Grace Wifi Radio (ITC-IR1000B)
by Grace Digital
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Our Price: $199.99 Availability: Usually ships in 24 hours Buy Used: from $74.99 (click here) Category: CE 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 Grace Wifi Radio (ITC-IR1000B)
Customer Review: Set up and support should be a concern!
Summary: 1 Stars
If you have security concerns and have a wireless router that is locked you will be in big trouble unless you are well versed in reconfiguring routers, ports, internet connections and creating a hole in the router firewall to get this unit up and running and maintain security.
Tech support was non existent because there is "no tech!" no one capable of answering any technical question of any kind! They did send me an email of how to get this radio up and running which I have attached.
If you're capable of doing all of these things I suppose your in good shape I for one was not! Never got close and had to return it.
Here is the extent of tech support I was sent.
Certain routers have a security setting that only allows one device to connect to them by default (one example is the BT HomeHub) in order to stop unwanted users connecting to the wireless network. If this is the case, then the user may have configure their router to allow their radio access.
Similarly, some routers are configured to use MAC filtering and may be filtering out the radio's network connection due to its MAC address not being on the router's list of authorized MAC addresses. If this is the case, then the user will have to check their router's configuration and provide access for the radio to connect.
It may be possible that the router (or a PC on the network that the radio's connection may come into contact with) allows the radio to connect to it, but doesn't allow the radio to use port 80, 5000 or 6000.
The user will have to check their router's configuration (or PC's
configuration) to ensure that its firewall settings will allow the radio to access these port numbers. Some wireless routers will inform devices on the network that it is itself the DNS rather than the user's ISP's DNS and this can sometimes confuse the radio. If this is the case, then the user will need to select 'Configure > Network config > Edit Config' on the radio and then set 'Auto (DHCP)' to 'No'. Then the radio will prompt the user to enter in the network settings for the radio (IP address etc). Please enter in the appropriate information for the radio and when it prompts the user to enter the DNS IP address, enter the ISP's DNS IP address - which should be available from the user's ISP's support webpage. It is also possible that the user's network could be experiencing some interference from a neighboring wireless network. From the wireless router's configuration page, the user should change its wireless channel number to something different and then attempt to get the radio to connect to the network again. Another reason for the radio having a poor connection to the wireless network may be due to the radio only receiving a weak signal, for instance, masonry greatly weakens a wireless signal strength. The user could try moving the radio closer to the router and then attempt to connect.
Customer Review: Works Great for my Tech-Shy Mother
Summary: 5 Stars
My parents recently moved from the New York metro area out to a more remote location, and they lost all their favorite radio stations. My mother usually likes listening to NPR while she does chores around the house, and so my brother and I set out to find a good solution. We read through every review written for all of the different internet-radios available. Price wasn't so much of an issue - we were willing to buy something high-end provided the product worked as intended and my mother (who is not the most tech-savvy person out there) could easily operate. After a few days of trying to decide which product to try, we settled for the Grace Wi-Fi Radio.
After taking the radio out of the box and plugging it in, we initially had some confusion connecting to our Linksys wireless access point. We turned off the radio, unplugged it, and tried again, and we haven't had a single problem since. The quality of the speaker is nothing short of superb, and the selection of radio stations is immense! My mom found half a dozen of her favorite stations and I showed her how to program them into the Favorites buttons on the front of the device. She's been using it for six months now, and just uses the stations she has in her favorites, so she doesn't really utilize the directory of thousands of stations. So if she had to go back and find the stations again, she may get a little lost without some help. But the buttons on the front thankfully mean she probably won't have to do that.
I just asked her how it's been working, and she said "oh it's so great. This morning I was listening to Car Talk while ironing. Sometimes when I turn it on, nothing happens and I think I haven't really turned it on. But I figured out that sometimes it takes about half a minute to a minute for it to do all it's little connection things and then it starts playing the last station I was listening to, which is great. I love my radio!"
If you're looking for an internet radio to get stations that you no longer have access to, this thing will do it well. The operation is very undaunting - for the tech-savvy individual you will be able to just start using the device. The interface is very intuitive and straight forward. If you find yourself easily confused by newfangled devices, the provided instructions are easy to follow and should get you browsing through stations very quickly. Setting favorites is easy - you just press and hold down the favorite button and the current station gets programmed in, just like a car stereo. Quality is great, so far reliability has been great in the first 6 months.
Like I said, we were willing to spend the cash to get her something that worked. The Grace was by far not the most expensive option we could have gone with, but in the end I think it was the smartest.
Customer Review: I WAS SCARED!!!
Summary: 5 Stars
I never would have purchased a WiFi radio because I had heard how much trouble others have had programming these things. I was scared. But my children liked their Grace WiFi Radio so much that they gave one to me at Christmas time. I was amazed to find out how easy it was to set it up. The trick is to first buy a wireless router (If you don't already have one.) and then set it up to match your system. I believe that this is where many go astray. I bought a Linksys WRT54-GL because the user reviews on Amazon showed it to be very popular. I had to call the Tech Help number (1-800-326-7114) to set it up but a very nice young lady led me through it so cheerfully that it was as if she was holding my hand. I secured the special ID codes from my radio (One has seven digits and the other has eight.) by following the instructions in the Grace operator's manual. Then I went to the Reciva.com website and signed up my radio using these codes. It is called an "account" but it does not cost anything. I also had to make up my own personal network name. (If you already have a router then you probably already have a network name.) Pick any name you like. (I.e. RABBIT, BUMPKIN, HILLBILLY, ROCKSTAR, etc) I suggest that you use all capitol letters; they are easier to see when they show up on your radio's small display. Also choose a password; used to prove that it is YOU when you access the Reciva.com web site. Then from the Reciva.com website you can search for stations of your choice, listen to(sample) them if you wish, and save them to you're MY STATIONS list if you like them. Add more station anytime you want; they will show up on your radio's MY STATIONS list alphabetically. Then go to your Grace radio and do a set up where you will put in the Network Name that you have chosen (It is upper/lower case sensitive) and make up a password (so strangers cannot access your system). The operator's manual will help you here. This does not have to be the same password that you used at the Reciva.com website, but your Network Name will be the same. Maybe this sounds like a lot but it really is quite easy. The most time consuming part is deciding which of the thousands of available stations you want to save to you're MY STATIONS list. I saved 55 stations. I noticed that several reviewers complained that the radio's black buttons were hard to see in low light. I bought some white reflector tape in the automotive section at Wal Mart for $2.50 and with a paper punch (the kind that kids use to punch out little round holes.) I punched out small circles of reflector tape. I put one circle of tape on the STANDBY/ON/OFF button, and one on the BACK button. This helped a lot to make them visible. I do this with various other electronics and it is very helpful. Oh, I forgot to mention, I like my Grace radio a lot.Customer Review: Bottom Line: Aesthetically and Functionally, a Great Radio!
Summary: 5 Stars
Other than the absence of a remote (to me, a non-issue), there is nothing to criticize about this radio. Everything about it reflects quality: Visually handsome in its high-gloss piano black case, and featuring 2 dedicated controls: a small volume knob, and larger knob for selecting functions and perusing the long lists of global stations. There are also 5 pre-set buttons for instant access to your favorites, along with the ability to store up to 99 favorites in the My Stuff section that will appear automatically on your screen once you register with reciva (www.reciva.com). Register asap once you have the Grace up and running, and within a day, you can compile a personal listening library of dozens of stations. And did I mention how EASY it is to do on this radio?
The build quallity is outstanding: The radio has a substantial, solid feel to it. The single 5w speaker (supplemented by a rear base port) is a real powerhouse that produces rich, room-filling sound with a more-than-decent base and strong, clear midrange and highs. Music, especially on the higher (128 kbps and above) has a near-CD level sound, and human voices have a real-person-in-the-room quality.
Know this, too: I am a near cyber-cretin, someone for whom anything related to the Internet is intimidating. But setting up and using this radio is as straightforward and simple as it gets. Plug it in, then just follow the commands that appear on the bright, easy-to-read LCD screen. Within seconds, you are connected. From there, just go to either Location (stations by country) or Genre (type of music, talk, news, etc.) and start exploring the Wide World of Internet Radio: 12,000+ stations to choose from, each coming through clearly, cleanly and static-free.
Within 5 minutes after my initial start-up, I was listening to classical music stations in the UK, France, Switzerland, even China; Old Time radio serials and mystery programs from the 1930s and 1940s; exotic music from India's Sikh Radio International; Irish and Celtic music from stations in Dublin, Glasgow, and Ballyshannon, some of it live; international news on the acclaimed Radio Netherlands; Radio Newfoundland ("Our Music, Our Heritage"); live broadcasts from American Samoa, South Africa, Russia, Whole Wheat Radio in Alaska, even Papua New Guinea. The Grace radio is, literally, an audio passport to the world.
I love the look of this radio which evokes the old classic tabletop radios of the 1950s, albeit with 21st century innards that allow you to vicariously travel in ways not possible with conventional radio.
Moreover, Grace's customer service is excellent. My emails were answered promptly, and with all the information I requested.
Customer Review: disappointing
Summary: 2 Stars
I got the Grace Wifi Radio a couple of days ago, knowing it to be imperfect, as it seems the majority of internet radios are. I'm not too picky about my electronics, but this radio manages to irk me on several fronts.
Firstly, it takes a full minute and 45 seconds to connect to the network every time you turn it on or bring it out of standby.
Secondly, the idea that this is a "clock" or "alarm" radio is laughable. I imagine the manufacturers must know this, as the packaging and other manufacturer-supplied information don't include the words "clock" or "alarm".
But its "alarm feature" is so ridiculous I can't imagine why they even bothered. You see, if you set the alarm to go off at a certain time, what will happen is that the radio will (silently) ask you if you'd like to turn the radio on. If, by some stretch of the imagination, you are alerted to this silent request, and tell the dull-witted thing to start fulfilling its internet-radio-playing function, you'll have to wait that requisite minute and 45 seconds for the radio to turn on.
Thirdly, the only output is a headphone jack, and the radio is very susceptible to interference. (The sound from the built in speaker is just fine, but sometimes I'd like it to be a bit louder.) I've seen other reviewers say they listen to their Grace radios through their stereos. I wonder how they do this. There is a persistent whine when I try to play the radio through my stereo. Heck, I can't even play the Grace near my stereo without my speakers hiccuping. It's like a Geiger counter. That's what really breaks my heart about the Grace. I could live with the counter-intuitive clock/alarm, but I like my electronics to get along.
What I find most curious is that a lot of the complaints I've outlined are essentially the same complaints made by reviewers here about some other internet radios. They aren't common complaints, and I have to wonder why not.
There are some things about this radio I do like. It looks good. Once in radio-playing mode, it doesn't take too much time for the radio to switch channels. The "my stuff" feature works fine. I like being able to play my audio files, although some of the media player functions are a bit clunky and silly. The most impressive feature I've found so far is the ease with which I can play podcasts.
So it does fulfill its primary function as an internet radio, but it's a finicky, dull, and at my house quiet and/or whiny radio. Perhaps I should have waited another year or two for a radio with more kinks worked out.