While there are more than 1,000 "apps" for Chumby, at least 900 are pretty useless and will grow old quickly(cats licking the screen, Abe Vigoda updates, Lava Lamp). There are several news and sports apps that are very good. Facebook is excellent, I have issues with Google calendar most of the time, but that may be me. It is a relative pain to set up the apps that access your accounts (Facebook, Google calendar, Photobucket, etc.) but once you get that completed it is pretty cool to have them scroll by on your bedside.

fishandring wrote:Or it would be almost like emailing from a smartphone.

Exactly. And we all know how annoying that is.

The Chumby Looks like he is related to someone on sellout.woot
http://sellout.woot.com/

Something fishy about the inventor of this chumby thing ...

Has anyone gotten this thing to run emulators yet? If so, I want one. I also want someone to do it for me. Not make woopie, but to make this thing run emulators for me. The first thing I said.

erick99 wrote:I bought one. I have no friggin' use for it but $49 is like waving almost-free crack under an addicts nose.

That's what Charlie said...

I have one of these on my kitchen table and I really like it. I use it mostly as an internet radio. I stream Pandora, Slacker, and NPR. I don't have a lot of space in my apartment, and this is great for listening to music while cooking or eating dinner without having to have my computer out.
It is basically a souped up internet alarm clock. I bought mine when they had a valentine's sale (for about $80). You probably also want a Fuji NP-120 battery, which is not included. I got one for ten bucks on amazon. The chumby charges its own battery while it's plugged in.

The apps I like are mostly news, weather, games, word-of-the-day type stuff that rotate through the screen for 30sec to a few minutes each (you can set that). You can get your facebook feed. I haven't tried the woot app. Mostly I use it to listen to the radio and have a fake fireplace or lavalamp on the screen.

Overall, more useful than a leakfrog, and cuter, too. It's a little ridiculous, but I like it anyway.

Looks interesting, and the geek in me is screaming "BUY IT BUY IT" (mostly because of that Attack of the Show video. I find it easier to buy things when hot women tout their virtues). However, not even 2 full days ago, I mounted my netbook vertically on a cabinet next to my bed, so I'm covered.

Sorry Woot, you were just a few days late offering this to me. :-(

crowbite wrote:I'm sure that the quality of a 2" loudspeaker, in an enclosure that is surely not designed to the Thiele parameters, is much worse than the quality of an FM broadcast station (which has to meet FCC specs). And a 2" speaker is certainly much worse than my MP3 files which are mostly 256kbps. But if the Chumby has a 3.5mm stereo output, I could pipe it into some Cambridge or Altec amplified desktop speakers, which would help infinitely.

My point was that if you care about audio quality (particularly dynamic range and frequency spectrum), I would not be listening to MP3's or FM radio in the first place, much less worrying about what device to play them on.

I'm less discerning. Primary purpose for me would be listening to news and podcasts. I think I'd be satisfied with the built-in speaker; if not, I'd just plug in a cheap passive (non-powered) speaker into the headphone jack.

I have been charged to my account the amount for the shirt that i purchased yesterday. When i check my Woot account however, it says that i haven't purchased anything. Whats up with that?

If I use it as an alarm clock does the screen go dark while I'm trying to sleep? Or is there a nighttime mode or something?

Chumby...Chumby...Oh yeah! He's the fat, dumb, tattooed doofus on Pawn Stars!!

ncarris wrote:If I use it as an alarm clock does the screen go dark while I'm trying to sleep? Or is there a nighttime mode or something?

Yes, there is a "night" mode that blacks out the screen.

crowbite wrote:VERY IMPORTANT POINT!



Can someone else please confirm that, one way or the other? If it won't at least handle WEP then I certainly have no use for it.

The specs posted on the Woot main page say it will handle several versions of WEP and WPA.

Someone already posted that they use it on a WPA2-PSK network in response to the inaccurate post. And the specs on the Woot page come directly from the Chumby website.

ncarris wrote:If I use it as an alarm clock does the screen go dark while I'm trying to sleep? Or is there a nighttime mode or something?

Yes, there is a night mode. It gets pretty dang dark, too. Ours is in the kitchen so I don't usually look at it in the dark in night mode, but it seems like it would work fine bedside at night.

Too bad this thing looks like it was made by Fisher Price.

I have one in my bedroom. I use primarily as an alarm clock / internet radio (Pandora, ftw).

It's silly but useful. I've been thinking about getting one for my kitchen, so at $50 I'm in for one.

I GOT ONE! I GOT ONE!

Now I'll HACK IT!

Here's where I'll start:
http://wiki.chumby.com/mediawiki/index.php/Chumby_tricks

I use google docs and a netbook for recipes in the kitchen and this would be perfect to not have to move the netbook back and forth to view them.

Only problem is, there is no app for gdocs that I can find.

Anybody who has one can confirm or deny?

arcooke wrote:Too bad this thing looks like it was made by Fisher Price.

Have you seen the original Chumby? It looked like a bean bag.

heyker wrote:Can I set this up in my kitchen as a recipe finder/viewer? I always print out recipes to carry into my kitchen from my desktop.

Yes:

http://www.chumby.com/guide/widget/Recipe%20Fetch

fxfuji wrote:My point was that if you care about audio quality (particularly dynamic range and frequency spectrum), I would not be listening to MP3's or FM radio in the first place, much less worrying about what device to play them on.

My point is that I'm looking for something to replace a conventional clock radio. Not something to replace my Yamaha DC-coupled amp and JBL 4412 monitors.

I don't do my audiophile listening in bed... I can pursue more interesting hobbies there. But at some point I need an alarm clock.

I just bought one... perfect companion for the office where WiFi is abundant and having a cheap device to show news updates, etc. would be great.

erick99 wrote:If you bought a Chumby One simply as an Internet radio you would be doing very well on price.

That's exactly why I bought mine for about $70 at Christmas time. I couldn't find a cheaper Internet radio receiver. Now I listen to Radio Paradise all the time through my main stereo. At $50, I might buy another one.

austinwebb wrote:Sorry but I read all 5 pages and still nobody has confirmed if there is an actual keyboard that pops up so you can type emails or update your facebook status. Anyone? Bueller?

For FB there is the ability to update with an onscreen keyboard. I've never used it for email so can't speak for that. And don't expect anything close to a real keyboard experience when typing on this thing. Think more along the lines of the crappy onscreen iPhone keyboard only a bit slower.

trarbach wrote:I stream Pandora, Slacker, and NPR.

So Slacker is available on the Chumby? I couldn't find the app for it on the Chumby website...

wrparks wrote:I use google docs and a netbook for recipes in the kitchen and this would be perfect to not have to move the netbook back and forth to view them.

Only problem is, there is no app for gdocs that I can find.

Anybody who has one can confirm or deny?

Don't have one (yet) but since you can install a web browser
http://wiki.chumby.com/mediawiki/index.php/Web_Browser
I imagine that accessing your Google Docs is a trivially small step after installing and opening the browser.

However, I have my doubts about viewing your large spreadsheets or presentations on the 3.5" screen.

steveoramalama wrote:Remember - if you don't like it woot wont take returns

That's what ebay is for

Does it have a snooze button?

I bought one but then decided I wanted 2 or 3. Now if I go through and try to buy 1 or 2 (making my total 2 or 3), I get a message that my account has already bought the woot. Is there some way I can get more? Creating a new account feels ahady (even if I obey the FAQ which states you can only buy 3)

I must be missing something because this looks like a toddler's toy that came out 10 years ago.

It's got a little R2D2 going on in the color scheme.

Does it have an app to project a holographic plea for help from Princess Leia?

crowbite wrote:My point is that I'm looking for something to replace a conventional clock radio. Not something to replace my Yamaha DC-coupled amp and JBL 4412 monitors.

I don't do my audiophile listening in bed... I can pursue more interesting hobbies there. But at some point I need an alarm clock.

Then is it really worth agonizing about the cheap mono speaker of an alarm clock/radio that you won't be listening to very much? Worst case, you can plug in a better stereo speaker, or hack the thing and replace the built-in speaker with one you can stand listening to....

I like the idea.

Too bad it looks like a cheap toy.

JonnoN wrote:Sweet infinity shot!

Actually, it seems more like a form of recursion to me.

It works on my WPA2 wlan with no problems. I have another one hooked up to a WEP wlan at work.

crowbite wrote:VERY IMPORTANT POINT!



Can someone else please confirm that, one way or the other? If it won't at least handle WEP then I certainly have no use for it.

The specs posted on the Woot main page say it will handle several versions of WEP and WPA.

fxfuji wrote:Then is it really worth agonizing about the cheap mono speaker of an alarm clock/radio that you won't be listening to very much? Worst case, you can plug in a better stereo speaker..

No, it's not. I already stated -- many posts ago, that a pair of powered speakers would solve that problem for me.

I originally responded to your comment that bad fidelity was more likely caused by FM radio or by MP3 files than by a 2" speaker. I thought, and still think, that that comment was pretty absurd. Any FM station, and any reasonable MP3 file (even as low as 128kbps) will have much better frequency response, and lower distortion (except at ridiculously low levels) than a 2" speaker in a plastic box trying to cover the entire audio spectrum.

But I'm not "agonizing" over anything.

PC MAG REVIEW of 6/1/10 says NOT IMPRESSED
PROs:Touch screen. Streams Internet radio and programs like Pandora. Decent file support.
Cons
Touch screen is not very responsive. Useful widgets are few and far-between. Built-in speakers are weak. No Aux input. No audio-out jack.
Bottom Line
Stick with your old-school alarm clock to wake up and your computer or smartphone for portable entertainment—the Chumby One is underachieving and overpriced.

lotussama wrote:It works on my WPA2 wlan with no problems. I have another one hooked up to a WEP wlan at work.

Thank you for the clarification! I think the poster who originally raised the alarm (which I then read) was somehow misinformed.

These are really cool, I personally love mine. Great deal for $50!