Aluratek AIRMM01 Internet Radio Alarm Clock with built-in WiFi (Black)
Aluratek AIRMM01 Internet Radio Alarm Clock with built-in WiFi (Black) Review
Available at Amazon Check Price Now!
Purchased around this Thanksgiving with free shipping. Was a little bit apprehensive initially and glad to say all have since been addressed or overcome. It really works as described in its ad. Waited a month to explore all its features and test its stability before proceeding to write this review. The sheer variety and number of stations they have out there is mindboggling (~ >13,000 stations). You name your taste and its out there. So I’ll try to bulletize my experience:
- Startup: If you have a wifi at home its piece of cake. It finds all the networks it can smell within a couple of minutes after power up. Enter your network password using the remote. The method of entering number with remote is similar to doing text message with your cell phone. So once you are in – that is it and you are done. Enjoy
- Adding your own stations: Although they have thousands of stations out there already organized and ready for you, you still come across some that you wish to add it to your collection. It is very simple. You go to their website – not the main one but a separate one. http://aluratek.vtuner.com/setupapp/aluratek/asp/AuthLogin/SignIn.asp. At first you login with your receiver’s MAC address and then you can create separate username and password. Once you can add your station if you know its URL address. I learned with little bit trial and error that this address is different than the ‘www.xxx…’ you enter at the browser. Some streaming stations simply display this address in their window and some don’t show it with the intention that you need go through their predesignated path so as to display their or clients ads and also to keep track of who all are their listeners. This is analogous to calling in to a company’s front desk and then they forward the call to the person you are trying to reach. If you had known that person’s direct number you can avoid going through this receptionist. Similarly, here you need the direct number of the audio stream or its direct URL address. After a bit search and trial found a simple way to get this address. Programs like Windows Media Recorder (WMR) display this address where the stream is coming from- automatically. If you don’t have it, can get it free from http://www.wmrecorder.com/. WMR is basically meant to record whatever you are streaming – you can use it for this purpose also but it also gives you the address where it is coming from. I installed the basic free version and disabled the autorecord (since I was not interested in filling my hard disk). Now all you have to do is to copy the address and paste it into Aluratek’s location where you add your station and then within seconds you will see it pop-up in your radio and you are good to go. So far I have been 90% successful in getting whatever station I have liked and added with this method.
- At home media server: If you have hard disk full of audio collection – this would be best way to access it anywhere in your house. I simply followed their instruction booklet with my Vista PC and it worked the very first time. There were some quirks though. I could access everything on my laptop but the network location where I had my bulk of collection could not be reached – not sure why. Also, my other PC where all the collection is stored is an old Windows 2000 PC – may be this is the reason. If you have Windows Media Player 11 then it should be sufficient. I have’t yet tried to see if there are other similar programs that can do the ‘media server’ job. Also, I haven’t yet been successful in making the server work on my newer PC which is running Windows 7 and 64bit processor. Hoping they will release an updated firmware for this or if anyone has succeeded in making this work – please share how you got it to work!
- General Comments
– Remote is very valuable, handy, and also critical. Don’t lose it.
– Sound quality is excellent in mono mode, which is from its single speaker, and hi-fi stereo when you connect it to your home theater or other external speaker set you have.
– People have commented on the display light being too bright – until they come up with an updated firmware, I would use a simple dark colored transparent plastic to put over the window to dim to your requirement.
– The front end MP3 access port is very handy
– This is a well engineered product – with nice quality material, shape,feature, and assembly.
– Alarm clock is very useful – you can wake up to your station or media of choice. You can set the volume level and it nicely and smoothly reaches that level of sound without jolting you out of bed. Its autosync feature makes it set time automatically – like an atomic clock.
– Given that its nearest competing product is priced so much more this makes it an excellent choice in the current market.
– Sure there is room for improvement – but being a forerunner, like the iPOD, I give it two thumbs up.
– Last but not the least – these online stations are a boon for the immigrant community (like I am)and this radio makes it even better by bringing them within the reach of a remote. This is so handy that you can listen to the news, songs, and voices from where your roots are, and that too without the need to mess with booting and setting up a PC. Makes a great gift.
Hope this was useful!
Aluratek AIRMM01 Internet Radio Alarm Clock with built-in WiFi (Black) Feature
- Wireless connection w/ WiFi 802.11b & 802.11g to stream internet radio via built-in vTuner with no monthly cost
- USB 2.0 connectivity with a USB fl ash drive
- Ethernet connection to stream internet radio
- FM Radio
- Great sound
Aluratek AIRMM01 Internet Radio Alarm Clock with built-in WiFi (Black) Overview
Aluratek’s new Internet Radio Alarm Clock with Built in Wifi allows you to easily access more than 11,000 radio stations in over 150 countries around the world with no monthly fees. Yes, with no monthly fees! Simply turn the unit on and it will automatically connect to a wireless network and you have a world of entertainment available. You may also connect to a local Ethernet cable network if you prefer. You can search for music geographically by continent/country/state or by the more than 30 different available genres including a wealth of news and sports radio stations broadcast throughout the world. Once you find a favorite station whether is from your local country or while visiting other countries around the world simply add it to your favorites list for future easy access. This is the perfect solution for the home, office environment, college dorm or anywhere you want to listen to thousands of radio stations. Don’t be limited to what you can tune in from your old AM/FM analog radio anymore! Free yourself to travel the world musically and have fun while doing it. You can also stream your music library from your local PC/media server if the 11,000+ radio station weren’t enough. Welcome to the world of internet radio from Aluratek and let the fun begin.
Aluratek AIRMM01 Internet Radio Alarm Clock with built-in WiFi (Black) Specifications
You can Buy It! or See Complete Specs and Reviews
*** Product Information and Prices Stored: Jan 02, 2010 23:27:58
Leave a Reply
You must be logged in to post a comment.