Samsung YP-T7JZ 1 GB Digital Audio Player with FM Tuner & Recorder

• Lightweight, multi-format digital audio player with 1.2-inch color LCD
• 512 MB flash memory holds 8 hours of MP3 and 16 hours of WMA audio
• Compatible with MP3, WMA, Ogg Vorbis, and PlaysForSure secure WMA
• Integrated voice recorder; FM tuner (with record function); 8 EQ presets
• Rechargeable battery; measures 2.5 x 1.5 x 0.6 inches (W x H x D); 1-year warranty

Great sound. Sensible menu structure. You can use Windows Media Player or drag and drop files and folders. Has line in. Has built in microphone or you can use line in. FM radio actually works fairly well. You can record from FM too. Compression rate is selectable from unit as opposed to PC. Very small but still able to push buttons with old, beat up fingers. Screen very readable, unlike my Erickson/Sony cell phone. Battery life is reasonable. Customer support has been great. I had one problem that required help from the "next level" and he explained how to fix PC related problem.

Draw backs. Requires USB port to charge (or separate USB charger that you buy). Supplied ear buds are terrible. If you want to listen to music you will have to buy something better. Does not work with Mac OS X. You cannot drag and drop from Mac. Player is not recognized at all by Mac. Technical support says if you put more than 9 folders on player, it may (or may not) erase something already there. They are working on upgrade to firmware to address this issue.

Overall I am very pleased with player and use almost all the features. I highly recommend it. iPod comes up short on features by comparison.

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This is a great product, its small & chunky (like a Zippo lighter), wonderful craftsmanship, a very nicely made quality device, the screen is bright and colorful, for such a tiny device the controls are surprisingly easy to operate (I love the background strobe or flash light which comes up everytime the navigator button is depressed), it works with Windows Media Player, its loud, has a hook for a neck strap,its easy to sync, you can even drag & drop files, feature by feature it beats iPod (even the dimensions make it easier to carry it around in the pocket), has an FM Tuner/recorder, Mic, Voice Recorder and best of all line in encoding (with this feature you can record from virtually any other device if it has a line out (an earphone port i.e. a headphone socket would do just fine as well), I actually have the YP-T7JX which is identical except that it only has 512MB but comes in a cool Aqua color.

I had to reset the device after I had to shut down the computer when I was charging the device for the very first time via the USB port and it left the device lifeless, it wouldn't load or charge, anyway I called Samsung customer service and they adviced me to hit the reset button which I did and then everything went just fine (make sure when you are charging it the first time that you don't disturb...don't have your computer go on standby or hibernate).

All in all, I recommend this 100%, you can't go wrong here, this gadget is cool.

Just an idea for Samsung for the next evolution of this product, build tiny speakers into this like a miniature boom-box, so one can just leave it on the desk and listen without the headphones (its possible to do this even now for a short while in a quiet room, the sound coming out the headphones is quite loud when its set to full volume)

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I just picked this up in December and have not put it down since! What a terrific product Samsung has put out for us music/gadget fanatics! This little guy is impressive to look at with a very robust and colorful screen, the menus are easy to navigate through and it is user-friendly all the way around. I was torn between this and the iPod Nano but I'm very happy with my selection thus far especially since it offers the option of an FM tuner which you can record from directly into the unit! I bought a rubberized cover for it which I highly recommend to keep it clean, prevents slipping when you put it on a surface and protects against scratching the outer casing. Other owners have dinged the earbuds on this but I don't have any complaints except that they fall out from time to time (as with any earbud) so I'll most likely upgrade to BOSE noise-cancelling earphones. The sound on this unit is EXCELLENT as it has surround sound capabilities and different settings to choose from. In addition to my 1GB unit, I purchased two 512MB units as Christmas gifts so that should tell you something about my level of satisfaction. I also purchased a two year replacement contract since as with any portable device, the risk of damage is greater. If I could put something on a wish list it would be that Samsung include a case and neckstrap with the unit as mine did not come with those items. Definitely one of the better mp3 units I've seen out there!

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I was so undecided between getting this Samsung vs. the iPod Nano. Going with the Apple felt 'comfortable' as they are everywhere and my kids both have one. Problem I had with Apple products is that there is no FM Tuner (biggie); and I also hate the little 'roadblocks' that Apple places on music file movement between programs (another biggie). My final reason for choosing the Samsung is that I've NEVER had a bad product with their label on it.

Now onto my general thoughts on the YP-T7z: 1 gig, color screen, multiple adjustment options such as full band EQ, Bass Boost, 3D effect adjust, Surround adjust. This Samsung is simply amazing when it comes to sound tayloring. Earbuds are adequate however a larger driver phone really sets off all the adjustments you can do. Battery life is fair I really wish this ran on a AAA vs. the rechargable ION. Look for 5-6 hours of MP3 and about 10 hours of FM usage. Product fit and finish is A+++. Locate and remember where the reset button is, I connected mine to my wife's older (slow) laptop and, while the file swapping worked, the unit had to be reset before it would operate again (just FYI).

Highly recommend this product if you want to avoid the iPod cattle call.

After losing my Sony NW-E505 =( I decided to get this Samsung product for a refreshing change. I'm glad I did! You might not agree from the picture, but it's very beautifully designed...A+ for craftsmanship! The screen measures 1.2" diagonally (which I frowned upon at first) but it's actually an adequate size for viewing photos. However, it's just a little extra feature to sweeten this baby up...Samsung clearly did not try to make it a grand bling-bling thing. You can view photos while listening to music, but there's no slideshow feature (you have to manually flip through the photo album). Bummer, but I can live with that just fine. The navigation is a little weird at first, but after 30 minutes of messing around with it and referencing the online user manual it was totally user-friendly. In fact, it's almost like navigation around your typical cell-phone. When you listen to music and have to stop or turn the device off, it will pick up where it stopped when you turn the player on again! Neat-o! Someone said the headphones are horrible, but I thought it was pretty good in terms of sound. It's just annoying in that it falls out of your ears easily. There's also a drag-n-drop feature, which is great. I'm not into playlists, so I haven't bothered with that feature yet. The radio feature is always a plus! Though it works just fine, I thought the Sony had slightly better reception...well, I guess that's not really relevant. In terms of battery life, I measured it out to be a little over 9 hr. This sucks compared to my old Sony because the Sony lasts waaay longer than 9 hrs, but I guess that is another shortcoming I'm willing to overlook. Lastly, when connecting or disconnecting the USB cable to the player, you must use extra force (it's OOOKayyyyyy) or else it'll never work...

Update 2/25/07:

Wow...I love this samsung even more. I accidentally left it in the laundry machine and it survived! Now, I'm not saying that it will survive a second time, but at least you're given a little leeway for carelessness.

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iHome iH11 Alarm Clock with Dock for iPod (Pink)

• SPACESAVER ALARM CLOCK FOR IPODPINK CHARGES/PLAYS

Hi Folks, Let me update some of you about the confusion regarding this product. I have just phoned iHome and they gave me some new info. Look on the bottom of your unit,if your model num.says ih110b....you have the unit with NO remote and, a Radio. If you have model ih 11 then you Do have a remote and NO radio. I just purchased the model described for this listing,the IH 11 and I got the IH110b. I wanted the remote and got none. If you can not return yours to where you bought it from, and want the other model you can call iHome at 1-800-288-2792. If my store does not have unit unit I wanted originally, They told me I can send it back to them and they will send me back the correct unit. I hope this was not tooooo confusing. Thanks.

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This is a good Ipod alarm clock that does everything it advertises. I have to say, however, that for an extra $10-$15 dollars more the Sony Dream Machine (ICF-C7iP) does everything the iHome does but also has FM/AM radio, a larger and more attractive display, a smaller size, automatic time setting and two alarms that can be set for weekdays/weekends which makes it worth the extra to me.

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It does everything it says it's supposed to...plays the radio, plays my Ipod (Itouch). Sound is decent (what do you expect out of a little box for a clock radio?), but...no presets for the radio? That's about the dumbest thing I've ever heard. So I'm supposed to scroll through all the stations any time I want to change my mind on a station. I don't know about you, but there's about 5-6 stations that I consistently listen to and will change around when a radio is playing something I don't want to hear. Regardless of it being a clock radio where at my bedside I wouldn't be changing the station, if I bought this to go on my desk or something like that, then it would be completely pointless in my opinion. So if you really don't care about changing the station ever or scrolling through it is no big deal or you never will listen to the radio because you're only going to use this for your IPOD anyway, then you can make your decision. Just remember too that the sound is just okay.

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This Alarm clock is great, it has all the features I want: it plays my iPod loud enough for me to hear it in the morning. It also is a great speaker system in and of itself. The one problem is that when you set an alarm for a certain time (let's say 7:30 am) it doesn't start playing your iPod for a little bit (until around 7:30 and 30 seconds), but this problem has an easy solution set your alarm to sound 1 minute earlier (7:29 am)! I recommend also setting your alarm on your iPod as well as on the iHome. Overall, this product is to use and I am so far enjoying it. Additionally, the remote control is an amazing feature, you'll find yourself using the remote for snoozing in the morning. GREAT PRODUCT and it looks good too!!

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This is a good little iPod dock. Flaw in that it is on the same frequency as the remote for my Direct TV. When I use my Direct TV remote it turns on the iHome. It works pretty well, other than that.

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Onkyo TX-NR708 7.2-Channel Network Home Theater Receiver (Black)

• 110 Watts per Channel at 8 ohms, 20 Hz?20 kHz, 0.08%, 2 Channels Driven, FTC
• HDMI (Version 1.4a to Support 3D and Audio Return Channel
• Network Capability for Streaming Audio Files
• 7 HDMI Inputs (1 Front/6 Rear) and 1 Output
• HDMI Video Upscaling to 1080p with Faroudja DCDi Cinema

I've really been enjoying my 708. It runs cool enough to be fine inside my tv console with the door closed. Another thing I like is it comes with RIHD (disabled by default) which basically means it talks to my Samsung TV that also has RIHD. I can control the AVR volume with my tv remote. The TV automatically turns off it's own speakers and outputs sound to the 708 if the 708 is on. Otherwise, it just uses it's own speakers. Also, if I turn off my tv it automatically turns off the 708 for me.

Networking with Windows 7 was a breeze as well. All I had to do was make sure Windows Media Player allowed the 708 to use it and I was good to go.

Getting internet radio was also easy. I didn't have to do anything special to get it to work. It's nice to be able to listen to net radio without having my computer turned on. vTuner is nice since it has several local stations. I've always loved Pandora and this makes it that much better.

Switching inputs does take a few seconds but that's not really something I care about and wouldn't have really noticed if people hadn't asked about it due to issues with previous Onkyo models.

I use my fat PS3 to watch Blu-Ray movies and they look the same as they did before which is great. It seems to do surround sound just fine through the PS3 as well using Linear PCM. The analog tv signal also looks the same as it did before.

I haven't hooked up my PC through this yet but will get around to it and update my review.

Edit: RIHD has started causing problems. With it enabled I've had times when I would turn on the receiver and get no sound from the speakers. The only things that worked to get sound from the receiver again was to either A)unplug it B) turn off RIHD.

I've also had Pandora lock up the NET/USB input. It would get stuck at 100% buffering. With RIHD on, the only way to get use of the input back was to unplug the receiver and plug it back in. I now have RIHD permanently disable because it's just not worth the hassle.

I've now hooked up my PC through the optical input and it sounds great. The HDMI input is worthless though. My video card outputs to the 16 x 9 resolution my HDTV uses but the 708 is still scaling it to a 16 x 10 ratio which makes the tv cut off some of the top and bottom of the screen. I just went ahead and plugged the computer video back into the tv and only use the 708 for the sound and that works fine.

Buy Onkyo TX-NR708 7.2-Channel Network Home Theater Receiver (Black) Now

Synopsis: The TX-NR708 is a great value in this price range. It has THX Select 2, three 7.2 sound fields; they include 7.2 discrete HD/EX, Dolby z, and Audyssey DSX wide. There are connections for up to 11 speakers (excluding the 2 subs. Note that the 7.2 specification means that there are 2 preamp outs for 2 powered subwoofers). There are more than 50 listening modes to obtain the perfect sound for your room and source. For video processing, there are a total of 7 HDMI inputs (along with 2 component, 4 S-Video, and 5 composite inputs) 6 in the back, 1 in the front. Digital audio inputs: 3 coax and 2 optical. The remote is easy to use and setup for your other components. Menus are relatively straight forward, though there is a learning curve, depending on complexity of your particular setup. This receiver also has network connectivity with Upnp, and a webpage interface, making it simple to change fields without your remote, enhancing the TX-NR708 network's usability. With the release of future firmware updates, one can envision Onkyo adding features that will keep your home theater cutting edge. The power rating is 110 watts per channel, 8 ohm, @ .08% harmonic distortion, providing this receiver with enough power and clean sound for a small to medium sized room.

Setup

If you have all HDMI inputs, setting up the TX-NR708 is a breeze, given you already have your speaker wires run, of course. The binding posts are high quality and have a smooth feeling and, unlike some other receivers, it's easy to tell when the wires are secured. Since this receiver has binding posts for 11 speakers, connecting the speakers would have been confusing if I had not first researched the new Audyssey DSX and Dolby z sound enhancements, which are simply awesome in my view (more on that later). The drawback is that you need 4 more speakers to enjoy them. I extended wires and labeled them for testing later. If you do this make sure that you do not allow the wires to short. Tape them until you are ready to connect your speakers.

My setup, speaker wise, is nothing special. I use 2 large generic 3-way speakers, placed on either side of a 6' entertainment center for my fronts (not sure who makes them, but they have good balance and frequency response). A Polk CSi3 center channel sits above my 50" LG plasma TV. I advise you not to skimp on the front and center speakers. For surrounds and Audyssey DSX wides, two pairs of Sony SS-B1000 speakers serve nicely. For the heights, I thought I'd try a pair of Pyramid 4080 budget speakers, with wall mounts included. It was a perfect solution for the z channels, and they go down to a solid 100 Hz after being broken in. A BIC America V-1220 12-Inch powered sub provides all the low end punch I'll ever need. Placement for the `wide' and the `high' speakers can be tricky. Perfect placement (according to this diagram: is generally not an option. From the diagram I mathematically calculated placement for my room, and was able to place them pretty close to where their sweet spots were supposed to be. The heights (Dolby z speakers) are about 5 feet above and 3 feet wide of my fronts, while the wide speakers (Audyssey DSX) are placed at ear level, about 4 and a half feet toward the center of the room away and 3 feet wide of the fronts.

Listening and Watching

The first thing I noticed when I powered up the receiver was an improvement in my satellite TV picture, especially in the text at the top of the screen. Next, I ran the Audyssey speaker setup and it balanced out all the disparate speakers perfectly into a seamless sound field. I popped in "The Transporter" movie (DVD), and tested the new sound fields. They were both awesome. "IP Man" is a good movie to test the z channels, as well, especially the final fight scene. The Dolby z field makes your room seem bigger than it actually is, expanding the front sound stage, while the Audyssey DSX field seems to bring the front action closer to you with more detail. At least that is the best way I can describe it. No doubt others will describe their sound experience differently with respect to these new fields. Whatever the case, these new sound dimensions provide a definite enhancement, in my view. And the discrete 7-channel DTS-HD Master in "Shoot `Em Up" does justice to that new Blu-ray sound format, as does "Hellboy II: The Golden Army."

The Dolby z field works well with THX and gives you a lot of versatility when it comes to sound conditioning. Perhaps in a future firmware update, Onkyo will allow you to put the z and width channels together, like they already do with some of their high end receivers. If so, one might expect a net reduction in the power output, since more speakers will be running at once, and the power will have to be divided between them; thus, it would be equivalent to 9.2 or even 11.2 surround sound coming in the form of new listening modes.

Even though I only listened to Winamp radio and network radio, the sound quality was superb. I listen to jazz mostly, so I cannot comment on rock or other genres. Additionally, one would expect the sound quality of CD's and higher quality input sources to be even better.

Ease of Setup: Menus.

For the most part, I found the TX-NR708 menus to be pretty straight forward. I had no problem assigning components to my inputs of choice, with one exception. That exception being the sound input for an HDMI source when it does not come from the HDMI connector. For some reason the TX-NR708 does not let you do it from their main I/O Assign menu; you can only do it by using the "home' button on the remote while in that particular source mode. This might be necessary, for example, if you want to use computer motherboard digital coax sound with your HDMI video card output. Since Audyssey did such a good job setting up my speakers, I did not need to change any of those settings. Keep in mind that the Sub crossover frequency is set automatically in accordance with the rest of your speakers. You can, however, adjust the LFE crossover setting manually if you want. There are menus for THX and other sound conditioning (such as Audyssey EQ and Dynamic Volume), as well, and you'll need to experiment with those to find out what best suits your particular listening preferences. There is also a menu for programming your remote, eliminating the need to reference a manual for a code list.

Remote Control

The remote control that comes with the TX-NR708 is very good. The buttons are well organized and, unlike my last receiver, it is the only one I need for the basic listening functions of all my components. Programming this remote for other components, such as your TV, satellite/cable, and Blu-ray player is made simple by an onscreen menu. And once you're all set up, the pre-programmed macro buttons simplify operation even more. Moreover, this remote is a great improvement over the one that came with my Dish Network receiver; the TX-NR708 remote is more powerful than the Dish remote, eliminating the need to aim and press a button multiple times to get the receiver to respond.

Network

The network features that come with this receiver are sweet. Being a computer technician by trade, I appreciate the added functionality. Most users probably will use the default DHCP setting for assigning IP addresses, but you have the option to set them manually as well. Be aware that it is a wired connection, so you'll need an access point, or a bridged computer and a switch to make use of it, unless you already have an available network cable wired to your entertainment center. In many cases, the v-tuner feature will make it unnecessary to use an external FM antenna to listen to local stations. Add Pandora, audio streaming from your computer, and other services, and you have just about everything you could ever want from a network connection for playing music. One thing I really love is the web page interface for accessing network fields on the TX-NR708. This makes it easy to change network settings via a computer keyboard, rather than the remote, which can make setup much quicker and simpler.

Heat and Power Consumption

The receiver runs cooler than any other receiver I have ever owned. Nevertheless, I placed a small 12V computer fan atop for additional cooling. With that extra small fan my TX-NR708 runs as cool as a cucumber. One thing I did notice, though, is that the receiver stays warm, even when turned off, or when in the standby mode, indicating that it is consuming power (probably because the network is still active in the standby mode). So in order to conserve energy, I have it plugged in to a surge protector strip along with my TV, and turn them both off at night.

Summary

I believe you would be hard-pressed to find a better receiver at this price anywhere. It is packed with features that even many higher priced receivers do not have. Whether you like listening to music or watching movies, the TX-NR708 has most everything the home theater owner will ever need--and then some. I highly recommend it and give it a solid 4.5 stars.

Read Best Reviews of Onkyo TX-NR708 7.2-Channel Network Home Theater Receiver (Black) Here

I won't go into details; I actually have not gone into much of what this receiver can do.

I set this up in one evening with 5 HDMI sources and 1 Component source as well as set up the internet radio, AM/FM radio, DLNA connection to media on a home server, and the automatic tuning. All of this goes to a single HDMI (upconverted) out to a 46" TV. My set up is a 5.1 system at the moment.

I almost had no problems installing the above and have connections to spare. I have not messed with any settings yet (so all is at the 'default' setting) and the sound is amazing. I previously had a Sony entry level receiver (fried by lightning) and had spent hours trying to set that up to get a decent sound; never understood why it was so hard to just turn it on, play a movie, and listen.

The On Screen Display is a God-send, although this also has my one complaint so far, it is weird that it only seems to come on intermittently can't figure this out, I think it only is available with certain inputs or something? One other small complaint is that the Harmony Remote I have does not have some of the keys mapped correctly and so I am having to program this manually (but this isn't Onkyo's fault).

Anyway, I highly recommend, if this is in your price range (I paid $550), you'll have a ton of connections, lots of features (ie ethernet connectivity and OSD), and the sound is great without much fussing.

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The NR-708 was a fairly robust receiver for this price range, and I was very satisfied with its performance, features and functionality overall...until it became unuseable after 4 months. At first it began switching inputs at random. But I was able to simply revert back to my original input choice. Then within a week it all the sudden became completely unresponsive to the remote or to any inputs on the front panel. In fact, it would not even shut off, and the problem could not be resolved by a reset or reboot. The reciever is now completely useless, and unfortunately I am finding several others online reporting the same problem.

February 1, 2010 update: My HR-21 problem appears to have been corrected by a DirecTV software update. Today both DirecTV channel 103 and 106 work through the Onyko TX-NR708 HDMI connection.

I bought this TX-NR708 to replace an excellent performing TX-SR804 to gain the new 3D capability with DirecTV's added 3D offerings. However, it will not pass the DirecTV's 3D HDMI output to my new Panasonic TC-PX65VT25 Plamsa. If I connect the DirecTV receiver directly to the Plasma input it works as advertized. However when I go through the TX-NR708 it produces two side by side frames much like the old stereoptican viewers my Grandmother use to have.

I called Onyko Tech Support to see what I was doing wrong. Unfortunately, the Tech said there is a known problem working with DirecTV 3D receivers. No estimate when a solution will come out. If you are a DirecTV subscriber stay away from this until DirecTv or Onyko finds a fix.

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Pyle Vehicle Radio Player and Speaker Package for Home, Studio, Car, Van, Truck, Mobile etc. - PLRCS

• PLRCS19U - AM/FM 2 Band Radio; Anti-Theft Pullout System; Digital Display
• AUX Inout Front Panel; Built-In USB Port; RCA Preamp Output; 4 Channel Output
• MP3 Compatible; Auto Antenna Lead; Night Illumination
• Auto Antenna Lead 200 Watts Ouput; Cassette Player; Clock Function
• PL53BL - Non-fatiguing Butyl Rubber Surround; 1'' High Temperature ASV Voice Coil; Standard 5.25'' Size Fits Oem Locations; Blue Poly Injection Cone; 20 oz Magnet Structure; 1'' Neodymium Film Dome Midrange; 3/4'' Piezo Tweeter

I got this Pyle to replace an old Pioneer that stopped working in my car. The Pyle fit perfectly, and was fully compatible with all the old connectors, which was great when it came to installation. What's even better, though, is that this stereo has many new features that my old one didn't have, like MP3 capability and a digital display. I actually don't see any reason why anyone would buy a Pioneer replacement, because they're much more expensive this Pyle has everything I want and need.

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Sony Ericsson Satio (Idou) Quad-band Cell Phone - Unlocked

Excellent product, I'm glad to have acquired this cell phone, even though it was the first time I bought something through Amazon it was a good experience

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Samsung T10 4 GB Slim Portable Media Player with Bluetooth (Black)

• Slim and robust 4 GB multimedia player
• Built-in Bluetooth 2.0: compatible with Bluetooth headphones and speakers for wireless stereo playback
• FM radio; text viewer
• USB 2.0 connectivity for charging and transferring files
• Windows XP and Windows Vista compatible

I have had this player for about 1 month now. Have only used it for music so far. Had issue getting one computer to recognize the player while a different computer had no issues. Level I tech support was not very helpful (wanted the player sent back for repair even though it was a Windows problem), and level II support quite knowledgeable (make sure you have the .net updates installed they ask you to install all optional Windows updates). It was nice to actually have a real person answer the tech support phone # with very short wait.

I had wanted to get a Sansa, but could not understand why players purchased in the USA have no Asian language support, but if you buy a Sansa in say Hong Kong then you can buy it with Asian language support. They also refuse to provide that option through firmware upgrade. The T10 automatically displayed correctly the song names in my music library that were in Chinese.

Pros:

Great music quality great, and even better battery life (3 day car trip without recharging). The player is stylish, small, and very lightweight.

Many ways to sync using included software, Windows Media Player, or drag and drop from Explorer.

Cons:

No easy way to manage playlists. If you create playlists in the included software, all songs in the playlist are transferred to the same folder. Say you created 3 folders in the T10 to manage music, and a song happens to be in 2 playlists -> this song would be copied twice to the 2 folders. Of course, this eats up memory fast. Why use folders? Because I like to organize my music, and also to avoid filename conflicts from older CD's which have ripped songs with filenames like 'track 1', etc.

Another feature that would be nice is to be able to play all songs in a genre or master folder, instead of having to drill down to the album and only playing that album. For a long car trip, I would prefer that the T10 plays multiple albums without need of user intervention.

Miss the feature in iTunes where I could set up sync profiles to sync different set of songs to the iPOD depending on what portion of my library I wanted to take.

Recommendation:

Definitely a good player worth buying.

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Other reviews (including a great review by Mariofrancis1 on youtube.com) have provided very useful information on this player. The elements on which I found it more difficult to find information were the voice audio elements of players. So, after testing the T10, here's how it performs on that score:

(i) fm radio T10 finds stations automatically or manually with ease, but the autosearch is not as quick as that of the Zune. Many stations are crystal clear, but others are a little scratchy. Another player with fm radio is Sony, whose player also works well.

(ii) podcasts No problems here. These can be set up via subscription so that the latest podcasts are downloaded automatically as soon as the player is connected to the laptop at lightning speed deleting the earlier casts, but not other files. The number of downloads per podcast can be individualized for each podcast for the last 2, 5, 10 (etc) feeds.

(iii) Playback of secure/protected WMA I considered this element essential so that I could borrow free eAudiobooks from my local library (via Netlibrary) rather than pay to download them from commercial websites. Here the T10 performed well, although you do have to route your downloaded eAudiobook through Windows Media Player before transferring it to the T10. If you don't, the files remain locked and cannot be transferred to the player. The T10 also has a bookmarking function (not available on all WMA-compatible players), which means you can bookmark your Audiobook, go off to play some music and come back to the exact place on your Audiobook where you left off.

(iv) Long battery life at 30-35 hours playback time, it should survive most intercontinental plane trips.

PS Note regarding netlibrary compatibility: iPod and Zune do not support the protected WMA. Sony sales reps (online and phone) provide conflicting advice re their A818 on this score. See this link for more on WMAand bookmarking-compatible devices and how to use netlibrary.

http://www.oclc.org/audiobooks/techspecs/devices.htm.

Read Best Reviews of Samsung T10 4 GB Slim Portable Media Player with Bluetooth (Black) Here

I have owned almost 10 iPods, and afterall, they are iPods; you really can't beat them in terms of their user-interface, design and ease of use. On top of that, I barely have any complaint over the iPhone, it's the Jesus phone, for Christ's sake! (pun intended)

But then on my recent trip to HK, I picked up a Samsung T10 to hold some new music that I have ripped from my old CD collection. Because if you sync your iPhone with another computer, all the songs residing on the iPhone will be erased, so basically I just couldn't add new music to my iPhone and I wanted to get a budget MP3 player.

Anyway, I was overwhelmed by the features and qualities of the T10, besides the so so UI (Apple is better on this). First of all, the sound quality blows, really blows. The clarity is so much better than all the iPods I have ever owned. That said, I am using the same crappy Apple headphones. The bass is deep and vibrant. The T10 has an FM radio with auto presets, voice recording, Bluetooth connection to my BT stereo headphones which enables me to listen to music wirelessly. The best of all, is that you can record FM radio broadcast and the T10 instantly turns it into an MP3.

I am so giving up listening to my music on the iPods/iPhone for this little wonder.

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Unlike the Sansa piece of junk we bought in October, this Samsung mp3 player is a solid item, with many more capabilities, and built-in durability.

The unit also has the added advantage of being Linux compatible, as it recognizes all unix-based sound codecs.

For a 4 gigabyte unit, with a one-year manufacturer warranty (not only 90 days), turn to this fine Samsung unit.

We did, and I only wish we'd saved ourselves the aggravation, and bought the Samsung model the first time.

Samsung T10 4 GB Slim Portable Media Player (Black)

I've just had "Sammy" a couple of days but I'm hooked. I purchased it solely for music but may play with some of the other features eventually.

It's not quite perfect:

* I haven't yet found a case for it (but a small $10 Case Logic case for a digital camera works fine for now);

* FM radio is a bit scratchy but I can live with it;

* There's a lanyard strap hole but no lanyard (what would it cost them? 4 cents?);

* It will only charge via the proprietary USB cable (but I'm not likely to spend 30 hours in the woods with it so it's no problem to recharge it).

But darn close:

* Great design, seemingly sturdy, fun to just poke and discover all the features;

* Intuitive I'm no gear head and this is my first mp3 player but I managed to organize and load songs without consulting the online manual;

* Easy navigation folks complained that the screen on the T9 was too sensitive but I haven't had any problems with the T10 and find it easy to move around the menus;

* Great sound, includes both preset and custom EQ settings. I don't care for ear buds but several different headphones sound sweet;

* The sample videos that it came with look great;

* Nice price.

It's exactly what I wanted and more. Very much recommended.

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Braun BNC010WH-RC Digital Alarm Clock Radio White

• Braun's 2012 digital alarm clock radio
• features updated technologies without losing the design discipline of Braun's golden era
• top quality, scratch-resistant LCD screens
• FM/AM radio with 6 preset function and built-in speaker
• blue LED backlight

The physical design of this alarm clock is beautiful, as would be expected from Braun. However, I've encountered a couple of major flaws that I can't overlook and am very disappointed in. First off, the snooze function does not work when the radio is being used for the alarm! This being the CLOCK RADIO version of this product, one would only expect to be able to use the snooze function with any alarm setting, but when I hit snooze this morning, the radio just continued to play. To me, this basically makes me feel as though I wasted $100, which is already reaching the upper ends of what I'd be willing to pay for an alarm clock. Secondly, the screen is WAY too dark. I like the idea of having an alarm clock that doesn't cause a glow throughout the room, however, you have to reach over and press the light button any time you want to see the clock, night OR day!

On the positive end of things, the physical design really is excellent. The clock is small, slim and minimal. The snooze and alarm on/off buttons are a very practical and clever design that makes it easy to know when the alarm is or is not set. However these positives do not outweigh the significant oversights that have me contemplating returning the clock for one that actually does what alarm clock radio should do.

If you want a good looking alarm clock that reliably goes off when you need it to, this may be for you. But if you want to use the clock to tell time without activating the light, and want to have the option of hitting the snooze button when waking up to the radio, sadly I'd suggest looking elsewhere.

UPDATE: After receiving this response from Braun, I'll be returning the clock, although I do appreciate them being up front about it (even though it would have been nice to see this clarified prior to making the purchase):

"Thank you for your below enquiry and apologies for this inconvenience.

The clock's snooze function designed to work only with the "beep" function. If this is an important function for you then I would advise you to obtain credit for this clock as this function cannot be altered. Once again we apologies for this inconvenience. If you have any further query do not hesitate to contact us."

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I needed a white AM/FM radio no more than 7 inches long and 3 inches wide to fit in a bathroom wall cabinet, to be out of the way when not in use,in our newly remodeled bathroom. The Braun was the perfect fit. Sleek, bright white with a digital display, and both battery & DC operated.The problems started when I turned it on. First, it does not come with a DC outlet adapter. I had to scour the house and find one, as this is optional.Next, when it self-programmed, it did not locate most of the AM stations in my area, and I am not in a rural area....ever hear of Brooklyn, NY? The digital display is dim most times, so it would not be good for use as an alarm clock in a dark room; but it does light for 3 seconds when the button is pressed.As I don't use it as an alarm clock this is not a problem. Efforts to control the volume are futile, no matter which way you roll the wheel, it does what it wants, and getting it where I want is a challenge. It allows pre-settings, which works for me. And $100 is too much to generally pay for an AM/FM radio.

I have since learned to live with my Braun. I found FM stations that play the AM stations, I couldn't find.I leave the volume on one setting which is OK most of the time. The FM receptions is decent for the 2 or 3 stations I prefer during my 15 minutes a day getting cleaned up and ready to go. So, I love the design and have come to accept the other flaws...not for everyone, but OK for me.

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Milion D2223 2 Din Detachable 7'' HD Car dvd stereo Radio Player Touch Screen/button *60Days Money b

• 7 Inch Digital 2 DIN Car Stereo Player/NO Bluetooth Function
• DetachableFully Motorized Slide Down Control Panel
• Built-In USB Port/SD Slot
• Compatible Format:AVI/DVD/DVD+R/DVD-R/DVD-RW/VCD/MP3/CD/CD-RW/JPEG
• Effect Compensation: POP ROCK CLASS JAZZ FLAT

The cd player came on time it,just don't have a sub button to cut them on or off but its a good unit thank's and can't wait to get more stuff from you

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Great stereo and is just as described. Works fine and I use it everyday. It aounda great and looks great.

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I wasnt to sure about this radio when i first bought it because of the name brand and no reviews, but after installation and use this radio works great! Great color great picture and great quality! The only thing i dont like is when you have an aux plugged in thats not video and just sound, it just shows a blue screen but besides that this thing is well worth the low price!

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I hve had it for a mnths and it works great easy to install..Nice colors..Great sounds,plays all types of eve..And when u get in the car and u forget the screen inside ..It will b to remind u...

Les comento que compre este radio y a las 2 horas de haberlo instalado se puso la pantalla azul, no funciono mas el dvd, ni el aux, ni el puerto usb, solo apareció la pantalla con 6 estaciones de radio, ni siquiera el menú completo, lo reporte indicando que este radio fue instalado en un taller especializados en MP3 donde instalan y venden todo tipo de equipos de audio y video, porque no es por instalación, el radio esta dañado, para mi mala suerte volverlo a enviar me cuesta mas de lo que pague por traerlo y casi el mismo valor que me devolverían por lo que pague el radio$152 les escribo para que busquen otra opción, este radio es chino y la pantalla cuando la sacas tiene unas vinchas de metal frágil que se doblan y se pueden dañar de sacar la pantalla desmontable cuando se lo requiera, en fin fue una muy mala compra si pudiera calificar no le daría ninguna estrella pero hay que ponerla para que registre el comentario..

Tell them that you buy this radio and 2 hours of installing it got the blue screen, but the dvd did not work, neither the aux or usb port, only the screen appeared with 6 radio stations, not even the full menu, report indicating that the radio was installed in a specialized workshop where installed MP3 and sell all kinds of audio and video, because it is for installation, the radio is damaged, for my bad luck to resend it costs me more than to pay for bringing and almost the same value that I would return it to pay the radio $ 152 I am writing to seek another option, this radius is Chinese and the screen when you get has some headbands brittle metal that bend and can be damaged removing the removable screen when required, in the end it was a very bad buy if you could qualify would not give no stars but must be put to record the comment ..

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Satechi SP3-Box Docking Alarm Clock Radio Speaker for iPhone 4S, 4, 3GS, 3G, iPod Touch 4G, iPod Nan

• Made for iPhone and iPod: Alarm Clock and Radio Speaker System with 2" speakers
• LCD backlit screen with dimmer displays time, volume & function features
• Built-in alarm clock activates iPhone or iPod and FM radio station with Snooze & Nap function
• Fully-functional remote controls both your speaker & iPhone or iPods
• Compatible with iPod nano G1/G2/G3/G4/G5/G6, iPod Touch G1/G2/G3/G4, iPod Classic 80Gb/160Gb and iPhone 4S/4/3Gs/3G (works with bumper on)

I really like this product, it does everything I want from it with ease. It looks great, sounds pretty good, charges my iTouch and is fairly simple to set up (instructions always pretty important) and comes with a really nice looking remote too.

The display is clear and easy to understand and I love the fact it is a radio as well as a docking station. The panel that displays the time has a backlight with 3 dimmer settings, dim, low-bright and brightest. So, if you cannot sleep in anything but complete darkness, you will love the dimmer option.

The volume can be as quiet or as loud as you like. I have it quiet and find it a really nice way of waking up. I am using it in my bedroom and my office and sound quality is always good.

It took me about 5 seconds to set the time, and another 5 seconds to set the alarm. That is just awesome! There are also 2 alarm settings, al1 and al2. I can set one alarm to my iPod and the other one to the radio. I haven't bothered to use the snooze yet. There are also annoying nature sounds you can set for the alarm. The one called water makes me pee.

The real surprise for this speaker is that I tried it with my brothers iPhone 3G, and we were able to charge the iPhone and listen to music. The remote is also working. But, there is a quirk. First, iPhone warns you that the accessory is not made to work with iPhone. The thing is it works in the 3G network, however when we switched it to edge network, it made weird noises. So, as long as we kept the iPhone in 3G network, the speakers worked perfectly.

I recommend it to pretty much anyone that wants to be woken up by their own style of music rather than whatever the radio has to offer. I will definitely buy another one for my brother this Christmas.

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the price can't be beat on this: the speakers sound a lot better than what is offered elsewhere in the same price range, the functionality is simple and straight forward. the unit automatically plays from the iPod app on the iPhone but with a simple switch to 3rd party applications like Pandora or last.fm, it works with those too.

Read Best Reviews of Satechi SP3-Box Docking Alarm Clock Radio Speaker for iPhone 4S, 4, 3GS, 3G, iPod Touch 4G, iPod Nan Here

Looking at the reviews, I called the Satechi customer

service to make sure the speakers would work with iPhone 4. They confirmed that

they upgraded the unit to "works with iPhone". They also told me that

it would work with the bumper, which was a selling point for me, because I

didn't want to take it out all the time. It came with a white clean package

that said "Made for iPod, iPhone". Set up was very easy, basically

plug and play. I could able to plug the iPhone with bumper, no problems there. No confusing controls, I just looked at the manual to setup the

alarm. Sound quality is pretty good, can fill the whole bedroom. I put it on the bedside drawers, now I can listen to Pandora while I

read my Kindle and wake up to my music on the iPhone 4 instead of all the

time same alarm sound on iPhone. Overall, I am very happy with my purchase and

hope it will last long.

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I spent several months searching for a clock/radio compatible with the iPhone 3G that was under $100, and came up with this. I have never heard of Satechi, and don't know anyone that has, so I was a little worried about ordering this.

When it arrived I unpacked it and was quite impressed by the build quality. It is a sturdy box shape with two large dials on top and two rows of buttons in between. It came with several inserts for the different generations of iPods, unfortunately there was no insert for iPhone/iTouch.

Pros:

1. Compatible with iPhone 3G. Charges and plays. No interference has been experienced yet.

2. Packed with features:

Two alarms

Alarm can be radio, iPod, or nature sounds

Nap alarm 10-60 minute timer so you can nap without resetting your alarm times

Sleep timer fall asleep to you music and it will power itself down

3 light settings for the LED front High, Low, and off

Full feature remote Can access iPod/iPhone controls and menus with the remote

3. And, finally, above average sound quality

Cons:

1. No insert for iTouch/iPhone Not a big deal for me because my iPhone is in a silicone case, so there is not a lot of movement

2. Sound quality at low volumes While I listed above average sound quality as a "pro", it has decent sound quality when it is turned up. At lower volume, the highs seemed to be drowned out.

Overall, I would recommend this product to anyone. Based on amazon and ebay reviews, the SP2 is a far superior product to the similar SP1.

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This works great, just as one could hope for, the only thing I don't like is you cannot adjust the volume for the alarm. It's always full blast, It about gives me a heart attack when I wake up when it goes off, so I cannot use it for the soul purpose I intended when I bought it.

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Eton S350DL AM/FM Shortwave Deluxe Radio Receiver (Black)

• Modern, high-performance field radio combined with classic styling, rugged construction, and military-style controls
• Accurate tuning across the AM, FM, and shortwave bands
• Features large tuning knob and a concentric, independent fine-tuning control knob
• Stereo line-level output, and jacks for supplementary AM, FM and shortwave antennas
• Can be powered with the included AC adapter, or via four "D" or four "AA" batteries

This is an improved version, for fifty dollars more, than the Grundig S350. It comes with nice headphones; it has stereo sound for the headphones; the 99-dollar Grundig has only mono through the headphone input; the speaker on the Deluxe is slightly bigger; but most significantly, the Deluxe version has been changed so that it does not drift away from the selected channel the way the old version did. Only a fastidious radio lover will want to spend the extra money since the drifting problem (I own both models) is quite minimal and doesn't in my case affect reception adversely.

This is a fun radio, easy to use, has a big stereo sound and has strong FM reception, the best you can find with a good speaker. The only better FM reception you'll find is in the Kaito 1103 but the Kaito has a tiny speaker.

For those who are disgruntled and disappointed with this radio, may I suggest that environmental limitations or areas that are "hostile to radio reception" can sometimes be so insurmountable that no radio can overcome them.

Post Script: The Kaito 1103 now has a cousin, the Kaito 1107 (currently available as the Degen 1107) that has equal reception as the 1103 but is, like the Grundig S350 DL, an analog radio. It's fifty bucks and has a bigger speaker than the 1103. So for a hundred dollars less, you can get similar performance as the Grundig in the Degen/Kaito DE1107.

Update: I've noticed that two AM stations, 1150 and 980, get overloaded with two stations blaring at the same time. Lack of filter, lack of SSB, AM reception that is "too good." I'm not sure. My Kaito 1103 and Grundig G4000, both compact radios with SSB feature, have excellent separation and do not overload. Of the two, the Grundig G4000 has superior AM and a bigger, warmer speaker.

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This S350DL is everything I need in a portable radio. Powered by D-cells which seem to last forever, the FM audio is fabulous for a $150 radio and long distant night time AM band reception is simply great. Just tune the well lit LCD display to a frequency and if there is anything on it worth listening to it's there.

The selectivity is tremendous with the bandwidth set to narrow. I live almost next door to a powerful station on 820KHz and like to listen to a weak one several hundred miles away on 810KHz, not a problem. No interference from the strong station.

My scant and no doubt obsolete communications theory always held that for great radio reception, double or even triple conversion receivers were the norm. Now I have a radio advertised with highly sensitive and selective latest state of the art single conversion analog tuner circuitry. What that means, I haven't a clue but I'm impressed.

The only negative thing I've found about the radio so far is that its fine tuning knob has a tendency to jump past the frequency you're trying to tune up to, then, when you tune back down it jumps past on the downside. I've heard this called backlash. Eventually you can get a lock on the exact frequency but it is a minor annoyance. Another thing that takes some getting used to is that I'm so used to push the button scanning type receivers, that rotating an old fashioned tuning knob several turns to get from the high end of a band to the low trys my patience. Overall I'm a happy camper and find this radio's good features far outweigh its bad.

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This radio has excellent features for someone who is either new to shortwave radio or just wanting a simple, user-friendly set of controls. Also perfect for those that like analogue-style controls that would be encountered on older radios. I have the S-350, the model that the S-350DL replaces. For general world band programme listening, this radio is fantastic. Outstanding speaker. Easy to read digital display includes backlight. Includes attenuator. Clock can be set to 24 hour time. Easy to carry anywhere. Robust antenna. Does not support SSB tuning, which you would need to tune in Ham radio. Same radio sold under Tescun name in other parts of the world.

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I've been using this radio for a few days now and really like it. It's above average. Forget the guy that says it has cheap knobs, plastic case, etc. It really does feel sturdy, has good selectivity and pulls in the distant stations as well. The only drawback that I wish this radio would have is some sort of memory for selected stations. But I can easily find my favorites manually. It's a lot of fun and the quality is evident. I would definitely recommend it based on price/quality. Another plus that is lacking in most radios of this type is the big speaker. Most Short Wave radios have a tiny speaker which is really bad. I don't know why they do this??? I would gladly pay more money for a bigger speaker with some sound to it.

I have had quite a few shortwave recievers, and this is by far the best one I've ever had! (Under a thousand dollars). It holds up to abuse, lasts forever on a set of batteries, and has fantastic reception! The "hard" antenna works far better than any other model I've ever owned, and if you take the time to hook up a "soft" antenna, look out you'll get so many signals you will have to use your gain and filter switch to sort them out. I have nothing at all bad to say about this model, infact I now own two! If you want a pocket unit, try the Grundig mini-300, but if you want to listen to shortwave from all over the world, save money on batteries, have crystal clear reception, and ease of use, this is it! It really isn't as bulky as you think, and you'll never regret owning this one!

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Motorola Standard Dock for Motorola ATRIX 4G

It's a dock, it does what its supposed to do. Charges the phone, and lets you easily use your phone as a clock / alarm clock / "radio" (pandora, etc). Has speaker output and that is all. No synching to your computer. One big drawback is that the ones Amazon must have are old. Shipping units from Motorola direct include two docking plates, one for the phone with no case, and one for the phone with the Motorola "ruggedized" case. Apparently however the ruggedized case is not going to be released, it is available from a Chinese website that must have snuck some of them out the back door before Moto pulled the plug. I ordered two of these docks from Amazon and called Moto to get the other dock plate for the ruggedized case. As a one time exception, Moto gave me one of the adapter plates free, and I had to pay for the other one because I "didn't order the docks from Motorola". I thought that was fair enough. Just beware, if you want the dock insert for using your phone in the Moto phone case, don't buy it from here.

This is a great dock for the price. I decided to get this one over the multimedia dock because i feel that i will only be using the dock to charge the phone. Since i also use my phone as an alarm clock the angle and built in widget that turns the phone into a clock is a great feature. I do not have a clock near my bed so this is a great alternative. The dock its self looks great even without the phone in it. The dock also comes with a wall charger, so i now have a spare to take around with me when i travel. Over all this is a great product for the price, and gets the job done if you want just a bed side charging dock, or at the desk a dock to sync up with your PC.

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First of all to all of those who wrote negative reviews: No where does it say in the product description that it can be used to sync with PC and it WILL fit a phone with a case (you simply and easily remove the deck adapter that come with it). You just have to read the directions (which are mostly pictures!).

I think this Dock is exactly what it says and does a pretty nice job of it. I love that the dock screen can be customized and, there's even a port to attach external speakers (on the dock) to make it a small desktop media player.

It's perfect for work where I can easily see the time, date and weather and listen to music I have stored on my phone. Also perfect for home as an alarm clock.

It's a good product. I ordered a second one today.

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When I first got the dock I was disappointed that I could not get it to fit with the case I had on it, however after chatting with Motorola they had me remove the top of the dock. This made it slightly larger and my phone now fits in it snugly.

I will say that this still won't help it fit a large case like an otterbox, but if you are removing your case all the time it is certainly worth a try...

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This dock is very nice except for one very important issue. The majority of people are not going to spend a lot of money on a phone and not put a protective case on the phone. At this point in time, it is very apparent that they only intend this Dock to be used by people who want to risk use of the phone without a case because the phone will not fit into the dock without taking your case off your phone. That is a deal breaker. I still have the dock but intend to send it back. I keep thinking they will be responsible enough to come up with a case, especially when they have 4 different docks for this phone. Not real bright in my opinion.

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RCA RC105 .9 DUAL WAKE CLOCK RADIO

I bought this radio just recently, although not from Amazon, and for a lot less. I needed a dual alarm clock. The radio works okay but you don't get a lot of stations. I'm basically satisfied. I just wanted an alarm clock. The LED display is not overly bright which I like. My only disappointment is that it says you can wake up to music or an alarm. I'd prefer to wake up to an alarm, but the only way you could possibly hear the alarm on this clock/radio is if it came with earphones, and then you still might not be able to hear it. I would have given it four stars had it not been for this flaw. I'd recommend it if you're not looking for a good radio with your alarm clock and/or the capability of waking up to an alarm rather than the radio.

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Grace Digital Audio TUNER PRO IR Stereo Component

• Audio/Video/Electronics
• General Electronics

If you're listening to internet radio on your computer, this is a definite must-buy! I've listened much more to on-line stations now that I don't have to boot up my pc. Connected easily to my wi-fi & my home stereo w/ digital audio, and I've even added wireless connections to other parts of the house w/ some existing speakers I had! Nice addition to the home audio components. One item you need to know: Grace Audio website registration & set-up doesn't work w/ Internet Explorer for some reason; customer service answered my inquiry within a day & advised Mozilla Firefox (which I also use) or Google Chrome. And listen outside the borders... try Australia or Canada! It's not the same old music.

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jWIN JXM133 All Hazard SAME Weather Band Receiver with AM/FM and Dual Alarm Clock

• NOAA Alert
• SAME Technology
• Weather Band & AM/FM Radio
• Dual Alarm (radio or buzzer)
• 3.5mm stereo headphone jack

I've had this for about 3 months now. For the price this is good buy I wanted something that didn't look like it was from 1980 and still had defeatable alarms. I've got that here, and I can disable everything, even tornado warnings if i wanted to. It's probably worth mentioning, because I haven't seen it mentioned elsewhere, that even if you disable all alarms, the NWS can still send a NWR Activation signal and set your alarm off... they don't do this very often, but can be confusing, especially when you've disabled everything!

The build quality could be better. You have to be careful how you push the directional buttons or it might think you've pushed left or right when you were pushing up... you eventually get the hang of it, but it should be built better. It's a little goofy going into the menus to se the alarms, but they can be enabled or disabled with the side switch pretty easily -it's not a deal breaker but kind of strange. I should also point out that the display is the reverse of what amazon shows in the photos. All in all, the unit works well, looks better than alternatives that cost more and has served us well for many sever storms, and only woken me up when it was important :)

FWIW, I've had no issues with reception at all.

UPDATE 1.22.2011

===============================

I have now had reception issues jWin has been quick to contact me for me to send it in for service Though I'm not optimistic about it working any better when it comes back. I keep seeing "No Reception" on the LCD... not very comforting.

UPDATE 2.18.2011

===============================

Received my "repaired" unit back yesterday plugged it in. Today we have a Flood Warning, and Winter Storm Watch which , this radio apparently know nothing about. I have it next to my window on the outside wall of of my home so reception shouldn't be an issue, but apparently it is. I can listen to the NWS broadcasts just fine and the radio, but this refuses to receive alerts, for the 2nd time. I've double checked my SAME codes several times, trying with and without the leading 0, nothing works. This thing is junk. Going to try out the Sangean CL-100 hoping to have better luck with that. Will update with how it works.

UPDATE 3.29.2011

===============================

The Sangean weather radio has been great it's worth noting that I'm using the external antennae that comes with it, but it's receiving weather alerts like a champ. Check my full review over on the Sangean CL-100

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This thing is badly-designed, badly-constructed junk. It broke after less than 12 hours plugged in. When I got home from work the first day I had it, it was screeching and had gotten very hot. The transformer brick got hot, too. I'm worried that, if I hadn't gotten home in time, it would have burned my house down! I don't think it's UL listed (i.e. the insurance industry doesn't think it's safe), and I'm going to be looking for that the next time I buy any plug-in electronics.

The user interface is awful: it's full of endless menus, and the navigation arrows are difficult to use. When you want to press Down, it often presses Right instead.

I got it from a credit card rewards program. Now I know why they don't have reviews on that web site!

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I bought this at the end of the storm season last fall. Set it up with battery backup and plugged in. Then we got a tornado alert which I heard via the city sirens. But why didn't the radio announce the alert? I checked the radio, it was plugged in but dead. It does not turn on, replaced the batteries, still does not turn on.

For a radio that is supposed to alert us to hazards, this is worthless. Nothing like an emergency alert system that fails in its first 4 months, with no warning.

I can not in good conscience recommend this product. And I sure wish I could return it but its past the 30 day limit.

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Great weather alert, AM/FM radio, easy to program. Best feature I like is the dimmer on the clock face, goes from bright to no light at all.

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Skip it. Yes, it does what it's supposed to do, but there are other weather radios out there that do it better. The 4-way navigation button on my radio didn't work unless you pressed the button very firmly, and a lot of times you pushed up and it would register as left, or push right and it registered as up. The user-interface was pretty clunky, too.

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Jensen JiMS-215i Docking Digital CD Player Clock Radio for iPod/iPhone

• iPod/iPhone dock alarm clock radio with CD player
• Plays and charges iPod or iPhone
• Auxiliary input jack for connecting iPod Shuffle, MP3, or other digital audio players
• Built-in CD player
• CD-R/RW compatible

I liked the idea of being able to play CD's and ipod's but to get this to work well was not happening. To get one function to work, you had to press a sequence of buttons and then if you were lucky it would do what you wanted it to do. To make this work better they would need to add a few more buttons so that each button connected to each function. If they did that I might try buying it again even if it was for more money. As it stands now I would not waste my time on it since I ended up sending it back.

In general the sound was good. The lighting display was not adjustable and might be too bright for light sleepers. The docking station does retract which was not mentioned in the description. It doesn't take up a lot of space either. The only issue is that the buttons don't function well due to the way you need to make them work. It did feel as if I needed a cue card every time I wanted to do something with the unit due to the complexity of getting music to turn on. The instructions did say it could be made to do continual play off of the CD after you played it once. I did it several times and could not get it to repeat no matter how many times I followed the instructions.

I did not bother to try the alarm settings since I was having so many other issues with just the music. Sometimes the button sequence would work to get it to play and the next time it wouldn't. One part of the directions said to keep hitting the button until a light on the screen comes on stating that you are in ipod mode. After a few minutes of hitting the button, nothing. the next time it would work with no problem. If you have a lot of time on your hands and don't mind waiting for it to work then you will be fine. If you want your stuff to work right away then move on to another clock.

Buy Jensen JiMS-215i Docking Digital CD Player Clock Radio for iPod/iPhone Now

I found it to be everything it said it was. I love the fact that you don't have to reset the time whenever there is a power outage or daylight savings time you can just sync it to your iPhone or iPod. Has everything I wanted CD player, radio, clock and charger for iPhone. I do wish I could get AM as well as FM stations though.

Read Best Reviews of Jensen JiMS-215i Docking Digital CD Player Clock Radio for iPod/iPhone Here

I bought this product from a local store where I could return it easily. I liked that it was small and even though I don't own and I-phone or I-pod, I wanted the other features. The radio did have a digital display and you went through the stations with a button, but it only found one station and that did n't come in clearly. As the other reviewer wrote, I found it too complicated for my purposes. It often did not read the CD unless I removed the CD turned it all off and started the process over. The sound for the CD player and the mp3 player were not bad, but not great either. The worst thing for me were all of the tiny buttons on top with numerous functions which you had to go through each time to find the one you wanted. I never tried setting the alarm because I disliked all of the other features so much I was pretty sure, I couldn't set the alarms and depend on them to wake me up. It is going back. I have looked for an alarm clock that plays CD;s and my mp3 player for almost a year and haven't found a truly digital tuning radio and something that is easy to use. I have two units that are over 30 years. They were both easy to set the time and alarms, had an outlet for earphones which I used to connect to better speakers. I haven't found another clock radio that does. They were tape players and will not longer play the tapes and I really wanted a CD player, but I am about to give up on finding this combination.

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Timex TX40Q Rock 'n' Roll Alarm Clock With Mystery Phrases

Just to let any interested purchasers know, this clock does not, I repeat NOT have a plain Beeping function. You can only wake up by your preset radio station turning on, or a continuous loop of lame guitar riffs. Also, just to let you know, the "Mystery Phrases" are prerecorded Magic Eight Ball Answers like a girl saying "Like, No Way!" or a guy saying "You Bet!", "For Sure!", or whatever. Another flaw is that the black projection is almost impossible to see in the dark. The forwards or backwards time setting buttons do make setting the time and alarm easier, but that is the only good thing I can tell you about this clock. Enjoy!

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GrandStream GXV3140 IP Multimedia Phone With 4.3inch LCD

• 4.3" digital TFT color LCD (480x272 resolution), 1.3M pixel CMOS camera with privacy shutter
• SD/MMC/SDHC, USB, stereo headset with microphone, stereo audio output, video output, 2-angle stand, wall mountable
• G.711 (a/u-law), G.722 (wideband), G.723.1, G.729A/B, GSM-FR, G.726-32 (pending) voice codec and AAC, MP3, WMA, Real, Ogg-Vorbis audio codec
• Web browser, IM with Yahoo/MSN/Google, RSS feeds of weather/news/stocks, Internet radio, music/video streaming/playing from SD/USB card/Internet, Yahoo Flickr web photo album, alarm clock, calendar, games, music ring tone, etc
• Intuitive graphic user interface with customizable skins, multi-language, multiple virtual screens

Believe me I have been waiting for this long time.

5 Years back I was already considering a solution like the GXV3140.

At that time the devices came with some kind of VOIP account bundle. So I was skeptical.

Especially Grandstream as a budget maker has a long history for hit or miss products.

If Grandstream can pull this product of the right way, make it work and actually deliver on the promises the brochure gives then this will be a 6 star product.

Grandstream has been promising before features that didn't make it into later firmware versions. So when I heard the GXV3140 comes out with all this killer applications built in I was even more skeptical.

The GXV3140 is clearly a device that focuses towards "one size fits all" in other words quantity.

The GXV3140 must be Grandstream's answer to the Germans "Eierlegende Wollmilchsau."*

Skype

Twitter

Facebook

Google voice

Browser

IM (Gmail, MSN, QQ, Yahoo)

Weather

Calender

(Display of holiday names in local language)

Currency converter

Calculator

Stock ticker

RSS feeds

Mp3 player

Internat radio (streaming)

phonebook

3 sip accounts

TV out connection (audio/video)

USB port

SD slot

With this vast amount of functionality the device can literally fulfill "little" technical wonders.

As a sidenode: The "bigger" wonders are fulfilled by you during the configuration period ;-)

The key to this success is that after configuration the user can enjoy all those applications without PC knowledge.

With all this privileges comes of course a new level of responsibilities. So keep in mind that running so many applications on a network device naturally increases the risk of becoming unstable.

The good thing (from security point of view) is most applications need to be started first before they can be used.

So first advice I would give is to update to the latest firmware.

(Users have been complaining about stability on earlier version.)

--Update June 2010: ---

Since the official GA release of Firmware 1.0.1.18 (GA) on 24th August 2009 the phone has come a loooong way.

It became considerably more stable and usable.

--Update November 2010 ---

Latest firmware version is 1.0.7.3

--Update March 20111 ---

Firmware was overhauled and Interface feels now fast and snappy.

Especially web browser seems to have been improved again.

--Update April 20111 ---

Linux Skype Ver. 2.2.xxx is now fully working with the GXV3140

This means that Grandstreams GXV3140 / Skype client now fully works with Windows / Mac / Linux Skype clients !!

Lets hope that next Skypes mobile client versions will include H.264 video.

Its pretty cool to have that much functionality after the initial 4 days of configuration.

So I don't need to startup my PC for smaller tasks anymore and my desk looks cleaner too.

My only complaint (for now) is that 3 sip accounts is no way enough for me.

(I would require roughly 6+). If you use 3 incoming DIDs (Tokyo, London, New York) with different providers and 3 others for outgoing calls than you already have an issue.

It can be an invaluable advantage to change the provider at a push of a button when the carriers voice quality varies. (as it does with many budget providers).

Having said that The GXV3140 has a remarkable voice quality even when the network is sluggish.

I am (still) a long term (5+ years) SNOM 360 user (and fan) and was buffled that the GXV3140 delivers even better voice quality.

The voice is literally crystal clear. Your partner will hear you taking a breath in and out. (and that's no joke !!)

I have to confirm yet if Netmeeting will work with it.

Ekiga does (think of it as a sip based Netmeeting) and there are other compatible softphones out there too like f.e portsip, eyeBeam etc.

Its pretty cool that you can receive PC calls.

This means that your partner does Not have to buy the GXV3140 if (s)he doesn't want to.

The video experience itself is pretty cool too, you can start to consider it a replacement for a video conference system.

For ADSL / SOHO users:

With Video Bit Rate : 256kbps it feels still like a web cam experience.

But, the video size is sufficient to confirm that its your mum on the other side.

That alone can make it worth if you live far away from people you care about.

I have read stories about it being used in health care as well.

For professional users:

With Video Bit Rate : 512kbps 1024kbps it delivers quality like a video conference system.

The video can be output on your TV screen.

The quality is so good that it will bring tears (not only) to your granny.

That stuff just wasen't possible not so long time ago.

The key to being able to enjoying it is the networks latency and that is where you (usually) don't have influence in long distance calls.

Nevertheless we have been running tests between Tokyo (Japan) and Frankfurt (Germany). The slower end of the line ran on a DSL 384 kbps SOHO connection.

We found that it gave us sufficient performance to make us want to deploy it further.

Summary:

Spending $250 on a VoIP phone is not cheap, but with this amount of functionality its well worth considering. You get the most used functions accessible from your desk for the fraction of a power consumption a PC has.

In addition it also offers non technical users accessible functionality in a new package.

If you think about being able to see the people that are close to you, whether or not they are within the same building or on the other side of the street, the country or the ocean, then this alone is a big time motivation.

While the video experience alone might be the most attraction for some, for me its really the combination with the other applications that pull each separate function together and make it a whole package.

Also note while most phones are not used when you dont call, this phone has a screensaver, digital photo frame function, mp3 player, internet radio streaming function, weather function, currency converter etc. all build in.

Have I even mentioned yet that the interface currently already supports 11 languages ?

English, French, German, Italian, Portuguese, Spanish, Chinese (twice), Korean, Japanese etc. (the last language I am guessing is either Russian or perhaps Greek).

Overall, in its current state I think its well worth 4 stars.

Three things that immediately got my attention:

First, upgrade your phone to the latest firmware.

Second, I personally would like to see the GXV3140 offer at least 6 sip accounts.

This way I could take all current accounts from the "old" phone over to the new phone.

Thirdly, I would loved to see the device design more elegant and in different colours than black. (f.e coffee cream or pearl white) perhaps at some time skins will be available in several colors.

* A fairytale pig, which in addition gives milk and lays eggs and with a skin made of wool. You get the idea ? ;-)

This product shows Grandstreams commitment to develop it towards a six star killer application.

--Stay tuned ---

Buy GrandStream GXV3140 IP Multimedia Phone With 4.3inch LCD Now

I bought several HT 486 ATA to connect my family all around the world. It was easy to set up the device with Sipphone.com. The voice quality is great most of the time. When it is bad, I guess it has someting to do with the internet Traffic.

Pro: good value, light weight (both the adaptor and the 110-240 power adaptor) Actually, it is the smallest and lightest power adaptor I have ever seen (less than two thumbs put together, and very light). Offers a PC port and a PSTN port (when your voip fails, this PSTN port is your backup for regular phone). Economic in postage to send the unit overseas. The manufactuer grandstream.com website is very useful.

Con: Only has one phone line capability.

Read Best Reviews of GrandStream GXV3140 IP Multimedia Phone With 4.3inch LCD Here

I bought 2 of these devices and both stopped working in a few months, whereas Handytone 286 that I bought 4 years back works without any issues.

Want GrandStream GXV3140 IP Multimedia Phone With 4.3inch LCD Discount?

Before everything, let me say that I purchased this product mainly because of the "Certified for Skype" note on the manufacturers web site. Other features seemed impressive as well so I thought it would be a great solution with some added features. Also, let me add, before I begin, that I am an IT guy so I have some technical knowledge.

Certified for Skype proved not to be really true. Out of the box my phone came without Skype or even Skype support. Had to find out, by reading blogs and support site, that I have to upgrade the firmware on the phone in order to be able to use Skype on it. This was not that straightforward, and I guess it would be difficult if you don't have technical knowledge.

After that Skype started working fine on the phone. But....

After several months, the phone screen would simply go black after turning the phone on and going to the Skype screen. Tried calling the support and was extremely disappointed. They basically told me to submit the ticket on their web support site. I explained to them that I already did and that it has been a week and nobody has even acknowledged my question. After that I got a feedback on the support ticket but when I replied with all of the items that they needed from me, again no response from them. It went so far that my ticket was automatically closed because there was no activity on the ticket from them! I called again and I explained that I had no response on the ticket, that the ticket is now closed and that I cannot use my Skype on the phone. Their response was simply to use other options on the phone to call people, to stop using Skype on it !!!!

So I went back on the forums and blogs and somehow figured out that I had to again do factory reset of the phone. I did that on my own and the phone worked for a while but several months later, again the black screen. Another reset and again it works, probably until the next black screen. Oh, and every factory reset that I do, deletes all of your data and settings so you have to do it all over again after every reset.

Support web site says that this is a firmware problem that has been resolved by a firmware fix. The only problem is that that was more then a year ago since they released that upgrade and I am still continuing to have the problem even though I have firmware that is up to date.

In essence, if you want to use this for Skype you might not have problems, but if you do you have to figure out how to resolve them yourself as "support" is useless.

I have not used other features of the phone a lot but they seem to work great.

I got this for my mom who refuses to master any kind of electronics. She's happy with picking up the receiver and pressing digits to dial a number, and that's it. So this phone is perfect for my use case mom uses it in a way she accepts and understands technology (effectively using one of my SIP accounts unbeknownst to her), but I can initiate the use of extra features. Say, I can call her and chat via video with absolutely no action required on her part.

First, the good stuff. It works.

Video quality differs. Skype is okay, H.264 at 512k, SIP not so much, H.263 even at 1024k sucks compared to skype's video.

Speakerphone is probably the best part of the whole experience. It's clear, loud, with full bass and treble.

Camera is actually quite good. What's more, it has a mechanical wheel on the back of the phone that adjusts the angle. This, combined with two-angle positioning stand gives the phone a lot of flexibility.

You could use it as conference room equipment the composite tv-out with stereo works just fine, and you can assign a hotkey for switching between LCD and a TV.

Another thing that 'just works' (although setting it up is not easy at all) is a screensaver feeding of a flickr account. I just upload pictures to my flickr and they appear on the screen of my mom's phone WITHOUT ANY ACTION from her. Priceless!

Now for the 'not so good' stuff.

The phone (purchased in 2012!) came with NO SKYPE support, despite the box and the manual. The recommended upgrade route (via TFTP via Grandstream servers) doesn't work. I had to set up an TFTP server and upgrade via it. Didn't bother with the 'stable' version, went for the latest beta instead. Consequently everything positive about this phone is based on the latest beta (which is NOT available on their web site, I downloaded it off some obscure internet forum. Their support looks like crap.

Just forget about anything else but the SIP/Skype functions. The Grandstream engineers must have figured that once they've built a computer inside, it's a shame not to load it with all sorts of crappy buzzwords. Too bad, it's all unusable. The browser just hangs (with the rest of the phone) when I try to stream a flash-based TV channel, thank you.

While fb/twitter and even some IMs technically work, using anything but voice+video is a pain. Grandstream clearly hasn't heard about the interface design and usability. It all sucks big time.

Even the non-essential phone functions suck: phonebook is unusable (to dial you need to press some 10-12 buttons, COME ON!), and for a truly great laugh just go to youtube and search for 'setting up a conference call on GXV3140': you need a full-time operator to be able to set up a conference call.

Things that work are: speakerphone, redial, hold, video loopback and transfer. That's it.

I'm still very satisfied, however: for $147 I paid for it it's a steal. I'm considering buying another one, for myself, to replace my ancient Cisco 7940G.

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