Bye bye Miss CR200...

[jgatie]

Never mind. Decided not to post.

[Buegie]

Originally Posted by KeyserSoze

Buegie, I respect all of your points and appreciate your forum diplomacy (which I admittedly forego on a regular basis for a number of reasons).

Thanks! I tried hard to not come across as attacking you.

Originally Posted by KeyserSoze

That said, it sounds like your iOS 4 device(s) make for much better controllers than my iPhone 3G does (or my Droid X2 which slays the iPhone in that regard). If I had a CR200 I would walk across the house to get it before waiting on the iPhone to connect to wifi, refresh track info and reset to the zone selection screen. I am very glad your iOS controllers are working well for you. They don't take a few seconds to connect and refresh? I really hate that each time I unlock my iPhone for Sonos control I have to wait... then make a screen press to get back to where I already was just minutes before.

Two of our older iPhones are the 3G units - They take a bit longer to 'boot up' and connect to the Sonos App. Our two new 4S units are fairly quick. The 3rd Gen iPad is even quicker.

That said, our need for immediacy is not as great as others (or so it seems). Compared to the original LP music model (get album; clean side 1; place on turntable; start turntable and wait - listen for 20-25min; repeat) the current digital audio model is just a bit faster (heavy sarcasm).

Having a few 'pauses' in day-to-day life are a welcome respite. The immediacy needs of the more recent generations (I want [or even I deserve] it now) appears to be escalating. Or I am just getting older too soon....

But, you need what you need.

Originally Posted by KeyserSoze

I see your point 100% but I'm serious and have an ebay account. Unfortunately I feel that this is the best place to let Sonos know what their customers (and again, dealers) think. I vote with my dollar and am nice enough to let companies know why they lost me.

Sonos should know your position. However, I disagree that this is the place to 'forecast' your decision. These and other Forums are rife with folks threatening to leave (Sonos, Apple, MS, Squeeze, etc.), then they repeatedly pop back up year after year. There are a few classic ones here if you dig deep enough into the past. That type of behavior tends to devalue any other posts on one's future actions. Sorry.

From my corporate time, we constantly battled with the 'qualitative' Market Research folks. They tended to do forward-looking research by asking customers what they would do if... They also ran Focus Groups and the like. Interesting, but... We were the empiricists: think 'Quant-Jocks'. We designed control/treatment studies (Design of Experiment) and measured the actual changes in behavior to whatever stimulus was applied. Statistical analysis determined if the treatment was significant. Financial analysis determined if the treatment was 'practical' or not (even if it was statistically significant).

Put another way: Everyone, when asked, will say they will most definitely quit if their annual bonus is reduced from 10% to 5%. Very few actually quit even if their bonus comes in at 3%. It's all bluster (or almost all).

Long story short: If Sonos isn't working for you, then sell off your units. There remains a healthy demand for used Sonos units. Then write a cogent letter to the Sonos Executive Staff on why you no longer felt Sonos met your needs. Feel free to post it here as well. Given prior history, not many of us believe the "If Sonos doesn't (insert needs here), I'm selling my system." It's not you, specifically. We've seen too much of those empty threats. I suspect Sonos has seen this as well.

Best of Luck

[JohnG]

The problem I have with using iDevices etc is that I like to have the controller display available instantly if I pick it up and give it a shake. So doing that with the couple of times I tried to use my iPod Touch I found that the battery drained very quickly and it would be virtually impossible to always use such a device like that.

[skullpin]

I just ordered a CR200.

Discontinuing this dedicated remote will destroy the Sonos' trump card: it is a system. Without the control, the Sonos is just a peripheral. At least in the eyes of new uninitiated customers. "What, the Sonos needs to be used with my ipod? Is it just another bluetooth speaker? Is it an Airplay device? What the heck is a Sonos? I dunno, I better stay with mainstream iUniverse devices." A dedicated remote instantly identifies the Sonos as a wireless music system that you can control from your couch while you talk on your phone.

I do hope a new dedicated remote is in the works, even a simple cheap custom Android tablet.

Keith

[JohnG]

Originally Posted by skullpin

I just ordered a CR200.

Discontinuing this dedicated remote will destroy the Sonos' trump card: it is a system. Without the control, the Sonos is just a peripheral. At least in the eyes of new uninitiated customers. "What, the Sonos needs to be used with my ipod? Is it just another bluetooth speaker? Is it an Airplay device? What the heck is a Sonos? I dunno, I better stay with mainstream iUniverse devices." A dedicated remote instantly identifies the Sonos as a wireless music system that you can control from your couch while you talk on your phone.

I do hope a new dedicated remote is in the works, even a simple cheap custom Android tablet.

Keith

Agreed. A lot of people will say "I already have an iPod Touch so I don't need Sonos. Why do I want to use my music player as a remote control for another music player?"

The fact that Sonos has always been a complete system from one manufacturer has been a big plus point for me. They control the software and are not in the hands of other operating systems etc having updates and screwing up the Sonos software.

[Hairy]

In the house we have 4 ipod touch, 3 x ipads, 1 x CR100 and 1 x CR200.

We always use the Sonos products as there is none of this having to wait to reconnect to the network.

Sad to see the controllers go.

[jgiddyup]

Originally Posted by Hairy

In the house we have 4 ipod touch, 3 x ipads, 1 x CR100 and 1 x CR200.

We always use the Sonos products as there is none of this having to wait to reconnect to the network.

Sad to see the controllers go.

I may get another CR200 or at least a spare battery and dock and I also hope that Sonos continues with some form of dedicated controller.

Having said that, I don't get all the comments about having to wait for idevices/android controllers to connect to the network. I've used/tested all of my portable wifi controllers (iPad/ipod 3rd gen/android) and they are on the network as soon as i wake/turn them on.

The only time required is to wake them or turn them on and go to the app if it wasn't on in the first place. Once woken or turned on they're ready to go in a couple seconds.

I'm in no way trying to say these aren't real problems for some, but I've never experienced it and there's nothing special about my network (cisco N router).

The CR200 is nice in that it has an easy slide in/out dock and it's slightly quicker with greater range in most cases.

[Conducta]

As one of many unlucky enough to have had multiple faulty CR200 remotes (replaced by Sonos), I do hope they will keep a sufficient stock on hand to meet future warranty claims. On past form I expect my latest CR200 to become faulty over the next few months.

In most jurisdictions, consumers' warranty rights do not run out when a product is discontinued. The normal remedy, if replacement stock is not available or repair infeasible, is to provide a refund.

I wonder which approach Sonos will adopt?

[andyscott]

Originally Posted by jgiddyup

Having said that, I don't get all the comments about having to wait for idevices/android controllers to connect to the network. I've used/tested all of my portable wifi controllers (iPad/ipod 3rd gen/android) and they are on the network as soon as i wake/turn them on.

The only time required is to wake them or turn them on and go to the app if it wasn't on in the first place. Once woken or turned on they're ready to go in a couple seconds.

Just tested on my iPhone 4S and it takes about 3 seconds to connect to my wifi (Netgear DGN2200) vs. no wait for CR200.

If I pick up a controller to do something, it's because I want to do it now. I do not wait 3 seconds for my TV remote to wake up.

Now, I appreciate that 3 seconds is not very long (and cue comments such as how impatient people are, etc.) but given I can chose a controller with zero delay, it is relevant.

This, combined with the hardware buttons and the fact that this is all it does wins me over.

[AlarmMan]

I've just bought a cr100, the iPads and iPhones can take too long to find, switch on, find app, kill music. Even more difficult if the phone is ringing at the same time.

I hope Sonos do a new dedicated controller/rebadge cheap android tablet to give instant access.

Just my 2c