Most Helpful Customer Reviews
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132 of 132 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Left XM for Sirius and am a happy camper with the Sportster, August 24, 2005
I was a long-time customer of XM. No big complaints about XM but after borrowing a Sirius equipped vehicle for a week I felt that Sirius had the edge in programming. I thus made the switch. Have been very pleased with the equipment and the service. As someone who has used both services (each with Delphi equipment) here is my take.
The Sporster unit itself is well designed. Screen is large and legible. Buttons and menus make sense. The ability to pause and rewind is a great feature and is one that led me to choose this over the audivox unit. Other cool things are being able to tag a song and be alerted if it is playing on another channel. You can also do similar with sports teams and can have alerts for things like scores.
Buttons on remote are too small and it is too bad they took away the ability to switch between amber and blue screen color. The bluse looks nice but sometimes amber is more legible or simply matches your other interior lights better.
Set up is quick and easy. The FM modulation seems to work OK although I find that a cassette adapter or audio input jack are still preferable. I must note that I do notice more signal drop outs under heavy trees than I did with XM. I do not know if this is an attribute of Sirius or of the receiver itself. Both Sirius and XM will drop briefly, this one just seems to do so a bit more.
I do believe that Sirius has a better programming mix particularly in genres like classic rock. If you are into sports then Sirius wins hands down. Sirius has been investing lots of money into aquiring top programming while XM has been avoiding doing so. In addition to H. Stern and Martha Stewart, XM has signed all of the original VH1 VJ's, continues Discovery channel radio which XM is dropping, is picking up Nascar which XM is dropping, etc.
SOund quality from the Sportster is as good or better than any of them. The difference in XM versus Sirius sound quality (as tested in the exact same vehicle) is indistinguishable. Maybe if you listen in an acoustic chamber with $500 headphones you will notice a difference between XM and Sirius. When pumped through the typical car stereo at 65 mph anyone who claims they can tell a significant difference is deluding himself. That being said, neither service is CD quality. You are dealing with a compressed signal so it will not offer the same bandwidth as CD. Still, quality is on par with a high quality FM signal minus any static.
Not sure how long they will have it but Sirius also offers a "lifetime subscription" which seems like a good deal if you have the dollars to spend up front. Keep in mind that it is not your lifetime but the life of the radio. However, you can transfer your account to another radio up to 3 times for a fee of $75 which is waived if radio is stolen. If you get 4-5-6 years out of 4 radios that is not a bad deal.
In looking at all of these units (XM or Sirius) I would rely on sites such as Amazon for honest reviews. There are other "FAN" sites out there which have vested interests in one product or another and are the last place you will find users with balanced perspective. It would be the equivalent of going to the FordFanatics site and asking about buying a Chevy. I will also point out that I looked around and Amazon has as good a deal as anyone on these units (usually better when you factor in shiping and such).
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90 of 90 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
Substance over Style: A Dependable Performer, November 29, 2005
I won't clutter up this review with pros and cons on Sirius vs. XM satellite radio service. You can sign up for a 3-day trial of each at their respective websites if you need help making that decision. Instead, I'll assume that you've already gone with Sirius and focus on whether or not the Sportster Replay is the right plug-and-play receiver for your needs.
INSTALLATION
The Sportster Replay is a plug-and-play receiver, which means that you shouldn't need to modify the existing stereo setup in your car or boat to use it. After plugging in the external antenna and the power cord, 99% of users will be ready to roll. I have read reports of a handful of users having trouble getting an adequate signal with this simple install, but I've not personnally experienced this (see more details under "Performance" below). It took me just under an hour to install mine in an SUV, with most of that time spent trying different methods for how best to hide those two cords throughout my interior. The only tools that I needed were a screwdriver and a butter knife. It's almost disappointing to discover how easy it is to disassemble your car's interior into pieces, but it really helps out here!
The antenna itself is a flat magnet about the size of a fifty-cent piece that attaches to your trunk or roof. The kit provides plenty of length; in fact, some car owners may have to find a place to hide the extra bundle of wire, either in the trunk or under the dash. The power cord plugs into your cigarette lighter or any other 12v socket, which becomes the only visible wiring sticking out of the entire install. It's also a bit on the short side, so you may have to get into a little bit of trickery through the glove box or a heating vent depending on your vehicle. I recommend searching the web for tips that others have to share based on their installation experiences.
While the receiver itself is portable, it docks to a cradle which stays in place in your vehicle and has all of the wiring connections. This design is one of the advantages of the Sportster over the comparable Starmate Sirius receiver. The Starmate plugs all cables directly into the receiver, meaning that you have to fumble around with wires whenever you take it with you or get back into your vehicle. The Sportster on the other hand just lifts right out of the dock with no such hassle. The docking cradle that somes with this kit is capable of lots of twisting and bending, so you'll be able to find the right spot on the windshield or dash (if your dash is very smooth) to affix it with a powerful suction cup. This mount isn't 100% solid, but there are several aftermarket options for more permanent in-dash mounts available for the Sportster.
PERFORMANCE
The Sportster delivers good sound and has good antenna reach as well. Remember that satellite radio is digital, so it differs from traditions signals in a couple of ways. First, all of the channels sound "compressed" because that's what all satellite providers must do to get 100+ channels to fit into one signal. Music sounds comparable to existing FM, not CD quality as some erroneously expect. Talk sounds a bit tinny, almost like a phone conversation, but you get used to it quickly. Second, the antenna is line-of-sight since it needs to maintain a direct path to the satellite signal. This means that you can forget about listening to any satellite radio in parking garages, tunnels and other covered structures. I've read about problems with other receivers being unable to reliably pick up good signals in downtown driving, but the Sportster has been very solid for me.
The Sportster Replay uses a wireless FM transmitter in the dock to substitute the Sirius signal for a particular FM channel of your choosing. This is a big improvement over earlier satellite receivers that had to be hard-wired to your stereo (i.e. professionally-installed) or else connected via a mess of wires going to a cassette adapter. I've read other reviews complaining that the wireless transmitter isn't strong enough, but I've not had any such issue. As a matter of fact, the default FM frequency that the unit ships with is an actual station in my area but the Sportster mowed it down with no difficulty. Only when I turned up the classical stations could I hear any hint of interference, so I easily configured it for a frequency that's pure static in my area and it's been rock-solid and very clean sounding ever since.
USE AND FEATURES
The unit's "Replay" capability is like a very limited Tivo for radio. Once you select a channel, it begins stockpiling that content into its 30-minute memory. You can rewind if you'd like to hear a song again or if you missed something said during the news. You can pause in case you get a phone call or have something else to do, e.g. a toll booth. Once you change stations, that memory is erased and the recording begins again. Recorded content is also lost when you power down the unit. If you are interested in true time-shifting of your Sirius content, look into the pricey S50 receiver, which is basically an mp3 player that not only captures but also stores Sirius content for later listening away from your vehicle.
One simple but very useful feature is the "memo" button, which allows you to tag a particular song and store its info for jotting down later. You can store up to 20 of these song and artist combinations, so you'll know who you liked next time you're shopping for music. You can also configure it to alert you on-screen whenever one of these flagged songs comes on any other Sirius channel so you can flip right to it.
True to its name, the Sportster keeps you in touch with your favorite NFL, NBA, NHL and NCAA (assuming you follow one of a couple dozen big-name schools) teams. You configure which teams are your favorites and it will alert you on-screen whenever these teams are playing; you can also opt for updates whenever the score of the game changes. MLB is not available as its broadcast rights belong to XM. I assume that this means that the NHL feature will also disappear when that league moves to XM next season.
The receiver has 3 banks of 10 presets each. It also allows browsing by channel category (rock vs. country vs. talk, etc.) which is nicely-rendered on the big, easy-to-read display. Contrary to what earlier reviews indicated, it is possible to adjust the brightness and/or contrast; however, blue is the only color choice (sorry, amber fans). Also, the shiny cover over the display can make it difficult to see on sunny days as it reflects everything around it. This kit comes with a remote that is actually very handy unless you have a very long reach or manage to mount the dock on your dashboard.
ACCESSORIES
The Sportster is an established model for Sirius, and as a result, there are already many handy accessories available for it. You can immediately purchase a home kit that plugs into your stereo or PC, a boombox for mobile play, or additional car docks if you plan on sharing one receiver across multiple vehicles. This line of accessories is tops among the Sirius receivers because the others are either more limited (the Starmate) or way more expensive (the S50), making the Sportster the best value for a wide range of applications.
CONCLUSION
The Sportster Replay is a dependable Sirius receiver that picks up good signal reception and then blasts it wirelessly to your existing FM tuner. Installation is a no-brainer, mainly just tucking wires under your vehicle's carpet and weatherstripping. It's easy to use with a big, bright display and remote control. There are many available accessories for it, making it a good value if you want to use it in multiple locations. It's the ideal first receiver when you jump into the satellite radio arena.
If you definitely know that you're committed to Sirius and you want true time-shifting of content in an mp3 player, get out your wallet and take a look at the S50. Or, if you absolutely must have a more stylish-looking receiver, consider the Starmate, but you're really getting a lot less convenience for a little bit of savings vs. the Sportster.
PROS
* True plug-and-play makes both installation and everyday use very easy
* Unit is simple to use thanks to the included remote and big, easy-to-read display
* Full line of available accessories make the receiver usable in a multitude of places
CONS
* Rather big and plain, it's not the most stylish-looking unit out there (hello, S50)
* Replay functionality has rather limited usefulness since unit can't be powered on-the-go
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37 of 37 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
It's Great!, July 25, 2005
When Satellite Radio was first coming out, I said "I'll never use that. They want us to PAY to listen to the radio?" But that payment is worth what you get. No commercials and a much greater variety of music; you don't just keep hearing the same songs every day. Plus, only about $13 per month is not bad at all.
The hard part about getting a sattelite radio is deciding which unit to get. I chose to take a risk and go with this one. Figure, it saves me a couple hundred dollars because I just buy the reciever and hook it up to my car stereo with my cassette adaptor. Then I don't have to pay for the installment, the hardware kit, etc.
So far, this unit has been great. It comes with an antennae with a pretty long cord. The antennae also has a strong magnet so when you drive in your car, just stick it to the top and run the wire through the passenger window. The signal has always been fine for me; I've driven through some areas with lots of trees and not once did I lose my signal.
I haven't used all of the cool features of it yet, but my favorite things about it so far is that it displays the name of the artist and song you are listening to, so you're not always saying "Who is this?". Also, it lets you store song information for twenty songs. In other words, when I'm driving if I hear a song I like, I just press the button that says "Memo" and it stores the artist name and song title. So when my car ride is over, I just go back and write down the names of all the songs I liked.
The only thing I don't like is that if you are using it in your car, you HAVE TO plug it into the cicarette lighter; I would be just a little happier if it had a built-in-battery that you just charge up. But other than that, I love this reciever.
If you're struggling to find the right sattelite radio, get this one. You won't be disappointed!
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