I'm a huge consumer of digital music in its many forms. My messenger bag always has at least one MP3 player. In my house I've got satellite radios scattered around, Internet radios in a couple rooms, the 40 music channels I get through my TV provider and music servers delivering tunes from a variety of sources. Oh yes, CDs too.
Mostly though, I find myself listening to Internet radio services Slacker and Pandora because they give me access to thousands of songs I like without costing me a dime. I like Slacker in particular because it lets you create your own stations and even pick the songs that will be played on them. It's a bit like the all-you-can eat subscriptions from Napster and Rhapsody, but free.
But what happens when you turn off the computer. The Slacker G2 portable player allows you to take your favorite Slacker stations with you wherever you go. It's got a built-in Wi-Fi radio that will sync with your Slacker account and download playlists for up to 25 music channels (about 2,500 songs on the 4GB version) which can be played an infinite number of times and then refreshed next time you’re in a hot spot. You can also put your own MP3s on the G2, but that subtracts from the memory available for the Slacker tunes.
Setting up the G2 takes only about 10 minutes. After you've set up your Slacker account, go into the connect menu of the G2 and set it to search for your network. After entering your password info the connection goes quickly. You then go back to the Slacker Web site and enter a device ID number. Then it's just a matter of picking the channels you want synchronized with the G2 (you can select from your custom channels or the 100 or so genre channels). The first time I sync'd up the process took more than an hour, but subsequent connections went much faster.
Navigating a full G2 may feel a bit clunky for iPod users, but you get accustomed to the interface very quickly. On the right of the unit is a scroll wheel similar to those on some Blackberry phones. Press the wheel in to make a selection. Under the wheel is a Home button, which takes you to the main screen where you can select your station, access your track library and the player settings to connect to a network.
Two unique buttons on the G2 are the heart and ban buttons. The heart button tells Slacker that you like that song and want to hear it more frequently. Ban tells Slacker not to play that track on your stations. Using these buttons allows you to fine-tune your customized stations to your preference; however I found myself rarely using them.
When playing Slacker stations, you get full-screen cover art, plus a detailed artist bio. In fact I found the bio info so thorough that often the track was over before I’d finished reading about the band. With the free subscription, you’re permitted to skip tracks only six times per hour. A paid subscription offers you unlimited skips.
As distinctive as this player is, it doesn’t distinguish itself in sound quality. As is typical with Internet radio, the music is heavily compressed, and thus suffers from a shortfall in bass and fullness. Replacing the stock earbuds helps a lot. The included earbuds, while more comfortable than what usually come with MP3 players, don’t have the audio range of upgrade buds from Shure, Bose or Audio-Technica.
A basic Slacker account is free, and for most people that will be sufficient. It includes a very minimal number of commercials (much less than a paid satellite radio subscription). A $3.99 per month subscription gives you more control over your stations, artist selections and eliminates the ads, but I’ve been perfectly happy with the quality of the free service. While $200 these days is a lot for a 4 GB MP3 player, when you take into account the vast quantity of free music, the ease of finding artists and the Wi-Fi connectivity, the Slacker G2 is probably the best digital music deal available. Slacker is also available on iPhones and Blackberry phones as a free download.
Slacker G2 Portable Music Player
$200
4 GB
Wi-Fi sync
Up to 25 Slacker stations
Album art
Artist bio
www.slacker.com
