Customer Reviews

Philips FW-i1000 Internet Audio Compact Stereo System

5 star:		(6)
4 star:		(3)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(2)
1 star:		(2)

 

 

Philips FW-i1000 Issues

Ordered Dec 6, 2002, BestBuy.com, ($$$), ($$$) rebate available), free shipping.
Delivered Dec 11, 2002, appears to work as intended.

Here are the problems that I found during the two days that I owned it.

1. MP3 CDs won't play.

2. Requires a program "iM Jukebox" running on a Windows PC to play computer-based MP3 files.

i. The program is buggy and prone to crash or freeze (under Windows 98). The program's task lives on after the program is exited and has to be killed with CTRL+ALT+DEL.

ii. The program requires acceptance of an end-user license agreement (EULA), and the submission of personal information. It also requires acceptance of a privacy policy that allows monitoring of listening habits. It also requires Internet Explorer, Windows Media Player (WMP), and Real Player - all with their own EULAs. It also requires that the user (claim to) be 13 years or older.

iii. Many MP3 files that work on other software and portable MP3 players won't play. All MP3 files converted recently with CDEX won't play.

iv. User cannot fast-forward or rewind or pause when playing an MP3 file.

v. No ability to play files on a Linux or Mac computer.

3. It is circuitous and cumbersome to add an Internet radio station, and only streaming MP3 stations are available. This function, like others associated with iM Networks' website only work with the Internet Explorer browser.

4. Unit takes 30-60 seconds to start playing music when powered up by pressing connect. Sometimes it claims "No Internet connection" when PCs have Internet access. Unplugging the power cord and reconnecting does not seem to help.

5. Stations that play flawlessly on a PC player have dropouts on the unit.

6. All aspects of the Internet radio and network MP3 player function are dependent on one small company: iM Networks. This company is not controlled by Philips, and has no substantial history or reputation. What if: -

i. They cease operation?

ii. They decide to charge a fee for their software and service?

iii. Have terms of service or EULA that are unacceptable?

7. IM Network's website claims that all streams available through their service are "legally scrubbed." What was scrubbed out that I am missing? Why do I need them making these decisions for me? The website also tells stations (content providers) that they have advertisement-insertion technology and "other revenue infrastructure." These things scare me.

I understand that the firmware is upgradeable, and that some of these issues might be resolved in time, but since I only bought the unit for its network capabilities, and they are almost unusable, I returned it to BestBuy. I'll buy it again if all the issues are resolved.

This is a great attempt to harness the wealth of streaming audio available on the internet. However, the choices are extremely limited in comparison to what can be received on a PC. News options are very limited, for instance, and there is no option (at present) to listen to the BBC, MSNBC, CNN, World Band Radio, etc. Music choices are pretty good, and there is certainly more variety than the usual AM-FM radio. The sound is excellent and the ability to play rewriteable cdrw's is a huge plus. Would be fantastic if the unit played MP3 or WMA discs! On the dissapointing side, I've had the unit over a month and though I was supposed to receive MP3 streaming software for PC MP3s on registration, there has been nothing sent yet, and no response from support despite more than 4 attempts. I hope this is just a busy time for this usually superb company. Kudos for a great first try at an "internet" radio.

Hello, I've just gotten one of the production units as a review loaner and I want to warn people who are expecting to use this unit to listen to Internet radio: You can't. (At least it won't work like you expect.)

No BBC. No Voice of America. No local FM stations. No World Radio Network. No NPR feed. Why? Because if it's not an MP3 stream--and most Internet radio stations aren't and never will be--this device will not hear it.

This is the same way iTunes works and it, too, has a very limited selection of stations.

The reason for this is the lack of a Real Audio or Windows Media Player inside the device. Real is the format of choice for Internet radio, but using it today requires a PC of some sort to run the client software. If you'd like a Real Audio-based Internet Radio, check out the Bose Wave/PC instead.

I really wanted to love this unit--which I had imagined would work like my dearly-departed Kerbango (which did have Real Audio built-in)--but, alas, it's a huge disappointment. Calling this an Internet radio is misrepresentation, if not legally, at least intellectually.

David Coursey

I was also one of those fortunate few to beta test this unit. Plain and simply, I love it! This unit could be a stand-alone stereo for a small household or the family room.

The other reviews are accurate, so I'm not going to restate what's already been said. We are told that the released units have had a few changes over the units we tested thanks to our recommendations. They've added the ability to manually set the IP address and have improved the buffering. Mine did hicup occasionally. In my house, I have an internal network with 5 computers and this Philips stereo/Internet radio unit and it still ran great!

We received a photocopied manual for review. I can say that this is different then anything else you have used. Does one really read the manual to set up an AM-FM radio? No. But with this, since it is an entireley new concept, read the manual.

One nice item is that you can also play your MP3 files from another computer on the network and set up your own playlists. What this means is that you can either pick an Internet radio station or simply play your MP3 files from within your network.

Overall, the unit is great. Speakers for their size are great. Stations, great. Operation, after you get the nack, is great.

It has an audio out jack. With simply RCA cables, I wired it to my home stereo system which covers the entire house and outdoors. This meant I had the benefit of the entire Internet and my MP3 files throughout the entire house! Now that's great!

It's good Stereo. I must be the ONLY person who actually bought one. You can still find a couple of working IM stations, mostly non-USA and mostly pop music.
I really wanted to be able to play MP3s from my PC hard drive, but the promised software to let that happen is nowhere to be found. And the maker appears to have abandoned the whole project.

I was one of a hundred lucky people who got to beta test this unit for FREE from Philips. To start off, let me say that the cd, tape, regular radio, volume, etc. are all just like any other player on the market and perform quite well. Where this box distinguishes itself is the internet connectivity. I used the box with both a DSL and T1 (at work) line and it was pretty solid, it didn't have any connection problems or anything. At first, I liked the idea of having lots of internet radio channels, but in reality, I found that I couldn't find stations that played more of what I wanted to hear than my regular old FM stations. So check out the IM network to make sure there are things you want to listen to over the internet first. If you do find things, I will say that the sound quality, even at the lowest compression setting was very good. Okay, so a couple of other cool things I liked about this, I liked being able to set radio stations using the IM networks web site that were then sent down to my box, that was cool since it is harder to search for stations using the buttons on the unit. I also liked sending MP3's to the unit, my only complaint is that most of my MP3's weren't named properly so that they would display on the unit screen the title etc. If you've got a network in your house though, you could send mp3's from any PC to your unit which is really neat. ....

coming from someone who worked on this project, the fw-i1000 is super cool. i have one sitting next to me right now as i write this. you can listen to music from all over the world, music you wouldn't be able to get by conventional radio. it does have problems, though.the connection can sometimes be flaky, and if there is other internet traffic over your link, the music sometimes gets choppy. on the whole, though, a brilliant product.

I was chosen by Philips to beta test this beast, and I enjoyed every moment of it. At first I couldn't get it connected to the net, but then noticed I had DHCP turned off on my router. In this broadband world we're in, I think most people would have a router to share a cable modem or dorm type ethernet connection among computers. Anyways, after the beast was connected all was good, I downloaded the JukeBox player software from IM Networks, I believe it is now known as Sonic Box. The JukeBox leaves alot to be desired and is mediocre at best. The software allows you to stream Mp3's from your hard drive to the Fw-i1000, sound quality is great.

Indeed this box does boom, it has a feature called wOOx technology, with these cool little woofers atop the left and right speakers, with the wOOx level on 3 (the highest) you can definitely feel it.

Push the connect and you have a whole world of internet radio stations at your fingertips. The remote is really easy to use, I never really found a use for the tape player, and the CD player didn't get much play.

I had fun playing with it and it makes a great addition to my computer den.

....

I think this thing is sortof nice the way it has an integrated Tape and CD, but generally I think it is really crappy compared to the Turtle Beach Audiotron. Granted that unit is designed to be connected to a real stereo, and not imitate a real stereo like this unit, but the support for formats, and features is 400% better on that unit.

The Audiotron is also able to play icecast and shoutcast...

I was a beta tester for this philips product. I am not a employee of philips. I have had this unit for last 7 mo. The quality is there I do like the fact that the speakers are housed in wood and not plastic. I have cox@home and the hookup to the cable is best used with a router netgear 314. had problems with a hub. This way you can have the FW-i1000 and the computer on at the same time. The mp3when run from computer connected by the iMjukebox really sound great and you are listening to them through the 240 watts instead of your computer speaker system. The Inet radio is similar to the one on the computer except now it is controlled throught the FW-i1000. I do beleive that you do get more boom for your money.