Squeezebox perfection

So many stories to tell this week... I am still shocked and amazed by the Pandora. I created my account on Tuesday and have spent almost all my time since then listening to my radio stations. Actually this is what I am doing at the moment, writing this post - Pandora fills the air. I signed for the ad-sponsored Pandora and... clicked on the first one that appeared. It led me to the Slim Devices website unveiling the Squeezebox. Being in trance, without a hesitation, I ordered one immediately (sometimes web shopping is far too easy...).

It has arrived today. What a wonderful piece of design and engineering! I was blown away by the Pandora concept and implementation. Similarly I was blown away by the Squeezebox. The looks are matching the iPod's. Ease of use is flattering. It was up and running in under two minutes, connected to my home WiFi network (all I needed was a wep password). Then one more step to "match" the Squeezebox with my Pandora account and hey, it showed my personal radio stations on the gorgeous fluorescent display. Pushed the play button on the remote and the music started.

I rarely see a gadget that perfect. Being relatively expensive (300$ for a WiFi version), it defends its price easily. The build quality is superb. The looks are first class. And inside... A Burr-Brown D/A converter for a perfect sound. Optical and coaxial digital-out (if you have a digital amplifer). Gold plated analog outputs. And that is not all. Somebody is really thinking there at Slim Devices. Having both WiFi and RJ-45 wired ethernet port, the Squeezebox can be set up as a WiFi-to-ethernet bridge, so you may hook up an XBOX (or TiVo or anything else that needs an ethernet connection and does not have WiFi).

The software inside is very well designed as well. First, Squeezebox is very, very easy to operate. Then it is very functional. It is not only Pandora, you can tune into. It will play other Internet radio stations, you may select from a predefined list or add an audio stream by entering a link on the Squeezebox web site. The thing can be configured from your browser and picks the settings automatically over the Net connection. There is an alarm clock, a palette of natural sounds (like a fireplace for that matter), if you are bored or tired with music, and even an RSS client. Yes, you may configure your Squeezebox to pull RSS feeds and have the text scrolled across the display, when the thing is idle. So guess what I have just done... Of course plugged in a NASDAQ feed, and now the live quotes are dancing from right to left. Certainly more than I originally expected. Ah! Squeezebox can connect to your PC as well, streaming you Media Player or iTunes playlists to the HiFi speakers thanks to the SlimServer software.

So far the Squeezebox is the gadget of the year. And seems to be unthreatened. Do you need better recommendation?