Review on Streamlined Music Experience: NETGEAR Wireless Digital Music Player by Mike Palma

I put off buying a digital music player for a long time because everything I researched seemed to be seriously flawed in some way. Including MP101. However, after looking at some of the latest reviews, I decided to take a chance and buy the MP101 thanks to the discount and super low price. All I can say is that I followed the recommendations of other reviewers and never touched the installation CD that came with the unit. I downloaded the latest server software and device firmware update from Netgear (late November 2004) and installed all of these files. Everything went smoothly. I installed the server software, unzipped the firmware update and put the files in the directory specified in the instructions on the Netgear website and connected the device via the ethernet port. I downloaded the update to the device and it restarted as expected. After that, it was (fairly) easy to set up the underlying device to use my 128-bit WEP key. After setting it up, I unplugged the Ethernet cable and rebooted the MP101. It detected the network and connected with no problems, got an IP address and found the server. Smooth swimming. Everything is fine with the connection. The server and wireless access point are upstairs, while the MP101 connects to our stereo downstairs. I've never heard it skip a beat when playing songs and I've been listening for over 10 hours since I plugged it in a few days ago. The reason I give it 4/5 stars instead of 5 is mainly because of the software. Problem. I have over 9000 tracks (yes all legal) and as others have said there is no way to create a playlist on the fly from the base unit. You can only play one track at a time unless you select a group (e.g. playlist, album, artist, etc.). Annoying but not critical. It may not be able to play protected songs, although I didn't. I experimented a lot with that for these tracks. I've created playlists for my favorite artists and genres and I'm happy with the performance. PROTECTED.