Philips NP2500/37 WiFi Internet Radio Network Music Player with Rhapsody (Black)

I've been working from home a fair amount and have a netbook that has my music library loaded on it. I keep my music library on a netbook as opposed to an Ipod because I rip my music using a lossless format to preserve the quality of the sound (I love classical music and have top of the line headphones so want to preserve the detail of the original recordings).

When I'm home, even though I have my big stereo and could use the actual CD -- I find that I'm spoiled with my playlists from my netbook and don't want to have to get up and switch CDs all the time. I would hook my netbook up to a set of Klipsch 5.2 speakers and that worked pretty well but it seemed kind of stupid to have those speakers sitting next to my main home stereo system.

Enter Philips Network Music player. I can now access my computer music collection and play it through my home stereo system. I can even use a remote to control the music. Set up was a breeze with our wireless router and hooking into the amplifier of our system. Sound quality is even better than through my headphones or the Klipsch speakers -- presumably because my home system is much much better.

I have played around with the internet radio some and that seems to work well. I particularly like the access to the XM station play lists. I gave the system 4 stars, though because using the internet radio features etc wasn't as intuitive as I would like.

This is a near-perfect little system that I would highly recommend to anyone who wants to take advantage of all the hours spent ripping their music collection onto their computer and creating playlists just the way they want them. Price is very reasonable -- especially considering the amount of money we have invested in our home system and our music collection.

[NCJVR]

I had the NP2900 with speakers, which I loved to pieces, but I gave it to my parents who love it, and I decided to get the NP2500 because it is a better physical fit in my entertainment system. The 2900 is better suited for my parents because it has speakers and they can bring it outside or move it around. They mostly use it for internet radio from Italy. Being that I knew I wanted this for my entertainment system, I am glad the NP2500 doesn't have speakers - it doesn't need to and it isn't supposed to - it fits perfectly in my beefed up entertainment system that stretches across my living room wall - small footprint, sleek, black, shiny. Since my PC is upstairs in the office, I love the NP2500 as a way to 'stream' my music down to the living room, which is what it is made for (I never have thought of a network music player as a "speaker" - it isn't a speaker, nor should it be...it's a streaming device...just serves as the middle man, which is what I and many people need it for). The fact the 2900 has speakers is cool because it makes it a versatile product to better suit an individuals personal needs and wants. The over 11,000 channels of internet radio from around the globe (including channels that sirius doesn't have - like obscure channels from places I've lived), and Rhapsody are just icing. We have iPods, mp3 players, and every electronic known out there, and this complements the collection nicely with its unique features and capabilities.

THIS ISN'T A SET OF SPEAKERS, ...IT'S big enough to be a pair of speakers and costs enough, but IT ISN'T SPEAKERS and Philips offers a $100 more expensive model THAT IS ALSO SPEAKERS. Philips NP2900/37 Network Music Player with 1 Month Free Rhapsody Subscription (Black)



Harder to setup than your wifes first G to G meet. I normally wouldn't
say this/but just an iPod speaker or $40 external PC speaker.

The reality is we've been conditioned as consumers by the iPod community to expect speakers in something this large and designed to play music.

I'm noticing a disturbing trend where Vine Voices feel obligated to give anything just Five stars since they got it for free, but this device seems literally pointless and half completed.

Sadly, this thing tries to be stylish enough for someone who doesn't want a desktop or laptop with external speakers sitting in the open, the executive look.

BUT, the damn thing is uselessly cumbersome to install and link, requires desktop installation software and you would benefit from the the assistance of the same kind of tech this device appears to shun and will deservedly laugh at you for buying.

OH, AND LET'S BE CLEAR....THIS THING ISN'T A SPEAKER ! IT IS JUST AS BIG AND EVEN BIGGER THAN OTHER SPEAKER SETS, BUT YOU GOTTA HAVE AN EXTERNAL SET OF SPEAKERS FOR THIS THING.

Invariably, any "portable music" player is going to be judged against the iPod standard, and people who know me and read my reviews know that I hate iPods, I hate everything about the excessively useless iPod accessories, worthless earbuds and lack of device menu features. BUT FOR THE FIRST TIME EVER, I'D RECOMMEND AN iPod and external speakers over this.

I have enough reasons to hate iPods, but I struggled to find likeable qualities of a $200 digital radio with an LCD screen only capable of displaying still images and while having less storage than a 2GB Nano.

I'll just get right to the reasons and won't bore you with whats in the box, I'm not rewarded for writing a 1,000+ words so:

+ So cute, about eight inches wide and fairly thin but still thick enough that it could've included an SD or CF card reader, even cell phones with cameras have a MiniSD slot but all this thing has is cheap plastic chrome wanna be trim like a Chrysler. IT IS ALSO MORE THAN LARGE ENOUGH TO INCLUDE IT'S OWN SET OF SPEAKERS / BUT IT JUST WASTES SPACE AND JAMS IN A CUTE PAIR OF WiFi antenna's

+ The LCD is better than most, you have to admire Philips LCD's since they are also one of the largest laptop LCD makers along with TV's, but this LCD only displays album art and can scroll MP3 IDtags, SO WHY CAN'T IT PLAY VIDEOS ? Even a better tip, since the LCD is bigger than an iPod's and much prettier, how about an electronic digital picture frame option, isn't that simple enough ?

+ A 50 button remote control nearly as big as the whole thing itself I wonder if I need a pilot's paid my car insurance since it feels like it needs a license to operate. The remote has all the necessary buttons to control a TV and VCR, so let's suggest if you're gonna jam another remote control in my living room to go along with your stylish speaker... then make it Universal capable since Philips slaughtered enough rubber trees to make all the buttons.

Wasted space, if the thing is so special, think about including more controls along the topline where you hid the only four buttons that are useless for driving this thing.

Hey, you guys jammed every port imanigable into the back, even an Ethernet CAT5 port and headphones...HOW ABOUT JAMMING AN iPod jack into as well. OH HOW ABOUT JAMMING A COUPLE OF SPEAKERS TOO !

doesn't matter if you hate iPods too, a music device this size is going be asked whether or not it has an iPod jack. Even cars have an iPod jack but this just has headphone out then a two pairs of L/R RCA cables. OH, AND DON'T WASTE YOUR TIME SHARING YOUR USELESS OPINION AND TIPS OF HOW TO CONNECT AN IPOD INTO RCA CABLES THEN INTO THIS THING !

Rhapsody ! Subscription radio !!!!....bleccch,, if I'm gonna pay for radio I'll buy Sirius XM instead.

Bigger than it has to be and without the features something this big should includes.

If they're selling this thing for $200, it seems unlikey the type of skill necessary to set it up is giving anyone $200 for this thing.

This music player is great. I wanted to purchase another ipod to be able to listen to my music in my living room. My other ipod had some music and at times I would want to listen something not on my ipod that was on my computer. Getting another ipod would have helped but not solve the problem since my library is over 50gb. Plus, with an ipod I will not be able to lower, change the music, etc.

So this device comes along and solved my dilemma. This Philips Music Player streams my entire library to my living room. No need for long cables running through the floor. Thanks to wifi I can listen to any song in my library. The music player is easy to use and very convenient.

Set up was really easy. I have my library on an external hd on my mac mini. Setup took about 5 mins. Just insert the twonky media cd to the mini and follow the directions. Then on the music player you just enter your wifi id and password and you are pretty much ready to go.

I have not had any problems with the player as far as trying to stream and the music not playing. I have been able to stream and listen to music while downloading movies and surfing the net. I really love this new toy.

The Streamium NP2500 by phillips is essentially a great internet radio player that works extremely well plugged directly into a router or set up on a secure wireless network to play anywhere. I had a devil of a time with the "Twonky" Server, so I forgot about that. I talked with some friends who use the full version of Twonky, and they had the same experience as I had with out of the box "half" versions of "twonky"; As soon as the server is up, it falls over within a few minutes. It also makes some alterations to the network, both the registry and the settings on the router that did not make me too happy.
In essence the easiest way to set the NP2500 up, is to plug the unit into the router and start it running, select some radio stations from the huge worldwide list that you like ( for me it was BBC, ABC, for talk, and HARD RADIO plus a few similar ones for music), and then pick your generated access WEP or WPA codes from the router setup screens, and then you switch the Radio over to Wireless and it allows you to enter one of the access codes in WEP, WPA or similar ( from, in my case, a LINKSYS router) and then it switches over. The quality output to headphones or to an audio device is amazing. This little device is a total bonus.
It may be possible for me to stream my own audio to my device in house, but until I get a server that is less dodgy than Twonky, I will stick to the Radio stations I have, the quality is awesome.