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(More customer reviews)After rsearching for several weeks various of the wireless digital devices, I focused on the SMC SMCWAA-B EZ Stream. Looking soley for a device to 'pull' my music (no video, etc) to my living room from my PC, I wanted something inexpensive, compact, WMA (version 9) capable, and able to stream internet radio. Though there are no reviews of the EZ Stream, I spotted one on Ebay and in two days (a first) held in both hands a slightly used EzStream (for $59 including shipping; they seem to be available new for around $110.)
The only other unit I might have considered would have been a Apple Airport Express, which requires iTunes and can't play (but will import) WMA's.
Happily after an hour of only mildly tedious configuration, the Ez Stream began delivering music to my living room stereo under the control of a handy but fairly small-buttoned remote.
I'm very satisfied with just a few niggles. SMC has great product and if they take care of a few things, they'll have a home run.
The device itself has a cheezy feel and look. Think 'cheap and cheerful' and you'll have the right picture. While the 'Steam would look fine next to most pieces of office computer equipment, it looks strangely cheap and out of place in a living room. The unit has a blue screen that also looks a tad down-market, though it's the case itself that could use the most attention.
More seriously, the manual is poorly organized and rather light on instruction. If you aren't technically savvy, I'd forget about the EZ Stream. Then again, what technically impaired person would be interested in such a device?
I use a wireless network with WEP enabled and this proved tedious to resolve. Along with Musicmatch the unit ships with a "utility" for the device itself. The setup didn't mention when to use the utiltiy -- in fact it would have made configuring the WEP security much easier. Either way, I had to guess at whether my WEP key was HEX or ASCII and whether it was 64 or 128 bit. I was able to deduce which setting was correct only because my KEY is 26 digits and so is the HEX 128 setting.
And then there's Musicmatch... I really wish the unit could use Windows Media Player. I've submitted to now having yet another music management software on my computer. Specifically I also own an iRiver IHP120 which allows music to be stored and accessed by folder. I consider this by far the easiest way to access music. And while Musicmatch will allow you to browse your music by folder while on the PC, the EZ Stream only uses the Artist, Album, Genre modality -- which leaves me in TAG HELL. The only other device that could handle folder based music organization was the CD30 C series -- but that presently won't work with WMA9's.
I have the unit set up probably less than 20 feet from the AP and every now and then it cuts out. For some reason the signal strength isn't that great and may have more to do with the construction of our house and the Linksys AP than the SMC.
I'd also love to have several EZ Streams set up through the house, which you can do -- however I don't think there's a way to synchronize them and emulate 'whole house audio.'
And lastly, SMC seems to exist ephemerally: their web site isn't very up to date, and you can't download a copy of the manual before buying. Also, there's no user forum -- always the best support a product can have. And oddly, as of July, 2004 there isn't a single review by say PC Magazine or any of the tech web sites; the device was announced in January 2004!
The digital audio receiver market is in its infancy. No doubt this market will mature significantly in the next few years. In the meantime, the SMC Ez Stream does what it's intended to do with little fanfare and at a low price.
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