Sangean WFR-20 WiFi Internet Radio & Media Player | List Price: $299.00
Discount Price: Too low to display
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Brand: Sangean
Binding: Electronics
Features: - Wired or wireless connection
- Infrared remote control
- Large, easy to read 3 line display
- High quality full-range stereo speakers
- Play your music collection from your computer
Great self-contained tabletop internet radio [Posted on 2008-10-04]
Sangean WFR-20 WiFi Internet Radio & Media PlayerI purchased mine a month ago and have been well pleased. For certain genres and "one of a kind" unique radio stations you won't find OTA with a terrestrial radio from any market, it is a must if music is your thing.
my favorite toy [Posted on 2008-10-19]
Easy to setup once you get the idea of the single knob and how to traverse the menus. Took all off 10 minutes to get onto my secure wifi and be listening to my favorite station out of Chicago. I've got a solid DSL connection (up to 1.5Mbps) and never have any problem with cut outs due to buffering once my station has connected, even while I am using my PC for other surfing. Been using it for a month so far.
The box also has the option to upgrade its firmware built into its menus, though I don't know of a reason why I'd need to upgrade it at this point. Solid box for a decent price.
this is an amazing radio [Posted on 2008-10-23]
If you haven't checked out wi-fi radio yet, start here.
This is my favorite new gizmo.
The Sangean model 20 is a table radio, small but hefty, black. It has only one button and an LCD readout that doubles as an easy-to-read digital clock. It has a remote too, one of those small ones. (I found a better, larger, smart remote with back-lighted buttons at Amazon for another $20.)
What's the big deal?
I like radio, mostly talk radio and, by extension, shortwave. At home, especially at night, I get virtually nothing on the AM band and there's not much in my small local FM universe that appeals to me. I looked at adding a big outdoor antenna to my receiver but that was too expensive and too annoying and, best case, I could only hope to "match" the limited reception that I get out in my car. That's not really much of an upgrade.
But, in doing research on antennas, I found out about wi-fi radios.
You don't need wireless internet but you do need a high-speed connection of some kind, like what you get from your local cable company.
That's it. It was literally plug and play. In less than a minute, the radio offered me a menu of thousands of free radio stations on the LCD screen.
I have 6 presets that I can juggle and a folder where I can stash as many station presets as I want.
What kind of stations?
Anything you can think of, anywhere in the world. Unlike that weird mood-specific niche programming that you find on Sirius and XM channels, this is real radio, commercial radio, live, warts and all.
For example...
My presets right now include WMAL (DC), WBAL (Baltimore), WLS (Chicago), WABC (New York), the BBC (there are about a dozen BBC outlets alone to sort through) and Radio Netherlands.
There are hundreds, thousands of live, free radio stations from every part of the world and in every language that you can think of. You can follow any sport, any event, any news, from any perspective, at any time.
Yes, you can hear Rush Limbaugh and Glenn Beck. No, you can't hear Howard Stern (Sirius) and Oprah Winfrey (XM).
Best of all:
1) There is absolutely no static on any station.
2) It uses the same "connection" as your computer but is in no way connected to your computer (unless you want it to connect, like if you wanted to use this box to also play music or pod-casts that are stored on your computer, for example).
3) It is Goon-Proof. You don't have to understand the technology to use it.
4) Once you buy the hardware (some sets at Amazon are cheaper), there are never any fees or taxes or contracts or third-party monitoring of what you listen to.
Tell Santa!
ps: Definitely consider upgrading the remote. You'll be using this radio a lot and big, back-lighted buttons are a real ergonomic upgrade.
ps: It's a nice looking box too, much nicer than you might expect from the picture.
You Will Become Addicted [Posted on 2008-11-20]
I purchased my WFR20 11 months ago. I loved it from the start. It's a solid feeling, well constructed device that has some heft to it. I did not purchase for the sound quality but was pleasantly surprised that it sounded so rich for such a small box. The Reciva website makes it fairly easy to search for and add stations which you can then access directly on the radio. I mainly use it to listen to talk radio from around the world. It also works well streaming mp3 files from a PC. Works well with .m3u playlists (create your own party mix!).
At first I didn't like the single knob but now think it is quite ingenious. My 76yr old Mother operates the radio without any problems; there was a learning curve but she likes her British talk station LBC, London so much she got the hang of it pretty quick. Speaking of my Mom, she liked my radio so much I ordered her one of her own so she can listen to it in bed at night (great way to drift off).
You can listen to just about any talk show host even those not in your local market...ie, Ed Schultz, Thom Hartman, Mike Malloy, etc... In addition, there are plenty of commercial free music stations available also (they take a bit of finding but they are out there).
The WFR20 is the 'close cousin' USA version of the Roberts WM201. Roberts supports the WM201 in the UK while Sangean the WFR20 here in the USA. Speaking of which, Sangean just released a firware update to add some new features (ie, signal strength meter). If you search for 'Sangean' on the Reciva community forums you can get more details into the firmware upgrade(s).
I hope internet radio catches on here in the USA. I feel it is sort of a hidden treasure only I know about. My radio gets constant daily use of at least 4 hours a day.
If you're on the fence and love radio or want an expanded view of the world get this radio.
Awesome! [Posted on 2008-12-01]
This is amazing. The sound is much better than you would expect from something this small. It was easy to hook up and the controls are intuitive. Even my technology challenged parents can do it! They live in a rural area with few radio stations but they love classical music. They have been listening to radio stations through the internet but those little speakers don't do justice to great music. They already had internet access but this gives them the world anywhere in their house. Now they can listen to concerts direct from London on the BBC and they will be able to listen to their beloved Yankees with great sound quality.
Click here for more details and discount information...
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