Slacker G2 4 GB 25-Station Personal Radio Player

Slacker G2 4 GB 25-Station Personal Radio Player
by Slacker

List Price: ~~$199.99~~
Our Price: $94.99
You Save: $105.00 (53%)
Availability: Usually ships in 1-2 business days
Category: Network Media Player
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Customers in the UK, Buy this product at amazon.co.uk for British Pounds

Digital Photo Product Details

Manufacturer: Slacker
Brand: Slacker
Edition: Electronics
Format: CD
Platform: Windows
Model: 90260007
Color: black
Publisher: Slacker
Studio: Slacker
Music Label: Slacker
Product features:

4 GB capacity for 25 Slacker stations, 2,500 radio songs, and 1 GB of personal files
Up to 15 hours of music on a single charge
2.4-inch color TFT display with 320 x 240 resolution
Supported audio formats: MP3, WMA, and AAC
1-year limited warranty

Accessories:

Digital Cameras Photo Reviews of Slacker G2 4 GB 25-Station Personal Radio Player

Customer Review: Easy Access to music!
Summary: 4 Stars

Here are some of my obseervations about the Slacker G2. I've had a unit for about 4 days.

I was interested in the unit primarily for bike classes I do at 24HrFit. The ability to set up a station to play a particular type of music seemed ideal. I used CDs for 4 or 5 years in bike classes, but CDs get old. I had to constantly buy new music, burn a new CD to keep the classes current and fresh. Last August I bought an HP iPAQ to take to Germany so that I could just pop into a McDonald's and use the free WiFi to keep in touch with friends and family back home. Of course the issue became that there is no free WiFi in Europe! Great idea born dead. BUT the iPAQ does have Windows Mobile 6.0 and Windows Media Player, so I can put .mp3s on it and use it in bike classes instead of CDs! I've done that for the last 6 months or so.. and it works great. Of course I still have to update the music from time-to-time, but this is easy. I just connect the iPAQ to my PC, log on and copy a few more albums to it, maybe even take a couple of the old ones off, and then in WMP, reconstitute the playlists. I typically have a large playlist (~300 songs) and use "shuffle play" so that no two classes are ever the same. Works great. Well OK, works great most of the time; once in a while I have to get off the bike and skip to the next track with something "too slow" (read cool-down) comes on during the "exertion" part of the class. No big deal.

So why jump to a Slacker? Well there is lots of music that I don't have and here's a chance to widen the music selection by a bunch.. all keeping a particular format (rock, metal, party metal, current hits..) So I sprung for a Slacker G2! (like my iPAQ I got it used on Amazon.com). The machine was easy to set up; went to slacker.com, entered the Slacker G2 ID number and I intially chose one station: AC/DC. Connected the Slacker to my home WiFi and "whamo" I had a new "station" on the slacker, AC/DC radio. This station played AC/DC and groups in that genre: Def Leppard, Van Halen, Aerosmith and the like. Plus, as the review says, I can hit the "I love it" button or the "ban it from my stations" button to tailor the selections.

I downloaded the owner's manual (.pdf file, available at slacker.com) and read how to transfer music on my PC to the Slacker. On my iPAQ I simply connect and then drag .mp3s to one of the storage cards (the iPAQ has both a SDHC and a CF card!), then WMP finds the music and away I go! This won't work on the Slacker. I had to download the Slacker sync software, sync the Slacker to the PC and then use WMP to copy files (.mp3s- that's all I use) to the device. But that seemed to work pretty well.

I set up a total of 5 "stations" on my Slacker G2 (4GB version): AC/DC, Metal, Party Metal, Metallica, and Comedy. Setting up the connection via WiFi was easy, took only a few moments and works well. You can also refresh on line using a USB connecton to slacker.com. Just as the reviews typically note, the WiFi refresh took at least 2 hours to add new songs. If you use the free version (no monthly fees) you can't replay or record any of the music the Slacker plays. I have no idea of how many songs get loaded into the slacker at each "refresh." Also the Slacker refreshes at any WiFi spot you can log into. The Slacker free version is supported by ads- ads that are reported to show up once an hour. The once an hour part seems about right, but there are no ads.. simply a 5-second blurb saying "This is slacker radio." I also found, as reviewers have noted, that I get about 6-7 hours of use / charge. Less than advertised, but not bad!

I plugged the Slacker into the Aux input in my BMW and it played like a champ. I spent about 45 minutes on each station I entered. As I noted, you can only set up stations on line at Slacker.com, and with my unit I'm limited to 25 stations,; when you "refresh" the stations reload music into your Slacker). Generally the music was stuff I like. I found that I hit the "I love it" button about 4 to 1 opposed to the "ban it" button. The free version will also allow me to "skip" a song by hitting the "forward" button ("replay" or back up button only works on the music I put in the Slacker or if you buy the monthly subscription). I'm into the (legal) free music: so I'm limited to 6 skips/hr/station. I find that I just don't use the "skip" much at all. Also I plugged my Slacker into the Aux input of my Logitech "Boom box" and it played there too! One difficulty I had with the Logitech that I did not have with BMW: I had to crank the volume way up on both the Slacker and the Logitech to make it play at reasonable volume.

OK, now onto the acid test! I took the Slacker G2 to my bike class. I was thinking of using the AC/DC channel or the "Party Metal" channel; and of course opted for the Angus and the boys. The class started with "Dirty Deeds" and took off from there. Great hard rock. I did have to use the "skip" function once (some kind of a sappy love song came on) but Aerosmith, Blue Oyster Cult, Alice Cooper, Motley Crue, to name a few, held the day. The music worked well. And an advertisement came on during the class- all it said was the usual, "This is Slacker radio." After class one of the participants asked me "What's slacker radio?" His interest in it meant that means the music was well received.

So when I log into the Slacker.com site again I'm gonna add a couple more stations. Top 40s and ...

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Description of Slacker G2 4 GB 25-Station Personal Radio Player

The Slacker G2 plays all of your personalized Slacker Radio stations on one sleek, ultra-portable player. Whether you listen to one of more than 100 expert-programmed Slacker stations or custom stations that you create, the music evolves as you listen. New songs are personally selected for you and automatically loaded on the Slacker G2 so your radio stations are always ready to play wherever you go.

The Slacker G2 plays all of your personalized Slacker Radio stations on one sleek player. Click to enlarge.

Personalized Radio

The Slacker G2 plays all of your Slacker Radio stations on one sleek, ultra-portable player. Whether you listen to one of more than 100 expert-programmed Slacker stations or custom stations that you create, the music evolves to match your tastes as you listen.

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 better at delivering the music that you love.

Album reviews and artist bios come with every song and are delivered right to your Slacker G2. Click to enlarge.

At just 13.5 millimeters deep, the Slacker G2 is ultra-portable (pictured in case). Click to enlarge.

Music Discovery
Perfect your listening experience using Slacker's exclusive personalization tools. With different buttons, you can tell Slacker which songs are your favorites and which you never want to hear again. Fine-tune any station to get more hits or more fringe; request older artists over new. Album reviews and artist bios come with every song and are delivered right to your Slacker G2.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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 G2, get 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 G2 at Wi-Fi hotspots or through your PC via USB. You can listen to your music anytime, even when not connected.

Pocket DJ
The same personalized listening experience you love on Slacker.com is available wherever you go on the ultra-portable Slacker G2. Slacker DJs hand pick songs for your player and you can use the ? and ? buttons on the Slacker G2 to further customize your stations. The more you listen, the better the music gets.

Refresh On the Go
The Slacker G2 gives you uninterrupted access to your music wherever you are. Thousands of songs are stored on the Slacker G2 to fill up all of your personalized radio stations. That means you can listen to your stations absolutely anywhere.

The Slacker G2 can automatically 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 select new stations for your Slacker G2 on any PC or Mac with an Internet connection.

Includes earphones, carrying case with sport clip, power adapter, USB cable, quick start guide, and preloaded Slacker stations. Click to enlarge.

Built-in MP3 Player

Already have your own personal music library? The Slacker G2 features a built-in MP3 player. You can store up to 1 GB of MP3s on the 4 GB/25-station Slacker Portable, or 3 GB of MP3s on the 8 GB/40-station Slacker Portable. Then, listen whenever and wherever you want. Check out all Slacker Portables.

On-The-Go Playlists
Create personalized playlists with your MP3s using the intuitive controls on the Slacker G2. Enjoy the favorites you own in any order you want. As a Slacker Premium Radio subscriber, you also can save your favorite radio songs and play them whenever you like.

Manage your MP3s
Use your Slacker G2 with popular applications, such as Windows Media Player, to manage your music collection and transfer your favorite MP3 files from your PC to your portable player.

What's in the Box
Slacker G2 4 GB 25-Station Personal Radio Player, Slacker adjustable earphones, carrying case with sport clip, power adapter, USB cable, quick start guide, preloaded Slacker stations.

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