Saitek A-250 media streamer

Posted by T3 Online on Fri 26 Oct 2007

The colourful streamer that looks better than it sounds.

Now we're all downloading music from the Web, we need an easy way to stream tunes around our homes. Saitek may have the answer with this easy-to-set-up wireless speaker system.

To send music to the speakers, you must first hook up a radio transmitter to your PC's USB port. Switch it on by pressing the button on the transmitter, then start a music application on your PC - such as iTunes - and any songs you play will be heard through the speakers.

There are limitations, however. The system works by installing itself as a secondary sound card, so all sounds from your PC will be sent to the device - our listening kept being interrupted by email alerts. And while sound quality from the small speakers is mediocre, the main problem is the lack of versatility. Controls consist only of volume and skipping forward and back through a playlist - there's no display and you can't browse through your music library.

So, although this is a decent option for those without a wireless network at home, it's nowhere near as good as a Wi-Fi streamer.