Tao xm2go Portable Satellite Radio Receiver with Home and Car Accessory Kits

by TAO

Product Details

Product Manual [1.99mb PDF]

• Product Dimensions: 12.8 x 10.2 x 4 inches ; 3 pounds
• Shipping Weight: 4 pounds
• Shipping: Currently, item can be shipped only within the U.S.
• ASIN: B0007PN5ZK
• Item model number: TXM1020
• Average Customer Review: 4.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (42 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #29,648 in Electronics (See Top 100 in Electronics)

Product Description

Amazon.com Product Description

XM satellite radio wherever you go, even when you're on foot -- that's what you get with the Tao TXM1020 xm2go Portable Satellite Radio Receiver. This belt-friendly, compact unit comes with everything, yes everything, you need to enjoy incredible XM content in your car, at home, or on your favorite jogging path. Add in powerful features like program recording, artist and song alerts, and a built-in FM modulator, and you've got a must-have gadget that opens up a whole new world of listening pleasure.

Design
At just under three inches wide and 4.5 inches high, the TXM1020's palm-friendly size makes it great for use as a belt-mounted radio. The backlit LCD display is large enough to display the wealth of information that comes with XM radio service: Song and program titles, artist name, a playback progress bar, a clock, channel information and signal strength cover the basics. Meanwhile, the screen can also display additional information like a stock ticker and sports scores. The device's user interface offers a circular control button that controls volume and playback, while a numeric keypad lets you input stations directly. The charging and cradle interface is on the bottom of the unit. The headphone jack, antenna jack and tuning control dial are placed on the sides of the unit. There's also a wireless remote that ships with the TXM1020 that duplicates much of the controls on the unit.

Features
The TXM1020's channel preset function makes it easy to quickly navigate to your favorite channels. The 30 channel preset memory, divided into three 10-channel groups, allows you to organize your favorites any way you want. Meanwhile, the channel preview function lets you use the tuning control dial to preview content playing on other channels without having to tune away from your current channel. And if you're the type who can never remember the name of that song you liked, you can save the artist and title of up to 20 songs for future reference. You can even program the TXM1020 to alert you when an artist or song is playing on another channel. To top it all off, the TXM1020 features built-in memory that can record up to five hours of XM programming. Set the TXM1020 to record what's currently playing, or schedule up to two recording sessions. These recording features are great if you often travel in areas where XM reception is spotty.

The palm-sized TXM1020 is designed to deliver XM satellite programming wherever you roam.

In the Car, at Home, on the Go
The best feature of the TXM1020 is its astonishing flexibility, thanks to a long list of included accessories. When you're out and about on foot, you can use the TXM1020's built-in satellite antenna to tune into XM programming. A rechargeable battery offers five hours of battery life and, as mentioned, the TXM1020 ships with earbuds for private listening. An included belt clip also cleverly doubles as a table stand.

The TXM1020 has you covered when you're on the road, too. The unit ships with a vehicle docking station that provides all the necessary connections to your car audio system, as well as a magnetic roof- or hood-mount antenna, and three mounting brackets (a flat surface mount, a vent mount, and a swivel mount). Power is supplied by a 12-volt cigarette lighter adapter, and you can choose to route audio to your stereo via a direct mini-jack to RCA connection (yes, the cable is provided!), an included cassette player adapter, or via the TXM1020's built-in FM frequency transmitter, which allows you to tune into the TXM1020's signal via your car's FM tuner.

And when you're at home with the TXM1020 you can simply plug the unit into your home stereo via the mini-jack to RCA connection that's provided on the included home docking station. If you like, you could also use the FM transmitter. Power is provided by the included home AC adapter, and the home antenna (yep, included!) has a hinged base for optimal positioning. The antenna can also be mounted to any vertical surface or an exterior wall.

About XM Radio
XM delivers its coast-to-coast, digital-quality service with more than 150 channels of music, news, talk, radio, sports, comedy and children's programming. One hundred percent of of XM's 67 music channels are commercial-free. XM's programming partners include Sesame Workshop, NASCAR, Associated Press, ABC News, CNBC, BBC World Service and BBC Concerts, Radio One, The Sporting News, CNN, Bloomberg, Fox News, C-SPAN Radio, Clear Channel and Discovery, MTV, VH-1, Disney, and ESPN.

XM's basic subscription fee is $12.95 per month. With an XM family plan, subscribers get a discounted rate of $6.99 per month for additional radios. Premium channels are available at an additional monthly cost.

The unit ships with everything you need to listen in your car, at home or on foot.

What's in the Box
Tao TXM1020 xm2go tuner, carrying case with belt clip, home docking station, vehicle docking station, earbud headphones, rechargeable lithium ion battery, wireless remote control, 2 "AAA" batteries, home antenna with attached 22.75-foot cord, vehicle antenna with attached 22.75-foot cord, vehicle antenna rubber plug, cigarette lighter adapter, cassette adapter, home power adapter, 40-inch mini-jack to RCA audio cable, plastic vehicle flush mount, plastic vent mount, plastic swivel mount, plastic cell phone mount adapter, self-adhesive pad, protective case, alcohol prep pad, user's manual, and quick-start guide.

Product Description

The Tao XM2go portable satellite radio with its sleek back finish and soft feel sides is ideal for the active on the go person. Comes equipped with a complete home accessory kit, complete car accessory kit, headphones, remote control, belt clip, and carrying case. Everything that you would need to enjoy satellite radio where ever you are. Equipped with a built-in FM transmitter to make any FM radio an XM Radio. Record upto 5 hours of of XM programming. Two recording functions to setup recording of XM programing to hear back later.

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

54 of 57 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Super!, September 14, 2005

By 

Morosco (Richmond, Virginia USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Tao xm2go Portable Satellite Radio Receiver with Home and Car Accessory Kits (Electronics)

I have been having a great deal of fun with the Tao xm2go. I even look forward to the daily jog! No more horrible music from broadcast stations. No more listening to my limited library of music. Now I have the largest variety of music, news, and information that one could ever hope for. Reception is great (apparently I'm near a repeater). The unit is a little larger than a pack of smokes. Easy to carry. Don't like the earbuds.....but they do have an inline volume switch. Any other standard headphones will fit it so I'll probably use some others. Nice to have a large disply. The buttons are easy to understand. Each button nicely lights up and is easy to read in the dark. Designed very well. An amazing array of accessories (most any other company would nickle and dime you to death for these). EXCELLENT gift for joggers, bikers, fishermen, gardeners, beach-goers, etc.

35 of 36 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Nice and rugged unit, few drawbacks., November 7, 2005

By 

Arne W Flones (Ontario, CA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Tao xm2go Portable Satellite Radio Receiver with Home and Car Accessory Kits (Electronics)

The Tap XM2Go is about the best you can get for portable XM. It seems to be much more rugged than the other portables. I expect this to be a long-lived unit. Case looks like it can take some punishment.

The number of accessories included with the Tao XM2Go means that you're not going to be spending more on essentials to get you going. It includes both home and car kits, both of which are very complete. The home kit includes charging cradle, AC adaptor (with an innovative brick that doesn't block unused outlets), XM antenna w/ 25 foot cord, earbuds, a soft case w/ belt-loop, remote control w/ batteries, audio cable, and a snap-on portable stand. The car kit has car power adaptor, car cradle, car antenna, swivel mount, flush mount, vent mount, cell phone mount, cleaning kit, and an alcohol prep pad. I don't think any of the other units come with as complete accessories. This guy is ready to go.

Nice features include built-in FM modulator so you can broadcast to any FM radio, both in the car and at home. This works very well, but a direct connection sounds better. It also can record up to five hours of encoded audio. You can either record instantly (actually starts a couple of seconds after you press the button) or you can schedule a recording. Unfortunately, you have to have the unit turned off to schedule recording. Also, too bad you can't plug in an SD memory card to expand the amount you can record. Oh well, maybe the next model.

The controls and the remote control are easy to use. There are so many features that it takes a little practice but the learning curve isn't too bad. A little trial and error after error gets you through it. The manual could be a bit more descriptive, but it isn't bad considering that it is quite small. The only complaint I have is entering numbers on the unit is cumbersome. The remote control has a much better control layout.

There is no battery charge indication while the unit is charging. Tao claims five hours on a charge. I haven't had it enough to test this. If you use this unit mostly as a base/car unit, that should be plenty. I like the idea of using it outdoors on its batteries w/o an external antenna. My cursory testing shows that this works fairly well as long as the path to the satellite isn't blocked too badly. It would be nice if the unit had "skip protection" for those cases when connection is intermittent.

I rated this guy five stars because it is probably the top of the line. My review of competing units lead me to conclude that the Tao XM2Go was the most rugged and had the best features. If you want an XM radio, this one certainly should fit the bill. It's incredibly adaptable.

15 of 15 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Now comes with replacement battery, March 24, 2006

By 

TooManyHobbies "too_many_hobbies" (New Orleans, LA USA) - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE)   

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: Tao xm2go Portable Satellite Radio Receiver with Home and Car Accessory Kits (Electronics)

I live in New Orleans and FM radio choices became very limited after the hurricane. So after months of audio purgatory I made the plunge and subscribed to XM.

WOW. XM is great and the Tao XM2Go works like a charm.

I connect the Tao to my belt and take it everywhere. I didn't even bother hooking up the car receiver. I just sit the little fellow on my dashboard and use the headphones. Reception is fine. It does lose the signal when you go under power line or an overpass, but it's only out for a fraction of a second.

There are a few minor things about it that I don't like though. 1) It takes a few tries and some maneuvering to attach the Tao to the charging base. Things just don't seem to lineup right. 2) The carrying case covers the LCD display and the control buttons. It would be nice if there were an opening that would allow access to the control panel without pulling it completely out of the case. 3) The head phones are painful 4) Control are stiff and a little difficult to work (especially when driving). I now leave the Tao's remote control in the car and use the remote to change the station.

Also TAO has apparently gotten the message about the battery problems. I purchased mine on March 12, and there was a replacement battery taped to the inside of the box.

Go XM!