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I use this for car sound with an iPod because the FM system to beam to a car radio are very noisy. Also playing a keyboard for homeless services in town. This unit is good with voice and music. The line input is not given a volume control and it is very HOT so keep the volume in low or use an attenuator.
Item received was defective and none more available, company was very prompt in issuing refund
I don't usually don't have problems with installing new hardware (I used to work in IT), yet this system is a mess. Software installation CD didn't come with it as the instructions indicated, creating software problems. Philips customer service simply tries to get you off the phone and have you call back to talk to somebody else. They've had me call back three times and now call another company. I've been working on this thing for 3 hours trying to set it up, and it still won't recognize standard MP3 files. I can't comment on whether the unit is any good, since I can't get it to store a single MP3.
I like the soundsystem, but wish it were a little louder and punchier. All in all I am satisfied.
I bought this to use as portable speakers for my other portable players when I go out of town,or on cruses. It is small and plays loud!and is rechargeable,no batteries to buy.I knew it did not have much storage for mp3 files.
I also use it in the shower. Works great in there.You can hear it over the running water.
I don't think the radio works so great,at least where I live.It worked better out of town.It should have a bulit in antenna,like any portable radio does,not that dum plug in cord,that you can loose.
I knew what I was buying,works great for me.For a refurbised item you would'nt know it,looks new.(4 stars because of cord antenna)
Although this little radio/MP3 system is pretty decent, the capacity isn't what I'd hoped for music storage. The radio, however, was my main impetus for purchasing it, and it does the job excellently. I am dissappointed, though, to discover that it was refurbished when I deliberately chose to purchase the only one offered on Amazon as New in Box, paid a little more for it for that reason, and when it came it was obviously used with a limited warranty. Not so cool Amazon.
This Philips' personal sound system (PSS) is truly one of the best products I have ever bought online. Thus, it's very valuable for many reasons:
First of all, since it's built-in speakers, the options can be to use it with headphones or without headphones, now, the speakers, that are loud enough which allowed everybody around to hear what's being played, (personally, I often cannot listen to anything with headphones for long);
secondly, it comes not only with mp3, but also with windows media player (WMA)--meaning any songs from CDs or from other type of music source related to windows media player;
finally, this device can as well be used to transfer sound, for example, to home theater system with any kind of giant speakers (just as using ipod's speakers; just connect headphone's jack to speakers, a cord that's included in the box).
Now the thing that most people find difficult about this product is the set up. Whoever it is using this product must install the software MusicMatch CD which will enable users to convert mp3 or WMA song files into the required component--matching with the device.
The only frustrated thing about it is that since the intern memory is only 256 MB, the device cannot hold that many songs; mine takes about 54 songs, but it depends on the size of the tracks. And also, if wanting to add new songs, the device must be reprogrammed--a step that actually causes to lose all the previous songs. Hence, I would strongly recommend someone to carefully choose the songs that are most favorable (to that person, of course).
Please, do not forget to install the CD.
A very wonderful and efficient device! Go get it!
This is a great product that you need to work with a little before you start using it. Here are the instructions cribbed from a discussion group:
1. Charge unit for 5 hours.
2. Press the reset button under the flap at the back. Use a ballpoint pen to press down firmly for about 10 seconds. Press the play/power button for about 10 seconds and you will see word on the screen. there is no music on the unit this point. You could se the radio but strongly suggest you do step 3 below.
3.Update the firmware - download [...]
Power the unit using the adaptor and connect via USB to you PC where you downloaded the above file. It installs as a program on your PC. Start up the program and it will guide you through the firmware upgrade. The final step involves pulling out the USB cord from the back of the unit. Please note the actual firmware upgrade runs for quite bit - you will see message on the display. Please be patient and let the process finish.
4. [...] - shoqbox buddy to help you transfer your mp3/WMA to your shoqbox. Very simple drag and drop program. It is free and better than Musicmatch.
Once you do all this (takes about a half hour) this is a unique and great product. Put your favorite 50 tunes on here, use the manual to figure out how to set your favorite 10 FM stations (be sure to plug in the antenna first), use the Aux input for your video ipod or whatever, and you have the best small audio package available.
I purchased this item because a friend of mine had it, and the sound quality was excellent! I don't use it as an MP3 player...I use it for business as a speaker system for my computer. It is great, and very portable!
When I bought this, I bought it because I needed an alarm clock. Out of the box and while testing it, you might get a little scared.
Initial Testing:
When I first played with it, it did feel a little buggy but I looked for a flash update manually and found one much newer than the updater was providing (v3 verses v4.xx). I can't even remember what was strange about it intially because because it works flawlessly now.
The Alarm and Sound:
While testing the alarm I noticed after 2 seconds the volume would drop, almost inaudiable. But that's a good thing! It starts off low and gradually rises in volume. I woke up the house one Friday when I didn't come home. For 2x2 (4 watts total) it's definately loud enough to wake the deadest of sleepers.
Music Capabilities and Organization:
I was surprised to see that it automatically organizes tracks by User Playlists, Artists, Albums, and Genre. It's MP3 and WMA compatitable and it has shuffle and repeat.
Other Features:
Although, it has no recording feature, it does have Line In and Headphone jacks so you can use it with other portable mediums like your IPod or laptop.
Personal Attachment:
What I love is that I can choose from 45+ songs to wake up to and that I can enjoy whatever I'm playing on my computer's music library through the ShoqBox and leave at moments notice to where ever it is I have to go and still have enough music to hold me over until my next activity. IPod's are nice but I don't like the isolation that come along with headphones. Docking stations relieve this but can't be taken everywhere and can't be applied universally to other mediums. It makes crappy stuff better and makes crappy moments where silence prevails into the best time to bust out the ShoqBox. Oh and people who have trouble with the interface probably have trouble with their microwaves too.
Flawed prodeuct, sold on philips outlet for $19. USB 1.0 device. Flawed with errors.
Save your time and frustration, don't buy.
Most high tech stereo ever. I love the sound quality, I love that it can rip the cd's right into it's memory, and I love the touch screen.
My daughter loves this radio. She loves being able to connect her mp3 player to it. It is a cool stereo with touch screen and remote.
I spent 3 days trying to get some songs into this MP3 player and I finally gave up. Every time MusicMatch Jukebox starts coming up, it will give an error "MusicMatch Jukebox has experienced an error and must close". I can see the PSS120 as a USB hard drive and can copy files to it using Windows Explorer, but I cannot listen to them on the device. Unless you get the songs downloaded thru MusicMatch, the PSS120 serves only as a storage device.
I emailed Philips customer service and described the issue in detail. Their email answer was to read the FAQ. What kind of answer is that?
I then called Philips. The customer service rep asked me to uninstall everything and reinstall it. She would not stay on the phone. She said to call back when I have done that and still have a problem. I told her that I have already done that several times on multiple computers and still get the same problem. She said to "try it again". Needless to say, I got the same error and decided not to call Philips again.
I am very dissappointed in the product and even more dissappointed in Philips customer service. I was considering buying a Philips large screen TV, but after this experience I will not consider a Philips product again.
Revolutionary product - The only negative is the software. Although you won't use Windows Media Player to install the music, you must not have WMP version 11 (you can have v.10) on your computer to download music into the Shoqbox. Versatility and sound is 5 star.
I bought this thing all the way from US and VPOST to send it all the way to me in Malaysia and found out that it doesn't work. It is really frustrating. Now I have to send to out local service centre to repair.
This is a really cute looking device -- too bad it doesn't work at all. The firmware and software combo is horrible. You cannot simply drag and drop songs to the device. You MUST use their Philips branded version of MusicMatch Jukebox to transfer songs and it DOES NOT work. Two phone calls to Philips didn't help either. They were polite and all but otherwise useless. I've owned and used MP3 players since they were first introduced and this is by far the most time I have wasted trying to get something to work. I never did succeed.
I'm a mom ... that being said I do not need to hear every instrument during my very hetic day. This provides the music I (& the kids) love to get us moving. The first one I purchased, which was a 250 MB, did not power up at all. One call to Philips to trouble shoot, no luck, so they had me send it back, on my dime. However, they replaced it, about 6 weeks later, with an upgraded 512 MB unit. No trouble whatsoever with the 512. I did reset it once with ease, did not loose anything. Battery life is quite long, and built-in rechargeable. Downloading is so simple, or transfer your CD music, easy enough, I am not one to fiddle with instructions. The volume is loud enough, can also use with headphones. No need to carry CD's for the car now. Have used as portable speakers for the kids DVD player, as an alarm clock, auto shut-down, etc. Play music by artist, type, shuffle, repeat. Holds plenty of music. Built in radio. Very portable, took on vacation for the cabin. Obviously not for the pocket. Wonderful idea, very satisfied.
I purchased a unit very similar to this one (the P1 model0 a month ago. In fact, I bought three in succession -- none of them worked. First unit I bought had two LEDs which didn't light. At this price, I brought it back an exchanged it. I plugged the second unit into an outlet to test it out before leaving the store -- it also had two LEDs which didn't light. I should have known better by then, but I exchanged this second unit for a third one, which seemed to work. It took merely a week's use for two of the LEDs to stop functioning. Now, some 20 days later, the entire unit stopped functioning -- no display, will not light. Three units out of three purchased were defective out of the box or died within less than a month. I am now going to go return it for good and will purchase some other brand of light therapy device. Unless you want to risk wasting 200$, I'd recommend that you do the same. Luckily, I'd actually purchased the product at a local store, otherwise I'd have had to go through the hassle of mailing all the defective units back to Amazon, as well.
The Denon D31S is a solid micro stereo system that sounds good, looks nice and is a tremendous value. Note that the speakers are rebranded Mission bookshelf speakers, and provide a bright, natural sound. While a lot of reviews of Mission state that they are better for classical music, I think that they work great for rock, as well. The bass is surprisingly good for a system this small, and the amp does provide enough power to fill even a largist room. Overall, this system totally met my expectations and is a great value.
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