You can hit a "ban" button to avoid particular songs. Subscribers can also hit a "favorite" button on the device as they listen to a song to store and play it at any time. The premium service won't have audio ads (which are otherwise coming). Premium subscribers ($7.50 a month on an annual basis) can skip as often as they please. Slacker's on-board "intelligent DJ" handles the skip limits. The name of the next artist to be played is displayed on the screen but not the actual title. You can skip a song only up to six times an hour, per station.
There are other restrictions, unless you spring for a premium subscription plan. You can intentionally pause a track in the middle or skip ahead. And there were occasional buffering delays between songs. But more than once I encountered momentary hiccups near the beginning of some songs. The sound was generally excellent using the supplied earphones there are no built-in speakers. But it can't display videos (or your own pictures). You will welcome the extra real estate on the roomy 4-inch screen, which can display album cover art, artist profiles and, in some cases, reviews. But an alternative "touch strip" navigation control on the left edge is so ultrasensitive as to be useless. On the right side is a scroll wheel, plus buttons for home, skip and pause. It's a little bigger (but lighter) than a Zune. It's slightly heavier than an iPod Touch but more than twice as thick.
START SLACKER RADIO PORTABLE
The 4.6-ounce devices are physically the same size - a gentle way to say the Slacker Portable is large and so-so looking. Slacker lacks a browser.Ī future car dock accessory will let you refresh (but not stream) stations via satellite.
START SLACKER RADIO PASSWORD
While you can refresh the devices at a Wi-Fi hot spot that requires a network key, you cannot connect to a pay network that requires a user name and password or that makes you click on a user licensing agreement. Syncing takes a second or two per song, depending on your Internet connection.
START SLACKER RADIO UPDATE
A station's programming lineup of songs is refreshed whenever you tap into a Wi-Fi network or connect a USB cable.Īll your stations are refreshed at the same time you cannot cherry-pick to update some but not others. The portable player lets you access those stations wherever you happen to be. In all, Slacker has more than 2 million songs (from major labels and independents) and over 10,000 artist stations. You can fine-tune Slacker stations by having them play more familiar hits, or obscure ditties. You type a performer's name and then choose which related artists to add. Slacker on the Web lets you construct custom Internet radio stations you can listen to on a PC. The device finally started shipping the other day, not quite a year shy of when the free Slacker Personal Radio online service first launched. But it adds an attractive if imperfect option. That wouldn't seem to leave much room for the new Slacker Portable I've been testing. Portable satellite radios from Sirius and XM serve up numerous channels that cater to very specific musical tastes. Zunes, Sansas and other gadgets let you listen to an unlimited number of "rented" tracks, provided you remain a paying customer.
— - Have you taken note lately of all the ways to carry music in your pocket? The iPod lets you schlep boatloads of songs from your own collection.
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