Home > Consumer Reviews > Aluratek AIRMM01 Internet Radio Alarm Clock with built-in WiFi (Black)

This box just works unlike so many other products claiming a similar use. Streaming radio works! uPnP streaming (from Twonky Media server) works! FM radio sensitivity is a bit low and even some local stations are only received in mono.
The user interface is a little cumbersome. Without the remote control it is painful to navigate. Text entry with the remote control (text-message style) lacks some obvious useablity features like a cursor to show which letter you are one and being able to move forward. The *one* thing my old Netgear MP-101 had going for it was a good UI.
I would recommend this product except as a bedroom clock radio (unless you like a 100W nightlight!)

I've purchased few Aluratek digital frames in the past and enjoyed them so I thought I'd give their WIFI Internet Radio a shot since this technology is very new to me. The product worked right outside the box and I did not even use the manual as I read some of the great reviews online on how the remote controls all the features and allows you to navigate through all the options. After I powered on the device it automatically found my network and I entered the WPA password. I am also able to stream and play mp3's off my computer in my office or from my thumbdrive as direct connect to the USB port.

This appliance is quite amazing and I now keep this in our kitchen area to listen to various genres from around the world while cooking and entertaining guests. My friends are amazed at all the different stations available and how fun and easy this is to use.

I'd recommend this to anyone that likes music and is open to exploring tunes and genres from diffferent parts of the world.

I bought this as a gift for my Dad because his local stations don't have the music he likes best.

Unfortunately, the menu system is so difficult to navigate and the time-out is so quick that we can't find what we want before having to start over!

It takes at least 5 menus to pick a station - IF YOU ALREADY KNOW EXACTLY WHAT YOU WANT!

If you are just wanting to browse, you can easily spend 20-30 minutes working the menus and getting timed-out and going back to square one before you find anything remotely resembling a radio station.

On the bright side it can only take 3 levels of menu to select a favorite once you've got one saved.

If the manufacturer allowed changing of the menu time-out value it would certainly reduce the frustration, but the many menu levels would still hamper getting to choices quickly. Unfortunately the manufacturer claims the menu time-outs are part of the basic design and not changeable.

Too Bad... (Oh, and don't even get me started talking about how difficult it is to set an alarm!)...

I purchased the AIRMM01 to be used primarily as a radio alarm clock so that I can wake to a choice of FM, Internet Radio or media library, but I also needed a music system in my bedroom. I already have a Roku M1001 network media player attached to my home music system. I have been using the AIRMM01 for about a month now and while there is a lot to like about the device, there are things that will drive some folks crazy. The firmware version at the time of this review is v1.7.

Connecting to a wired or wireless network is a breeze. The device seems solidly built and has a great form factor for a bedside alarm clock. The sound from the single built in speaker is decent, but left channel audio is badly muffled so if you are listening to tracks with big channel separation you will be missing some audio information. Testing of a second unit revealed the same problem so I'm not sure if this is a hardware or software defect. This problem does NOT exist with the headphone jack or the line level RCA outputs. In fact, running the line level output to a Logitech Z-2300 powered speaker system sounds pretty darn good.

The display is large and easy to read but it is much too bright and lights up the entire bedroom at night. You can program it to turn off after a set amount of time or turn it off manually but if you wake up in the middle of the night, you will not be able to read the time without fumbling for the controls. An easy fix is to put a piece of dark, static cling window tint (TAP Plastics) over the display. It is still easy to read during daylight, but dark enough to sleep at night.

The controls are logically oriented and most importantly, it's easy to hit the snooze button and control the volume without looking. The most important functions can be controlled from the device itself, but the remote is required for some features like FF/REW or skipping tracks.

The FM tuner has great reception for a clock radio and even displays HD info like call letters and current song title. But again there is a major problem. After playing a station for anywhere from 3-10 minutes it unexpectedly stops playing and goes back to the main menu. It only happens with stations that display HD info and not on everyone that I tried. I suspect it's choking on the HD data of some stations. I have confirmed this behavior with a second unit.

The media player connects easily with my Twonky media server and I can search and play any of the 8000+ songs in my library. You can also use WMP as a media server and I suspect any other UPnP media server will work fine.

Much has already been said about the internet radio features so I will only remind new user's to create a free account at aluratek.vtuner.com so you can easily search and add stations to your radio favorites. This will actually add a new station list menu on your radio. This is much easier than trying to search for stations from the unit itself. You can also add custom url streams that are not in the vtuner database.

The device has 2 alarms you can program and they will fail over to the "buzzer" (actually a pleasant sounding tune) if the programmed network alarm source fails. However, if you are frequently adjusting your alarm attributes the interface will drive you crazy. Alarms are set via a `wizard' type interface which require you complete all steps (15 key presses at minimum) if you want to change a single attribute, like the alarm volume or audio source. There is also no quick way to re-enable an alarm that you disabled without running through the wizard.

Another annoyance is the lack of presets. It would be really nice if you could just access your most commonly used audio sources from the main menu with less keystrokes than what is now required. You should also be able to stop the music and then start it again without having to navigate through a series of menus.

Despite all of the annoyances and bugs, I'll be keeping the device as it works for my needs and I have yet to find anything better. Hopefully a future firmware upgrade will fix some of the problems.

**Edit 03/04/2009
The latest firmware release R1.31 resolved the problem with the FM radio stopping, so I would change my rating from 3 to 4 stars.

When the Smooth Jazz station in my area went off the air, I thought about getting a subscription to satellite radio but figured that there should be a device that allowed me to listen to the radio - away from my computer - over the internet via the internet subscription I already have. Enter the Aluratek AIRMM01 Internet Radio. It does everything I want: streams thousands of smooth jazz stations from around the world (I listened to a station in Belgium last night!) to my bedroom, picks up my local FM stations, displays the time and has a sleep timer. (The media service streaming & MP3 player are icing on the cake for me) It's fabulous.

BE SURE TO DOWNLOAD & INSTALL THE FIRMWARE UPDATE. Once you do the unit automatically detects the wireless networks available; pick yours, enter your security key if necessary and you're good to go. The sound is decent, better than your average clock radio, but it's not Bose. It's a nice size - doesn't take up too much space on your dresser or night stand. The display is quite bright, not good for sleeping; I turn it off at bedtime since I like my room dark. I'm seriously considering a 2nd unit for the kitchen. I've been using it about a week and I consider it money well spent.