More info on the service here:
http://www.slacker.com/

eviljelly wrote:Amazon has it for $90.95 and I see some other online vendors selling it for like $70.

I am PUMPED! In 4 2!

Been anxiously waiting for the Blackberry Slacker but I think it's vaporware, make sure to vote for it on Wired.com for the vaporware awards!
Slacker For Blackberry, ETA Oct 2008 and it's a no show...

http://www.wired.com/culture/culturereviews/news/2008/11/YE8_vaporware_subs

AWESOME
My dad's bff (sounds weird) is up there with Slacker, and I've been using their internet radio a lot. Really good service, I've found tons of new songs. (slacker.com)

I really like their Seasonal tab, tons of really specific holiday music

DNWOOT. Now, if this could stream ShoutCast or online radio stations... then I'd WOOT for two.

When Slacker goes bust (probably within 6 months) this will be just another piece of useless hardware for my junk drawer that won't even be usable as an MP3 player.

I would save up for something better than this. Take the 50 bucks and and a year subscription of this which is 90 bucks. Thats 140 for the first year and 90 each year after that for something that may not be around after this economic crisis is over. Further more you dont get to choose the music.

I would save up and get one of the Sansas on here. They are great, good picture, audio, recording, radio, and really good battery life for like 30ish bucks and those have 2 or four gibs with a minro SD expandable port. So you throw in a 2 gb micro sd that costs maybe 5 to 10 bucks and youve got a great deal. Or an iPod....

Not a bad woot, just better products out there for better price.

woowoodengy wrote:only if your car has Wi-Fi l o l thats why its called a Wi-Fi radio LMAO

why don't you just answer the question without making fun of the guy. are you the smartest guy in the world? you don't need to give an answer that puts another guy down for asking a serious question.

bought one, figured might as well try it out, if i dont like it pass it on to a friend as a reboxed christmas gift :P

Will this work with a Mac?

katsuki wrote:so is this more than just a mp3 player??
I mean, mp3 players have radio feature already... so beside the screen is bigger, what's the difference???

Go to Slacker.com to get started. It just takes internet radio to another level. The stations work on a song queue, so you can pause songs and start them later. Also, you are able to customize stations very well (down to specific tracks even)...there are so many features that are listed on the site. o_o.

katsuki wrote:so is this more than just a mp3 player??
I mean, mp3 players have radio feature already... so beside the screen is bigger, what's the difference???

Your MP3 player's radio feature only receives terrestrial radio--so it gets your local radio stations.

This thing receives internet radio from slacker. It has many fewer ads (3 minutes per hour) and probably a lot more variety than the radio stations in your area (depends on where you live).

I don't think it's worth $50 plus shipping, but I guess it rocks some people's worlds.

for 50 bucks more, i got the blackberry storm.

heh i like it better

anyone know if this has a wifi internet browser? I don't think it does but if so I will buy a couple for x-mas presents.

Does anyone know if there is anything similar to the ipod touch available? I really just want a cheap wifi browser...

wootable on the grounds that "when worms attack" is legendary

What is the bitrate/format of the music it downloads for the radio portion? I have XM and its totally crappy sound quality is driving me nuts-- I don't need CD quality but I'd hope it'd be at LEAST the equivalent of a 128kbps MP3... 64kbps just doesn't cut it for me, be it WMA, AAC, or MP3...

woowoodengy wrote:..thats why its called a Wi-Fi radio LMAO

It's not really a RADIO.

It loads new music when close to a wi-fi connection.

If you're in an office building and the wi-fi is password protected it won't update.

If you're hiking in the mountains for a week, it won't update.

If you don't have wi-fi at home or at work, and you never pass a wi-fi hotspot... it may never update!

You could get an FM transmitter just like you would for any MP3 device. Or if you buy a $100 aftermarket deck it will have an AUX input, you just need a male to male minijack (1/8") cable.

Here are threads with everything you need to know about this thing:

http://forums.slacker.com/slacker-g1-personal-radio-players-f11.html

ok, now I am going to be for real.

i'm in for 2. i love slacker.com, i listen to it daily at work, the adds aren't that bad, there are only a few every hour and they last for about 20 seconds at the most. This is coming from a guy who hasn't had fm radio in the last 3 of his vehicles because he can't stand all the talk b.s.

New to this. So when they say "Wifi Internet..." do they mean I can search the internet?

gls2100 wrote:I would save up for something better than this. Take the 50 bucks and and a year subscription of this which is 90 bucks. Thats 140 for the first year and 90 each year after that for something that may not be around after this economic crisis is over. Further more you dont get to choose the music.

I would save up and get one of the Sansas on here. They are great, good picture, audio, recording, radio, and really good battery life for like 30ish bucks and those have 2 or four gibs with a minro SD expandable port. So you throw in a 2 gb micro sd that costs maybe 5 to 10 bucks and youve got a great deal. Or an iPod....

Not a bad woot, just better products out there for better price.

Try not to compare the Slacker Radio player to an mp3 player. The premise of each product is entirely different. Also, your projections of costing $90 per year in subscriptions is only for the premium service; I have been using their free regular service without even thinking about upgrading - It's not necessary.

This is a little disconcerting, apparently G1 radios don't receive as many artists as G2 radios due to licensing restrictions (Gotta investigate what evil thing the G1 units can do that G2 must not that's getting the labels all worked up ;) )... and no one is getting a good answer from Slacker as to if they're going to try to rectify this.

http://forums.slacker.com/g1-vs-g2-licensing-t1500.html-sid=47911b90802ae1e3a41ac5639d4c2d3a

Would anyone know if this would work in Mexico?

For all you guys who don't know how this works try it free

goto: http://www.slacker.com

I use the free service daily and I love it.

aleeks wrote:Go to Slacker.com to get started. It just takes internet radio to another level. The stations work on a song queue, so you can pause songs and start them later. Also, you are able to customize stations very well (down to specific tracks even)...there are so many features that are listed on the site. o_o.

Limiting myself to 15 channels that I have to program? No thanks. My Lilttle Brown Zune (WOOTed for $80) holds 5,000 songs (that I can pause and start later), I can play by the artist, album, genre, year, supershuffle, make my own playlists, load any MP3 I want AND listen to FM radio.

And from what I read on their website, I can store 2G of songs I download from them, not load my own music. Correct me if that's wrong...

Nope, not good WOOT material.

Get a used PocketPC and stream whatever you want.

wavking wrote:Layme! Get an iPod touch for WiFi radio using Pandora. It's Sweeeeeet

(got my iPod on wootoff and LUV it!)

I have an iPod touch as well. To use Pandora, you have to be connected to an access point constantly. With Slacker, you just have to connect periodically, long enough to update the stations.

I agree with fiver -- this is a great deal. In!

I think I am correct that this will not play regular radio stations (am/fm) that are streamed over the web. Can anyone confirm this ?

You don't have to program anything. There are over 100+ stations programmed already by professionals.

Pick 15.

Connect to Wi-Fi, or dock via USB every few days.

Listen and enjoy. There is nothing else to do.

Hence the name SLACKER

seagoon wrote:Limiting myself to 15 channels that I have to program? No thanks. My Lilttle Brown Zune (WOOTed for $80) holds 5,000 songs (that I can pause and start later), I can play by the artist, album, genre, year, supershuffle, make my own playlists, load any MP3 I want AND listen to FM radio.

And from what I read on their website, I can store 2G of songs I download from them, not load my own music. Correct me if that's wrong...

Nope, not good WOOT material.

Get a used PocketPC and stream whatever you want.

Ratt 'n Roll Forever!! Wooooooooo Hoooooooooo!!

I'd totally be in for one, but per Orbitcast they're doing an iPhone app, and I'm hoping it will be available for the iPod Touch too. If that's the case, then I'm cancelling both of our XM subs since they destroyed the rock and dance channels last month.

Some good reviews on Alatest...
http://alatest.com/reviews/mp3-player-reviews/slacker-portable/po3-36917224,287/

and some OK reviews on Amazon...
http://www.amazon.com/Slacker-Portable-Radio-Stations-Black/dp/B000XNWS5E/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=electronics&qid=1228113716&sr=8-1

Can you surf the net on this thing or not??????

G1

TVGenius wrote:I'd totally be in for one, but per Orbitcast they're doing an iPhone app, and I'm hoping it will be available for the iPod Touch too. If that's the case, then I'm cancelling both of our XM subs since they destroyed the rock and dance channels last month.

I'm in for one because yes XM killed or has super limited the type and number of songs that they play on their service, and I can get the talk radio aspect of Satrad from other places. For a long time I have been looking at these for a good price, just on a starter model. Thanks Woot!

user1577 wrote:Can you surf the net on this thing or not??????

Nope, it doesn't have a browser to surf the net.

http://reviews.cnet.com/mp3-players/slacker-portable-player-2gb/4505-6490_7-32370611.html?tag=mncol;lst

The CNET people tend to like the Slacker service, and it sounds really good to me, too. However, they just came out with a new player, their G2 player, so this is the obsolete model. Sounds like it is heavier and perhaps lacking in battery life - CNET says they tested 8.9 hours of continuous playback, which wouldn't cut it for me, but might for people who could plug in often.

Sounds like a good buy for people who want to let someone else organize good music for them and can learn the online music system.

sofiarodrig wrote:Would anyone know if this would work in Mexico?

I have a feeling that it would any where you can get a wi-fi connection, Mexico included. Or you can download to the Slacker through USB.

This will work ANYWHERE you have internet access available.

Go to http://www.slacker.com/ wait for the site to load and click on the Latin music icon to see the Spanish-language stations that are available. This will show you exactly the type of musica that is available to load on the Radio side of the device.

Aside from the radio music, you still have 500MB to load your own MP3 songs.

I have a Rhapsody version of a Sansa I got here on Woot... does the same thing for the most part... I tell Rhapsody (or mark them right in the Sansa) when I like a certain song, from "Never play again" to 5 stars (Slacker is only Like/Not like)... and I can have as many "Rhapsody channels" as will fit in memory automatically updated when I tether the Sansa... Sure I can't update out on the road or whatever, but come on, 2GB of unfamiliar music is more than enough, plus I have the MicroSD port for my own music...
Main downside to the Sansa/Rhapsody compared to this is the subscription costs on Rhapsody are like $11/month for the "To Go" service... but you get absolute control over what songs get loaded. If you ever tire of the Rhapsody service you're still left with a great MP3 player that also picks up FM stations...

Slacker does sound like a great service... it's just that with Rhapsody I like being able to add the songs I really like to my library (just searching for them in the catalog) and listen to them at whim, as well as the ability to get new material based on my likes... so it's a more complete solution than Slacker, albeit more expensive.

bad reviews on amazon. Device instability. Good idea but maybe not so ready yet?

ZoboFlobby wrote:I am PUMPED! In 4 2!

Been anxiously waiting for the Blackberry Slacker but I think it's vaporware, make sure to vote for it on Wired.com for the vaporware awards!
Slacker For Blackberry, ETA Oct 2008 and it's a no show...

http://www.wired.com/culture/culturereviews/news/2008/11/YE8_vaporware_subs

THey made the storm instead. Verizon pushed blackberry to make a phone that was hot and only verizon could sell (kinda like the deal with the iphone and ATT), and blackberry said, sell XXX many blackberrys and you gotta deal. Blackberry scrapped the slacker and made the storm.