Rating: 
Summary: Great concept
Review: The concept of the Squeezebox is terrific: make all the music that you've loaded onto your computer available anywhere you have wireless network access. Then make the interface available via a web browser so that you have a nice GUI to manage your playback. Add support for iTunes so that playlists you've created there magically appear on the Squeezebox. Finally, make the software open source so that a vibrant community grows up around it. That's what the folks at Slim Devices have done.
The community is probably the best thing about this device. You get an active mailing list that provides quick, if unofficial, answers to your questions. And you get a large and growing library of plug-ins and add-ons.
The software is not bullet-proof. It's a bit of a resource hog if you have more than a lightweight music library (and I suspect most people who want a device like this do). You need to be prepared to grab updates to the software. And being a network-centric device you need to give some thought to how you want to deploy the server and client in your network. But if you get all that squared away you'll have a great way to listen to your music library.
Rating:
Summary: Awesome (after a little work)
Review: The documentation that comes with the Squeezebox (a small 20 page booklet) is easy to follow and provides excellent information. I followed the set-up directions and could not get the Squeezbox to communicate with the SlimServer. I figured it had something to do with my network firewall settings. After a quick call to SlimDevices (very knowledgeable and helpful tech support) to assist me with the setup, and one setting on my firewall...I was up and running. The Squeezebox then found my network and the SlimServer and was ready to go. I browsed my iTunes collection and hit play...it worked. This is exactly what I have been looking for. I then downloaded the RealSlim plug-in, followed the directions and it worked. Now I have complete access to any music on my PC. Awesome! I wasted my time with the Linksys Music Player and am glad I stumbled upon the Squeezebox. If you want to stream audio to your home stereo from your PC MP3 collection, iTunes, and/or Rhapsody then my suggestion would be to spend a little extra money and purchase the Squeezbox. Finally a product that does exactly what it is intended to do!!
Rating:
Summary: Best thing to happen to music, since, well music!
Review: The Squeezebox has changed the way I listen to my music! I how have my entire CD library on my computer, and it is accessible to me via my Squeezebox. I started buying from Slimdevices (makers of Squeezebox) back when their music player was called the Slimp3. Great little device, just connect it to a network, or to a wireless adapter and away you go, your music is there for you. Now I have two Squeezeboxes (wireless) and still my same old Slimp3. They are all on a wireless network in my house. I can synchronize them to play the same song at the same time, or have them play from different playlists. I really like having them synchronized so I can walk around my house and hear the same music, all over my house and the music in each room is at a comfortable level. My music system really amazes some folks, they walk around and just say -- "Wow, you've got the same song playing all over, in the same place in the song, How do you do that?" I then proceed to show them the Squeezebox, again. they say "WOW!" Well, I guess I say "Wow!" every time I play my music. Also, the main server software is supported by an open-source development community of many, many very talented individuals. If you like the server software you are using, the Squeezebox works just great! If you like to "tinker" with your audio system, well, you can do that as well, and with a large community there to help you. I could go on and on and on, but anything else would just be a repeat of what the first reviewer, dnanian from Weston, MA USA said... I guess the thing I like best is -- It has changed the way I listen to my music, all of it is available at a moments notice, no fumbling for CD's, no missing CD's (loaned out), my music is all, always right there. As the folks from Slimdevices say "Free your music!"
Rating:
Summary: Wired ONLY works fine, wireless sucks
Review: This is a great device, does everything it says it does, everything you'd think it would do -- except that wireless didn't work for me.
Wired mode works flawlessly. But when I tried to get it to run wireless via my brand-new Linksys WRT54G router/WAP, the Squeezebox would randomly and frequently reboot and reestablish the connection -- sometimes several times an hour, 30-60 seconds for each reboot. All other wireless device in my house are working fine with no glitches, reboots, hangups, or dropouts, except for this one.
This is totally, totally unacceptable. Company said that they had had some reports of this (quite a few, judging by the forums), but hadn't been able to duplicate the problem in-house. Offered to replace the unit, but what's the point? If they couldn't get the first one right, why should I expect the second one to work better, especially if they admit they can't find the problem?
Still using it in wired-only mode, and it's OK, but it's WAY too much money for a unit with no wireless. I'd strongly recommend looking at another unit, such as the Netgear MP101 or the OmniFi DMS1. At least they're a lot less money, so if they don't work, oh well. DMP1 also has video-out capabilities so you can display the now-playing info and browse your music via the TV, which is nice, but it's also nice to have the option to NOT use the TV, which all of these units can do.
Rating:
Summary: More revolutionary than my first CD player
Review: This is a great piece of kit. It does 'just what it says on the tin'. It streams your music to your hifi - be it FLAC, MP3 or Apple Lossless. At the Hifi end, it plugs in just like a regular component (or via the optical or Coaxial outputs). OK - so you need to rip all of your CD's to a hard drive - but they will even do that for you (see manufacturers website) if you have alot of disks to get through. The software is 'open source' which means there are hundreds of techies slaving away in their own time to improve the already intuitive software that the squeezebox runs. It is about the size of a paperback book and has a very clear display. Easily the best hardware I have bought for years.
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