Sangean WFR-20 WiFi Internet Radio & Media Player
by Sangean
|
List Price: Our Price: $224.36 You Save: $74.64 (25%) Availability: Usually ships in 24 hours Buy Used: from $156.00 (click here) Category: CE See more product details |
|---|
Customers in the UK,
Buy this product at amazon.co.uk
for British Pounds
Digital Cameras Photo Reviews of Sangean WFR-20 WiFi Internet Radio & Media Player
Customer Review: Great product with less than desireable implementation
Summary: 4 Stars
I really like the ability to be able to listen to a much greater variety of programming than what is available on local stations.
Sound quality is quite reasonable.
I feel that they went overboard in designing a device with a single knob. For instance, it doesn't make sense to have to unplug the radio, then reconnect it to update the "MY STUFF" selections. I've no problem with the step down menus, but think that some functions such as clock and alarm functions could be more easily accesable with a separate control.
The display is too small and it looks cheap. Because the display can handle so few characters, the text is continuously scrolling which I find distracting. Also, if it were bigger, there would be space to display the time continuously. A color touch screen would have been a nice feature.
I find the credit card size remote with its miniature buttons to be way to small for my large hands. Also, discrete buttons rather that bubbles in the plastic would have been much nicer.
The first unit I received was DOA. Of course, not knowing how it should work I thought that I wasn't setting it up right and spent many hours trying to determine what I had done wrong. Its replacement immediately found my router as soon as it was plugged in. Entering the router key was tedious. Fortunately one only needs to do this once unless you change the key. After entering the key, it would not connect. I had to adjust some of the router setup settings to "grant permission" to connect. Not being fluent in router geek tereminology, this was a challenge, but somehow I stumbled upon the appropriate change and managed to connect. Laptops that I've connected wirelessly to the router did not have this issue.
Much later update:
I have subsequently purchased a Logitech Squeezebox Boom, which in my opinion is far superior. In fact, after buying the first Boom I bought another and am now in the market for yet another.
Programming the Sangean is very tedious and virtually useless in playing mp3s from my computer.
Buy the Boom. It is a lot better.
Customer Review: All the negative things are true, but I still love this radio
Summary: 5 Stars
I've had my Sangean WFR-20 for about a year now. I've never written a review here, but I really love this radio and wanted to throw my thoughts in.
I read all the reviews a year ago, I haven't gone back to reread them tonight, but I pretty much agree with all the negative things written. It took my a while to set up, and after I got the wifi working it took me a long time to realize my modem didn't support playing computer files on other devices. I've since upgraded my modem, but that isn't what I bought the radio for anyway.
The radio also is pretty cumbersome to seek out interesting stations. It is easier to find them on my computer, then program them into the radio. But when I bought this, I already had several favorite stations anyway.
My thing is Australian top forty radio. I used to stay up late sitting in front of my computer listening to Nova or Triple J, until it got too late, then I would go to bed. That is what is wonderful about this radio. I can go to sleep and also wake up listening to internet stations. The sound is good,the best of many clock radios I own. Between this and my computer, I can listen from most of my apartment, and almost believe that I am living in Adelaide.
My biggest complaint isn't with the radio itself, but with the internet feeds. My favorite station sometimes loses the internet stream and doesn't correct it for a long time (although they are getting better, and my other stations don't have this problem). If someone comes out with a similar product which incorporates a flash player (like my iphone does), it would solve this problem. I would probably buy it, but I would certainly hold onto my Sangean. When it works (which is most of the time) it works really well and I love it.
Another thing - last year I stayed in a motel in Florida with a wifi connection and the radio worked very well there. It saved my setting, and I had it working in about five minutes.
So....not many technical details here, and I can't compare it to similar devices. I just want to let everyone to know I am very happy with this product.
Customer Review: Great features but needs work
Summary: 3 Stars
I was looking at the Squeezebox, but bought this instead. The main reason I chose this product over the Squeezebox was the Upnp AV capability. This means I can have all my music on my NAS device at home and play it with this radio, and not have to run "SqueezeServer" on a PC all the time to play my music.
First thing I did was configure the wireless network and update the firmware, which I had no problem doing. Pandora setup was easy also in my case, although others have complained that they could not get it to work (missing menu option to use Pandora or something).
There are a few things that bug me with this product:
1) Delay when the unit is turned on. Every time the unit is turned on, it has to reconnect to the wireless network, which will take about 20 seconds. From what I read, this is a "feature" to save energy and comply with some European power conservation standard. I'd much rather have the unit stay connected to the network, even if it uses 2 watts more power.
2)When using Pandora (the majority of what I listen to), in between each song I hear about 5 seconds of "pop, fizzzzz, hissss" and then the next song begins. Pandora support tells me it's a problem with the radio and hope for firmware updates. I got no response from Sangean on the issue. This is especially noticeable when the radio is connected to a stereo using the line out jack - not so much when using the internal speakers. But really, the noise is louder than the music, and is very annoying. I may still return the radio if I cannot get this resolved.
3) Many times while listening to Pandora, the unit reboots out of the blue, in between songs. It does reboot and reconnect ok, but that gap between the songs is 30+ seconds, and that's why I notice and look over at the radio, seeing it "Connecting to network" and Pandora again.
Sound quality is good for the size of the speakers, and is what I expected.
Customer Review: has some issues
Summary: 3 Stars
This is a revised review after a month's use; I'm less pleased than I was. Although I still think it's a good product for many uses, I regret that I didn't return it while I still had a chance to do so.
One issue is that the radio has a very hard time connecting with BBC world service. This is one of the stations I most wanted to listen to (because it is no longer broadcast to North America), but I haven't been able to connect to it for over two weeks. The sangean/reciva combination will sit there "retrying" for an hour with no success. But I have no difficulty connecting with my computer. So the problem is with Sangean or with reciva. There is a sluggishness, an uncompetitiveness about the machine; it seems that it puts in a request about once every 5 seconds, and when refused it goes through a long slow checklist before it tries again. In any case the performance is poor. If you expect to want to listen to popular stations, this is probably not the right product.
Another issue, widely noted, is that the sangean/reciva system is rather buggy. "Internal error 1104" is a pretty common sight when you try to change the station, and the radio freezes up for 20 or 30 seconds. This freezing-up is a frequent occurrence (not always accompanied by an internal error). It can be annoying if all you wanted to do is lower the volume. If the knob is occupied waiting for the radio to reset itself or update itself, you just have to wait.
I'm thinking now that the better option might be the clunky old-fashioned one of running the internet radio through the computer. Sometimes I think that internet radio is never going to work, or that what will be permitted will be profoundly unfree, but other times I think that its triumph is inevitable. Who knows? It's a cool technology and a cool gadget. But I miss the subversiveness of short wave, and the straightforward jamming of unwelcome thoughts.
Customer Review: What a blast! One great piece of technology.
Summary: 5 Stars
Recently my wife bought me a Sangean WRF-20 for my 7th AA birthday. I had been eying these machines for many months but would not spring the money. I am 43 years old and a short wave listener from childhood. I am also an Extra class ham radio operator, KC0LFW. For a living, I am an 'Electronics and Instrumentation Technician' at a large chemical plant.
This radio is fantastic! It is like short wave radio on steroids. After I powered it up the unit found my home network. I had to manually go to my wireless router and enter the radios MAC address. After another scan I was listening to the one factory default station, BBC.
Next I dialed up KIWI FM from New Zealand and set it as Preset #1. This is without looking at the book. I had a problem registering the radio at the Reciva site. After they emailed me back I corrected the problem. My mistake. The register and serial numbers are in hexidecimal. This means you only use numbers 0 through 9 and the letters A through F. What I thought was the letter "g" was actually the number "9". So write them down carefully.
The sound is comparable to a Bose Wave. Very good frequency response. I can feel the base with the volume set low. Ease of use is a 10. If I can fugure out how to use it without opening the manual, it must be easy. The remote works well as does the single button/ knob. I worried about this when debating buying the radio but I actually like it. It is very natural and has a positve, well-made feel. The display brightens up when you use change settings of any kind and then fades to dim after a few seconds.
Who would I buy one of these for? ANYONE! There is so much to listen to it is hard to know where to begin. A person can find any type of radio station located any where on the planet- and it is there. I would give the unit 10 stars if Amazon had them.
David Walkup