Sonos adds a portable music player with room filling sound

Another product that I don't get and probably will never get.

Graybaby, one of the main advantages of the Sonos system is that your computer does not need to be powered up and connected to your network. Sonos actually works best when your music library is on a NAS, and the same library can be used for both Sonos and iTunes.

Also, those who suggested Airport Express as an alternative clearly have, as others have said, absolutely no idea about Sonos or how it operates...

fm: "The only reason I can see is if a friend brought their iPod over and you wanted to listen to a song they had that you do not. "

exactly.

sometimes its just easier with so many people in a home to plop in an ipod and be able to access it over the sonos system, same with guests that come over.

its also quite a pain to connect multiple libraries . .


its such a simple feature, and so many companies
make two way docks (sonance iport over rs232 etc)

sonos makes it easy for people to play music in their home,
managing libraries is not easy for most people.
pandora, sirius radio, and fm streaming really helps,
but most parents have their kids load ipods up for them
and dont even have an itunes library of their own.

Graybaby, you shouldn't have a problem playing the various music services without your computer connected to the system as long as you have one zone (or the Sonos bridge) connected to your router. The only thing you need the computer for is to stream your iTunes library, or you can backup your library to an external hard drive and not worry about needing the computer at all.

Motech, since you have access to your iTunes library and your playlists through Sonos I'm not sure why you'd want an iPod dock. The only reason I can see is if a friend brought their iPod over and you wanted to listen to a song they had that you do not.

Sonos is way too expensive by the time you get all the components, for what it's used for.

I think you may have glossed over a few of the negatives in your review, or at least things that are negatives in my use of the S5. While I'll be the first to admit that I ABSOLUTELY LOVE THE S5, there are a few things that work in a less-than-ideal fashion:

1) Doesn't played DRM'd songs purchased from iTunes. I've upgraded some of the tracks to iTunes Plus, which solves the problem, but it should be acknowledged somewhere that it doesn't play the DRM tracks.

2) Host computer needs to be connected, at all times, to the router via ethernet. Not really a problem if you have an iMac or non-mobile computer that lives near your router, but in this age of wireless, shouldn't it over wifi?

3) When the computer isn't present, it should be able to access Sirius or Pandora over the net without the computer. It's plugged into the router, so it's got a net connection - why need the Mac?

Even more ideally, and this may in fact be possible, it would be optimum to hook up an external hard drive to my Airport Extreme and not need my MacBook Pro to be present (after initial setup) to hear music.

Just my thoughts.

Enjoy...........G

craig i think u misunderstood me ..

i want to plug an ipod in to the sonos system
and be able to access the music thats on the ipod
via the sonos controllers.

currently this is possible,
but in a very limited way.

sonos allows you to plug any audio device
in to the LINE IN port of any of the zone players.

this lets you choose the source via the sonos controller/software,
but does not let you see whats actually playing.

i want a dedicated ipod dock that will let you play whats on the ipod,
and will let you see all the artists, playlists, etc that are on your ipod
from the sonos controllers/software.

i hope that made more sense,
they have to be working on it.

so many companies offer two way ipod play/control . .


i also wish sonos let other 3rd party companies hook in
to the control aspect of the system . .

I love my Sonos system. But this piece of hardware misses the mark for me. I want something I can plug my iPhone in to and access my playlists from.

Besides, who really needs a portable sterio in a household situation anyways?

I guess this is just a cheap way for iPhone/iTouch owners to start their own Sonos system.

You can essentially do what you're describing with an iPod touch/iPhone, except Sonos' solution is even better:

http://www.sonos.com/whattobuy/controllers/iphone/default.aspx

sonos needs to add an ipod dock that in turn adds two way communication
between the ipod and the sonos controller.

they have to add a way to play whats on your ipod and see whats playing.