For this week's installment of the weekly Crave giveaway, we're offering up the Philips NP2900 Streamium Network Music Player, one of our favorite Wi-Fi music systems.
Editor Matthew Moskovciak gave the NP2900 four stars, and in his review he called it "an excellent Wi-Fi radio, with a particularly attractive design and solid sound quality." His only reservation was its high price--but that's actually come down recently, making this unit even more compelling. (Read the full review.)
Normally, the Philips NP2900 would cost around $300, but you have the chance to get it gratis.
So, how do you try to win the Philips NP2900? Let me enumerate the basic rules. Please read them carefully; there will be a test.
- Register as a CNET user. Go to the top of this page and hit the "Join CNET" link to start the registration process. If you're already registered, no need to register again.
- Leave a comment below. You can leave whatever comment you want. If it's funny or insightful it won't help you win, but we're trying to have fun here, so anything entertaining is appreciated.
- Leave only one comment. You may enter this specific giveaway only once. If you enter more than one comment, you will be automatically disqualified.
- The winner will be chosen randomly. The winner will receive (1) Philips NP2900 Streamium Network Music Player. Approximate retail value is $300.
- If you are chosen, you will be notified via e-mail. Winners must respond within three days of the end of the contest. If you do not respond within that period, another winner will be chosen.
- Entries can be submitted until Monday, September 28, at noon ET.
NO PURCHASE NECESSARY. MUST BE LEGAL RESIDENT OF ONE OF THE 50 UNITED STATES OR D.C., 18 YEARS OF AGE OR OLDER AT DATE OF ENTRY INTO SWEEPSTAKES. VOID IN PUERTO RICO, ALL U.S. TERRITORIES AND POSSESSIONS AND WHERE PROHIBITED BY LAW. Sweepstakes ends at 12 PM EDT on September 28, 2009. See official rules for details.
Good luck.
On Sale Now: $274.84 - $294.75
View the latest prices for Philips Streamium NP2900
Philips adds two new network audio products to its Streamium line
The Philips Streamium NP2500 (front left) and NP2900 (back right)
(Credit: John Falcone/CBS Interactive)Philips' line of Streamium products was one of the pioneers in the network audio realm, but it never really clicked with consumers (at least in the U.S.), even as competitors like Sonos and Logitech's Squeezebox began carving out their own niches. But Philips is hardly throwing in the towel: the company has unveiled ...
Read the full post at CNET's CES 2009 blog.
On Sale Now: $274.84 - $294.75
View the latest prices for Philips Streamium NP2900
On Sale Now: $202.07 - $213.15
View the latest prices for Philips Streamium NP2500
(Credit:
Crave UK)
It's a new week and a new month, and that means a new streaming audio solution for the home. We've seen plenty such as this, that, and the other, but this system's price tag falls only a little over 230 pounds (around $455) if you shop carefully, and quite taken we are with it too.
This is the Philips WAC3500D and it's aimed at the budget-conscious among you, or those of you with purse strings tighter than a duck's backside. It's got an 80GB internal hard disk, Wi-Fi, Ethernet, a CD player and it'll stream music from your PC or broadcast it to other Philips Streamium products. The internal drive lets you rip your CD collection to MP3 at a variety of bit rates--the process is relentlessly slow but still useful. But where's FLAC support, or even WAV?
It's a modern-looking affair, with a face made up of two sections: half-brushed aluminium, half-reflective plastic. Stuck into the plastic bit is a very small LCD screen--one of the areas where corners were clearly cut to keep prices so affordable. Still, it does a reasonable job of presenting menus.
But that's enough of the boring stuff. The streaming function worked really well when we used Philips' media manager software on our PC. We couldn't test the wireless functionality as our corporate Wi-Fi requires a Web-based log-on for guests, but when wired with Ethernet we were streaming music within 30 seconds. The limited codec support only includes WMA and MP3--no WAV, no FLAC, no AAC, no OGG, no Apple Lossless, unlike Sonos and Sony alternatives. Four of those don't cost a penny to include, so their exclusion is disappointing.
Sound quality is OK, but we'll need more time before we can give our final say. Expect that in our full review, due very soon.
(Source: Crave UK)
We previewed the Philips DCM230 back in July, along with a range of new iPod docks. We've now got one in the lab and we've had chance for a brief play.
(Credit:
Crave UK)
Since we hadn't seen or heard anything about this model in almost half a year, we must excuse ourselves for being under the impression the RRP was 129 pounds ($268). With this in mind, our first thought upon seeing and hearing the DCM230 was, "Not bad, but too expensive at 129 pounds." But we were soon to be shocked when checking the price: it actually costs 200 pounds (about $415).
This is one of the most overpriced iPod systems we've seen aimed at the general consumer. Griffin's Amplifi offers absolutely superb sound quality--complete with a 2.1 audio setup--for just 80 pounds (about $166). True, it doesn't have any of the DCM230's other features, such as an integrated CD player, a USB port, radio or even an LCD display. But decent sound quality is a vital prerequisite of an audio system, and for 200 pounds this new Philips offering just doesn't cut it.
Visually however, we're not disappointed. The system has a refined, modern look and feel, with excellent build quality to match. Other features are less impressive, such as an LCD display matched by many scientific calculators, and playback of only MP3 and WMA CDs. Although USB devices are supported, there's no love shown for any protected content stored on them; just plain old MP3 and WMA again.
Where's WAV, OGG, lossless WMA, FLAC, AAC? For a system with such a high price tag, these added luxuries are vital, and their absence just rubs salt into a very stylish, but nonetheless gaping wound. There are also just four equaliser settings: rock, pop, jazz and classic. There's no option to turn the EQ off.
The inclusion of Philips' Streamium functionality--wireless networking--could've completely made up for the lackluster sound quality and feature set. But it too is missing.
We'll have a full review for you very soon, but our first impressions obviously aren't great. In such a competitive market, a balance of price, sound quality and features is vital, and the DCM230 is greatly outweighed by its optimistic price tag.
(Source: Crave UK)
(Credit:
Philips Electronics)
Philips has released a wireless stereo system that's dedicated to all streaming, all the time.
The Streamium WAC3500D is a compact unit that plays back MP3s from practically all music sources, ranging from USB storage devices and CDs to PCs and iPods. The latter is possible through wired or Wi-Fi connections with an iPod dock that comes with it.
The system, which includes a power-efficient 80W digital amplifier and FM radio, also doubles as a music server with its onboard 80GB hard drive and convenient CD-ripping function. For hassle-free CD-to-MP3 conversion, song tagging is provided by Gracenote's album database. Pricing and availability of the WAC3500D is not available at press time.
(Source: Crave Asia)
(Credit:
Crave UK)
The new Streamium SA9345 is the latest MP3 gloss-fest from Netherlands-based Philips. The last Philips model we checked out was the SA6025--an affordable but average performer. The SA9345 retails for 129 pounds (about $262), which is as much as one of the new video-playing 8GB iPod nanos. When we saw the price, we were extremely skeptical of this player's chances of success. Click here for more.
(Source: Crave UK)
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