Customer Reviews

Slacker G2 8 GB 40-Station Personal Radio Player

5 star:		(33)
4 star:		(11)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(5)
1 star:		(12)

 

 

I bought one of the first generation Slacker Radios, and while it is very cool, the form factor (similar in size to an iphone) was a little too big for the gym or even walking around. The G2 is a perfect size, while still maintaining a readable screen.

In case you are new to the Slacker concept, you create your own custom radio stations by selecting artists, and Slacker provides music from those and other similar performers. You can also select from the many Slacker stations. While listening to a station, you can push a "favorite" or "ban" button so that Slacker learns your preferences.

The best part of the Slacker player is the Wi-Fi feature. Before going to bed, I plug in my Slacker Radio to charge along with my other stuff. I hit the connect button, and I'm done. The Slacker radio makes a Wi-Fi connection, and refreshes all the radio stations with new music. Everyday I start out with a newly loaded mp3 player, incrementally better suited to my musical tastes due to the use of the favorite and ban buttons. If you subscribe to the premium service, hitting the favorite button also saves a copy of the song to the player.

Obviously you can "refresh" any mp3 player through the use of playlists, but I never have that kind of time. All my other players are basically static, loaded with the music I first downloaded to them. And unlike downloading music you have selected to an mp3 player, with the Slacker you are exposed to music that you may not know or did not think to download.

For me, with no time or desire to plug my player into a computer and juggle songs in and out, the Slacker is the perfect player.

I listen to Slacker ([...]) for free at work all day long, and over time, created 'radio' stations that I enjoy just about every single song on. So, when I received the Slacker Portable for my birthday, I was in heaven! It took one click on [...] to port my stations onto the portable, and now I can listen to my great music anywhere, anytime!

Here are a few great things about it:
1) You don't need a wireless connection or any kind of subscription for the basic music service
2) You can put your own MP3's on it, so you don't need this AND an iPod or other MP3 player
3) Very nice, lightweight, easy-to-use device with a big color screen and fantastic sound quality. (Note that it even comes with customizeable ear buds to fit your ears!)

Slacker doesn't have a video programming available currently, but hopefully that's coming soon.

Overall, really fun and useful product that delivers music right to you without your having to upload, buy, or rip your CD's to.

This is what Apple should have done. I found that after spending hours putting music on my ipod and then thousands of dollars in downloads I get bored with my music. The Slacker Radio service is a no brainer. You simply search for artists or songs you like and Slacker creates playlists for you and they constantly update each time you charge the player or come into a wireless network. Now don't get confused. This device does not stream or need reception like a XM or Sirius player. It downloads thousands of songs onto this player and groups them into these stations. The stations were created by me or selected from a list of genre stations that Slacker supplies. Which BTW are really good. I was amazed. I got the first generation Slacker player which functionally did things really well. I actually still use it but have it as a dedicated home device plugged into my home stereo. But this new G2 player is a home run. It's small and easy to use. I listen to Electronica and Indie quite a bit but it's amazing all new bands this service has introduced me to. Plus... I love Bossanova, Jazz, Ska and other genres but I don't know the artist well... Slacker has basically allowed me to create stations based off a couple artist and they sound great. Really cool! Anyone with a ipod that has found their music getting stale should ditch it and get this device.

The Slacker G2 is simply awesome-a polar shift for mobile music you carry in your pocket and the service is free.

For starters...the Slacker network is a free streaming music service on your computer. They're very similar to the better known Pandora online music site. It possess a huge music library and dozens of preformatted 'station' of random, non-repeating songs in every conceivable style.If your tastes are even more eclectic, you can easily design your own personal 'station'. You can program and 'teach' the station what you like by using the 'like' and 'ban' buttons. You can even go so far as specifying you want deep cuts or just the hits.

What the G2 is,is a hand held mobile player and receiver. You select the channels you want from the Slacker network. Using a usb cable or Wifi, Slacker quickly downloads huge amounts of music-hours of music in justa few minutes. All for free! Everytime you are close to a Wifi hotspot you can hit the 'connect' button on the G2 and all your channels will be automatically 'refreshed' with new music-for free. To pay for this the website shows ads and the G2 occasionally plays an ad. The G2 lets you have up to 25 stations of different music. Just like the website you can adjust the music stream to your liking using the 'like' or 'ban' buttons. You can even 'skip' over songs you don't want to hear. The music is random and non-repeating-unless you id some songs as 'favorities'-then they are played more in the mix.

The LCD displays 1st class images of the album or artist or relative information. The battery life is about 7-11 hours depending on how long you leave the LCD lit up and how high you run the volume.

You have the option to upgrade the free service to a paid premium service. With that you can request specific songs, create an on demand 'favorites' library, no ads, and other features.

All and all the service is awesome, the G2 is awesome. It's my new favorite toy.

PS. In the spirit of full disclosure it should be known that the usb refresh feature will not work on all computers.The IP address of the G2 is 192.168.0.1 , a very popular address for routers,modems, and some programs.So it is possible that there may be a conflict between the G2 and your devices. I understand that Macs could have a problem with the usb refresh feature also.If all else fails you just use Wifi to refresh-no big deal.There are fixes and work-arounds for this, check the Slacker website forums to find out more.

Slacker Radio is a great new service that allows you to create your own music channel that only plays your favorite artists. You can also tell Slacker to play your favorite artists and to allow you to discover new artists. You can even ban or request specific songs, and control how often they play. You can also choose from about 30 other channels that are programmed by them.

You can listen on any internet connected computer by logging in on Slacker's web-page. Even if you never program your own channel, the choice of pre-programmed channels is very good. The service is available free of charge, with two 30-second commercials each hour, or with no commercials for $3.99 per month. If you don't mind the lack of live channels (like CNN, BBC Radio, and the like), Slacker is a way better choice than satellite radio.

The same cannot be said for this product, the Slacker G2. The Slacker G2 is a portable music player that will allow you download music from the Slacker service and listen to music even when you have no internet connection. It can download music directly from the Slacker service using a Wifi connection or by connecting it to your computer and stores the music on its built-in memory. The product has a huge screen and easy to use buttons. It looks good and is easy to hold.

The big, big problem is the quality. I bought and returned three of these. Each one lasted no more than a few days before something went wrong. Thus, while I highly recommend the Slacker service, I cannot recommend the G2.

Slacker has now released a version of their software that will work with Blackberry devices, and hopefully a Windows Mobile version will come along soon. Once that happens, you can get all the benefits of this device on your Windows Mobile cellular phone, without the downside of buying something that doesn't seem to be able to last more than a week without breaking. If you already have a Blackberry, then you have no need for this device..

I have been using this for two weeks now and I have to give Slacker a "B" grade for providing a new way of getting fresh music on a regular basis. Slacker is an mp3 player that automatically downloads thousands of songs over wi-fi from the Slacker service. You can create up to 25 "stations" and the station's playlists are refined according to your decisions to keep or ban a song (via built-in push buttons). There is no fee but you can't rewind or repeat a song. If you decide to upgrade (for 7.50$) a month, you can save songs. The pros: cd quality sound (yes). Portability, ease of use, album cover art and artist biographies. You can play the music away from the hotspot once you load up.
Cons: A large (two million songs) but quirky and uneven library of music (many major artists are missing and the ones that aren't (Stones, Beatles, Elvis) are represented by their lesser efforts. The Classical station is filled exclusively with third and fourth rate orchestras. My vocal standards station seems to be repeatedly filling itself with old Julie London recordings and very little Tony Bennett or Sinatra or Ella. I've heard one Beatles song in two weeks of listening to the sixties station. My "Ambient" station keeps downloading songs with heavy percussion. There is an awful lot of junk to wade through here. You'll be using those "skip" and "ban" buttons, trust me. Initial download is a bear. If the Slacker radio is new, you need 3-4 hours in a hotspot to load it up. After the initial download, you only need 5- 15 minutes at each refresh since the radio only replaces songs you have listened to. No news. No talk. No weather or sports. The screen scratches easily (I'm getting a shield on mine). Cost - this costs as much as an ipod touch!
The Slacker experience is somewhere between and mp3 player and a wi-fi radio. I have definitely enjoyed it and use it every day. But I'm keeping my XM radio for consistently better music, news, talk, traffic, and weather. If you love music, this will be a plus in your life but you are unlikely to make this your only music source.

The Slacker service absolutely kills XM/Sirius!! I mean they decimate satellite radio and leave it in the dust!!! I don't care about talk shows or Howard stern etc so I am a happy owner of a G2 as of yesterday morning. The Slacker G2 comes with beautiful packaging, in fact so beautiful, I was very surprised at the detail that went into it. The G2 is the perfect size with a full color screen that is very vivid and razor sharp. The headphones are adequate but do NOT use them. You are better off using a good pair of headphones to get the full benefit of the sound. You get a usb/powercord and belt clip/carrying case.

What I LOVE about Slacker is that everytime you turn to a station the song starts at the beginning so no more turning to a station and catching the middle of it or the tail end of it! I know the XM Pioneer portable Inno player had a buffer so you could rewind but it's just fantastic knowing I'm gonna hear the beginning of every song. No fading in or out on songs saved in my library and Wifi!!! I literally bought a Wifi router specifically because of my G2 player yesterday never EVER having Wifi before. I love how speedy it refreshes the stations but since I got about 21 stations so far, it can take awhile after I add new artists etc. Knowing that I can get new content wherever there is a Wifi signal is seriously cool! Sound quality with my good headphones is great!! Way better than XM in my opinion and runs circles around Sirius.

You can SKIP over songs I don't want to hear! It's also great to see what song is coming up next at a glance! Whoever thought of this..THANK YOU! I wish we could rewind, fast forward or have a back feature but the licensing thing ruins that.

There is an artist biography, album review and a feature where you can literally see every song that's been played so far on your current station. It's sort of like having a mini music wikipedia! Some of the bio's on established artists are very long and detailed. It's awesome. I like the color pictures, album art and being able to read reviews of the albums too! I didn't know you have to highlight the artists name, highlight the album itself and press on the scroll wheel at first to access it.

At first it was kinda wierd knowing that I wasn't listening to streaming satellite radio but stations that I chose myself and some that I actually created myself. It's such a freedom though and I quickly was thrilled with it! I created stations where I get to hear only what I want to hear with the request song feature. With xm/sirius I had to make do with THEIR programming but NO MORE! Yes!!! WE are the DJ's!! **Please note that you can finetune every single station whether it's the regular Slacker radio stations or the ones you create. You can choose to hear your favorite songs a lot or not so much. You can edit your stations so you hear unfamilar or deeper album cuts as well. The finetune feature should be used immediately when you go to the slacker webplayer when you get the G2. . The G2 screen is gorgeous and gets dirty very quickly!
Slacker G2 is the radio of my dreams!!!! I have this massive library to listen to and discover new artists too. I am in love with music again! After my ipod classic was stolen, I stopped listening to music but now I have rediscovered my love of it. I can't stop listening!

I highly recommend this as a present or for yourself! It's the best of both worlds if you have a mp3 player/ipod or have satellite radio. My mp3 player is now collecting dust already This is an excellent choice and YOU will rediscover music for yourself. This has to be one of the most exciting music device to come along in years! BUY IT!
Edit:My original review was too long and is still lengthy. Sorry. I hope this lead someone to buy the G2 and try it!

I say its the best portable player ever.
Create Custom Playlists on the Slacker site, or use the premade playlists.
It refreshes itself automatically with new music every time you plug it in the charger...so youre never bored with the same old songs.
The sound quality is very good (much better than sattelite radio) but the stock earbuds are cheap sounding (just like all stock earbuds) The battery life is pretty good , over 10 hrs.(Ive never actually timed it...could be more)

Important note..

USB.. Ive had problems , and others have problems connecting the player to the internet using the USB connector.

WIFI..Fortunatly the player connects perfectly to the internet through the WIFI , and the USB is not needed at all.

Id say ..go to the Slacker Site and join for free.
Mess around with all the playlist options ect. listen to the music online.
If you like it...Buy the portable player.

I had mostly given up on radio. It's hardly music! There's commercials, obnoxious djs, chatting, virtually no unique genres, and the same few songs over rotated. There's satellite but that's a monthly fee and you're locked into your car or home only. Then I stumbled upon slacker. I never realized how great customizable radio could be. I've found the online version to be a great selector; it knows what I'd like better than I do. Most of my stations are just artists I like and slacker is great at only playing songs that sound like that artist. And I truly am a slacker. I can't stand the constant downloading or paying per song or ripping albums etc. The coolest thing is being able to hear a specific artist/genre that's rare. For instance, I'm a big fan of a lot of 50s doowop. So, with slacker, all I have to so is pick an artist like the Shangri las or something, and slacker knows exactly what type of music I want to hear, and it's that simple and easy. I'm also excited about the 1gb for storing your own files. I can't see putting more music on this thing lol, but I've already got plans to load up a couple of audio books to have in the mix with the music. My only gripe? It'd be great if they utilized that cool screen for at least music videos. Oh well, maybe the next gen player. HEADS UP...if you get it from Slacker, right now it's no tax and free shipping, 30 day trial, and they'll upload the latest firmware and 10 of your stations before they ship. So that takes the hassle out of the really long initial refresh you'd have. And supposedly the new firmware fixes bugs with the usb refresher, don't know though. But the usb is a bonus anyway, it's meant for wifi. I don't know why more people don't know about this thing. At only 200 bucks, you really save in the long run for constant new music personalized to your tastes. It's really a great gift not only for slackers, or those that like constant new music...but also older people that really haven't grasped the concept of digital music. This makes it really simple for them to have a portable device that's loaded up with music they'll like without any fuss.

They don't tell you when you buy this portable player - alot of music that you've played on your Slacker internet streaming player cannot be played on your Slacker portable due to their licensing issues. Two stations I've created have yet to play one song from the artist the station was created around. Support told me the reason was licensing...they should tell you that when you buy it, because had I known that, I wouldn't have bothered with it.

Other points:
- Small and light
- Good sound quality
- Battery life is fine for such a small and light piece of equipment
- Pretty easy to use/intuitive button setup
- Takes a long time to refresh/update stations
- Takes about 30 seconds to start up which can be a pain...if you pause it, it'll shut down after a few seconds, then you gotta wait 30 to start it back up again...not great when you're listening to the player while you're working, get a call and need to pause, then when you hang up want to turn it back on...but this can be lived with