I think from a hardware perspective the Radio is fantastic. I think there is a ton of attention to detail, and the sound quality is phenomenal for a device like this. Because of that, I probably won't return it.
>From a software perspective I am very disappointed. The main reason for my disappointment is the (lack of) alarm functionality. I know that it is possible to make a fantastic computerized alarm clock. Check out the iPhone/iPod Touch Clock app if you don't believe me. It admirably performs the core function of an alarm clock (waking me up), but it also adds great value and flexibility in the way it wakes me up. I can set as many different alarms as I'd like, and have complete control and visibility over all of them. I also know that when I set an alarm on my iPod Touch, it will get loud enough to wake me up. In contrast, the SBRs alarms are: 1)too loud or too quiet (alarm volume doesn't work) 2)unpredictable due to the fact that when you set an alarm whilst connected to mysb.com, it doesn't always sync to squeezebox server. The reverse is also true. 3)unwieldy. you have to navigate several menus to set an alarm from the device. there is no indication of what time the next alarm will fire, until you are at least 3 menus deep. 4)not a very usable device for people who just want a beep to wake them up. BTW, there is an internal beeper for backup when network connectivity is lost. How about making that accessible as one of the sounds we can choose? If the alarm volume bug gets fixed, that would solve most of my problems. Since having the Radio, I've had alarms not go off, alarms go off when they weren't supposed to, alarms go off so quietly that nobody woke up, alarms go off so loudly that we thought we were under attack, alarms that couldn't be turned off, and a few other issues as well. The good news is that since the alarms are controlled by software, fixing these issues should be easy. The bad news is that they didn't get fixed through the beta process, so maybe it isn't a priority. I think alarm clock functionality should have been a much higher priority. Maybe a cloud based alarm clock is an idea whose time hasn't come yet. An internal device that just works would have been nice, then add on the ability to play streamed music or talk afterwords. I think a lot of existing squeezebox customers bought the radio as a bedside alarm clock, and listening device like I did. I think a lot of new squeezebox customers will freak out at how complicated logitech has made doing a simple thing like setting an alarm, like my wife did. I was hoping the Radio would increase WAF for squeezebox. It turns out to have done just the opposite. My wife won't touch it, and still uses the SB3 to listen to internet radio. Plus she's now setting the alarm on her phone as a backup to the SBR. I know this is a bit of a rant. To summarize, the Squeezebox Radio has definitely earned a place in my home. Whether it has earned a place on my nightstand remains to be seen. Thanks! George -- gdpeck ------------------------------------------------------------------------ gdpeck's Profile: http://forums.slimdevices.com/member.php?userid=4686 View this thread: http://forums.slimdevices.com/showthread.php?t=69719 _______________________________________________ Radio mailing list Radio@lists.slimdevices.com http://lists.slimdevices.com/mailman/listinfo/radio
