Escient FireBall ZP-1 Network Music Player

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The ZP-1 is the latest FireBall Networked Music Player that provides all of the familiar on-screen browsing and control features of the Escient FireBall. Each ZP-1 provides independent audio, control, and on-screen music access, allowing you to play music from a FireBall server independently in every room of your home.
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Technical Details

- Use your TV to access and play all your digital music on your home theater system or in different rooms
- Supports streaming PCM, MP3, FLAC (CD Quality), WMA, AAC
- Built-in 10/100BaseT Ethernet networking; Wired IR, RS232 and Ethernet port for 3rd party external control interfaces
- Web interface for remote control via web browser; PDA interface for controlling from any pocket-sized web device
- Wireless network compatible via optional WiFi 802.11 network adapters
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 "Buggy software, difficult to use music manager on PC" 2008-03-21
By M. Johnson (San Diego, CA USA)
I have had two of these for about a year now. In that time, I've discovered these issues:



1. The Fireball PC software used to manage your music from a PC or Mac is kludgy, slow, and unreliable. I have never been able to get it to run without crashing on my iMac running Leopard. Escient claims it works on an iMac, but it doesn't, in my experience. (And I am running a brand new iMac purchased in December of 2007). As a result, I have to run the Escient PC software on a Windows PC rather than a Mac.



2. If you are used to music player software like iTunes, Escient's PC software will drive you nuts because it is so slow and crude. It feels like it was designed in 1996 and has never been usability tested or updated since. For example, there is no way to simply play all songs by an artist--which you can easily do in iTunes or Windows Media Player. With Escient's software, to queue up all the songs in your collection by an artist, you must first add all the artist's songs to a playlist, and then play that. For guests at your house who want to simply hear music by one artist, it's a perplexing, counter intuitive process. Also, the PC user interface is often very slow to load and refresh. (I am running it in a house that is wired throughout with gigabit switches and cabling.)



3. Escient playlists will not hold more than 500 songs.



4. When playing songs in a playlist, I found that the playlists often stop playing for no apparent reason.



5. With the PC software used to manage and play music from your computer, there is no way to scroll through albums and songs. Instead, you have to use a page down button, which only moves you through about six albums or songs. Because there is no way to scroll through your music library, it's a huge pain navigating extensive music collections using the PC software. I have contacted Escient about this, and they said they do not have an update to the PC software planned. Oddly, you can scroll through music when using the TV version of Escient's software. It's just that the scroll functionality is missing on the PC.



6. On the upside, Escient is extremely quick to get back to you when you contact them with support questions. I've contacted them about all the problems above. Unfortunately, the responses I have gotten to most of these issues is either that's just the way it is, or it's a bug in the software that Escient has not fixed. That or they involve complicated workarounds that defeat the purpose of installing a user-friendly system for managing and playing your music collection.


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Roku SoundBridge R1000 Radio Network Music System

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SoundBridge Radio is a complete Wi-Fi Music System that brings the world of Internet radio to every room of the house in rich, clear, stereo sound. Combining all of SoundBridge's advanced digital music streaming functionality with incredible-sounding stereo speakers, subwoofer, AM/FM radio and alarm clock, SoundBridge Radio takes today's tabletop radio to the next level in audio power and ease of use. Access all your music using simple and familiar radio controls. A few buttons for presets, scan, and source select make digital music easily accessible.
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Technical Details

- WiFi music system with advanced digital music streaming functionality, pair of stereo speakers, and subwoofer
- Native support for Apple iTunes and Rendezvous, Windows Media Player, Windows Media Player 10, and Rhapsody
- Accesses free Internet radio stations via broadband connection; bright 280 x 32 vacuum fluorescent display
- Patented Linear Magnetic Drive stereo speakers and subwoofer with acoustic enclosures and built-in digital amps
- Ultra-fast 400 MHz Blackfin DSP; measures 11 x 6 x 6.5 inches (W x H x D); 1-year warranty
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 "Poor quality components" 2009-11-03
By Peter Pauly (Indiana, USA)
Worked great for over a year and then died completely. The support forums are filled with people with bad Roku's. The power supply goes bad because cheap components were used to manufacture them. Considering how much this thing cost, I'm extremely disappointed. I opened a support ticket 9 days ago and Roku still hasn't responded. When you call their support phone line, it refers you to the website which they apparently don't answer.



Unless you are ultra rich and can afford to buy a new one every year, I recommend you avoid this product. Why does Roku think so little of their customers?

 "Great concept, poor implementation" 2009-10-31
By Mary Bricker-Jenkins (Philadelphia, PA United States)
I just loved this radio when I purchased it almost two years ago, and I must say that I enjoyed the features I have been able to access. However, the radio (most likely the power supply) died last week (out of warranty). Scanning the Amazon reviews and the Roku forum reveals that this is a common problem. Also, the software has steadily been invaded by bugs, resulting in limited utility. As others have noted here and on the Roku forum, tech support and customer service are quite inaccessible. Some on the forum have wondered if the company is still in business. Roku does seem to provide somewhat better support for its Netflix player, but I'm afraid to buy one because of my experience with this product and the appaling record with the radio. I did recently buy a Pandora radio, which also plays internet radio; so far so good!

 "Website now a MESS" 2009-10-12
By Gloria E. Wilson (Albany, Ga.)
I loved my Roku Radio when I bought it in March 2008, but the website is a MESS now. Many broken links, you can select one station and get an entirely different station. The Search quit working about a month ago. Occasionally the website will allow me to change a preset but that is rare....and since many links are broken I need to change presets often so that is frustrating.You can't change a preset at the radio like with Squeezebox. Roku radio has not had a firmware upgrade since I bought the radio and I've read they are exiting the Radio business and maintaining the website for existing customers, but the word maintaining means one thing to them and something different to me.....must be keeping it up enough to avoid lawsuits.

I wanted a second internet radio and bought a Squeezebox Boom ....love it. I also own the Roku video box and use it for Netflick and Amazon on Demand...works great....I didn't hesitate to buy the video box because I liked the Roku radio so much... I wish Roku would do a firmware upgrade that switched radio to another portal.

 "I love my Soundbridge ... until it dies" 2009-09-23
By May Clark (Cape Cod, MA)
I originally bought my Soundbridge Radio in 2006 when it first became available. I paid about $400 for it through Amazon. It completely died within about 9 months. I was able to get a replacement from Roku, which worked fine until yesterday. Again, it is completely dead, plug it in, no lights, no nothing. I was really, really happy with the product; it had good sound quality and did what I wanted: allowed me to play my Rhapsody and iTunes playlists in the kitchen without setting up a computer there. Occasionally had trouble with it interrupting songs to rebuffer, but this was solved by changing the channel on my wireless router. I am tempted to buy a new one, but even $250 is a lot to spend for something that might only last a couple years. Really wish I could get something reliable.

 "DO NOT BUY! MALFUNCTIONING POWER SUPPLY!" 2009-05-18
By AvidReader (Maryland, USA)
We loved the product while it worked but recently the power supply died after 1 year 7 months. Of course it's out of warranty and the company won't even respond to questions on how to send it for repair. Look at http://forums.rokulabs.com and you will find many other customers with exactly the same problem. So steer clear from this product and this company.


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Roku SoundBridge M1000/M1001 Network Music System

Buy Cheap Roku SoundBridge M1000/M1001 Network Music System

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Finally, a network music player that looks as good as it sounds! Roku SoundBridge plays your PC or Mac digital music files anywhere in the house - connecting your stereo or powered speakers to your computer's digital music library. Or, listen to a variety of Internet Radio stations, without even turning on your computer. WMA, MP3, AAC, AIFF and WAV music formats are supported - and it's network ready with wired Ethernet or Wi-Fi.
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Technical Details

- Wireless digital music receiver for streaming music from a PC or Mac to any home stereo or surround sound system
- Native support for Apple iTunes and Rendezvous, Windows Media Player, Windows Media Player 10, and Rhapsody
- Compatible with Windows Media DRM 10 music services, including Napster, MusicMatch, and Walmart
- Easy-to-read 280 x 16 vacuum-fluorescent display with 4 EQ music visualizers; built-in WiFi and Ethernet interfaces
- Ultra-fast 400 MHz Blackfin DSP; measures 10 inches wide by 2.37 inches in diameter; 1-year warranty
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 "Way better than wrestling with CDs" 2009-09-27
By P. Thomas
After about 22 years of collecting Music CDs the physical act of selecting a CD to listen to and cleaning up the clutter the cases created was a huge burden. I had heard about using a media server to play all my CDs so I bought the Roku Soundbridge specifically for this purpose. This device will allow you to tame your CD collection with only a few computer hardware upgrades and the reward is so worth it. You will rediscover your music collection again and can instantly play any song, artist, composer, album or playlist you want. Here is what I did:



1. Using Windows Vista 32bit and Windows Media Player 11 with Media Connect enabled.

2. Added a 500gb internal hard drive as a dedicated music drive for my CDs.

3. Ripped all my CDs into WMA lossless format (My PC knew I was in a 'rip' mode so it would eject after the rip to start another CD).

4. Connected the Roku Soundbrige to my Onkyo Receiver via digital connection.

5. Allowed the Roku to connect to my home wi-fi network (WEP) and connect to the WMP 11 Library.

6. Play anything in your ripped-CD collection from the Roku remote in a high quality format (I listen on Klipsch Tower speakers and the sound quality is as good as the original CDs). FYI - I only use iTunes for my phone since the 128kps squashed file sounds terrible on my full-range system.



The ROku is not as sophisticated as the PC in making playlists but it is fun to ask it to play everyting with the word "Cry" in the title on a whim - you will be surprised how many songs fit that descrition. I also make my auto-playlists on WMP and the Roku can access any of these for song selection on demand.



So I would reccomend the ROku SOundbridge as a good choice for playing your lossless digital music on a system that is not connected to the PC.

 "Great product turned into junk" 2009-09-27
By DDD (Cumberland, MD USA)
I just bought my second soundbridge. After I bought my first soundbridge I was enthusiastic about this product- it set up easily and allowed me to quickly tune into stations from all over the world and then store them in my presets so I could access them anytime.



My recently bought second soundbridge has a software "upgrade" that requires the use of a web based service ([...]) to store presets. In other words the new soundbridge needs a PC to store presets while the old one had this functionality built in. Presumably Roku thinks that it is more userfriendly if you can select your stations on the PC. Maybe so, if this feature would work reliably. Unfortunately I had nothing but trouble with it. Aside from the fact that you have to go through a registration process and a lengthy setup their server seems to be down a lot and I cannot access my presets at all. Without that finding and selecting statios becomes very time consuming and cumbersome. The new software pretty much turns a previously great product into a useless piece of junk. I hope that the folks at Roku realize that and at least give users the option of not using their web-based preset software.

 "Great Device" 2009-09-14
By Eric Christiansen (Redlands, CA)
I have had the original M1000 since about 2004 and have never seen a better product. It is very simple and works great. Sound quality and ease of use are perfect. Roku as a company provides constant updates and provides great customer service.

This unit is a great way to take your music stored on your PC and have it play in a bedroom, garage, basement, etc. Whole house music distribution systems used to be complex and pricey until Roku came along!

 "Bad product! No tech support! No warranty!" 2009-09-04
By Newton Bui
I bought this product 3 months ago from Amazon. After two months of operation, it's dead. No light nothing after power up. I tried to contact Roku tech support and request an RMA but THEY'VE NEVER RESPONSED. I wished I could give this product a 0 star!

 "Good product .... Line will be discontinued" 2009-08-20
By Ben Dover (VA)
This is an overall good product, however, their support forum indicates the software will no longer be updated and the product will be discontinued. It would be hard to drop money on a product you know will not be supported in the near future. Just a word of caution.


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Philips NP1100/37 Streamium Network Music Player with 3.0" B&W Display

Buy Cheap Philips NP1100/37 Streamium Network Music Player with 3.0" B&W Display

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By connecting to both your PC and audio system, Philips Streamium network music player gives you wireless access to your PC music library, Internet radio and Rhapsody online music service. A whole world of exciting music possibilities!
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Technical Details

- Compatible with Rhapsody music service (subscription required)
- Stream digital music from your PC
- Listen to hundreds of free Internet radio stations
- Large 3" B&W screen displays track and artist information
- Remote control included
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 "Easy to set up, Simple to operate" 2009-10-15
By Al Bundy (Chicagoland area, IL United States)
If you're like me and never read the manual when setting up a new piece of AV equipment, you'll have no problems. I use this with wired Ethernet but also found it works well with wireless. If you plan to use the Internet streaming audio feature, run, don't walk to the Philips web site and set up an account to manage your Internet radio stations.



The display is black & white at eye level, but at a 15-30 degree angle above the unit takes on a bluish tint. It is large enough to read at least 15 feet away.



The remote has small lettering and is difficult to use to enter text. Remote is not backlit nor does it glow in the dark. I only use it to turn the unit on and off and navigate the menus, so I didn't bother updating my Harmony remote.



I got this from a Lightning Deal for close to fifty of the U.S. dollars, which is a fair price.

 "Great Find!!" 2009-10-11
By S. D. Gibson (Montgomery, NY USA)
I bought this as a Gold Box deal and am very pleased. My hi-fi setup included satellite radio but I did not want to pay the fee. This gives me excellent internet music stations @ no cost! My only beef is that it is not compatible with my Mac for music streaming. I do have other "PCs" that I use with it however.

 "Very nice unit for streaming Rhapsody account music" 2009-09-16
By Scott O. (USA)
I am not going to add much to the previous reviews. I bought the unit to primarily use with my Rhapsody account. This thing works great. Turn it on and set it up. It will search for your wireless network. Just scroll down to the one that is yours. At first it did not ask for my WPA security code (my network is password protected). But I went back into set up and typed it in using the keypad of the remote. (Its just like texting). Then I was connected to the internet and the unit downloaded some upgraded software for itself. Then I chose Rhapsody and typed in my userid and password and I was in. I can pretty much access most parts of Rhapsody. My channels, my library, and all the other Rhapsody music and channels and such.

Whats nice is that I dont have to have Rhapsody up on my pc or have my pc on. This thing connects thru the internet directly to Rhapsody. The remote works great. I can favorite songs, add them to my library, search for songs or artists, whatever.....

Now I bought mine on Sept 15th 2009. I bought it at Newegg for $82 with free shipping. That is a very good price. Amazon at this time is listing it for $150. So depending on when you read this, you might be able to get it from Newegg.

 "A Winner from Phillips. Absolutely love it." 2009-08-31
By Vishakh Madhusoodanan
After reading reviews I was not too confident with the product but decided to try it out anyways and what a great decision it turned out to be. The unit looks slick on my nightstand. I connected it to my creative 2.1 speakers and am loving it. I personally prefer external speakers over crappy internal ones. Here is a list of pros and cons:



PROs

-----

1) Media streaming at a decent price

2) Wifi and wired connectivity

3) WPA2 encryption working flawlessly

4) Works with hidden SSID (Works after firmware upgrade)

5) Well thought out remote control button shortcuts

6) Dimmer option

7) Large and easy to read icons and text

8) Internet Radio, Personal Media Streaming and Music services in one package

9) Composite, optical and auxillary stereo out



CONs

----

1) Setup is involved if you have advanced wireless setup. You may need to enable SSID broadcast at first. (MAC ID can be obtained from the bottom label of the unit for MAC filtering). Update your firmware before you do anything else.

2) Search function is not accurate if you do not spell out the whole search word.

3) If you have a large library of music files then the initial syncing of media file list takes a very long time to get populated on the streamium device.

4) No option to add files to currently playing playlist.

5) While searching if the search takes a little long then it returns to displaying current track. You have to keep going back to search to view the results and make a selection.



Overall it is a great buy and I would highly recommend this to anyone who is looking for a streaming setup with quality external speakers.

 "I love it" 2009-08-30
By Douglas Navas (Atlanta, GA)
Before i purchase anything i review it on line, if its an online purchase from Amazon.com i read as many reviews as possible from others. i read good reviews on how it was a good deal for how much you paid for it but not to expect to much from it and how it had weak sound and so on so honestly i was on a budget and expected what i read. others bought theirs for more then i did when it first came out and i bought mine for less then $70.00 then the bad reviews a lot on how hard it was to setup and it didn't stream to well from your personal music files and the quality wasnt to good but the internet radio portion of the device was good from the online stations that it picked up and free.



so....



today i received it and i opened the box expecting to have to trouble shoot and so on from all the reviews that i read but the only problem i had which others might have issues with and not know it but my pc wasn't in file sharing mode and i had to learn how to do it from an on line video from PHILIPS which is great...talk about a great manual to help out awesome!!! here is the link:



http://www.p4c.philips.com/cgi-bin/dcbint/tutview?scy=US&subrequest=1&mid=Link_Tutorials&view=aa13_view_full.html&desc=Philips+Streamium+Network+Music+Player+NP1100+Free+Internet+radio&session=20090827095135_207.59.139.24&list=aa13_list_partial.html&slg=AEN&refnr=0071414&refdisplay=NP1100_VIDEO_0001_020&dct=TUT&ctn=NP1100/3



but Guess what?



once i hooked it up to my wireless router which was easy ...it did not find any on line free radio stations which is what i expected to work good from all the reviews.....? well i will keep on trying and i dont think its anything i am doing because it should be automatic ...hmmmmmmmm.....but once i got my pc in file sharing mode and my pc found the Philips NP1100 I clicked on the icon to allow it to share my media files and guess what?



it streamed my files with ease and it sounds great and found all my files on my pc without having to play with media player 11 after putting it in file sharing mode..i just play them through the folder option..it sounds as if its reading from a CD and not from a wireless signal through this PNP device. the music sounds GREAT coming out of my home system. very impressed and so happy i bought this because i will never have to play my pc speakers again and hope for some decent sound.



now lets make the internet radio work ...i will let you guys know if i ever get it to work ...but i still give this 4 and a half stars because it sounds so good!!! a must have
















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