About a month ago, I asked here about internet radios, which was a new
concept to me. I was helpfully pointed at a few and checked out and
ordered the Roku Soundbridge R1000 for $250 (they also make an M1000 for
$150, which connects to your hifi system instead of having built in
speakers).
This was for my 90 year old mom who had to move to assisted living in
her retirement community. She loved her over-the-air classical FM
stations, but could not receive them in the main building. Last visit to
her, I picked up a WiFi signal in her room so contacted the techie
there. They use WPA security, so I had the unit delivered to me first,
set up my Linksys for WPA, and could easily configure the Roku for WPA.
I also found 8 great internet radio classical stations; public radio in
NY, Boston, DC, Minnesota, even a great classical station from the UK,
which I entered as presets. Mailed it to her and she is thrilled with
the selection.
The R1000 is similar to a small Bose, but a few inches taller. It has
great sound. The display is 4 lines by 80. Very easy learning how to
operate with the remote. There is even a small app you can download from
Roku to communicate with it from a browser window to manage the presets,
and other options. Really neat!
It also can receive OTA FM by attaching an antenna. And it has an SD
slot, primarily as a vehicle for updating firmware (shipped unit was
current), but you can load an SD with MP3 music and play that as well.
Although a bit pricey, as Tom suggests, I can really see WiFi internet
as the future for in home "radio".
And, as was just recently mentioned here, many music managers (I use
iTunes) can access thousands of radio stations which stream. That was
how I found the classical music stations for my mom. As was mentioned,
I, also, have internet radio going, when I'm on my PC.
Tom Piwowar wrote:
Interesting story. Has anyone tried either alternative?
http://technology.timesonline.co.uk/tol/news/tech_and_web/personal_tech/tes
t_bench/article3016102.ece
"With all the fuss about digital radio (DAB), it has been easy to miss
the arrival of a new technology that offers even greater choice: the
wi-fi radio. Technically, these excellent gadgets are not radios at all.
Rather than picking up the radio-wave signals of terrestrial stations --
be they analogue or digital -- a wi-fi "radio" uses a broadband
connection to receive audio signals from internet-based stations all over
the world.,,
"And the sound is often better too...
************************************************************************
* ==> QUICK LIST-COMMAND REFERENCE - Put the following commands in <==
* ==> the body of an email & send 'em to: [EMAIL PROTECTED] <==
* Join the list: SUBSCRIBE COMPUTERGUYS-L Your Name
* Too much mail? Try Daily Digests command: SET COMPUTERGUYS-L DIGEST
* Tired of the List? Unsubscribe command: SIGNOFF COMPUTERGUYS-L
* New address? From OLD address send: CHANGE COMPUTERGUYS-L YourNewAddress
* Need more help? Send mail to: [EMAIL PROTECTED]
************************************************************************
* List archive at www.mail-archive.com/[email protected]/
* RSS at www.mail-archive.com/[email protected]/maillist.xml
* Messages bearing the header "X-No-Archive: yes" will not be archived
************************************************************************
************************************************************************
* ==> QUICK LIST-COMMAND REFERENCE - Put the following commands in <==
* ==> the body of an email & send 'em to: [EMAIL PROTECTED] <==
* Join the list: SUBSCRIBE COMPUTERGUYS-L Your Name
* Too much mail? Try Daily Digests command: SET COMPUTERGUYS-L DIGEST
* Tired of the List? Unsubscribe command: SIGNOFF COMPUTERGUYS-L
* New address? From OLD address send: CHANGE COMPUTERGUYS-L YourNewAddress
* Need more help? Send mail to: [EMAIL PROTECTED]
************************************************************************
* List archive at www.mail-archive.com/[email protected]/
* RSS at www.mail-archive.com/[email protected]/maillist.xml
* Messages bearing the header "X-No-Archive: yes" will not be archived
************************************************************************
