Aluratek AIRMM01F Internet Radio Alarm Clock with built-in WiFi (Black)
by Aluratek
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List Price: Our Price: $82.99 You Save: $67.00 (45%) Availability: Usually ships in 24 hours Category: Receiver or Amplifier See more product details |
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Customers in the UK,
Buy this product at amazon.co.uk
for British Pounds
Digital Cameras Photo Reviews of Aluratek AIRMM01F Internet Radio Alarm Clock with built-in WiFi (Black)
Customer Review: Surpasses my expectations!
Summary: 5 Stars
Purchased around this Thanksgiving with free shipping. Was a little bit apprehensive initially and glad to say all have since been addressed or overcome. It really works as described in its ad. Waited a month to explore all its features and test its stability before proceeding to write this review. The sheer variety and number of stations they have out there is mindboggling (~ >13,000 stations). You name your taste and its out there. So I'll try to bulletize my experience:
- Startup: If you have a wifi at home its piece of cake. It finds all the networks it can smell within a couple of minutes after power up. Enter your network password using the remote. The method of entering number with remote is similar to doing text message with your cell phone. So once you are in - that is it and you are done. Enjoy
- Adding your own stations: Although they have thousands of stations out there already organized and ready for you, you still come across some that you wish to add it to your collection. It is very simple. You go to their website - not the main one but a separate one. http://aluratek.vtuner.com/setupapp/aluratek/asp/AuthLogin/SignIn.asp. At first you login with your receiver's MAC address and then you can create separate username and password. Once you can add your station if you know its URL address. I learned with little bit trial and error that this address is different than the 'www.xxx...' you enter at the browser. Some streaming stations simply display this address in their window and some don't show it with the intention that you need go through their predesignated path so as to display their or clients ads and also to keep track of who all are their listeners. This is analogous to calling in to a company's front desk and then they forward the call to the person you are trying to reach. If you had known that person's direct number you can avoid going through this receptionist. Similarly, here you need the direct number of the audio stream or its direct URL address. After a bit search and trial found a simple way to get this address. Programs like Windows Media Recorder (WMR) display this address where the stream is coming from- automatically. If you don't have it, can get it free from http://www.wmrecorder.com/. WMR is basically meant to record whatever you are streaming - you can use it for this purpose also but it also gives you the address where it is coming from. I installed the basic free version and disabled the autorecord (since I was not interested in filling my hard disk). Now all you have to do is to copy the address and paste it into Aluratek's location where you add your station and then within seconds you will see it pop-up in your radio and you are good to go. So far I have been 90% successful in getting whatever station I have liked and added with this method.
- At home media server: If you have hard disk full of audio collection - this would be best way to access it anywhere in your house. I simply followed their instruction booklet with my Vista PC and it worked the very first time. There were some quirks though. I could access everything on my laptop but the network location where I had my bulk of collection could not be reached - not sure why. Also, my other PC where all the collection is stored is an old Windows 2000 PC - may be this is the reason. If you have Windows Media Player 11 then it should be sufficient. I have't yet tried to see if there are other similar programs that can do the 'media server' job. Also, I haven't yet been successful in making the server work on my newer PC which is running Windows 7 and 64bit processor. Hoping they will release an updated firmware for this or if anyone has succeeded in making this work - please share how you got it to work!
- General Comments
- Remote is very valuable, handy, and also critical. Don't lose it.
- Sound quality is excellent in mono mode, which is from its single speaker, and hi-fi stereo when you connect it to your home theater or other external speaker set you have.
- People have commented on the display light being too bright - until they come up with an updated firmware, I would use a simple dark colored transparent plastic to put over the window to dim to your requirement.
- The front end MP3 access port is very handy
- This is a well engineered product - with nice quality material, shape,feature, and assembly.
- Alarm clock is very useful - you can wake up to your station or media of choice. You can set the volume level and it nicely and smoothly reaches that level of sound without jolting you out of bed. Its autosync feature makes it set time automatically - like an atomic clock.
- Given that its nearest competing product is priced so much more this makes it an excellent choice in the current market.
- Sure there is room for improvement - but being a forerunner, like the iPOD, I give it two thumbs up.
- Last but not the least - these online stations are a boon for the immigrant community (like I am)and this radio makes it even better by bringing them within the reach of a remote. This is so handy that you can listen to the news, songs, and voices from where your roots are, and that too without the need to mess with booting and setting up a PC. Makes a great gift.
Hope this was useful!
Customer Review: The radio is MAGIC again, one of my best electronic buys in a long time
Summary: 5 Stars
I had staid away from buying an internet radio receiver for awhile because a) my experiences on a computer with various software was not that good and b) I thought it simply would repeat that experience or not really deliver would I was hoping for.
Given the reviews and price for the Aluratek I decided to give it a try. WOW am I glad that I did. It has been a long time since I have gotten so much pure joy and fun from an electronic purchase. I live in Austin and although it might be the live music capital of the world it is another mediocre corporate radio wasteland. Even our one beloved actual Austin station, yeah you know who you are, is selling out. Hint it recently moved down the FM dial. To the I sound like every other radio station in every other town part of the dial. You know the one. It probably is the part of the dial, or rather the whole dial, you are stuck listening to.
Well no more. This radio allows you to quite easily browse radio stations around the world and different genres in those locations and then add them to a favorites list so you can turn your Aluratek into the radio lineup you could only dream about before. It works like this. You choose internet radio and then search locations or search favorites. Search locations will bring up Europe for instance. You choose Europe then you choose France then you choose Jazz and there are a list of Jazz stations from France. Pick one..if you like it use a favorites button on the remote and it is saved to your favorites. I really enjoy Jazz, Celtic music, funk, folk, stuff you don't hear that much. Well now I have, for instance, over 5 Celtic stations from around the world. Whenever I want my Celtic fix whallah.
Now to set-up. It was actually very easy but I did have a couple of hickups that I hope you can learn from. First as mentioned in reviews below, do a firmware update. Go to the [...] site. Search for drivers (it will not say firmware). Select the correct one. It will be a zip file. Download it to a thumb drive or memory card. Download it into the root directory. Then right click and choose extract. Do not use the default location for the extraction make sure you also download that to the root directory. Then follow the instruction booklet, very simple steps, and you will update your firmware.
The second hint might save you a lot of time. If your wirless network has a security password which it should you enter that password with the remote which is like a telephone. The password is case sensitive so if you are cycling through the numer 2 to get to C and you use a lower case c make sure you go all the way to the lower-case c or you will never connect. This was happening to me for the first 30 minutes until I realized that might be the problem then it worked fine.
One other problem I have yet to resolve. The radio states that it can play music from your computer. I am using Windows 7 with WMP 12. I used the media streaming options on WMP12 to allow the Aluratek. It found my entire music library no problem and I could select albums or songs no problem but it never plays them. It just gives me an hour glass symbol like it is trying to play them but it never does. I am trying to work with Aluratek customer support for a solution and hopefully there will be one. I did not take a star off because it might work find with another windows os and also even if it does work that would only be icing on the cake. The real cake, and delicious it is, is having internet stations from around the world easy to access and enjoy. I fully imagine it will be months maybe even years before I stop finding new stations to enjoy. Highly, highly recommended. Fantastic fun.
Customer Review: New Experience in Radio
Summary: 5 Stars
I have a very solid fast WIFI set up in my home. I decided to try this radio, although I was a bit skeptical about connectivity.
I received the radio quickly with Amazon's great service (I buy 70% of my needs from Amazon. I highly recommend Prime shipping. Saves a lot of money and hassle ).
The manual was well written and setup was easy. I used the suggested settings and all I had to do was enter the WIFI code. The main menu was a bit of confusing at first until I realised the menu was a horizontal one as are most choices.
The first thing you should do is to update the firmware. The instructions are on page 33/5.6. The latest version is R1.37. You download it from the Alurtek site. Load it on a dongle the .bin file should be on very top of dongle.. After update loads then reboot by turning power sw on back off and on..
Study the manual carefully and you should have no trouble. The clock and alarm was a bit confusing but once I caught on it worked ok. The sleep timer off time has to be set in the clock menu..
The play/selection menu takes a bit of getting used to. Be sure to start a favorite play list. The remote control works fine. To change stations, push left arrow and the favorites list pops up. Chose another and push OK and it will load.. I like Hawaiian music, so I listen to Hawaiian Rainbow for hours from Honolulu. Plus my favorite talk show is Fox in New York.
When you keep pushing the left arrow you will come to a Station List. This lists thousands of world wide stations in most languges. I like the Irish ones. Plus there is a New Station selection that updates the List.
I have some friends that were astounded when I selected German stations where they were born. They are getting a net radio.
There is a way you can add stations to your fav list from your computer. The instructions are easy to follow and it works..
The FM local radio works good. There is a way to play mp3 music from a usb dongle. Plus you can (WIFI) connect directly to your PC and play music. It works. Instructions are good. You may have to fiddle with permissions on your network. I use Vista and it was an easy network setup.
The sound quality is amazing for a small speaker. It must be a high tech speaker... Plus there are menus to "tune" the speaker to your music type..
If the remote quits working on the radio, just reboot radio by turning the power switch on the back off and on... This sometimes happens when you hit the wrong button on remote...
The off button on the remote puts the radio in sleep mode.
I read several complaints about the brightness on the screen. There is now a way to set the level and on time of the light. So should be no problem...
I love this little radio. There is no static, clear sound. Local radio is filled with noise.. Plus I don't have to waste resources on my PC to listen to stations...
As far as I can tell the USB internet Radio Jukebox dongle doesn't work on the radio. I can't get the dongle to work on my PC, so don't waste your money...
My first radio was a crystal radio I built in 1940. The range was about 50 miles. Now I have a radio that the range is the whole WORLD! Is that Amazing or what!!!
Customer Review: All-In-One WiFi Radio Makes Listening Fun
Summary: 5 Stars
I just received this amazing product this afternoon and am completely blown away by its excellent design, small size and simplicity of use. I plugged it in, turned it on and within minutes the radio automatically linked with my router. After that, its just a matter of merely following the easy to read instructions on the blue LCD screen. The radio comes with a remote that makes finding and changing stations a piece of cake.
One of my favorite features is the USB port on the front of the radio. If you download your favorite radio programs from the internet as I do, you can transfer the show to your USB Flash Drive. Then, plug it in and enjoy! I admit I like Coast To Coast AM with George Noory - what I don't like are all the long commercial breaks and not getting my sleep. Now I can listen to this show without commercial breaks anytime I wish away from my computer.
A pleasant surprise is found within the alarm system menu. You can choose to wake-up to FM music, your favorite WiFi station, something you recorded on a flash drive or you can select the Buzzer function. Why? Sometimes your WiFi provider can go down and with the Buzzer setting you will be assured of a wake-up. The surprise is the Buzzer feature sounds like a fine Austrian music box. What a delightful way to be awakened to the sound of a lovely music box melody. This is a small item to be sure, but the attention to detail is just another reason why I love this exceptional radio.
Like a lot of people, I have hobbies which take me outside to a workshop or work area. Now while in my workshop, I can listen to radio shows produced from countries around the world without radio fade or distortion. How I always hated when a show was getting to the good part and bam, the signal fades out. Well, those days are gone. You now enjoy perfect reception regardless of where the show originates.
By the way, has your local radio station dropped a national show that you enjoyed or have they moved it to a time that makes listening inconvenient? No sweat - you will find your show on another city's radio station thanks to the simple and enjoyable menu system on this unit and usually at an acceptable listening time. You control what you want to hear - not your local broadcaster. Nice.
Folks, sorry if I sound like a kid at Christmas. I've been a radio listener all my life and this is the first time I believe I own the perfect radio. I'm certain you will also love this small, powerful, easy to use radio that makes listening fun. Take care and enjoy!
Customer Review: internet radio
Summary: 5 Stars
satalite be gone. these internet radios are so much better - any type of music you can think of. I personaly think the stations from france are done well and have exceptionaly strong singles. It is like short wave but in stereo and clear and you need'nt hold your ear to the speakers and toggle the dial. Just one click and you are in Irland, france, isreal. I bought all three of Aluratek's devices for different places. The stereo version for my stereo, this portable radio for my bathroom and the flash drive one for my computer at work. Yes all the stations are free anyway on the web but these devices make it fast and easy and dont tie up your ram or slow down your computer. The Wifi makes for a clear strong single so no buzz or garble by the stereo which happened when i ran a cord directly from my computer to my stereo before I had these toys.
OK the portable radio version here - not such a great speaker but it is very portable and has stereo outputs so i just plugged it into a
boom box and now the sound issue is fine - loud enough to hear in the shower. The only suggestion as others have stated is no battery option. It would be nice to be freed from the extention cord for backyard listening. I guess they figured you need to be in a hot spot for it to work so there must be a outlet around. Not Always!
Again this little device plugged into an amp or even computer speakers
cranks so it can bring the world into your backyard. Bollywood channels from France(yes the best bollywood channel broadcasts from france)or india makes for great outdoor fun.
Anyway buy it, you wont regret it. Someday I hope they make a portable car version. Now the closest you can get is the slacker device for free music. I hate satalite radio - they choose bad songs and who wants to pay for whats available free and better.
-gj
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