There's a gap in the media streaming market for devices that will easily stream audio from a PC to a hi-fi without looking like they belong in a computer showroom.

Apart from the Slim Devices Squeezebox 3, most of these devices are either too hard to set up and use or just don't look the part.

Philips is attempting to muscle into this market gap with the SLA5520i. The upright design means it has to sit at the top of a hi-fi or on a shelf.

The small screen in the front panel is used both for menu options and for setting up the player, and also for displaying the details of whatever is currently playing.

There are no controls on the unit – not even a power switch – because the whole thing is operated using the supplied remote control. The only connections are for power and a stereo audio output.

It would have been nice to see a digital output, whether optical or coaxial, but the analogue output gave good-quality sound. Both bass and treble levels are up to scratch and the soundstage won't distort at high volume levels.

The SLA5520i is designed to connect to a wireless network using the built-in aerial, but it would have been a good idea to have included the flexibility of a wired network port as well.

Installation of the unit wasn't hard, but using the device does mean installing the Philips Media Manager software on any computers from which you want to share music.

This doesn't add too much workload to the PC in question but it is another thing to be running. Plus, to stream music, the computer has to be on at all times.

The SLA5520i works with MP3 and WMA tracks, including those that are protected with Digital Rights Management (DRM). However, it won't work with subscription tracks, such as those downloaded from Napster or iTunes.

The device can also access some internet radio stations, although the setup process for this was a little tricky, and the quality of the stations not too impressive.

The Philips SLA5520i is a smooth running product that provides a good-quality audio stream from connected PCs and, as such, is a good buy.

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Slim Devices Squeezebox 3 
Verdict: There are cheaper media streaming products available, but few of them look or sound as good as the Squeezebox 3
Rating: 4/5
Price: £230