Home > Consumer Reviews > Satechi INSP3 WiFi Internet Radio with Alarm Clock and Remote Control

I did not believe that the sound quality of streaming music would be as good as it is with this radio, given other reviews, and I am very satisfied with the audio and easy setup of this radio. The radio picked up my Wifi immediately and loaded my stations from Reciva in a few seconds. I would have given the radio five stars, but the remote control is not as high quality as the radio itself. It feels flimsy (bubble type number pads) and it is either too sensitive (after selecting my streams it would pick the first station right away) or at times seems to lack range. No happy medium :-) That is it though, this is an otherwise excellent radio and gives more features than other Internet radios for half the price. Just as an aside it also has a nice auto sleep feature and alarm clock.

Great clock radio that comes with ar remote. Most of the products out there can't even come close because of the lack of quality. Once we figured out how to program this in English (wasn't hard - customer service is great), it was easy! Tons of stations and the remote makes it so easy. Shipping was super fast. Great vendor!

I just got this a couple of days ago. I was able to set it up to connect to my home wireless network, no problem. Set it up with a few of my favorite stations, and the sound is very, very good.

You can even set an account at [...], set up your favorite radio stations there, and then browse through them on this radio (as opposed to searching using the radio then saving as presets).

As a clock radio by the bedside, however, it may not be best for everyone. None of these are major issues, but you should know about these things.

Using the remote at your bedside is not all that practical. But it's easier to use most of the functions using the remote than using the controls on the radio itself.

The clock only displays 24-hr format, not 12 hr am/pm format (I called and this was verified by the company).

The backlight is pretty darn bright, even at its lowest setting.

Setting the alarm and sleep time is kind of a pain, need to go through a couple of levels of menus.

Overall I did give it 4 stars, it has great sound, and it's a nice looking unit, too.

Works a treat - great fun being able to listen to worldwide feeds on a "normal" radio interface to music/news without using the pc/laptop.
somehow drops link to wireless router - but so does my laptop so nothing new there... Sounds good, lacks any sound equalising functions...
Found user manual at http://www.dnt.de/neu/data/download/files/160/ipdioSDEF.pdf

I've had this radio for a little less than a month. The idea of combining Internet streaming with the concept of a table radio has potential, but this is still a work in progress. It's not clear who the intended audience is. The geeks who can deal with its quirks and technical challenges probably will use their PCs to listen to [...](which is where this radio gets its content). Aunt Minnie, who wants to turn on a radio and listen to her favorite station, will give up in despair the first day. Maybe people who have gotten through the transition to HDTV will be better equipped for this change.

Let's look at some highlights.
It only displays 24-hour time. I like this feature. Others might not.

When it first connects to the network, it shows the current time in Western Europe. There is nowhere to change the time zone. As far as I can tell, you're supposed to set the current time manually, and then it remembers the delta between that time and European time, and applies that delta every time it's connected. It doesn't show the date, even though there's room on the display for it. Seconds would be nice too.

As far as I can tell, there's no one-touch way to make the alarm stop after it comes on. You can set the snooze timer with one button, but then it comes on again. You have to go through multiple levels of menus to turn it off.

When wakeup time comes, you get a popup display asking if you want to turn the radio on. When I first set it up and was testing it, this seemed like the stupidest thing in the world. Later I discovered that this popup is displayed for a minute or so and then the radio comes on.

If you want to set, or unset, the alarm, you have to go through a sequence of menus. This isn't so bad. But if the alarm has been unset and then you want to set it again, you can't just click something to set it. You have to go through the whole process of setting it. It will remember the time so you don't have to enter that again. But when it gets to the station, it seems to present a random entry from a randomly sorted list of favorite stations. If you don't scroll to the one you want, you'll get something other than what you wanted.

It occasionally gets itself into state where it will not work correctly until you unplug it and plug it in again.

After losing power, it will not know what time it is until it connects to the internet.

I've never been able to get it to work with Windows Media file sharing. Also, I've been unable to figure out how to get the Search button to do anything.

The Users Manual is just barely useful. It appears that it was not written or proofread by native speakers of the English language.

In spite of all of the above, I am still enthusiastic about this device and hope the manufacturer will recognize the opportunity they have to exploit a whole new kind of market. They have the ability to push out new firmware updates, so the user interface can be improved. I would recommend that they set up a wiki to let users collaborate and build their own manual. I can see where it is time for a new model of providing support for consumer electronics.

I have contacted Satechi Customer Support numerous times with questions about the above items. My emails have always been answered by someone named Arthur, who seems to have infinite patience. This is encouraging.