XM and Sirius Satellite Radio Review

Sirius Car Radios are widely used by everyone who enjoys satellite car radio and there are several models available in the market today to suit different preferences. In fact, Sirius car radios are preinstalled in many cars and trucks with prior agreement. For example, Ford, Jeep, Dodge, Chrysler, Jaguar, Mazda, Infiniti, Audio, and many others all come fitted with Sirius radios.             

Sirius car radios have the flexibility to be installed in your car or you could even go in for a portable plug and play system that can be carried from your car to office to home. Sirius has several satellite car radio models it makes like the Sirius SV2-TK1 InV Satellite Radio with Car Kit, the Sirius Sportster 4, etc. The Sirius car antenna can also be individually purchased.

Sirius Car Radio – Basic Model 

The Sirius Starmate receiver is the basic model for Sirius radios and comes with a pause and rewind feature for live radio. It allows roughly five hours of recording, which you can playback later at leisure. These Sirius car radio receivers come with an FM modulator with which you can link to FM stereo at home or in your car wirelessly. The Sirius car kit is a sleek unit that is very user friendly and comes with a remote control.

The advantage with satellite car radios is the uninterrupted reception that is consistent in quality, zero commercials and the variety in programming that is available. The Sirius car radio model S50 comes with a comprehensive car kit. You could also opt for a home kit at an extra charge. It is capable of recording with a one-touch button facility, which is convenient in the sense that even if you are half way through the song, you can still record the entire song.

Audiovox makes a portable Sirius radio, which comes with a radio tuner, a docking kit for the car and one to use at home so that you can listen to satellite programming both in your car as well as your home and at work. Installing the Sirius radio is simple enough since you can fix the tuner to your dashboard with the sticky backing. The Sirius radio antenna which is weather proof can be fixed on the car roof or the inside back window of your car. The docking kit for the car has a power cable letting you plug in the unit.

This Sirius radio tuner comes with a six-line display to show you the details of the stream and song info of whatever you are listening to. Parental lock is included, and so is a wireless remote control. The signal strength of Sirius car radios is amazingly strong no matter where you travel.

The Sirius Stiletto portable satellite radio receiver has been well received in the market ever since they were launched. There are many websites carrying reviews of the Sirius stiletto talking about its features and its pros and cons. Here is a quick summary of the Sirius Stiletto:

Right out of the box, the Sirius Stilleto radio comes with earbuds, antenna integrated headphones, standard and lightweight batteries, PC Cable, AC adapter and software.

The Sirius Stiletto brings you online content via wi fi and has the ability to record live. You can also use it as an MP3 and WMA player depending on your subscription. In fact, live streams can also be paused. The radio is well designed and user-friendly and is equipped with batteries.

Some people feel that the Sirius Stiletto is bulkier than it should be at 4.3 pounds. But the radio itself comes feature-packed and is quite sleek. The Sirius radio has a built in antenna that lets you receive the Sirius signal clearly. You don’t need an external docking station. You can store as much as hundred hour’s worth of music and you can even mix your own music using the MP3s and the Sirius radio streaming content.

The headphones have the transmitter built into them. Two batteries are provided along with an indoor a/c adapter that helps you charge the batteries.

In this Sirius Stilletoo review special mention must be made of the neat 2.2 inch TFT screen with QVGA resolution. There is a six way navigation control via which you can easily get through to all its features. There is 800 MB worth of storage for all your personal MP3s. You will find that this Sirius radio will be compatible with several music subscription services online.

Other than the above, you have the following features:

• 30 preset channels
• Ability to pause, rewind and replay an hour of live programming
• If you have favorite games, you will be alerted when they are on
• The Sirius Stiletto has a color screen where you can see your current song information displayed.
• You can save around ten hours of music from live programs with a single button
• You can set up recordings in advance and this can be up to 6 hours duration.

In addition to the above, there are the parental controls and facility to lock channels. In terms of software, you get Yahoo Music jukebox so that you can bookmark your favorite songs and then later access it via your computer.

The next thing in the Sirius Stilletoo review is the battery. You can expect up to four hours of satellite radio with the standard battery. It supports around 12 hours of Internet radio, 24 hours of radio replays and 24 hours of playback with your own audio files. The slim weight battery is ideal for when you are moving around.

As the US’s second largest satellite radio provider, Sirius radio channels and stations number over 130. The Sirius lineup encompasses all the major genres for example, in music: Pop, Classical, Rock, Hip Hop, R&B, Jazz, and News, Sports, Weather, Entertainment, Talk shows and so on. These genres are further split into individual Sirius channels with many dedicated to major personalities, sports and music groups.

What You Can Expect From Sirius Radio Channels And Stations:

No matter what your musical preference, you can find it in the Sirius lineup. Sirius channels play streaming pop, rock, dance, hip-hop, R&B, country, religious music, jazz, classical music, and more. For men, Maxim radio, of Maxim magazine is a Sirius channel that talks about girls, music, sports and humor.

If you are a sports fan, you can listen to all the minute details of every sport you are interested in. The focus is on NFL, NBA, hockey, tennis, and plenty of college sports. There is continuous lime commentary from horse racing.   

The news channels from Sirius keep you abreast of what is happening globally including finance, weather and traffic. In addition to this, the Sirius lineup has dedicated programming for women, kids, and family as well.

Sirius has signed up with some major entertainers like Martha Stewart, the E Street Band (owned by music artist Bruce Springsteen), Eminem, etc. to create branded channels. One of Sirius’ biggest attractions is the irreverent Howard Stern who joined them in early 2006 with his famous radio show. Sirius has exclusive rights to Howard Stern’s radio show today, as well as the rights to two of the three channels on Sirius.

Most of the Sirius line up consists of original programming produced by itself with several shows hosted by eminent personalities from sports, music, deejays, veejays, hiphop superstars, well known dance artists, political commentators, comedians, etc.

There are Sirius radio channels and stations that broadcast exclusive sports material. Right now, Sirius holds the sole satellite radio broadcasting rights to the NFL, CFL and NBA games. Sirius also covers NASCAR with a show hosted by Tony Stewart. Along with this, the Sirius lineup also holds the exclusive rights to many college sports teams with channels dedicated to college football.   

So whether you are looking for your favorite music, sports or exciting interviews with hot personalities or live performances in the studio, you can look forward to listening to it via cd quality digital sound anywhere across the US and Canada with Sirius satellite radio – all hundred per cent commercial free.