Question
best controller for sonos play 1
I am a hospital chaplain and our team has refurbished our interfaith prayer chapel. We added a sonos play 1 speaker to stream soothing music to create a relaxing environment. We used a very inexpensive tablet as a controller that we kept in our office. I think we just need to upgrade to a better quality controller. We need a dedicated controller that runs off AC. Would an inexpensive laptop allowing for different streaming options be a reasonable choice? Any suggestions?
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Ouch. I think you're pushing in the wrong direction by thinking about a laptop. If it were me, I'd be thinking about a fairly cheap Kindle device, which runs the Android operating system, and will run Sonos. I believe you could easily get a powered wall mount for it, I've seen offices that use these kinds of mounts for meeting rooms, to show the schedule. I don't think a Chromebook will work, and there have been many issues in this forum regarding the latest version of Windows, particularly with regards to getting music from an NAS.
If you make a one time investment of time of making playlists that are suitable, the controller may still have legs. Use it to just start a long, perhaps shuffled, playlist and do stop/restart/volume changes from the buttons on the play 1 for days. And as long as the tablet/controller works, it has zero effect on the music you can access, or the sound quality obtained - it is just a remote control with a few more features.
I've used one of the original Google tablets in a power dock for a few years. Works well.
Same here, the original Nexus 7 in a powered dock has been running for my Sonos for years.
I've found using one of these magnetic latching cables and an unpowered tablet stand is even more convenient and I use that setup on my newer tablets.
https://smile.amazon.com/dp/B01MCZB2KR/_encoding=UTF8?coliid=I3GIT5AJ2VNHAW&colid=1M1MHCPFXSKHP
I have an Samsung Tab A that was on sale that runs the Sonos controller too, a bit more friendly form factor than the 16x9 screen on the Nexus.
If you want really simple (but not fully functional) look at ebay and a CR-100 and charging dock. You'll need a newer controller for some things but the wife is far less frustrated with the CR-100 than any of the other controller options.
I've found using one of these magnetic latching cables and an unpowered tablet stand is even more convenient and I use that setup on my newer tablets.
https://smile.amazon.com/dp/B01MCZB2KR/_encoding=UTF8?coliid=I3GIT5AJ2VNHAW&colid=1M1MHCPFXSKHP
I have an Samsung Tab A that was on sale that runs the Sonos controller too, a bit more friendly form factor than the 16x9 screen on the Nexus.
If you want really simple (but not fully functional) look at ebay and a CR-100 and charging dock. You'll need a newer controller for some things but the wife is far less frustrated with the CR-100 than any of the other controller options.
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