all talk and no action

I’d just about given up on the idea of being able to stream music from my PC to my stereo after spending an entire day trying to get a Netgear MP101 to work. The idea behind the MP101 is simple enough: install the server software on your PC, connect the MP101 to your stereo and use your wireless network to stream music from your PC to your stereo.

But I had all sorts of problems: the MP101 was frequently unable to connect to my wireless network and when it did connect tracks would only play for a few seconds before the sound began stuttering. A look at the Netgear forums showed that other people were experiencing the same problem but none of the solutions suggested – including disabling my firewall, which I wasn’t delighted about – fixed the problem.

Even worse, the server software running on my PC slowed my internet connection to a crawl, even when I quit it (it turned out it was still running in the background and would stubbornly restart itself if I ended the process in the Task Manager). So it went back in the box and I decided that I didn’t really need to wirelessly stream music, after all.

So it was with some trepidation that this afternoon I removed the Logitech Wireless Music System from its box. I dutifully followed the instructions, which went a bit like this:

1. Plug the USB music transmitter into your PC.

2. Connect the receiver to your stereo.

3. Play some music on your PC.

4. Er, that’s it.

In less than two minutes I was all set up and playing music – Windows XP recognised the receiver when I plugged it in and there was nothing else for me to do. It’s really nifty and very tiny – the receiver is about the size of a pack of cards and the USB transmitter not much bigger than a USB memory stick. And it comes with a dinky little remote control that you can use to pause and stop tracks, skip forwards and backwards, and adjust the volume.

What’s more, it uses Bluetooth, so it won’t interfere with your internet connection in any way. By default, the Logitech routes all of your PC’s sound through your speakers, so as well as music you’ll also hear email alerts and other PC sounds, but the included software allows you to route your media player’s audio through the Wireless Music System, and everything else through your PC speakers.

I’m really impressed with this piece of kit and – considering so much technology promises way more than it actually delivers – pleasantly surprised. It’s selling on Amazon.co.uk for £78.20, which is around 40 quid less than the MP101 was selling for before Netgear discontinued it.

It's started...

I'm out in Seattle until the end of the week so it's unlikely I'll be posting for a bit. Of course, that doesn't explain why I didn't post last week or may not get around to posting next week. There's no reason for that beyond being busy in general.

It's Sunday, it's the summer, and that means a day of relaxation and quiet reflection in the English countryside. So where better to go than to a stately home to drink tea in the gardens whilst listening to a string quartet? Er, to monster trucks, of course! Burgers and beer, hog roasts, stalls selling cowboy hats and bumper stickers that say "FCK THE ONLY THING MISSING IS U", and massive trucks spinning their wheels and jumping rows of cars.