My Radio has just died - I suspect its the dreaded PSU problem. So, should I get it fixed, or buy something else? Any thoughts on a good alternative?

Roberts Radio
http://www.robertsradio.co.uk/Products/ ... radios.htm

Logitech Squeezebox Boom
http://www.logitech.com/index.cfm/speak ... 7&cl=us,en

or even build your own! (not for me)
http://mightyohm.com/blog/2009/05/build ... g-the-box/

If it does what you need it to do - and previously did it well enough - then I'd personally get the PSU fixed by Pete (g0pkh on here) and enjoy many years of solid SBR service.

If I were looking to replace I'd probably go with the Logitech to be honest... and that may well be an option if (1) I can't fix the odd problem on my own SBR, and (2) I can get another job and actually afford one!

So - speak to g0pkh and get your PSU fixed...

If you decide to replace, can I have your mainboard please?

Shades

If you decide to replace, can I have your mainboard please?

Heh heh, and me the speakers please.

Pete

PM me for a repair.

I'm in the same boat - kind of "on the fence" about whether to get my PSU repaired or get something else. I noticed that VTech also has their new IS9181 internet radio out:

http://www.engadget.com/2009/01/06/vtec ... wifi-radio
http://www.vtechphones.com/is9181

This model seems to have several features that I've been wanting on my R1000 for some time as well...

There are a lot of others that have recently appeared also:
http://www.ccrane.com/radios/wifi-radios
http://www.cobra.com/categories/internet-radios
http://www.cobyusa.com/?p=pcat&pcat_id=3006
http://www.jr.com/boutique/internet-radios

@ gcd0865

Do please take great care in your selection of a new device
My advice is to base your future decision on the actual database/portal that is used by your proposed new radio, for you have become accustomed to the RadioRoku database (to which you personally made a magnificent contribution), many others like Reciva and vTuner are not IMO so well organised.

It is a great shame that Roku now appear to have chosen to totally ignore the RadioRoku database as can be clearly seen by all the unedited submissions and stations that now have outdated URLs.

Cheers, Alan

Look at the instructions for the VTech product, you will see that it is not a UPnP/DLNA client. You must set up folder sharing on your PC. Instructions are given for PC & MAC but it doesn't say if it will work with files stored on external or NAS disks.

@ gcd0865 and chrisproud,

as I not only have a handful of SoundBridges but also two Reciva based radios permit me to jump in here.

If you're mainly interested in internet radio, most of the devices you posted here will presumably be fit for purpose. However, with perhaps the exception of the Roberts Stream 201 (and its clone, the Sangean WFR-20) and the Logitech Squeezebox Boom they do not offer the sound quality of an R1000. They're useful as kitchen or bedside radios, but you shouldn't expect them to deliver anything even near to Hi-Fi quality. Most of them do not have AM or FM tuners.

Reciva based radios do not support AACplus, so if this format is used by one of your favourite stations, you won't be able to listen to it any longer (they do support RealAudio, however). These devices don't have a web interface, so you have to use Reciva's portal to add your own streams. Many of the Reciva based radios only offer five presets and these are all you will be able to play if Reciva's server is down, as in such a case you don't even have access to your own streams.

If you want to stream your own music library, there are even more caveats. First of all none of the radios you posted here supports iTunes or Firefly. Reciva based radios support UPnP, but they don't work with every UPnP server software and searching and browsing tracks is a real pain mainly because of the small display. The same applies to searching and browsing tracks on a shared Windows folder which in addition is painfully slow and buggy.

You will find valuable information about the pros and cons of Reciva based radios here: https://www.reciva.com/index.php?option=com_joomlaboard&Itemid=108.

Finally, if you look at the prices of the radios you posted here you will find that many of them, although they're not as versatile as the R1000, cost much more than the SoundBridge Radio which is actually sold (off) by Roku for $199.

If I had an R1000 with a PSU issue, I would have it repaired by either Pete (forum nick: g0pkh) in the UK or Matt (forum nick: Burkhardi) in the USA.

Greetings
dupondt

All of these are quite valid points. In considering what to do, my particular interests/concerns are as follows (probably in this order):

1 - Regarding sound quality, the VTech IS9181 has two 3W front speakers and a 10W subwoofer and therefore might sound as good as my R1000. The Sangean WFR-1 and Sangean WFR-20 don't have subwoofers, but do have separate bass and treble in a wooden cabinet. The Logitech Squeezebox Boom has a 30W sound amplifier. Without hearing them for myself, or reading reviews from others, I wouldn't know for sure.

2 - Most of my listening is internet radio. I'm specifically interested in having all of my "presets" or "favorites" stored locally on the radio itself, as they are accessible more quickly (without having to be loaded up from the database every time), they are all accessible to the alarm function of the radio that way, and it makes my radio independent of database outages and url changes that aren't updated in the database. I probably have around 80 stations set right now as my "favorites" on Radio Roku, but I'm limited to 18 stored on the radio itself. Frankly, I'm quite concerned about the state of Radio Roku because when the station urls get out of date, there go my 80 stations, and I can then only rely on 18 that I update and store myself. I have submitted many edits and updates for Radio Roku, but now it seems that updates to the database aren't happening anymore, and I'm not that confident that the Roku database will be maintained if the Soundbridges are indeed being discontinued. I was therefore considering the VTech IS9181 because it has 100 locally-stored internet presets and 20 locally-stored FM presets, to be independent of any future database update problems (perhaps limited by having no direct web interface, which is certainly a valid point).

3 - Regarding station databases, it appears that there are at least 4 being tapped by these devices: Reciva, VTuner, SqueezeNetwork and Radio Roku. Another one of my primary interests was being able to browse the station directory by individual U.S. states, as I often find that I want to listen to stations from certain U.S. states or cities for various reasons (about to travel there, interesting news/sports happening there, hometown, etc.). I've found that it is simply impossible to do this by browsing through the entire U.S. Roku database, and I have given up hope that this feature will ever be added to Radio Roku. I know that at least the VTuner database has this feature; not sure about the others just yet. In general, it seems odd that these four groups (and any others out there) haven't gotten together to share a single station database that could be updated much more efficiently than separate ones, such that the radios could just distinguish themselves based on their own features, without having to worry about whether the supporting station database is out of date.

4 - For compatible stream formats, I'm not sure how many of my favorite stations rely on AACplus (I'd have to look into that), although AACplus capability could presumably be added via firmware update to Reciva radios. Some of these other radios also play RealAudio streams, so that would be a plus.

5 - Most or all of the newer radios appear to have at least 802.11g capability, which would allow me to nix the shared b/g mode currently running on my home wireless network.

6 - Some of these other radios have FM, but not AM. Of course, it would be better to have both (for internet outages, etc.), but I find that I never use the AM or FM sections of my R1000 now. For local AM stations (news/talk/sports), the audio quality is so superior with the online stream that I listen that way. Also, the AM section of my R1000 never provided very good reception anyway. Some sports are blacked out on the online streams, but I'm usually watching those on tv anyway.

7 - I only occasionally stream music from my computer, through Windows Media Connect and Tversity (don't use iTunes or Firefly). But this is not really that important to me, as the whole purpose of having these radios for me was to avoid turning on the computer. If the VTech and others require folder sharing to share stored music instead of using UPnP, is this necessarily a problem?

8 - I think I like the option of running the VTech IS9181 on 6-AA batteries, in case I want to bring it outside on the deck.

I plan to continue to research my options and mull things over. I have been in contact with Matt about fixing my R1000, and may very well still do that. I really do enjoy all 3 of my Roku radios (well, 2 of them at the moment), and I'm trying my best to be loyal to Roku, but with this being my second failed PSU, the product possibly being discontinued, and the station database not being maintained, I'm hesistant to sink more money into this. I'd appreciate any additional comments that anyone might have about these issues...