A USB Enabled Sound Machine?

Opening The Box & Installation

Upon opening the fourteen-pound box, you are greeted with the usual assortment of packing materials. The box contains the AZ2555 Sound Machine, the remote control, the AC cable, an A-B USB cable, a fold-out instruction manual, a CD containing the special Philips version of the MusicMatch Jukebox software, and a warranty card. Strangely enough, the two AAA batteries that are required for operation of the AZ2555 Sound Machine remote were not included with our test unit. We're not sure if this was an oversight on Philips's part or if the batteries are simply not included at all. Normally, most companies do include batteries for the remote control; we don't want to nit pick, but not including the batteries seems kind of cheap on Philips's part.

A couple of words about the instruction manual: it is more of a fold-out pamphlet than a manual, and includes the same information in several different languages. The instructions are pretty spartan and don't really get into much detail in many of the sections. The manual covers the basic operation of the unit, but we found it difficult to use because of its size when folded out and the various translations of the different sections. It can be hard to get your bearings while reading it. This is something that we have not come to expect from Philips, as other Philips products that we have reviewed have had best-in-class caliber documentation and manuals. We are sorry to say that this is not the case for the AZ2555's manual.

The unit features a high quality design. The speakers are covered with metal grills for protection, and the housing is of contoured plastic. The AZ2555 Sound Machine checks in with a weight of about 13 lbs, and features two handles that are molded into either side of the unit to help transport it. The handles are sturdy and solid. Due to the fact that the unit is almost twelve inches deep, Philips opted to use this side handle arrangement rather than a typical fold-down handle that runs all the way across the top. We still would have preferred the more typical design, though, as the side handles make the unit a little more difficult to handle.

The display and control area of the AZ2555 Sound Machine. This is where most of the action that isn't controlled by the remote takes place. The LCD is a little small, but it scrolls, which helps overcome this obvious limitation.