Customer Reviews:
Showing reviews 1-5 of 161
 Clever, and useful July 12, 2008
Headbang8 (Bogenhausen, Munich)
99 out of 102 found this review helpful
Think about the humble clock-radio. Everybody has one. They've scarcely changed in the last two decades. They have poor sound quality. Are usually in a bedroom where radio reception can be poor--and are usually given only a crummy wire antenna sticking out the back. With some, you can play a CD, just as CDs are being superseded by other digital music. Few can access the wealth of programming on satellite. Not a twenty-first century device.
This device brings the clock-radio into the 21st Century. It connects to your Wi-fi at home, and delivers almost any radio station you want from around the world.
NPR junkies can choose from a brace of stations, and the worldwide selection is superb--let me recommend Radio National and Directions in Groove from Australia, KQED and WNYC (the AM version; you'll get AM radio in hi-fi!), Deutsche Welle in English, Radio Netherlands, and of course, the BBC. Living in a non-English-speaking country, it's a real life-line for me.
It solves an issue that has vexed me with conventional clock radios I've owned. Reception problems. With an internet radio, the signal is as strong as your home wi-fi.
No need for an integrated CD. You can play music wirelessly from your computer or a USB stick.
And for a small speaker, the sound is remarkably good. You can plug it into your hi-fi if you wish, for even better sound.
It gets five stars, but not without a couple of glitches. The radio updates the station list automatically, but if a station changes its website in between software updates, you might miss out for a while. The menus are elaborate and can be a bit complex until you get used to them--and that includes the one you use simply to turn the alarm on. And the backlighted time displays ONLY when the radio is actually on; though I expect that glitch to be fixed in a software update.
Very Nice Radio, Plus July 28, 2008
Phillip Wheeler (Los Angeles area)
28 out of 29 found this review helpful
This new gadget arrived today. For a long-time short wave listener, this is the perfect device. Gives access to all the usual stations, and easy exploration of new stations. How nice to know immediately, from the display, what you have tuned in.
Less than a minute after plugging it in I was listening to BBC World Service. Three hours later I've just scratched the surface of its capabilities.
Great construction quality, audio is fine, controls are intuitive, has sleep timer (I plan to have it on a bed stand) and the light is easy to turn on or off.
Some of the better entertainment dollars I've spent. Now to find a portable, go anywhere version for travel!
Later today I plugged my small 250GB hard drive with MP3s stored in it to the jack in the front of the radio. I can play any album or any track of an album. Pretty amazing!
Outstanding value! February 6, 2009
Bron (Mechanicsville, VA USA)
25 out of 26 found this review helpful
Well built, outstanding feature set, works well, extremely easy setup, easy to use, this baby is the "swiss army knife" of internet radios!
Yes the display is bright and not the best I've ever seen - but who cares? For the price paid it is more than sufficient. The alarm clock feature is nice but no one is buying this solely for that reason.
What other internet radio works this well, is this easy to setup, and has a comparable feature set? Let's see, it plays 13,000+ internet radio stations. Check. You can add new stations via (...) web site (and also easily browse and create your own named "favorites" categories that will then be added to your list on the radio), you can easily add or remove stations to/from your "Favorites" list on the radio itself, speaker is OK (like a radio) but you also have analog stereo outputs you can connect to powered speakers or stereo or whatever (and sound is good, no noise or hiss), it has an FM radio that will display HD info if stations transmit it, it will play your MP3's from your USB key or hard drive, it will play media for any PC or laptop on your network via WMP 11, MusicMatch Jukebox, or many other media servers (like twonky), comes with a decent remote, and it cost about as much as a good MP3 player?
I can't believe how tough some people here are with their ratings. I gave it 5 stars just to compensate for them. I would have given it 4 because there is room for improvement, but then, for this price, and with this feature set, 5 stars is warranted. Plus - and it's a big plus! Everything works as advertised without any frustrating setup gymnastics. I took this thing out of the box, set the manual aside (yes, it actually has a printed manual!), put the quick start guide aside, screwed on the Wifi antenna in the back, plugged in the FM antenna in the back, put batteries in the remote, plugged the power supply into the radio (always connect to the device first!), plugged the power supply into the wall and turned it on. Walked through the brief wifi setup accepting all the defaults and started listening to internet radio. Truly that easy.
Went into Windows Media Player 11 on my laptop and brought up the new device dialog and click to allow the aluratek to connect. Went back to the aluratek and selected the media player option on the remote, waited for it to connect and display a list, did search by artist and played some songs. (You do have to enable access via your firewall if you have one running on your laptop or PC.) Pretty easy.
Plugged in a USB key and played some MP3's - pretty easy.
So...out of the box and with little fuss, I can listen to internet radio, play mp3's off my home network PC's or laptops, play mp3's off my mp3 player or USB key (also USB hard drive but I have not tested that yet), local FM radio stations, oh, and yeah, it also has an alarm clock built in that can wake you to any of these as well. Like I will ever use that! ;) (Yes, I know some will, and I may one day, it's just that it is the least important feature, to my mind. Go price internet radios -- most have nowhere near the feature set of this unit. Oh, did I mention it can also serve as a wireless access point on your network?)
The remote it comes with is decent and works fairly well. It has buttons for all the functions and a nice layout. It has a pretty good written manual and a CD with more info that I have not even looked at yet. It is well built and well designed. The menus are easy enough to use. And the device works well. The display is legible. It could be better, but look at what you paid for the device and lighten up! ;)
I run the audio through various external speakers and devices and it all sounds good. It actually looks better than the picture, I think. It is a bit unique and may not thrill everyone, but I like it fine, and again, look at the price. It is decent quality and that's what counts. (Actually, it's kind of 40-50's retro if you're into that.)
This has to be the best value in internet radio devices to date. I have three Soundbridge units and I love them to death - they are superb, but they cost substantially more (they're really a different type of device, IMHO). Most other inet radios are more expensive and have fewer features.
I'm not even going to bother with nit picking. Others here have done that well. There are no significant cons, in my opinion, when you consider the price, performance, and features.
If you are looking for a relatively low cost, easy to setup and use internet radio and audio media player, you can't go wrong with this unit. It's an outstanding value and works well. Thumbs up!
2010-02-20 Update: If you have a problem with the FM Radio turning off intermittently on this unit, there is a fix. Go to the Aluratek web site and download the latest firmware, put it on a USB drive (in the root directory, drive must be FAT32 not NTFS), go to set-up, advanced, firmware update and it will load the new software. Voila, problem solved. This is the only serious issue I have had with this unit. Thanks to another reviewer here for posting this fix, it worked!
Also, if your WiFI occasionally says it failed when getting the IP address (when you turn power on), I've found that you can just go ahead and navigate to your internet radio station and it will usually connect fine. Weird, but once connected it never drops the signal (for me, anyway). Use this device a lot and it works well.
All-In-One WiFi Radio Makes Listening Fun August 2, 2008
Kenneth R. Kadan (San Diego, CA)
17 out of 18 found this review helpful
I just received this amazing product this afternoon and am completely blown away by its excellent design, small size and simplicity of use. I plugged it in, turned it on and within minutes the radio automatically linked with my router. After that, its just a matter of merely following the easy to read instructions on the blue LCD screen. The radio comes with a remote that makes finding and changing stations a piece of cake.
One of my favorite features is the USB port on the front of the radio. If you download your favorite radio programs from the internet as I do, you can transfer the show to your USB Flash Drive. Then, plug it in and enjoy! I admit I like Coast To Coast AM with George Noory - what I don't like are all the long commercial breaks and not getting my sleep. Now I can listen to this show without commercial breaks anytime I wish away from my computer.
A pleasant surprise is found within the alarm system menu. You can choose to wake-up to FM music, your favorite WiFi station, something you recorded on a flash drive or you can select the Buzzer function. Why? Sometimes your WiFi provider can go down and with the Buzzer setting you will be assured of a wake-up. The surprise is the Buzzer feature sounds like a fine Austrian music box. What a delightful way to be awakened to the sound of a lovely music box melody. This is a small item to be sure, but the attention to detail is just another reason why I love this exceptional radio.
Like a lot of people, I have hobbies which take me outside to a workshop or work area. Now while in my workshop, I can listen to radio shows produced from countries around the world without radio fade or distortion. How I always hated when a show was getting to the good part and bam, the signal fades out. Well, those days are gone. You now enjoy perfect reception regardless of where the show originates.
By the way, has your local radio station dropped a national show that you enjoyed or have they moved it to a time that makes listening inconvenient? No sweat - you will find your show on another city's radio station thanks to the simple and enjoyable menu system on this unit and usually at an acceptable listening time. You control what you want to hear - not your local broadcaster. Nice.
Folks, sorry if I sound like a kid at Christmas. I've been a radio listener all my life and this is the first time I believe I own the perfect radio. I'm certain you will also love this small, powerful, easy to use radio that makes listening fun. Take care and enjoy!
This is a Great product July 18, 2008
Tai Y. HS (Northern CA, USA)
9 out of 9 found this review helpful
I have been looking around for an internet radio product for a while. This product was reasonably priced and came with all of the features I was looking for.
Of course, most important feature was the ability to access the thousands of internet radio stations. I listen to alot of stations from overseas (brings back sweet memories). All of that without paying any monthly charges... I love it.
When I open the box and turn on the product, it automatically started to scan for an internet connection. For someone like me, not very technically inclined, it was great. I was able to start listening to my favorite stations in minutes.
This product is now my constant companion when I am in the kitchen working or in the living room relaxing or just anytime I need some music in the house.
Showing reviews 1-5 of 161
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