Customer Reviews

iLuv Internet Radio with Dual Alarm Clock (Black)

5 star:		(7)
4 star:		(7)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(3)
1 star:		(4)

 

 

There was so much potential although I just find myself saying "BUT" way too many times.

They emphasize the clock display is remarkably large BUT it really isn't.

It is a nice looking unit, BUT you can't appreciate how large the case is until you see it and realize it will take up most of average sized night stand.

The sound quality is quite good if you play it at 4 to 5 or higher BUT the quality goes down at the lower volume level where most people realistically would use at the bedside. I haven't found any adjustments for things like bass and treble.

Customer support is terrible. They give you a phone number BUT it just sends you to voice mail. They give you a way to send a message online for express service BUT it is not "express" or helpful. I asked some simple questions while I was waiting for the unit to ship and it took two days for them to respond. They didn't actually attempt to answer my questions at all BUT just sent a .pdf of the manual and told me to read it. Not one of my questions was answered in the manual they sent (simple stuff like does the unit support WPA2, have a place for a 9 volt backup battery, etc.). The manual is very brief and does not go in-depth on any technical details like networking. There are many menus of options on this system that are never discussed in the manual. (Update: they did send me a second email a week later that did attempt to actually answer a few of my questions, and yes, it does support WPA2 but keep on reading).

The biggest killer to me, unless customer support can't advise me otherwise (waiting to hear from them), is that any time your wireless router is turned off OR the security key does a rolling change of the key AND you are using a wireless connection to the router, the iLuv is not able to reestablish a connection on its own. It will try BUT fail. When it fails, it starts the network wizard again AND DELETES YOUR KEY/PASSWORD! You have no choice and no way of stopping it. Even if you try to bypass the wizard and manually configure things, it will wipe out all of the network settings (it keeps the station presets, etc.) and require you to redo things. Oddly, when you manually reenter the key (the same key as you inputted the first time), it will reconnect on its own just fine. If you have a "strong" key for your system (like you should to be really secure), it takes forever to re-enter in the key. You would not believe the arcane method to enter in data via the buttons on the front panel.

This means whenever your router rolls/changes the security key (this is often multiple times an hour for security reasons) the wifi connection will drop and it cannot reconnect. Additionally, any time you turn off your router for an approaching storm, have a power outage, change any setting on the firmware of your router that requires it to reboot itself, etc., you are going to need to reenter your many-charactered key. Router power downs and reboots are just a fact of life. Using a router without a password would bypass this problem BUT that approach is not smart/safe. All of my other wifi devices can reconnect without a problem, so the issue is with the iLuv radio.

This brings up anther flaw. When you plug this unit in via Ethernet (which works well), there should be a software application provided on CD from iLuv that allows you to do all of the programming via your PC versus through the keys on the front of the radio. This is a serious oversight by iLuv.

UPDATE: After about another week (some "express" service, eh?) iLuv finally got back to me in regard to my second email about the dropped wifi connection issues. This is their one_sentence answer to the wifi disconnecting problem: "This problem will not happen after reset iNT170 & re-connect to internet every time user changed the password." I am sorry, but what a lame attempt at a guess/reply after a week of waiting.

I wanted to keep this thing... BUT I just am not feeling the "luv" at this point. The industry is now on the second generation of internet radios and I expected more. Maybe iLuv will release an updated firmware to fix the flaws. The radio is being returned today :( .

I have had it for about a week. It does not seem to be able to play media from a computer but the sound is fairly good and I have had no trouble at all finding and holding the network connection. There are lots of presets (20 for Internet and 20 for FM), however the FM tuner is not the most sensitive and although I do live in the sticks - it does not get as strong a signal as my little Sony radio. It was easy to set up favorites on the website and the iLuv picked them up right away. So in a way you have unlimited presets. The alarm can wake you with a buzz, FM or Internet and has some nice programmable features such as weekday only etc...and 2 alarms. I live overseas and miss some of my local stations so this was just the ticket and the price is right. It also has a aux in for iPods and such.

This iluv radio stops and starts as it plays. It is most annoying, especially when listening to the news. It looses the internet connection for no apparent reason, then reconnects in 30 seconds or 3 minutes. This problem occurs in wifi mode or with a LAN line connected. "Customer service" is an oxymoron at iluv. There seems to be no viable way to communicate with tech support, as they don't answer the phone, don't respond to voice mail, and they have yet to respond to an email set to them a week ago. With so many other internet radios to choose from don't waste your time and money by buying an iluv product.

This is an amazing product that does exactly what is advertized.

Sound quality is great and connection to the internet is rapid. Computer doesn't need to be on. Matter of fact you don't even need a computer, just a connection to the internet thru a modem/router. You'll need to know the web key of your router which is located on the side next to the serial #.

You can have the INT170 search by location, genre, language, new stations and most popular. You can also store favorites and preferences.

I read a previous review about how this radio loses the connection and shuts down on its own, regardless of the type connection. I disregarded the warning, and bought the radio. This radio shuts down EVERY time I use it I am lucky if I get to hear a song before it turns off.

The troubleshooting in the manual consists of about 3 steps - basically plugging it in - so that was worthless. iLUV provides no tech support online or in chat format. The FAQ section of there so-called "Support" website tells you how you can pay for tech support, but gives no solutions to the lost connection / shut down problems.

I have updated the firmware, verified the region codes and settings are correct, and gone through every possible menu setting to see if I did something wrong.

I think it is a piece of junk.

I really am enjoying my iLuv internet radio. It is the perfect solution for me, as I have cable internet and poor over the air radio reception. The sound quality is great.
Two minor gripes- it isn't easy to program (for a techno-clod like me) and it doesn't get AM, for some reason.
I like it so well I may buy a second one for a different room.

I searched for a long time before selecting this item. It has excellent sound. It looks nice. The only issues I have with this product are that it isn't a "quick and easy" set up. Not challenging, just more effort than one might think. - The clock display becomes miniscule while in radio mode. And the input jack is on the front instead of the back. - I had considered hooking this up to some exterior speakers, but with the input jack in view, this would have looked 'junky'. That being said, I was so impressed with the sound, that I did not feel the need to use speakers after all. I love being able to listen to stations all around the world. This really is a terrific product. Having researched many other similar products, I'd have to say this is one of the best out there.

I live in the Pacific Coast mountains and we get little to no radio reception, but this WiFi radio runs off the home WiFi (from satellite) and gives us access to not only local radio but world wide. You have friends from Europe, Asia, Africa you can have on their local stations. We get news from 4 public radios (NY, Minn, Wyoming, Calf) and rock from Netherlands and classic from Germany.. the radio has great sound, remote and pre-sets -- pretty cool

I did a lot of shopping and I feel I made a good choice. This radio has good sound, a very nice remote control, stable wifi, an adequate number of presets, a very readable display that you can dim or turn off when you sleep, and a great Internet control panel. I had a question for their customer service and their response was fast and complete. I recommend it highly and I will probably buy a second one.

This radio is an interesting idea and I hope this trend will carry on. But it has a few flaws and seems to me that the company released it prematurely:

1. The clock will randomly reset. A very basic requirement to clock radio is to have a reliable clock when power is not interrupted. in the first week since I bought it, the clock has reset at least twice: once it was after 3:00 AM, another time, it was somewhere passed 4:00 AM. I knew power in my house had not interrupted as clocks on microwave and stove were still on time (at around 8:00 AM). What can you expect when a clock radio could not function as a clock?
2. Intermittent internet connection: sometimes it could not connect to internet at all, I have to power on and off a few times to get it connected. Another time, while I was listening to AOL New Age, the connection was suddenly lost.
3. No backup battery: If you unplug it, all stations are lost. You have to start from scratch.
4. When it upgrades internal firmware, wireless setting (and other setting) will be wiped out. And it is a pain to put back the setting with only an up and down buttons.
5. Although its size is impressive, its sound quality is mediocre at the best. My thinkpad x201 sounds much better (when tuned to the same station).