Logitech Squeezebox Boom All-in-One Network Music Player / Wi-Fi Internet Radio

I am entering second hour of set up. I can get a little internet radio so I can say it sounds good and looks nice.

It really makes you appreciate how much you take Apple for granted. Apple can make a product simple, effective and easy to use. Their ipods aren’t that great but easy, easy.

This is far from it – don’t buy this one for Mom and Dad and think they will plug n play.

Logitech needs to hire some engineers from Cupertino.
Rating: 3 / 5

If I were going to plop down $250+ for one of these internet radios, I suppose it would be the Squeezebox Boom, but for a lot less money I came up with a better solution.

I already had an old Compaq notebook computer, and I simply run a stereo jack line-out from it to the line-in jack on my Sony CD-Radio stereo boomer. The Sony stereo has four really good speakers in it, and one of them is a sub-woofer. This enables sound quality that no “internet radio” can even come close to producing.

It also allows for completely portable use, because even though it is cumbersome to tote around a notebook computer and a portable boombox-type stereo, both devices can run on batteries, and the notebook computer has wireless capability, as well as a jack for cable modem.

And then there’s the convenience of simply being able to use a browser in Windows XP or Vista to navigate exactly to where you want to go without a lot of knob fiddling, or going through a bunch of complicated gyrations just to set up a Favorites list of stations. Plus, you’ve got an on-board hard drive in the notebook, and the ability to play/record DVD’s and CD’s.

*** Revision, April 22, 2009 *** Finally have this figured out! I’m getting an Asus eee Netbook with a solid-state hard drive, and Logitech V20 USB-powered speakers. The netbook is very light and less than 9 inches wide, and will run on its battery for over six hours, or, AC. The Logitech USB speakers I bought “used-like new” from Amazon for half the price of new, and they have great reviews. Bottom line: I’ll have all the advantages of a tiny net-browsing notebook, great speakers in their own carrying case, and the ability to run everything on batteries if I want to, and the total cost to me is $304. Compare that with $279 for the Squeezebox, which really can’t compare. Cheers! ***
Rating: 3 / 5

This BOOM BOX was too tedious to program and it kept disconnecting the wireless connection causing me to continuously reprogram it over and over and over again…until I’d had enough. The sound is anything but a “Boom”. It sounded hollow and “plastic”. I bought a Squeezebox RADIO a few months ago so I knew what to do. The radio is a whole lot better than the Boom Box. I’m sending the Boom Box back, period. I’ll pay a total of $75 hard earned dollars for the 2 shipping fees and a 20% restocking fee. Either I pay or keep the thing in the box collecting dust. That’s an expensive box of dust. By the way, trying to repackage the box back to the way it came would be like solving the Rubix Cube. Good luck with that. Not only was this a waste of my money but a waste of my Saturday morning spent trying to get the Boom box set up and working properly. The remote was useless, it had no battery. And, The guidebook is a joke book. Except, I’m wasn’t laughing…at all.

I tried to figure out what was my problem so I could alleviate the drama of having to go through the hassle of returning this thing and totally losing money. I could only conclude that it would be best not to have more than two Squeezeboxes set up in your house as one cancels out the other and ultimately results in a disconnection on all the squeezeboxes. Why didn’t someone tell me that I only needed one of these things? Stick with the Squeezebox RADIO instead, it’s a lot easier to set up and much less hassle. Next time, I’m going to BEST BUY…human guidance equals an informed consumer equals no hassle and restocking fees! Stick to Books Amazon. Really!
Rating: 1 / 5

I had high expectations from this device. I own several Logitech products and the quality and ergonomics of their products is most of the time outstanding.

This device is a complete disappointment. I personally bought is to use as an internet radio. Unfortunately for 80% of the stations I want I get either “Connection reset by remote …” error or “No playlist found”. These are all stations listed in the Squeezebox Center, not my custom favorites. Besides this, the whole idea of this device is retarded. It comes with an application, the Squeezebox Center which installs and runs as a web server on the host computer. For this to work you need to create an account on the SqueezeNetwork. The Squeezebox Center application lets you specify your media folders to use with the Squeezebox Boom. I personally have a problem if on a computer that has no shared folders, I install an application that will share my folders with a device and also requires me to log in to some online service. It creates another open window to the internet that I don’t want there.

In a word: Disappointing! I researched the errors I get and apparently a lot of users complain that in the newer versions of the Squeeze Center application, the Internet Radio doesn’t work right. To me is completely useless and that goes for the other Logitech devices that use the same concept (SqueezeBox Duo and so on).

P.S.: Like this was not enough, Amazon sent me a used Squeezebox. The packaging was clearly opened before and the SqueezeBox has deep scratches in the back.

Back to the warehouse it goes!

Rating: 1 / 5

After an hour of total frustration, this piece of garbage was still unable to locate our wireless system in the house nor was it able to connect to the internet by cable–through ever other device I’ve purchased in recent years seems to find internet connectivity effortlessly. However, I was offered the option to paid for radio service by opening a Squeezebox account on line. I wouldn’t know about sound quality. The device is mute.
Rating: 1 / 5