Aluratek AIRJ01F USB Internet Radio Jukebox

I discovered this Aluratek AIRJ01F USB internet radio stick as an Amazon promotion. The idea that I could be anywhere in the world but easily hear my local radio stations sounded great. (Or vice versa -- easily find broadcasts worldwide.) After checking the handful of reviews, I decided to take a chance -- hardly a big loss if it didn't pan out. Well, I'm glad I did. It arrived in two days. I opened the package. The instructions said, "Plug it into the USB port." I did (on my laptop which runs Vista) and, lo and behold, the application immediately began to run, and a huge directory of worldwide web radio stations came up, organized in several different ways, and easily searchable. In seconds, I was listening to my home town radio station. One click later, I was checking out a station half a world away!Then a friend called and, in passing, he mentioned that he never gets to hear broadcasts of his old college's football games, because the school is 600 miles away, and he often travels, anyway. I recommended this! Could he figure out how to get the webcasts without this inexpensive device? Maybe....No, obviously not. This makes finding numerous stations so easy, no matter where you are or what computer you're using.One issue: I tried plugging it into a secure laptop which runs Windows XP, and the self-starting app did not run automatically. I'm still trying to track down the ActiveX setting which is preventing this. But, no problem, anyway: All you have to do is create a shortcut to the application on your desktop, and then clicking that will start it up.Nifty and inexpensive little thing, makes staying local, or going global, with your web radio, so easy! These will make great Christmas gifts, too!

The Aluratek Jukebox purchased from Amazon, is nothing short of a modern miracle .. in a tiny, INexpensive package.It absolutely lives up to its claims: I have tuned in dozens of stations from al around the U.S. and world... clearly, no interuptions, reliably, and offering a tremendous variety of entertainment. It installs quickly quickly, then every time I plug the radio into one of my USB slots, it comes up in a matter of a few second....and plays the last station I listened to. My original radio,after a year of usle, has NEVER crashed, or caused any problem to my computer. As far as I can tell, no virus, etc. has ever come in with the streaming content.Considering the almost give-away-price, and my desire to never be without my 'computer-side'companion,that I have purchased three of them. The first one, still played daily, is as perfect as the day I bought it. (Used on XP and Win 7).I give the Aluratek a five-star plus-plus ratilng !!

This is a neat little gadget but, it's frustrating to use at times. It installed OK and worked very well (the first time.) Now, every time I want to use it I have to figure out some new way of getting it started.There are NO instructions of any kind so you're on your own and, once installed, I still have not figured out how to get it to tune the entire spectrum of stations. It displays a few stations when it opens and I still can't figure out how to get to other stations that it has but is not displaying.It looks like a neat little gift idea but you are buying a bit of frustration.

The Aluratek Internet Radio Jukebox is great for finding & surfing radio stations around the world and playing them through a single interface. It performs this task very well. I had it up and running on my home PC in no time, just as advertised. Reasons I didn't give it 5 stars:- The interface itself is clunky, cryptic and a bit slow. It's easy enough to use, just kind of awkward.- It does not necessarily work on "locked down" office workstations. Although it doesn't need to install software to run, it does need to put a special driver in your Windows directory. Not a deal-breaker by any means, but something to be aware of.All in all, the Internet Radio Jukebox is great for exploring Internet radio stations. If you'd like that process made simpler and more convenient, then you'll probably be happy with it. Otherwise, it's no different from just bookmarking your favorite stations with your Web browser.

Before you read this review, realize the website RADIOTIME does everything this device claims to do, without the hassle of installation or having to waste a USB port.That being said, I knew this device did not "do" anything before I bought it. It's basically just an interface that lets you more easily find internet radio stations. All of these radio stations, mind you, can be easily found by either (1) looking them up station-by-station, or (2) using RadioTime to search by location, etcetera.The problem is that the interface does not work. I have tried to use this device five (5) times (on Windows Vista). It worked once. Every time I plug it into a USB port (even the one time it eventually worked), my computer freaks out and acts like its loading software over and over and over again until I unplug the thing.This device is a waste of money.I also do not understand why you need to have this thing plugged into a USB port to use it. The USB device is obviously just a way to transport the software, which allows you to utilize their worthless interface to find things that are already available on the web. However, the manufacturer includes an intrusive mechanism to insure that you cannot use the interface unless the device is physically plugged into your machine.Save your money. Down with Aluratek.

This is a very convenient device for saving all your Internet radio stations. I have some difficulty getting it to load each time, but I'm usually successful.