Philips MCi250 Wireless Broadband Internet Micro HiFi System

by Philips

Product Details

Product Manual [1.43mb PDF]

• Item Weight: 23.2 pounds
• Shipping Weight: 31 pounds
• Shipping: This item is also available for shipping to select countries outside the U.S.
• ASIN: B00009RTBU
• Item model number: MCi250
• Average Customer Review: 3.9 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (20 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #220,189 in Electronics (See Top 100 in Electronics)
• Date first available at Amazon.com: May 22, 2003

Product Description

Amazon.com Product Description

Amazon.com Product Description Now you can enjoy thousands of streaming Internet radio stations--as well as all the MP3 and mp3PRO files stored on your PC's hard drive--wirelessly, from nearly anywhere in your house. The Philips MCi250 Stream Internet-Audio Microsystem is WiFi-compatible and broadband-ready for wired connections, too. The system also comes with a full-featured MP3 CD player and a digital AM/FM stereo tuner for traditional stereo conveniences.

With the MCi250 you just have to select "Internet" as a source to instantaneously hear radio from around the world. Unlike conventional radio, Internet radio lets you control what you hear--you can often skip to the next track and see who the next artist will be.

See how you can use the supplied wireless USB transmitter to turn your home into a wireless network

Because its broadband connection is always available through your home network, there's no need to set up the system every time you want to listen to Internet music--it's automatically at the ready. You can also download MP3s from the Internet to your PC and burn them to a CD. This CD can now be played on the MCi250 literally anywhere you go (AC power required for operation). One MP3 CD can carry up to 12 hours of music, and the unit can play files with bit rates between 32 and 320 kbps as well as variable-bit-rate recordings.

Ever missed or forgotten an artist's name after a song has piqued your interest? Just press the handy INFO! button to receive an e-mail containing information about the artist and the track you're hearing. You can also link to retailers to buy the music. And if you're already drowning in e-mail, don't worry--set your e-mail preferences using My.Philips.com and the site will store your INFO! choices until you review them online at your convenience.

"Favorites" is a fast and easy way to bookmark all your preferred music. From the tracks of a CD to broadcast radio stations to the channels and stations offered by Philips's music services--they can all be bookmarked at the touch of the (UN)MARK button. Then press Favorites while in any music source: your list will display and you're ready to select and play a new favorite.

The system is upgradeable, too--use your Internet connection to download and install software updates for exciting new services and product features. Created exclusively for owners of Philips broadband Internet products, the My.Philips.com Web site is your personal tool for getting information and managing your entertainment choices.

As a sound system, the MCi250 delivers the goods. Its two-way speakers each contain a 1-inch cone tweeter for crisp high frequencies and a 5.25-inch aluminum-cone woofer powered by Philips's patented wOOx Technology for powerful bass response. The dual-suspension bass radiator, together with dedicated amplifier circuitry, is designed to produce and handle dynamic sound at very low frequencies.

An auxiliary input (stereo analog audio) accommodates a cassette deck, external MP3 player, DVD player, or other device, and a dedicated subwoofer output lets you hook up a powered sub for extended bass response. Bass and treble controls allow sound adjustment to personal preferences, and Incredible Surround employs psychoacoustic methods to widen the perceived stereo spatial image for full-impact home entertainment--especially helpful if you're not using surround speakers.

What's in the Box
The MCi250 Internet radio microsystem, a multifunction remote control, remote batteries, FM/AM antennas, a user's manual, and warranty information.

Note: Broadband Internet service and a gateway router including DHCP/NAT support are required for full use of this product's features.

Product Description

Philips MCi-250 Wireless Broadband Internet Micro HiFi System has thousands of streaming Internet radio stations.  All the MP3 and mp3PRO files are stored on your PC's hard drive wirelessly, from nearly anywhere in your house. The Philips MCi250 Stream Internet-Audio Microsystem is WiFi-compatible and broadband-ready for wired connections, too. The system also comes with a full-featured MP3 CD player and a digital AM/FM stereo tuner for traditional stereo conveniences.

Note: Broadband Internet service and a gateway router including DHCP/NAT support are required for full use of this product's features.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

12 of 13 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Works as advertised. Read if you have problems, March 27, 2004

By A Customer

This review is from: Philips MCi250 Wireless Broadband Internet Micro HiFi System (Electronics)

This system rocks! It's hard to explain how cool it is, owners of Tivo might relate to this: you have to use it and then you'll ask yourself how could you listen to your music any other way.

Some cool things:
- some radio stations allow you to skip songs
- tens of station available for free
- it will download album info even for you CDs
- supports multiple users, each with their own favorits
- it will sync its clock using a time server over the Internet. The poster that mentioned that this feature is not available is mistaken: one just needs to turn the setting on from his/her account on my.philips.com
- more featurs than you can imagine

The only problem is that the manual SUCKS, especialy when dealing with network setings, so here's some usefull info:
- the system works with WEP but only 64bit (aka 40bit). It doesn't works with 128. To ensure that your wireless is very secure, make sure that you enable WEP (64bit is still quite secure, unless you're a top secret agency, in which case don't use wireless), set authentication to Open (not Shared), change yor SSID from whatever default value (eg linksys) to something else, turn broadcast SSSID to off, change yor default router admin password. Last, but not least, read yor router's manual and see how you can filter MAC adddresses and allow only the ones fir yor devices (including the Philips Streamium) - however, if you follow the other setting, this one is optional only.
- when entering the WEP keys on the Philips Streamium you MUST to use UPPER CASEs, even though it shouldn't mattter, since those are hex values. Use the remote control to enter them.

Good luck all, and enjoy this super cool product!

13 of 15 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars Great Product but Lousy Support and False Advertising, February 6, 2004

By 

John Smith (Virginia) - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE)   

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: Philips MCi250 Wireless Broadband Internet Micro HiFi System (Electronics)

I always buy products after reading customer reviews. After reading a few reviews and spending a few days weighing price/features, I decided to buy this product. I noticed that you cannot get a better price than what you are getting through Amazon.com

I received the unit on Wednesday (02/04/04). Excitedly I opened the box and started setting it up. I have a wireless and wired network at home. First, I tried it with wireless connection through my Microsoft MN-700 802.11G Base Station using 128-bit WEP key. To those who think the key is key sensitive, I am a network engineer and know for a fact that it's NOT. It's a hexadecimal number (not text) and numbers are not case sensitive. (Makes sense?). Also, if you remember entering the long key on the unit, you will know that it doesn't give you any option to change case.

To cut the story short, I was not able to get this unit to communicate with my base station wireless and I didn't try without encryption because I don't want to run an unsecured wireless network just for this unit.

I connected the RJ-45 and it connected to the network without problem. Here comes the problem: To those who said that it updated software/firmware in a flash, I think my unit was clearly defective. It went into a loop where it would try to upgrade software and would fail sometimes at 0%, other times it would go up to 5% or 15%. I've never seen it go more than 15%. After that it would just give me a message saying "Upgrade Failed" and then tell me "Your set will now reboot". Automatically reboots and then start upgrading all over again - going into an endless loop that can only be stopped by unplugging the power cable from the back because while it upgrades, remote control or buttons won't work.

...

If you have basic technical know-how, this product is great. Though I was not able to see how it streams through the Internet, I like the product overall. That's why I am not going to return it for a refund but instead for a replacement.

Word of caution for new buyers: User Manual or Guide is useless. You must have basic technical skills to get it working. There is no section that describes how to set up PC-Link or what needs to be checked when it doesn't work. This is high-quality product with low-quality support and documentation. If you can handle the support part yourself, buy it! If not, stay away!

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Update 02/12/2004
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I received my replacement unit from Amazon yesterday which connected to the Internet and updated its software on the first attempt and in less than 1 minute. Clearly the old unit was defective.

...

"Automatically sets the clock on the display to the local tima via the internet."

Ignore the typos on their website but anyone can clearly understand that what the above statement means is that unit can connect to a time-server and automatically update time (just like Windows XP).

User Guide doesn't even talk about anything that comes even close to what the above statement declares. All it shows or is how to set up time manually. This unit has been connected to the Internet for the past 12+ hours and so far the time shows as --:--. It's not a big deal for me but it shows how falsely Philips is trying to sell this product for a high price so people will compare this against other systems and falsely think that it has unearthly features for a boom box which in fact it doesn't.

...

6 of 6 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Best in Class, September 24, 2004

By 

TF "Java King" (Kirkland, WA) - See all my reviews

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: Philips MCi250 Wireless Broadband Internet Micro HiFi System (Electronics)

I looked for quite a while before I leaped and the previous reviews were very helpful. I actually have two MCi250's and they are both working great off the same PC as server. One is ethernet wired to the network, the other off a Netgear b/g WLAN. The wired version was piece of cake to hook up and had no problems with the firmware update or setting the clock. Using Musicmatch 8.2 with the "Streamium" option checked as others described. Did have some problems getting the other hooked up as wireless to work with 128-bit encryption, but after setting it up without any encryption and getting the firmware updated (again no problem) was able to turn back on 128-bit and after the tedious process of entering the key with the remote again got it up first time. Note there ARE both small and capitals of the alphabet when entering the key and despite others on this site swearing it doesn't matter or that Alphanumeric means only numbers, it does matter what case the letters are in. All that being said, these are great little stereos, the WOOX sounds good, the PC-Link and Internet usually works fine and they are a great value.