Users Product Reviews: |
Product Review Summary: Terrible instructions but offers good listening at a decent price Two years ago I bought a Receiva WiFi radio for the bedroom night stand and now I can't do without it. Ever since getting the first one I've wanted a second WiFi for the kitchen and/or bathroom, A Grace WiFi refurbished by the factory in San Diego, seemed like a great deal at $95. It only has five pre-sets, but that's about all I use, anyway.
I read all of the negative technical issues listed on Amazon's feedback evaluations by other users, but since the factory said these have been addressed and solved I decided to take a chance. About 1/2 hour was required to set it up because I was already familiar with the Receiva system and firmware, which Grace also uses. Anyone unfamiliar with the system will likely be flummoxed. This is definitely a geek's plaything, and I'm not a geek.
The instruction manual, if you can call it that, is one of the worst I've ever seen and was obviously written by an amateur. An old tech writing rule says, "Don't write so you can be understood; write so you can't be misunderstood." The text is tiny and hard to read. Phrases and words are used that can have more than one interpretation. There is just too much wrong with this confusing instruction manual to address here, but I will cite one example: Frequent reference is made to the "enter" key, but nowhere in the manual could I find its location. I finally spotted the word ENTER lightly cast into the big black scroll knob and found that pushing the knob entered the command. After that discovery things progressed better.
I was about to start packing the unit for returning to the seller because data would not be accepted. On a hunch I thought the problem might be that I was too close to the modem and tried moving further away, into the next room. That did the trick, no thanks to the instruction manual.
I tried to pre-select two talk-news stations (KNX, L.A. and WBAP, Dallas). They wouldn't load because Grace, in their zeal to have instant "ON" stations doesn't allow enough buffering time between trys. I get these stations on my Receiva radio so It wasn't a big deal. I just pre-selected two more music stations.
The Grace is nice looking. Even with its ported base the sound is only average, but good enough for me. Its weight suggests quality. Another nice thing is that it plugs directly into an outlet instead of going through an external "wall scab" power supply.
Product Review Summary: Easy to use. Lovely, warm sound. I married a British woman and dragged her to America. I bought the Grace radio for her so she could keep in touch with her local scene - hear BBC news - etc. We've used and enjoyed it nearly every day since it arrived on our doorstep. Set up was a breeze. It found and connected to our secure wireless network instantly (after entering the network password). Stations are logically sorted by country. We've expanded our listening range from England to all over the world and have found some real gems. Radio FIP from France is a favorite of mine. The sound from the Grace box is warm and lovely (perfect for French radio). It's got adequate volume for a living room or kitchen. It's not made for thumping bass to entertain a room full of loud partiers - its sweet spot is Sunday morning lazing or to start off the morning (using the built in wake up function). It is what it is - convenient access to a donkey satchel full of world radio - and it does what it does very well. Wife loves it, I love it, the cat is indifferent.
Product Review Summary: Grace Grace wifi radio is great. Grace receives thousands of free radio stations from all over the world. The Grace wifi radio is easy to use and sounds good.
Product Review Summary: No Grace Here I'm surprised anyone got this radio to work right. But since some people are happy with it, I suppose it does work under certain circumstances. I, however, found this to be the most miserable piece of electronics I have ever purchased in my entire life. First, it doesn't work with WPA. Yes, I know the package says it does, but check the user forum at Grace (for which you are required to register) and you'll see that many people have to disable WPA to get this thing working. Next, this radio is slow as a turtle. Updating the station list takes much longer than it should, and I was reminded of the days of dial-up as I sat there twiddling my thumbs. When it finally does connect to a station, it plays one song then takes a while to play another one. Or else the station has to buffer. Long periods of silence weren't exactly what I wanted when I purchased a $150 radio. The user guide is horrible -- it took me thirty minutes how to locate the serial number in order to set up Pandora. Oh, and then I found that this radio interfered with my internet connection. You might try and see if it works for you, but I took it back to Best Buy and got my money back.
Product Review Summary: I WAS SCARED!!! I never would have purchased a WiFi radio because I had heard how much trouble others have had programming these things. I was scared. But my children liked their Grace WiFi Radio so much that they gave one to me at Christmas time. I was amazed to find out how easy it was to set it up. The trick is to first buy a wireless router (If you don't already have one.) and then set it up to match your system. I believe that this is where many go astray. I bought a Linksys WRT54-GL because the user reviews on Amazon showed it to be very popular. I had to call the Tech Help number (1-800-326-7114) to set it up but a very nice young lady led me through it so cheerfully that it was as if she was holding my hand. I secured the special ID codes from my radio (One has seven digits and the other has eight.) by following the instructions in the Grace operator's manual. Then I went to the Reciva.com website and signed up my radio using these codes. It is called an "account" but it does not cost anything. I also had to make up my own personal network name. (If you already have a router then you probably already have a network name.) Pick any name you like. (I.e. RABBIT, BUMPKIN, HILLBILLY, ROCKSTAR, etc) I suggest that you use all capitol letters; they are easier to see when they show up on your radio's small display. Also choose a password; used to prove that it is YOU when you access the Reciva.com web site. Then from the Reciva.com website you can search for stations of your choice, listen to(sample) them if you wish, and save them to you're MY STATIONS list if you like them. Add more station anytime you want; they will show up on your radio's MY STATIONS list alphabetically. Then go to your Grace radio and do a set up where you will put in the Network Name that you have chosen (It is upper/lower case sensitive) and make up a password (so strangers cannot access your system). The operator's manual will help you here. This does not have to be the same password that you used at the Reciva.com website, but your Network Name will be the same. Maybe this sounds like a lot but it really is quite easy. The most time consuming part is deciding which of the thousands of available stations you want to save to you're MY STATIONS list. I saved 55 stations. I noticed that several reviewers complained that the radio's black buttons were hard to see in low light. I bought some white reflector tape in the automotive section at Wal Mart for $2.50 and with a paper punch (the kind that kids use to punch out little round holes.) I punched out small circles of reflector tape. I put one circle of tape on the STANDBY/ON/OFF button, and one on the BACK button. This helped a lot to make them visible. I do this with various other electronics and it is very helpful. Oh, I forgot to mention, I like my Grace radio a lot.
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