[DanielNTX]

Here's a copy of my review of the Roku SoundBridge M1000. It's not a very technical review but I was able to get it to work without any problems with the latest SlimServer and the pulling of RSS newsfeeds and Caller ID plugins do work on the Roku.

Quote:

I've been told that I've been very hard to shop for, because I'm very technology-centric and usually have the latest gizmos and gadgets. And if there is one item anyone could have given me for the holidays, it would be the recently introduced Roku SoundBridge M1000. It's simply an amazing and elegant device and I'm totally impressed with it. It's definitely built in mind of those music enthusiasts who have a lot of MP3's. Some facts from the web site: Large VFD Display - The M1000 features a 280x16 pixel display, for up to two lines of text. Its "big line mode" displays your current selection in a large, 16-pixel sized font. Compact Body - 12 inches wide, perfect for a shelf, tabletop or nightstand. Available in Stores at: Best Buy (select locations), Fry's, Magnolia, Tweeter and at Rokulabs.com List price: $249.99 For years, I've wanted the TurtleBeach Audiotron ($399 and no longer made), but the price point was too high and the software was cumbersome. Then I heard of a better alternative called the SLIMP3 player made by Slim Devices. The SLIMP3 player was a first generation device and I thought it was ugly for the price. Recently, Slim Devices introduced their next generation device, the SqueezeBox ($279 with wireless option, $199 without). The Roku definitely looks the best out of all those products with its cylindrical shape and metal composite finish. What makes the Roku so much better than the SqueezeBox is that it's compatible with iTunes out of the box (although won't play iTunes songs purchased because of DRM protection), uPNP Audio (Microsoft Windows Media Connect with support for WMA DRM protected files), Apple Rendezvous, Real's Rhapsody, Shoutcast radio streams and even Slim Device's own open source SlimServer (which powers the SLIMP3 & SqueezeBox players and enables playback of Ogg files) out of the box. The Roku was so very easy to setup. It comes with a wireless 802.11b Compact Flash card (made by Socket) so you can connect wirelessly or you can use the built-in ethernet port for wired use, a remote with batteries, an audio cable and a power adapter. It has digital optical and coax outputs that can pass 5.1 surrond sound as well as the standard stereo jacks. Anyways, I plugged it in and entered the key for my wireless network and it obtained an IP address and I was off and ready to go play music. I had the device check for new firmware and it updated itself within about two minutes. I easily navigated my library of music from my Windows XP box because I already had Windows Media Connect installed. My sister has an iTunes library on her laptop and I tested it with that and it also played with no problems. Next I tested the Roku out the SlimServer software. This is some really cool software that runs on PC, Mac or Linux. It even has a virtual SqueezeBox, called SoftSqueeze that lets you use the software to play MP3's from any computer that supports java. The Roku had no problems connecting to the SlimServer software and seeing the MP3's. Using a web browser you can pull up your list of songs through SlimServer via artist, album, genre and control the Roku to play music. If you have multiple Roku's you can also synchronize them to play the same music (useful if you want to play the same music in different rooms). SlimServer allows you to have plugins, so you can have it do different things. For example, you can use it as a caller ID display to broadcast caller info when there's an incoming call or even display RSS news feeds. Even if you don't have any music streaming device, I definitely recommend checking out SlimServer and using SoftSqueeze just to see how it works. I am utterly impressed with the Roku SoundBridge and give it a rating of 5 stars out of 5: *****. I think it's even more impressive than the iPod. Roku also sells the M2000 which has a much larger VFD display (12 inches wide instead of 8) for $499.99 but is twice the price of the M1000 (you can buy two M1000's for just one M2000). Right now, the Roku M1000 retails at $249.99 on their web site and your regular brick & mortar retailers such as Tweeters, Fry's or Best Buy. I ended up getting the Roku M1000 for $179.99 through a special un-advertised promotion... Best Buy has the Roku for $199.99 through an instant store rebate of $50.00 (good through 12/31/04) and a printable 10% off coupon (good until 01/02/05) which saves another $20.00. For $179.00, it's an excellent deal. The Wireless Compact Flash card that comes with the Roku retails alone anywhere from $65-$90 and is even available at the Roku Store web site for $69.99.

 

[blessingx]

Thanks for the review (and coupon)!

You see they've also released a cheaper display version (M500) for $199, though your deal is more attractive.

EDIT: Can someone let me know... if you add a b component to a g network, does it bring everything down to b speeds? I've heard conflicting info.

 

[JohnnyLightOn]

I'm pretty sure that the Squeezebox is compatible with iTunes out of the box. There's a box you check on the SlimServer software as to whether you want to use your iTunes music library or not. That's all you have to do.

Very nice review overall.

 

[DanielNTX]

Quote:

Originally Posted by blessingx Thanks for the review (and coupon)! You see they've also released a cheaper display version (M500) for $199, though your deal is more attractive. EDIT: Can someone let me know... if you add a b component to a g network, does it bring everything down to b speeds? I've heard conflicting info.

Yes it will bring it down to B speeds, unless you have one of those Pre-N routers like the new Belkin one. This will allow use of both standards without effecting the speed of all connections.

 

[DanielNTX]

Quote:

Originally Posted by JohnnyLightOn I'm pretty sure that the Squeezebox is compatible with iTunes out of the box. There's a box you check on the SlimServer software as to whether you want to use your iTunes music library or not. That's all you have to do. Very nice review overall.

Well the difference is that you must rely on SlimServer to make the connection, so SlimServer is proxying to iTunes. If SlimServer wasn't running, the SqueezeBox would not connect to iTunes. On the otherhand, the Roku will see the iTunes library directly and connect without SlimServer acting as a middle man.

 

[JohnnyLightOn]

Oh - that's definitely an advantage. This way, you don't have to have SlimServer running on the source computer so there's less load. Thanks for explaining it, Daniel.

 

[Tuberoller]

Thanks for the review Daniel. This is making me really eager to get mine and set it up.

 

[blessingx]

Daniel, this review mentioned problems using iTunes and ALAC files (even commented on by a Ruko rep near bottom). Any chance you could test trying to play an ALAC file through iTunes and see if some work around has been implimented?

 

[Tuberoller]

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Originally Posted by blessingx Daniel, this review mentioned problems using iTunes and ALAC files (even commented on by a Ruko rep near bottom). Any chance you could test trying to play an ALAC file through iTunes and see if some work around has been implimented?

This is not good.

 

[DanielNTX]

Quote:

Originally Posted by blessingx Daniel, this review mentioned problems using iTunes and ALAC files (even commented on by a Ruko rep near bottom). Any chance you could test trying to play an ALAC file through iTunes and see if some work around has been implimented?

You have to use SlimServer to get ALAC to work still, because iTunes won't do transcoding.
Quote:

SlimServer is able to play Apple Lossless files because the server component (running on the Mac or PC) does the decoding of the lossless file using QuickTime, then either streams the uncompressed audio to the player, or re-compresses it with MP3 if network bandwidth is an issue. Since iTunes does not offer this "transcoding" feature through its sharing interface, it is not available when connected directly to iTunes.

 

[blessingx]

Thanks DanielNTX.

Now if you don't mind me asking, have you had any drop outs that are reported sometimes with SlimServer (as mentioned in that reviews comments and espeically with ALAC mentioned in the comments after)?

Thanks for the tip again. I was able to order one for the discounted price, but it won't be here until the 4th. ALAC issues and dropping the network from G to B, may be a killer for me, but we'll see. Likely this or Airport Express.

 

[Tuberoller]

I have two units on hand right now but I'll likely be sending back the used review unit. I'll take pics and post some early impressions later tonight.

 

[blessingx]

Looking forward to it. Mine shipped today.

 

[DanielNTX]

Quote:

Originally Posted by blessingx Thanks DanielNTX. Now if you don't mind me asking, have you had any drop outs that are reported sometimes with SlimServer (as mentioned in that reviews comments and espeically with ALAC mentioned in the comments after)? Thanks for the tip again. I was able to order one for the discounted price, but it won't be here until the 4th. ALAC issues and dropping the network from G to B, may be a killer for me, but we'll see. Likely this or Airport Express.

No drop outs for me running ALAC on a B network. BTW, did you order from Best Buy online for $179, if so did you call it in?