Freecom MusicPal- initial opinion

The Freecom MusicPal is your 21st gateway to the world. You can tune-in to a multitude of worldwide Radio Stations streaming music to the internet in MP3 or WMA format. Plus extra functions not standard in other Internet Radios.

To set-up, you will need to have a broadband access. The Musicpal connects to your broadband in wired or wireless mode. All you need is to enter your encryption code to access the internet to finish the set-up.

You can customize the unit in a variety of ways. And Freecom has included the software Storage Assistant to alter, with ease, the MusicPal via PC (You can also customize the unit without a PC!). You can instruct MusicPal to automatically retrieve your Home Time from the net, turn-off the unit at a set time, wake you up at set time and many other tweaks.

It was a breeze to locate Radio Stations. Just rotate and press the Navigate Button when a particular station is located. You have the option to search by Country or Genre. And requires no remote control. To store your station to the Favorites Menu simply press the Navigate Button, scroll to Add to Favorites, and press to save- no memory buttons necessary. To locate a saved Station, just navigate to the Favorite Menu, and scroll thru the all the stored Stations.

Extras? The MusicPal is capable of retrieving RSS Feeds, Stocks, World Weather, World Time and Calendar. No need to open the Computer, and wait to boot-up before being able to retrieve information. What other internet Radio can to all of these extras?

And there is one more extra- MusicPal can access and play your music files stored in your Computer. Just like a Mac AirBook Computer. No need to have a built-in or external CD player to listen to music.

Quality of Sound? The MusicPal has only one speaker. You can't expect much in terms of sound quality. But don't fret- Freecom includes two options to upgrade sound quality. You can connect the unit to a receiver with aux inputs. Or connect a powered speaker to the headphone jack. The other point to note is the kps used by a particular Radio Station. The rule is the lower the kps the lower the sound quality. And the higher the kps the better the sound quality but you will require a faster broadband connection. Otherwise, you will hear a lot of skipping.

Size? The MusicPal is small and light to lug around the house. But Freecom forgot to include a battery option. You are stuck will lugging around an A/C adaptor. What happens if the power is cut? Your settings and saved Favorites remain intact.

Built quality? You will not be disappointed by the built quality of MusicPal.

Design? The MusicPal won the IF design award.

Any caveats? When MusicPal was first introduced to the market it did not have WMA capabilities. A lot of internet blogs ridiculed the lack of WMA support. The current firmware update 1.47 supports WMA streaming to a certain degree. The other caveat is MusicPal on occassions my hang-up. No worries. Just power down and turn-on the unit again.

Overall, I love my MusicPal. It is my new companion to the World!