Average Reviews:
(More customer reviews)My wife was thinking of getting me a Sony Dash for my birthday but then heard me say "Why would anyone want something like that - why not just buy a netbook" in passing, so she opted not to get it. She let me know afterward she was looking at the Dash and Chumby (which I hadn't heard of even though they make the Dash). After looking at it, I thought it was really cool and got the Chumby One to surprise her.
Whether we want to admit it or not, we vote with our wallets. Two days after we received it, I ordered two more. It's not perfect but it's great.
The FM Reception is non-existent as another commenter noted. I'm going to try using a 'real' antenna today to see if that makes a difference, but if not, I really won't be too bothered. If it's a feature it should work, but FM clock radios have been around for years and FM stations aren't why I bought it.
We've only had it about a week but we have experienced none of the reception problems others mentioned. We have a ton of wireless devices in the house and have had a lot of problems with interference on other devices, but so far, the Chumby has worked without a blink. Although we have several repeaters throughout the house, I connected it to the primary link which is on the far side of the house (which has a moderately weak signal in our bedroom) and we still didn't have any problem. Full disclosure on that - I just did it as a test and let it run for about two hours but if a problem was going to surface, i'm quite sure it would have by then. Suffice to say - at least so far, we've had great connectivity and no problems.
The setup process was very simple. I wished I had a real keyboard when setting up the wifi b/c our Wifi keys are insanely long, but that's not the fault of the Chumby. The sync between the web site and the unit during registration was one of the coolest things I've seen in a while (basically, you fill in a bunch of circles on what looks like a giant tic tac toe - the pattern is then used to transmit the unit id to the web site so you don't have to). The whole process took about 10 minutes but much of that was b/c my wife and I were talking about how cool each aspect was. [Make sure however that when you align the screen, you use your fingernail as instructed. It's easy to just use your whole finger but if you do that - the sync will be off slightly. We goofed the first time around and had trouble using the keyboard - until we went into settings and re-adujusted everything. After we read the manual and did it the way we were supposed to - all was fine. But it's an easy thing to overlook. It's also easy to think the thing is your iPhone or Android and try using the screen according - your mileage will vary)
Once it was loaded, she spent about 30 minutes getting rid of default apps she didn't want (like ESPN, which is why I ordered two more - b/c I like a few of them) then adding new ones. Facebook, check. Twitter, check. Gmail check. Craigslist, check. We hadn't found an app to check Exchange or SMTP email but what she did was create a Gmail account and had her other accounts forward to it. While having email invade the bedroom might sound like insanity - it can actually be really helpful - you can glance over at the email list and quickly determine if it's ok to sleep in for a bit or if you need to rush to work early to put out a fire.
There are a ton of apps and b/c the API is open, you can build your own if you want something that isnt' there. I've taken a stab at two such apps and will be giving the upload process a try later this week. While most people aren't going to take advantage of that b/c it requirest some specific development experience, it's a great touch.
She's found an app for pretty much everythign she's wanted including a great backlight app, some amazingly cool wake up applications and the standard stuff you'd expect. Setup was amazingly straightforward and everything other than the FM tuner works as advertised (if the aux antenna works, I'll update the review). All in all from start to finish the experience is delightful and considering the price we love it - like I said, so much we wanted a few more for the rest of our house. I also ordered a pair of Beats by Dre just to make the whole thing perfect and it's a great combination (although being my wife's present, I feel guilty using it too much that's one reason for the other ones). That brings up one issue though - these aren't as generic as we thought. What I mean is, this is the type of thing that becomes "Mine" and the customizations are what makes it so cool. We have different facebook, twitter, pandora settings even though they're mostly similar and we're married. So one generic one for the family probably won't do for most folks especially if you have kids - get one kid a Chumby and I promise you the ohter will scream bloody murder until he/she gets her own. However that's the nature of anything cool and useful so it's not a knock.
Additionally, this will make one heck of a Christmas present. It's quite easy to spend $100.00 on a gift card which will partially go to waste or a similar present that will just get regifted or sit in the garage - this is guaranteed to be loved by anyone but hard core luddites.
Like I said, the wifi has not been a problem although we've only had it about a week and I'm comfortable saying that b/c although we have several repeaters , we've connected to links that have moderately weak signals and didn't appear to have any issue. I'd still be loving it if it was twice as much - if it was much over $250.00 I'd have my second thoughts just b/c a netbook really would be in order there, but for the price, it's an amazing value and packs a lot of bang for the buck. It's right in the gift price range and pretty much everyone has wifi these days so I don't think you can go wrong with it.
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Chumby takes your favorite parts of the Internet and delivers them to you in a friendly, always on, always-fresh format. It's a window into your internet life that lives outside your desktop, so content like weather, news, celebrity gossip, podcasts, music, and more has a place to play away from your world of documents and spreadsheets. Just plug in your chumby, connect to your network, and use your computer to create a lineup of favorites from over 1,500 apps in more than 30 categories, with new ones arriving all the time. Then let your chumby do its thing streaming everything you like, from sports scores to stock quotes, from video clips to interactive games, from photos to trivia. Fall asleep to music or nature soundsMusic from iPod and memory sticksFM radioIt's Chumby - Create custom channels with 1,500+ apps; Wide variety of news, weather, sports, gossip, games, clocks, and much more; Facebook photos and friend updates; Your photos from Photobucket and Flickr; Twitter tweets; Play YouTube and TV clips, movie trailers, sports highlights, and other video; Send customized e-card greetings; New content added all the timeWhere does it belong - By your bed - Fall asleep to a favorite internet music station; wake up to a Zen gong, a news podcast, or Pandora Radio; In the kitchen - Consult your Google Calendar in the morning, check the weather, and cook to streaming internet music; On your desk - Watch your photos stream by, follow your friends on Facebook or Twitter, or get alerted to that craigslist find you've been waiting forIt's simple to use - Intuitive touchscreen operation; Step-by-step Wi-Fi setup; Connects to your home wireless network; Manage content directly on the Chumby One or from the website;
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