Slacker 8 GB Portable Radio with 40 Stations (Black)
by Slacker
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Category: Network Media Player
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Digital Photo Product Details
Manufacturer: SlackerBrand: Slacker
Edition: Electronics
Format: CD
Release Date: 2009-11-30
Platform: Windows
Model: 90260005
Color: black
Publisher: Slacker
Studio: Slacker
Music Label: Slacker
Product features:
- 8 GB Slacker Radio and MP3 player with 40-station capacity
- Built-in Wi-Fi auto-refreshes Slacker Radio stations; music plays whether or not connected
- Plays your existing music collection (MP3, WMA, and AAC)
- 4-inch color LCD displays album art, reviews, artist bios and more
- Removable, rechargeable battery
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Digital Cameras Photo Reviews of Slacker 8 GB Portable Radio with 40 Stations (Black)
Customer Review: Not quite 5-star but Slacker is an awesome and unique "personal radio" experience!
Summary: 4 Stars
Well, I have had my 8GB 40-station Slacker Portable for almost a month now, and I must agree with "Patent Guy", the Slacker experience is quite amazing! I use my Slacker Portable everyday, especially during my driving commute each day.
I also have Sirius Satellite radio along with the Sirius Stiletto 100 Portable radio, I use both the Slacker and the Stiletto, but they are two different devices and services which complement each other. Also have iPods, but the music selection gets stale on them quickly. Sirius is great obviously for custom content like Howard Stern and Vin Scelsa. The Slacker service is a whole new concept in personalized radio.
I am a Mac guy, so I don't use the Slacker Player for Windows, but the Slacker Portable connected to my Apple Airport Extreme immediately via WiFi at blazing speed with no problem.
Mine came pre-loaded with ten stations of my choice selected from the Slacker Web Player, and I quickly added over twenty more to the Portable. I opted to upgrade my Slacker service to "premium", which allows for much more control of the Slacker experience.
The Slacker Portable unit itself is very sleek, a little cumbersome for my hand, but once you use it for awhile, it's all right. It does fit in a shirt or jacket pocket, I use it in my shirt pocket with ear buds and it works great.
The actual hardware takes some getting used to, and the button placement and design could be better, I keep hitting unintended buttons to perform tasks and it does the opposite of what I want. The large screen is gorgeous and brilliant, and the copious information screens for each song/artist that you can toggle through are great. I wish there was another screen for lyrics for each song, that would be awesome! It has a battery compartment which in theory you can open and replace the battery if needed, not sure if Slacker will offer the option to buy replacement batteries in the future. Other accessories in the works include a home and car dock, not available yet.
I have numerous stations on both the Web Player and the Portable, and the customization level of each station is phenomenal! You can control the amount of "new artists" discovered for each station, and turn off the "DJ" feature (this control is premium service only), This "DJ" feature is annoying to me, as it inserts Slacker promos, DJ comments derived from the radio station's genre, and also paid commercial ads.
That was the main reason I upgraded to the Slacker premium service, to be able to eliminate this "DJ/Promos/Ads" feature is well worth it to me! What's the point of this new "personalized' radio if it contains the same pesky promos, commentary and ads I am trying to avoid from terrestrial radio? Also, the premium service allows you to "Save" almost any song (provided the rights to save that song have been purchased by Slacker). You can "save" songs to the Web Player OR the Portable, sometimes certain songs can be saved to one and not the other, for licensing reasons.
Premium service also allows song requests and unlimited song "skips", which is useful for rapidly bypassing ("banning") songs I don't like to reach songs I can designate as a "favorite" and save. This process applies to each Slacker station. Slacker has tons of pre-configured stations, or you can create your own with just the artists you like, or stations can be shared from other users on the Slacker Forums.
I am amazed at the depth of music and range of great songs I can now access with my customized stations. I am constantly hearing favorite songs I love from all genres that I haven't heard played on any radio platform for years! Of course, I can immediately save these to my Web Player or Portable library to play anytime. The library can be set to "shuffle-play" like a huge playlist.
The killer feature of the Slacker Portable is that the music selection for each station is updated, expanded and refreshed every time you connect via WiFi (auto-connect occurs each time you plug in the AC charger). This is where the "surprise" element comes in, when you play each station again, there is a new roster of songs/artists to discover! Wifi connections also allow the Portable to update its own firmware automatically.
You can also create custom playlists, and "ban" & "favorite" songs or even artists, and if you change your mind and decide you want to hear a previously banned song, you can "un-ban" it via the Software Player.
Overall, for me the Slacker Portable is unique and satisfying experience, I am very pleased with it in general. It has a few quirks to resolve, but these can be addressed with future firmware updates. Slacker tech support is very responsive to user comments and suggestions.
Description of Slacker 8 GB Portable Radio with 40 Stations (Black)
Take your personalized Slacker Radio stations with you anywhere you go. Built-in Wi-Fi auto-refreshes up to 40 Slacker Radio stations with new content, and the music plays anytime--whether or not you are connected.
 With the Slacker Portable, the world's first-ever personal radio player, you can now take your favorite music with you, and discover new music along the way. |
Personalized Radio
With the Slacker Portable, the world's first-ever personal radio player, you can now take your favorite music with you. Choose from more than 100 expertly programmed radio stations, or custom-build your own using the vast Slacker artist network. The more you listen, the better Slacker gets at automatically delivering the music you want to hear. Effortless
Create your own unique radio experience with Slacker Personal Radio. You know what you like--Slacker knows how to deliver it. Slacker's Internet radio offering is built on the expertise of DJs from all over the country, and just by listening, you make Slacker even smarter at delivering more music that you love.
Music Discovery
Perfect your listening experience using Slacker's exclusive personalization tools. With the buttons, tell Slacker Radio which songs are your favorites--and which ones you never want to hear again. Fine-tune any station--get more hits, or request older artists over new, for instance. Album reviews and artist bios come with every song and are delivered right to your Slacker Portable. View them on the 4-inch color LCD.
Advanced Radio Clocks
Slacker DJs operate using a proven method of picking and mixing songs to deliver excellent musical variety that complements your tastes. This patent-pending DJ technology is embedded in the Slacker Portable to create the very best radio stations. The more you listen, the better it performs to deliver new music you'll love.
 Choose from more than 100 expertly programmed radio stations, or custom-build your own. |
 Get new music instantly from the vast Slacker music library by connecting at hundreds of thousands of Wi-Fi spots across the country. |
Slacker Basic Radio: Free
Take the world's first-ever personal radio player with you for nonstop, customized music wherever you go. On the Slacker Portable, store thousands of songs for repeated listening, or connect to a Wi-Fi hotspot to get new music instantly. With hours of battery life, the Slacker Portable is built to go where you go.Plus, it's all completely legal. Slacker has unique licensing agreements with thousands of record labels to give you free access to a variety of music. By working directly with the record labels, Slacker gets the latest content to ensure your radio stations always stay current.
Ad Supported
To offer your favorite music for free, the Slacker Basic Radio service might play one to two ads an hour. That's significantly fewer ads than traditional radio, so you can relax and easily enjoy your favorite music.
Upgrade to Slacker Premium Radio
If you want even more out of the service, pay just $7.50 per month for Slacker Premium, which puts you in control. What's the difference between Slacker Basic and Slacker Premium? First, Premium subscribers can avoid the ads that played in the Basic service. So, it's an ad-free listening experience.Next, Premium subscribers have access to Slacker Request Song, which lets you add your favorite artists' songs to your station. Then, use Slacker's fine-tuning controls to indicate how often those requested songs should play.
Third, Premium subscribers have no limits on the number of songs they skip, letting listeners create the exact music experience they want. (Basic listeners are limited to six skips per hour, per station.)
And fourth, as a Premium subscriber, you can save your favorite songs with the touch of a button. Saved songs are added to your library so that you can listen to them any time. You also can save your favorites to your PC using the Slacker Software Player. It's the ultimate personal radio experience.
Slacker Premium Radio at a glance:
- Just $7.50 per month
- No advertisements
- Request songs
- Unlimited skipping of songs
- Save favorites
Slacker Radio: It's Everywhere
With the Slacker Portable, get free and easy access to millions of songs from thousands of artists wherever you are. All of the music you love is automatically delivered to your Slacker Portable for free at any Wi-Fi hotspot or through your PC via USB. Pocket DJ
The same personalized listening experience you love on Slacker.com is available wherever you go on the Slacker Portable. Slacker DJs hand pick songs for your player, and you can use the buttons on the Slacker Portable to further customize your stations. The more you listen, the better the music gets.
The Slacker Portable gives you uninterrupted access to your music wherever you are. Thousands of songs are stored on the Slacker Portable to fill up all of your personalized radio stations. That means you can listen to your stations, even if you are nowhere near a Wi-Fi connection.
Refresh On the Go
The Slacker Portable automatically can add new music at hundreds of thousands of Wi-Fi hotspots across the country. Each time you connect, songs that were hand-picked by Slacker DJs are added to your device. Plus, you can add new stations to your Slacker Portable from any PC or Mac with an Internet connection.
Built in MP3 Player
Already have your own personal music library? The Slacker Portable features a built-in MP3 player. You can store up to 500 MB of MP3s on the 2 GB/15-station Slacker Portable, 1.5 GB of MP3s on the 4 GB/25-station Slacker Portable, or 4 GB of MP3s on the 8 GB/40-station Slacker Portable. Then, listen whenever and wherever you want. On-the-Go Playlists
Create personalized playlists with your MP3s using the intuitive controls on the Slacker Portable. Enjoy the favorites you own in any order you want. As a Slacker Premium Radio subscriber, you can mix your MP3s with saved radio tracks to fashion playlists absolutely unique to you.
Software Player
Play your own personal collection of MP3s on the your portable with Slacker Software Player. Simply plug your portable into your PC to transfer songs and refresh your radio stations. Also, such enhanced features as high-resolution, full-screen album art and a variety of visualizations track to the music on the portable's 4-inch color LCD.
What's in the Box
Slacker 8 GB Portable Radio with 40 Stations (Black), USB cable, power supply, earphones