This is a very interesting thread. Jim - glad to see your request for input from the community.
For a frame of reference, I am computer and home networking savvy and though not an audiophile, I have pretty high standards regarding audio. I have a large collection of music (2,000+ CDs) that was aquired myself, not via downloads from the Internet. I purchased my first SB just 2 weeks ago, though I've been following the product for the last year by reading the forums and playing around with slimserver and softsqueeze. A common theme in many of the responses was the usability issues regarding setup and usage via the web interface. Frist, I'd like to comment on the setup difficulties. The issues surrounding setup of the SB3 are much simpler than that of setting up a home network. If somebody is considering purchasing an SB3, they already have a home network set up, so they've already been through the worst of it. With things like DHCP, setup of the SB3 is a breeze! I chose to use a static IP to speed up power up, but that was my choice. I also had to enter my SSID since I have its broadcast disabled. These hurdles are no different than configuring a new laptop to communicate with the network. So, a new SB3 owner will either be familiar with what is required to set up a networked device since they already have a network, or know a geek to help them out (this geek would have set up the network to begin with). I know this from experience - I have set up 4 home networks including my own. (Personally, I found the setup to be a breeze.) The point is that anybody even thinking about purchasing an SB3 will have no problem setting it up or know somebody who does. Secondly, there is the entire issue of ripping and encoding music. This is a hurdle even for the iPod crowd, unless music is purchased via iTunes. Maybe that's what most people do, not sure. The point is that the technical difficulties in this area are shared with any other media product, such as iPod (which is so highly praised for usability). The difference though is that iTunes provides a means to rip and encode whereas SlimServer does not. It would be useful to provide this capability. And just like with iTunes, if you already have your favorite set of tools you use, you may choose to continue to use them. Thirdly, many have commented on the web interface for the server. It took me some getting used to, but it is very servicable. Since this is only used on the back end, I don't think its look-and-feel is as critical as on the client. An OS specific application to configure slimserver would be useful, but the web functionality and interface should be maintained as it is flexible - I can access it even from work! So, what do I love about my SB3? I own an iPod. I have docks for it. I have listened to it connected to my stereo and was content, except I had to get up to navigate my music library. SS3 allows me to navigate my ENTIRE music library (including what doesn't fit onto my iPod) from my chair. That's killer! Something I didn't expect is that the SB3 sounds quite noticibly better than my iPod in its dock. That was a great bonus! I had stayed away from iPod because it did not support gapless playback. I was stuck with Sony ATRAC on an HD3. When Apple introduced gapless playback of LAME mp3s in Sept, I jumped in and bought the new 80GB model. This is a key feature for me - if SB3 didn't support it, I wouldn't own one. You guys listen to your customers and bring the features that they want. You guys reacted much more quickly to this than Apple did. FLAC is supported natively on the client - another huge plus. And the open server and plugin architecture is great. I have last.fm and weather forcasts thanks to 3rd party developers in the community. Internet radio access is great too. I like that I can tune in virtually any URL I want. And being able to interact with Pandora and Last.fm via the remote is killer! The XM radio went out the window thanks to those features! My only complaint so far is the price. I wish it was just a little bit cheaper. Though I do understand that quality like this comes at a cost. Over time I'm sure there is at least one more SB3 in my future. I also wish I could go into Circuit City or Best Buy to purchase. Now that you are part of Logitech, perhaps larger distribution is in the future. Rich Maggio -- maggior ------------------------------------------------------------------------ maggior's Profile: http://forums.slimdevices.com/member.php?userid=9080 View this thread: http://forums.slimdevices.com/showthread.php?t=31324 _______________________________________________ discuss mailing list [email protected] http://lists.slimdevices.com/lists/listinfo/discuss
