of radio broadcasts available on the Internet and to allow user enjoyment anywhere a wireless internet connection, a speaker system and power sources are available." And that pretty well sums it up - and it does a great job at it too!

The general point of the unit is to not only give you access to the world of internet streaming radio and podcasts, but to do it easily, quickly, and without having to know a whole lot about what's going on with your network or connections. "There is a lack of good products available for people who are not tech savvy or just busy," said Jake Sigal, Principal and Founder of Myine Electronics. "Ira doesn't have any unnecessary bells and whistles, and sets up automatically right out of the box without a computer. We believe that with potentially confusing electronics, less is more."

When you first break the Ira out of the box, you'll see that it comes with the unit itself, a power cable, and a remote. It relies on WiFi being available to access the internet, and this is the first caution I would give potential buyers - make sure you have WiFi in your home, and that it is strong in the area you intend to put the Ira. The Ira seems very sensitive to interference and distance, so don't expect it to work as consistently and quickly as your laptop card does.

After plugging it in to the power and a set of speakers or a receiver, the next thing you'll need to do is configure it to access that WiFi broadcast. Although the Ira is geared towards `low-tech' users, it will definitely take some knowledge of networking and network configuration (plus a fair amount of patience) if you have any security enabled. Although it picks up the SSID if you are broadcasting that, and will tell you what type of security or encryption protocol, you'll need to be able to enter the passcode. If this is a WEP secure connection, this means you'll need to use the arrows on the remote and a pseudo keyboard on the screen to plunk out the 16 digits/characters/symbols - and unfortunately the Ira will not save incorrect configurations meaning you'll have to do it all again if you get one of the numbers wrong! It saves it if you get it right, so this may not be a big deal, particularly once you're past it.

Once you've got it all set up, you really start seeing the value and power of this unit. Users can filter by location or genre, and there are literally thousands of stations available. There are you're your typical shoutcast internet only stations, but also streaming live stations from around the globe. You've also got access to podcasts (including yours truly) and audio presentations, though you may find some of the more obscure ones missing. Myine selects the podcasts and stations that it will display through some mechanism that wasn't revealed to me. They did add podcasts that I requested (e.g., TechTalk on WRLR) without any questions or hesitation however, so I don't see this as a big hit.

If you're familiar at all with listening to radio or streaming audio on your laptop or desktop, you'll "get" this product immediately. What's really neat about it for me is how portable it is - I can listen to tunes up in my bedroom, then take the little unit downstairs to our porch outside, plug it into some speakers there and keep listening - without having to drag my laptop with it's rather junky soundcard all over the place! It's even small enough to throw in a jacket pocket and take to someone else's house to show off.

One area for future development and a feature that I really missed on the Ira is the lack of song information. Most stations broadcast the track and artist info with the song, but oddly the Ira unit does not display it. You can get a lot of other streaming and audio info, just nothing about the current track playing. The Ira software does have the capability to get updated over the wifi connection you use, so I would expect to see this fixed in a later release.

Overall Rating - 3 out of 5 Chips. It's a fantastic little product and idea, with portability and ease-of-use in the forefront of internet connected audio players (plus the benefit of not paying for XM or other similar options!). The lack of song tagging and weak reception strength make it just a little tougher to use than it should be however, and drops it down a notch. The price point is a touch high but still definitely within reach at around $130.

For more great topics and reviews like this, check out the weekly TechTalk show on WRLR 98.3 FM in Chicago, or listen anytime via iTunes or at our website:
techtalk.wrlr.fm

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Product Description:
Do you have wireless Internet? Do you want to get FREE music, sports, and news from around the world? Tired of confusing terminology and confusing features? Meet Ira - Our Internet Radio Adaptor that connects automatically to any wireless internet network. Extra features were intentionally removed so you can quickly listen to free music, sports, and news, without the extra hassles. Just take it out of the box, plug it in, connect it to your home stereo or boombox and use it. Automatically sets up in about three minutes and doesn't need a computer. All cables included. Ira has over 11,000 stations from just about every country in the world. Filter by location or genre to find new stations in under 30 seconds. Listen to NPR or your favorite local channels in CD like quality. Includes On Demand Podcast programming for many stations so you can listen to your favorite shows when you want. Includes a one-touch "STAR" button to store up to 40 of your favorite stations.

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