Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #89722 in Consumer Electronics
• Brand: NetGear
• Model: MP101
• Released on: 2004-04-19
• Dimensions: 1.37 pounds

Manufacturer's Description
Finally, you can enjoy your digital music files with your friends and family, in any room of your home. NETGEAR's Wireless Digital Music Player connects your existing home stereo to your home computer network so you can listen to your MP3 and Windows Media format digital music files with the great sound quality of your stereo speakers wherever you like to relax and entertain. The Wireless Digital Music Player is compatible with your 802.11b or 802.11g wireless network, and it's very simple to set up and use. Easy-to-install software automatically finds all your music files by title, artist, album, genre or playlist on any networked PC. It then collects them into one complete database so you don't have to do the work. Sit back and put your feet up remote control and a crystal clear, four-line display let you select music without even getting out of your chair.

Listen to your MP3s and Windows Media format digital music files in the comfort of your living room, away from your PC. With multiple NETGEAR Digital Music Players, you can enjoy music throughout your home, for "whole-home digital audio.

Connect the cable to your stereo, install the software on one networked PC, and youre ready to listen! The NETGEAR Wireless Digital Music Player's media server software automatically finds all the MP3 and Windows Media format digital music files stored on any networked PC in your home, and the NETGEAR media server software recognizes your existing organization by title, artist, album, genre, and playlist to suit any mood.

Hear your music at its best! Enjoy 100% digital, high-quality sound through your existing stereo, boom box, headphones, or powered speakers.

Protected with hardware-based Wired Equivalent Privacy (WEP) 64-bit & 128-bit encryption security. Remote functionality means you can easily browse and program your music from across the room without leaving the comfort of your couch. Gives you remote access to your NETGEAR Wireless Digital Music Player with PC or PDA web interface.

Box Contents

Customer Reviews

MP101 Hmmmmm
I really wanted to like this product 5 stars because it is cheap and such a good gadget, but! (it's a big BUT) This is a totally immature product. Here are my gripes:

1) Takes a VERY long time to boot up and get ready to play.
2) Sometimes does not find the wireless connection the first time and has to be rebooted (twice the wait !)
3) Can't select several tracks in an ad hoc playlist without going and doing it on the PC.
4) Server software is DIRE. I really mean this bit, the server software is so bad I have given up on it. Don't even bother trying the bundled server go and download the twonkyvision server (www.twonkyvision.de) and use that from day one.
5) Using DHCP with a Netgear DG834G router it can take forever to get an IP address. Give it a static IP.

All in all it is still a great idea but in practice it fails to deliver. I am still very happy with it but it definitely does not live up to expectations. If you are considering buying one then if you are technically competent and don't mind playing around, go for it. Otherwise wait a year until something better comes along.

great idea, bad implementation
I'm a bit of a techie, so I wanted this system to work. and when this works it IS a great system. I love the idea of being able to access all of the files on my PC. BUT, I have spent ages and ages to get it to work and it's still not reliable. The server software looks as if it was designed for windows 3.1. It crashes, it can't handle music I've bought online and won't see AAC files at all. The mp101 itself is completely erratic when it comes to finding networks. Once it's found it, it won't log on. When it logs on to the network it can't get an IP address. When it gets an IP address, it can't find the server. when it finds the server it loses the connection to the wireless network, and so on. In many cases I've had to rerip CDs to get them to work with the server software, and even then I've had to run between my PC and my living room to try to get the thing to work. It's a real shame that this doesn't work better, but as far as the mp101 is concerned, you'd be much better digging out your CDs and using the CD player.

Music Fans - Buy This!
I, like many other music fans, have a MP3 Player. Therefore, I have compiled a serious amount of music on my PC, which is nice as a back up, but lousy as a playback tool.

Therefore, it was with no small amount of joy that I installed the MP101 from NETGEAR. Instantly freeing up all my digital music files and giving me crystal clear Internet Radio. Now it is the CD's themselves that are kept safe and scratch free as the back up and the MP3's (or WMA files if that's your preference) that are the primary music source.

Set up was hassle free with the MP101 instantly connecting to my wireless router. The software, whilst not the greatest, instantly found and mapped to all my music files... and I was enjoying digital quality music through my stereo system in minutes.

A word to wise though, keep an eye out for Fireware Upgrades (www.netgear.com - click on downloads from the landing page), as the latest upgrade came with a number of features that, not only make the MP101 even more user friendly, but gave access to an incredible amount of free Internet Radio Stations.