There are quite a few MP3 streaming solutions on the market for the wireless home and a friend of LP who is currently Stateside has just invested in the latest arrival from Linksys the wireless B Music System.

Unlike many of the manufactures Linksys have decided to try an all in one unit, so no need to hook up to a HiFi you can sit the Wireless B Music System in any room even the bathroom and listen through the integrated speakers and the 802.11b connection back to your music server.

However our friend in LA reports some downsides with this all in one affordable design, you see in trying to keep the price down to $150 the system does a lot of things sufficiently rather than well, first its wireless connectivity is good, if a bit dated based around the older wireless B standard. Not sure how much it would have been to have gone for 802.11g where PCMCIA cards now go for $40, this would have also enabled Linksys to consider video within this device and allow photo sharing.

Of course that would require a good display, another feature sadly lacking from the wireless B system, the 128 x 64 display is put to shame by many portable MP3 players and the choice of white on blue display means any hint of sunshine results in a useless display, apparently they have sun in LA!

The all in one concept also wears a little thin as the speakers are "clip on" and require a multitude of leads to be plugged  between them and the main unit even when clipped together (including power and audio), a nice interconnect system would have been good, but this does look like a unit built on a very tight budget.

Driving via the remote (assuming you can see the display) is not too bad and the instructions are clear and easy to follow in the usual Linksys style, the unit is mains powered only so any thoughts you had that this is a portable audio system are dashed by the need to find a plug. The unit supports internet radio which may be its saving grace, as at this price point it does a good job of that and looks very much like a little boom box expect without too much style!

There is cabled connectivity to via the cat 5 port but if you were going to do this that just about kills any of the reason to buy the Linksys Wireless B Music system, its arrival in the UK is uncertain but its going to drop into a tough market with devices such as the Netgear MP101 which is our current favourite MP3 streaming box, sure you need a HiFi but it sounds much better and can use it in direct sunlight.

It is unusual for us to feature a pre release that is of dubious quality but that's the life of an independent site and our mate Tom in LA wanted to share his experience of what he described as a regrettable buy, maybe Linksys will do something with the screen before it hits the UK and possibly at the right price it may serve as a useful way of extending your wifi music to the shed?

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