Rating: 
Summary: Not Ready For Prime Time
Review: As one who always buys the latest gadget, I could'nt resist this one but wish I had. I have a rather large library of mp3's but bought this mainly for the Rhapsody service. I connected wireless the first day only because I needed a slightly longer cable to reach my netgear router. I did experence one dropout in the first hour but otherwise I was really impressed with the sound quility with Rhapsody. Was able to listen to complete albums just by highlighting the album title and pressing play. Trouble started the next day when I bought a new longer cable and tried the wired connection to the unit. Everything appeared to be fine till I tried to play a complete album through Rhapsody. It would play one song and stop. When I tried to play the next song , it would say "Server Not Respounding" and it would reconnect taking a about 2 or 3 minutes to complete. This happens everytime now-- very frustrating. I tried going back to wireless but with same results. Tried the reset but nothing seems to fix this problem. I called Netgear tech support and the guy could barely speak Englsh but he put me on hold while he tried his unit and said the same thing was happening to him and that he would call me the next day with a fix for it. Needless to say he never called. This problem only happens with Rhapsody. My mp3's play fine though a little flat sounding. Also would like to add that the Rhapsody radio stations play ok. In closing I would like to say that I think Netgear sent this product to market before it was ready. Sometimes when giving commands with the remote , the unit just hangs till you get frustrated and reset it. Maybe future upgrades will fix these issues but until then I can't reccomend this product.
Rating: 
Summary: defective unit, horrible service
Review: Do not buy this player! I paid $55 the day after thanksgiving and it's not worth $5. Other reviews have said that it works fine in a wired/LAN setup, but what's the point of having a 'wireless music player' if you're going to run cables? In that case run cables from your headphone jack to the stereo! Anyway, after spending ~7 hours on the phone with india tech support they admitted the unit was defective and told me to ship it back at my own expense. Why should the end user pay to return the unit when it is admittedly defective?
I had the same problem others have mentioned with music distortion, but with every song. I know this is a relatively new field of products, but don't sell it if you can't make it work!
The only positive thing I can say about the player is that the interface is simple to navigate. Software was not a problem IF AND ONLY IF you have the latest versions from the netgear website.
I will never buy another Netgear product, my MR814v2 router will no longer support encryption and online tech support is useless. I thought I was being safe sticking to the same brand for all wireless products, but as it turns out they all suck.
Rating: 
Summary: Great for Wired Rhapsody. Beware otherwise.
Review: Good: The unit is attractive and solid, the sound is great. The unit's interface is surprisingly easy to navigate with the remote. If you have cataloged your MP3 music properly (playlists or MP3 tags), you will have no problem navigating a large library. Cataloging is not an issue using Rhapsody because it's automatic.Bad: The wireless mode fails to connect, even though my dhcp server (linksys wireless router with all default settings) says an IP address was provided. As a network professional, I recommend against wireless if wired is an option for reasons mentioned in earlier reviews. As far as I can tell, it's mandate if you are not using a netgear hub. The included media server is so bad that it's almost inoperable. It fails to operate as a service, requiring PC login elsewhere on the network. I was hoping that the unit could directly connect to Rhapsody, but that also requires a login to a PC. To get around the deficiencies of the media server, I manage all cataloging and playlists through Real Player.
Ugly: It cannot play internet radio. For that there is no workaround, and I almost returned the unit. I can only hope that one day Real Player can integrate with the unit.
Rating:
Summary: Good concept. Too bad they didn't test it.
Review: Here's the bottom line. This is clearly a beta-release
product that was rushed to market before it was
ready, and many problems linger a year after its
release. I *was* finally able to make it work with a
combination of websurfing and trial and error. Netgear
support was worse than useless. Now that it's working,
it's quite good.
Here's the short version:
-My system:
Pentium 3GHz, Windows XP SP2,
Linksys BEFW11S4 (computer hardwired. MP101 via
wireless)
-My magic bullets:
Static IP for MP01,
Latest MP101 firmware (1.3.7),
Enable uPnP on router,
Twonky music server (either standalone or
Winamp plugin)
-What *didn't* work:
Bundled music server! (you need it to download
firmware, but music will skip and jump
like a very dirty CD),
Windows Media Connect (no skipping, but only
played one track at a time),
MusicMatch server (no skipping, played more
than one song in a row, but playlists
didn't work and unit hung frequently),
Netgear support (online broken. Phone
support totally clogged and useless)
-What I haven't tried:
Firewalls (I disabled them during my testing, but
I think they're OK),
Online radio
-Conclusion:
Now that I have it working, I'll probably keep
it, but I'll keep the box and the receipt right
up until the end of the return period, just
in case. I wouldn't recommend it to anyone
else.
Some more details...
First of all, the DHCP only works about half of the
time, often requiring a "Restore to factory defaults"
to get it to work again. I finally gave up and used a
static IP, which seems to have solved THAT problem.
Surfing the web showed this was a common complaint.
Once I got the connection working, I downloaded
and installed the latest server and firmware from
Netgear.
On to the server software. This makes the network
support look good by comparison. It works to install
the firmware upgrades and that's about it. When I
used it to serve music, it skipped and jumped
like someone was playing soccer with a CD player, and
it got even worse if there was even the slightest
amount of network traffic on the home network. There
were other problems, but why beat a dead horse?
When I surfed the web, I found that virtually
*everyone* had a similar story to tell about the
server software. Did Netgear even bother to
test it??
Based on what I read on the web, I decided to try
Windows Media Connect. The skipping stopped and it
sounded great - as long as I played one song at a
time! If I tried to play two or more songs, it
got to the end of the first, completely
hung for a minute or two, then went back to the
main menu, from where I could play the next, single,
song.
Tried MusicMatch server. I got really excited when
it successfully played two songs in a row, but then
I tried to use a playlist. It saw the playlist,
but came back with "unrecognized song format"
when I tried to play it. Also, any attempt to
interrupt a song (e.g. hitting the stop button
or navigating menus) would hang the unit and require
a power-cycle to bring it back.
I tried to use the Netgear online technical support,
but - surprize!! - that's buggy, too. I entered my
information and it dutifully recorded a case number,
but when I click on it, it says it can't be found.
I decided to call Netgear. I knew this would be
painful, but it was my last attempt before taking it
back. I navigated the hellish phone tree once, and
got cut off. The second time, I was informed the
wait was "in excess of 10 minutes". I can't
accuse them of lying because strictly speaking a
half hour *is* in excess of 10 minutes. Finally
I got a very friendly "did you plug it in?"-level
technician who spent 15 minutes determining that I
wasn't a total moron, at which point she said I
would be contacted by a "level 2 technician"
sometime in the next 24 hours. We're at two days
and counting.
Finally, in desperation, I tried the free Twonky
server. Bingo! Everything worked, including
playlists, and no hangs whatsoever. Now it's
actually a nice unit that does exactly what I want.
If it had only worked like this *with their own
software* I'd be posting reviews saying what a
great device this is. I know from reading the
reviews that I'm not alone in these problems. Would
it be too hard for them to admit the problem on
their website and point people to other servers,
even as a suggestion?
At this point, I'll probably keep it, if for
no other reason than because I've worked so
hard to make it function, but if you're
thinking of a wireless music client, my advice
would be to wait a bit because the technology is not
quite there yet. The ones that get great reviews
are really too pricey for what they are, and the
cheaper ones all have significant bugs. In a year
or so, these things'll be $50 and totally bulletproof.
If you absolutely have to have one, figure out what
your time is worth when comparing prices.
Rating:
Summary: Latest firmware kills Rhapsody
Review: I bought this unit as a device to listen to Rhapsody streaming radio on my home stereo. It was all dandy, until the latest firmware. Now it has become useless for Rhapsody, but somehow it works very well with Radio@AOL. Hmmm. Tech support for Netgear will not acknowledge a problem, have no suggestions, or just won't respond. Netgear is still advertising Rhapsody support. That's mis-representation, and that's a crime. Don't buy if you want Rhapsody support, it isn't there anymore.
Rating: 
Summary: Totally satisfied!!!
Review: I had a 100 disk changer and found this to be the next evolution in listening enjoyment. I plugged it in, pushed a few buttons and started listening to my tracks all before I picked up the manual. Simple and effective. I haven't had one problem with the unit or the functions that were shipped with it. Great product and extremely inexpensive. Way-to-go Netgear!
Rating: 
Summary: Problem with Media Server
Review: I had no problems setting up the unit. I carefully read all the instructions and followed them precisely. I carefully configured the MP101 WEB settings and ZoneAlarm port settings. The unit connected to my wirless router with no problems. I then went out to the Netgear support site and updated all the software for the Media Server and MP101 Unit.
The problem is not with the hardware (i.e. MP101) but with the Netgear Media Server software. This comes with 50 pre-selected radio stations. Also a one-time fee of $19.95 unlocks additional radio stations using 1234radio.com which is linked up with the Netgear media server. Although this may give you more stations, "specific" stations might not be available even though it may be streaming on the web.
Hoever, there are additional Media Server software on the net including, ShoutCast (using WimAmp), MusicMatch, and TonkyVison (http://www.twonkyvision.de/) which can be customized for individual needs.
Rating:
Summary: Great Player Killed by Lousy Server Software-DO NOT BUY
Review: I have owned this player for 6 months. The player is great. The controls on it are really intuitive and easy to use. Its problem and Achilles Heel is that the server program that you must run on the host is totally unstable and crashes frequently. It is not compatible with many games - they cause it to crash. About once a month it loses its database and the files have to be rescanned. If I want to listen to music, its almost guaranteed that I will have to re-boot my computer.
I am running XP SP2, on a 2 giga Hz P4 from Dell with a 200 Gigabyte HD. My network is hardwired and I use Linksys routers. I have about 4500 title in my database.
I have loaded all of the software and firmware updates released. I keep hoping the one of them will magically make this thing work reliably!
I am very disappointed that Netgear, a firm renound for its switching devices, etc, can not get right what should be a straight forward software application.
RECOMMENDATION : The concept is great. Regrettably Netgear did not get the job done. Buy someone elses offering.
Rating:
Summary: Fantastic player!
Review: I picked up one of these for my 9-year old daughter for Christmas. My challenge was to make it work with the same Linux-based music repository I now use for my Audiotron network MP3 player. While the MP101 does not do CIFS filesystems like the Audiotron, I was able to get the free Twonky UPNP Music Server to serve as the music source for my respotory. My Linux server is on all the time, so I don't have to worry about who has their PC on to provide the music.
Next, I discovered that the player had trouble with my Linksys wireless router, but as it turns out that router had been giving me daily trouble on the network for everything from XBox Live to casual web browsing. I would play music and the songs would freeze and hang the player for minutes. I swapped that Linksys out for a Netgear WGT624v2 and this MP101 is now rock stable. Load the latest firmware in the baby to get the newest stuff. Another nice feature is that it will stream at 802.11g so that your home network doesn't drop to 802.11b while you're listening to music. The remote and bright display mean you don't have to get up from the bed or couch to change albums.
I suspect that lot of people are blaming the MP101 for instability issues without looking at the rest of their network. I think this is a fantastic little player and plan on getting one for my bedroom.
Rating:
Summary: Great concept, less-than-stellar execution
Review: I purchased this product to use with Rhapsody, as it is recommended by the service. It's very simple to set up for a wireless network - I simply entered my WEP settings and rebooted the device. Unfortunately, it loses wireless connectivity way too often to be practical. One "feature" of the player is that it reboots whenever it loses its wireless connection. As each reboot takes a couple of minutes, I got very frustrated getting dropped from the network multiple times in a row while simply browsing my playlists. I don't know if there was some sort of conflict between the player and my Access Point (a Linksys WAP11), but this sort of wireless performance is simply unacceptable. None of my other wireless devices have any connectivity issues. I didn't try the wired network connection, so I don't know how it performs. Hopefully, it doesn't have the same connectivity issues as the wireless mode. The included software is functional, but limited. It functions as a server applet to which the MP101 connects. It allows you to catalog all of the MP3 or WMA files on your local drive, but it does not have a way to catalog files on network drives from what I could tell. For a networking product, I found this odd. I was also disappointed that you could not control the unit via software. I have a multi-room audio setup and was hoping to be able to play my Rhapsody playlists through it using this product. Unfortunately, you can only control the unit through the supplied remote control. With firmware improvements, this could be a much better product. Hopefully, NETGEAR will address the problems in the near future. As for me, I'm going to purchase a Slim Devices Squeezebox like the reviewer below did - it has much more robust software, digital outputs and support for Rhapsody (via plugin) as well.
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