Sony has just released their new GigaJuke micro hi-fi system the NAS-S55HDE. The system boasts a built-in 80GB hard drive, wi-fi connection, a USB port for connecting your portable devices and an iPod dock.
The NAS-S55HDE also creates its own LAN network so you can stream music to additional wireless music stations around the home. The 80GB hard drive can hold up to 40,000 songs and CD’s can be ripped in PCM, MP3 or ACC formats via the built-in 16 speed CD drive. If the NAS-S55HDE is connected to the internet via the Ethernet port or wi-fi, the system will automatically update song and album titles.
Up to five wireless music stations can be connected to the main system, and each station is capable of playing different music at the same time, perfect for when you want to listen to some Led Zepplin and your kids want to listen to Girls Aloud.
The NAS-S55HDE is out now and will set you back around £480, the additional wireless music stations will cost around £200 each.
I bought one of these, and am very pleased with it in general. I have had one problem though. I have spent the whole day on Saturday trying to connect my pc to the system to upload songs. I tried wired and wireless but everything I tried seemed to fail. Finally have dusted off the old CD’s and am loading them one by one. Not sure what to do with my i-tunes downloaded music though short of burning the tracks to a disc as an audio disc and then ripping them to the hard drive. I tried mp3 versions, but it wouldn’t recognise it as an audio disc.