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anyone on here using a Slimp3?

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Old 17 July 2002, 11:49 AM
  #1  
imlach
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Anyone on here using a Slimp3? (www.slimdevices.com)

Thinking of getting one (or 3 or 4!) - what do others think of them? Looks good!
Old 17 July 2002, 01:37 PM
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suba
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nice . perfect gadget to have!

review in tom's hardware here.
Old 17 July 2002, 04:35 PM
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chiark
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12LEE off this board is a UK distributor - see http://www.ihavetohave.it

Looks simply excellent!
Old 17 July 2002, 05:16 PM
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ozzy
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Thumbs up

Edited to stop any more confusion.

[Edited by ozzy - 7/18/2002 10:14:13 AM]
Old 17 July 2002, 05:31 PM
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chiark
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Exchange rate 1.40 means 180 quid-ish
Import tax on audio goods - 4% - 187.20
VAT on the whole lot = 17.5% - 220.00

Shipping from the states - how much? Gotta be 15-20 quid minimum. So price difference in reality is 10 quid, which is less than 10%.

Old 17 July 2002, 05:36 PM
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druddle
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How cool is that !!! Put in the wireless LAN and then wahey !!!
Old 17 July 2002, 11:45 PM
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stevem2k
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she who must be obeyed has decreed I can't have one until we move into the new place... grrrrrr

Two weeks to go 'til ordering then

Steve
Old 18 July 2002, 08:35 AM
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12LEE
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Chiark's spot on with his analysis, but... with the dollar's weakness at the moment, we've just dropped the price to £239.99 inc VAT, and...

...if someone wants to organise a group buy of 10+ units, we'll do them at a unit price of £229.99 with free delivery of the entire consignment to one location.

Cheers

Lee.
Old 18 July 2002, 10:02 AM
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ozzy
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Lee,

I take it you can control each device independantly? So, you can happily play different tracks, playlists, etc.. from different rooms?

Along with the in-car MP3 player, it's one of the coolest gadgets yet

Stefan

[Edited by ozzy - 7/18/2002 10:14:34 AM]
Old 18 July 2002, 10:11 AM
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imlach
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If my understanding is correct, each device can play different tracks from the one server ==OR== you can synchronise all of the devices to play the same track giving you whole house audio with the one track!!!

Way cool - just wish :

a) it was cheaper (ie, £100 each - I know the display is the expensive part though) - could then justify one for every room.

b) It takes off more, so that production costs go down and they can acheive (a) above!


Now just need to perform the tedious task of transferring my entire cd collection onto a big hard drive.....if only you could buy hard drives pre-formatted with music (oops, that'd be illegal! - or highly expensive!).
Old 18 July 2002, 07:38 PM
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12LEE
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Stefan

You're spot on in your assumption (as is Richard).

Basically, one PC will drive up to 20 SliMP3s. They can all do their own thing, or, really coolly, the PC can synchronise the audio outputs of them all so that there's no doppler effect around the house. They can all be driven from their own r/c's or from the PC's server application via a browser.

Cheers

Lee.
Old 20 July 2002, 12:50 AM
  #12  
Turbo_Steve
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I want one too! (maybe 4, actually!) this is DEFINITELY the way forward.

Wireless version would be even better....but integrated please! lol


I am have modified an old laptop for the car.
It synchronises when parked on the driveway using a wireless card, and then plays MP3s while on the move

Only problem I am having is getting the powermanagement to work properly: uses win95 to do everything at the moment, but stutters when power management kicks in...and doesn't switch off when the sync finishes.

Any ideas anyone?
Old 16 June 2003, 01:27 PM
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blair
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Just stumbled accross the SliMP3 and carried out a quick google on SliMP3.

One of the links that came up was for Chiark and hence bringing me back to scoobynet.

Of those who were considering getting one did you buy one ? Was it as good as you thought? Any problems ? Is there a wireless version in the market yet ?

TIA

A
Old 16 June 2003, 06:19 PM
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BigGT3Fan
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I bought one too. It is every bit as good as I thought it was going to be. Have now got my whole CD collection loaded on the PC, and have instant access to it from the hifi .

Couple of really minor niggles:

Yes you can sync multiple players, including using something like Windows Media Player or WinAmp as a client player to the server process as well. I only have the one player in the living room attached to the hifi, but wanted to use WinAmp or WMP on the PC synced up with the hifi. When you do this, there is a 1-2 second difference between the PC player and the SliMP3 player. I understand that this doesn't happen between multiple MP3s, but obviously does between PC & slim.

Also, the internet radio is very cool, but only works for MP3 streaming internet radio stations (of which there are '000s on the likes of shoutcast.com and live365.com etc). But, (again a very small but), if you normally listen to Real or WMA format stations (like BBC Radio 1-4, etc) then you can't stream those.

In spite of this, I would absolutely recommend the device to anyone looking for such a toy, and would buy more if I had a second amp to use it with, but for my house layout and available hifi kit, one will suffice

There is no wireless version at the moment, but something like the LinkSys Wireless Bridge (WET) solves that for you for about £50 and saves laying cables round the house. I have a Slim connected via a Linksys WET to a Linksys WAP that connects to my Linksys cable router.

HTH,



Alex
Old 16 June 2003, 06:21 PM
  #15  
BigGT3Fan
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P.S.Definitely the 2nd best piece of consumer electronics I've ever bought, after the TiVo, of course Pushes the Pronto remote into 3rd place, and incidentally the Pronto controls the Slimpy as well, if anyone wants the CCF file....



[Edited by BigGT3Fan - 6/16/2003 6:21:41 PM]
Old 16 June 2003, 06:26 PM
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12LEE
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Two top tips:

1. Spend 30 bucks on moodlogic. The integration is *nice*.
2. JBL Creature speakers really go nicely with SliMP3 and look funky.

[Edited by 12LEE - 6/16/2003 6:26:34 PM]
Old 17 June 2003, 09:11 AM
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Jye
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12LEE, I bought a Moodlogic licence and have the latest Slimp3 firmware/remote etc, so how do I actually use Moodlogic with the Slimp3 player. There is nothing on the Slimp3 or Moodlogic website to help explain how to integrate them.

I read something somewhere about the Slimp3 player displaying a small icon/logo or something, but I cant seem to see it. I normally use the player with the display large so I can read it across the room, perhaps I need to get my eyes tested
Old 17 June 2003, 09:20 AM
  #18  
BigGT3Fan
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Jye,

There is an option in the Server Web config to activate Moodlogic integration. You have to have downloaded ML, purchased 'activation credits' and activated it against your music collection.

Once you do all these things, the web i/f and the player will use the moodlogic data in preference to your own ID tags. I found that not all the Moodlogic data was correct, so prefer to use CDDB and my own entries, but YMMV.

Also, don't know about the player displaying an icon, you may have read that the latest version of the software lets the web client display album cover art if you've got it loaded. WMP creates album art when you do a find album info against CDDB, and this is then shown in WMP when playing, and in the web client, but not the player ,obviously!

I also tend to run my player on large as it is some distance from the sofa, but you do trade off info for readability.
Old 17 June 2003, 09:27 AM
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12LEE
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A little info.

Basically you install moodlogic and activate your music. Restart SliMP3 server and there should be a "use moodlogic" option under the server settings (default is yes).

As you browse songs, artists, genres, etc., there's a little "m" if something's moodlogic-enabled (not visible in double height mode thougg). Holding the play button on the remote gives you a prompt to produce a moodlogic instant mix.

Cheers

L.
Old 17 June 2003, 11:40 AM
  #20  
Jye
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Cheers both I knew there was something about a little icon, hehe. Thank link was great 12LEE, I really should check out forums a bit more
Old 18 June 2003, 07:55 PM
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dsmith
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They're popular within Home Automation circles aswell as you can use them to display pretty much anything e.g. Caller ID, Incoming e-mail alerts, web Headlines. The possibilities are endless.

Deano
Old 19 June 2003, 10:25 AM
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blair
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Okay - cheers for the replies.

I think one of these is definitely going onto my Birthday/Xmas/time to treat myself pressie list

It's a shame that they don't do an integrated wireless version but at least that can be worked around.

Andy

Old 19 June 2003, 10:41 AM
  #23  
BigGT3Fan
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If you want wireless, you could build this

Some crazy guy put the slim player, a wireless bridge & an amp into an old getto blaster

Extreme geek-dom, but quite cool too

http://www.olsontribe.com/slimp3/

[Edited by BigGT3Fan - 6/19/2003 10:41:47 AM]
Old 19 June 2003, 11:10 AM
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MartinM
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Surprised he didn't put a Ethernet hub in it as well, allowing ghetto blaster support of other local wired-ethernet devices
Old 19 June 2003, 11:25 AM
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blair
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Cool


Wooooah! Way to geeky for me. I dabble my toes in the water of geekiness but this guy has oviously gone for the full immersion!

I think I'll stick to a having a separate wireless bridge hooked up to the Slimp3!

Old 19 June 2003, 11:34 AM
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BigGT3Fan
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Likewise.

MP3s played through my quality hi-fi sound slightly less 'full' than the CD originals, but it's worth it for the jukebox & net radio facilities alone. I found I tended to listen to a few CDs over & over before, these days I utilise my whole collection.

However, I suspect the sound quality from the Slimpy Ghetto Blaster is like a handful of bolts in a tin can
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