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| Home >> Handheld & PDA Reviews: Cisco-Linksys Wireless-B Music System WMLS11B | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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User Submitted Cisco-Linksys Wireless-B Music System WMLS11B Reviews (cont...)Date: 2005-02-25 Better than other reviews would lead you to believe... My biggest gripe with this box is that I lose the media server after I turn it off. The only way to get it back is to make an innocuous change to network settings and let the unit reboot. (For the records, I ditched the MusicMatch software in favor of TwonkyVision, but I had the same problem with both.) The integrated Internet Radio is a big plus, though, and it is well-organized by genre and country, with a good selection of stations, better than Shoutcast. I like the fact that this unit has detachable speakers, so I can fit it into my entertainment center for piping through the stereo or can put it on my nightstand. Would be better if the power and audio interfaces to these speakers did not involve so many wires. I'd also like to be able to power this with batteries. I have found that this unit is finnicky with the formats it will play (e.g., no rights-managed WMA files). If you already have an extensive digital music collection, this could be a problem. I'm just starting to rip my CD's, so it's not such an issue. The speakers are a bit underpowered and do have a tendency to buzz at times, but the sound is decent. Hey, for 100 bucks, I wasn't expecting a Wave Radio! Date: 2005-02-23 Love it I would have given it a four if it was easier to hook up. Once it is hooked up it works great. I think for the price it is a great gadget. I bought two. Date: 2005-01-27 Too early to market I am incensed that this very expensive player has an undocumented (and apparently unknown to Linksys customer service techs) 10 song limit on the playlists you can create. Sure, it's good to hook up Internet radio, but I've got 1000 songs on my computer and I painstakingly made them into playlists... only to hear the damn thing repeat after the first 10. Hours on the phone with tech support had me thinking something was wrong with MY computer. Later, by e-mail, I learn the thing only plays 10 songs. They should have disclosed this on the box... for a $180 product... and they CERTAINLY should have this documented for their tech support people. Linksys! I want my money, my time and my dignity back! Date: 2005-01-11 Good, if you have right expectations I've had this item for a few days now. Overall, for the price, I think it is a good buy. Although I did not read the instructions (Instructions? Where's the fun?) I did not experience any major headaches during set up. I think a key to this is to first plug the unit directly into the ethernet port on your PC and skip using wireless or a router until you get it all set up. The unit is preset to crossover mode via a very difficult to see switch on the back (the switch is essentially hidden), so you can use an ordinary cable for this direct-to-PC connection. If you choose to connect via a router, this hidden switch may screw you up (you probably have to switch it from crossover to normal). Immediately go to Linksys and download their updated firmware (1.09 right now) and driver (a 23MB file) and ditch the enclosed CD altogether. Install the firmware update utility (part of the 23MB driver file) and then upgrade the firmware. Then set up the rest - your wireless network, etc. I did this and had internet radio coming through within 20 minutes of opening the box. It does use MusicMatch 8.2 Jukebox for it's media server. Although I have the media server set up and working I haven't quite figured out if they give you a special version of MusicMatch or what - but I had version 9.0 installed and had to overwrite it with the version (8.2) that I had downloaded from Linksys as part of the 23MB driver file to get the server to work. The server seems to work well and I don't understand what most of the complaints are about. It DOES NOT support any DRM as far as I can tell. For me this means some of the CD's that I ripped myself before I figured out that Windows Media Player was "protecting" them need to be re-ripped in an unprotected WMA format (these songs appear to que up - song title appears - but do not play and sometimes the unit locks up). It also probably means the two-three songs I've bought via web-based stores don't play, but I haven't checked it yet. It DOES play my variable bit rate WMA 9.0 files flawlessly. I've read that only mp3 streaming radio is supported, but there are still many many radio stations available (uses a service called vTuner - see vtuner.com) including KUT Austin, my favorite. The interface is fine as far as I can tell. The strangest thing though is the low volume of the device. With volume at 25% the unit is barely audible in a quiet room with my ear a few inches from the speaker. At full volume it is too loud for most of my uses, though, so that is ok. It is just weird to have to have the volume up to 60-75% or so for ordinary situations, unlike any other radio or device I have (it is underpowered compared to any standard PC powered speaker set I have used). I bought this primarily for the Internet radio funtionality and I have to say I am pleased. It is truly an appliance for that function - no PC connection required. Just what I have been looking for. Now I can listen to my Internet radio stations in the kitchen, garage, and so on. Date: 2005-01-06 Don't believe all the bad hype on this. I purchased this as an alternative to the Squeezebox I already own. I wanted a wireless music player for upstairs, but did not want to fork out another $275 for the Squeezebox. The Squeezebox is great and the Slimserver software running on Linux rocks but I'm cheap. I also like the idea of playing radio on this without the server running. This player has gotten a lot of bad press on Amazon. I just got mine today and within an hour or so, I was up and running. A couple of important points: 1. Do not use the Server software supplied with the device. Use Twonkyvision. It just works. I'm running mine on a Mandrake 10.1 box. I am also running Slimserver on the same box with no problems. 2. Upgrade the firmware to 1.09 immediately. My unit shipped with 1.07. 1.09 fixes a lot of issues everyone has been b*tching about. Pros: Price - at $99 you can't beat this vs. $275 for a Squeezbox. Internet radio without a server running. Seems to work well Easy to set up. I know there is a lot of bad press here, but if you follow steps 1 and 2 above, you can reduce the headaches. I found this device no more difficult to set up than the Squeezebox. Menus as easy to navigate as a Squeezebox. Digital optical output. Cons: DHCP is squirrelly sometimes, as in not grabbing an IP automatically. It seems to work better in wireless mode on my network. Menus are slow with EQ enabled. Feed your audio into a receiver or amp and this is not an issue. Can't crank this thing. Speakers suck. Not a problem since I plan to use the optical audio output into a home theatre receiver. Favorite list is too short. No battery option. All in all, I am very happy with this device so far. I have played a bunch of Internet radio stations and server supplied MP3's with no major problems.
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