Delphi SA10034 XM Portable CD Audio Boombox System

Rating:
Summary: one problem with xmsr
Review: after reading the many reviews on xmsr and sirius i feel like this should be brought up. many people are saying good things about both products. i myself have owned both xmsr and sirius. the reason i subscribed to satellite radio was simple. i do not like clear channel and will not support anything they are involved in if i have a choice. that is why i left xmsr for sirius. first and foremost look for yourself. go to www.nasdaq.com and look at xmsr real time filings. you can look at honda's most recent filing. clear channel owns over 8 million shares of xmsr and xmsr is teaming up with clear channel for marketing at clear channel venues. so if you subscribe to xmsr you are putting additional money into clear channels pockets. if xmsr had no relationship with clear channel then i would highly recommend either xmsr or sirius. for now i only recommend sirius.

Rating:
Summary: Love mine!
Review: Great system! Great sound! Very easy to use. I love the flip design and controls. Plays CDs very well and AM/FM sensitivity is great.
I have the earlier XM Delph boombox but was always yearning to hear CDs and FM stations at times. This solves the problem.
Thinking of getting another one.
Very much recommended.

Rating:
Summary: Nice theory, but don't bother
Review: The mere thought of a combination satellite radio/cd/radio boombox delights the ears. I needed a CD player/radio AND wanted to be able to listen to my XM radio, so I gave this boombox a try. What a disappointment. The main problem is the background noise on the XM radio. The faint high-pitched hum only occurs when listening to the XML radio. The CD player and radio sound fine, however, CDs skip and sometimes hesitate to play. Removing the XM radio takes some practice. You snap the unit into the adapter, which is fine, but to remove it, you have to push on the radio until the unit slides forward. That was my experience.

If you don't already own a Delphi XM radio, consider the Audiophase satellite radio Skybox with AM/FM/CD/MP3 player. Or you could add a receiver to an XM radio family plan, which currently costs $6.99/month.

Pros:
- Radio and cd player fidelity
- Intuitive buttons

Cons:
- Background noise
- Skipping CDs
- Awkward way to insert and remove XM radio
- Garish design

Rating:
Summary: You have to buy the SkiFi receiver too.
Review: This is just speakers and a base. To work, you must also purchase the SkiFi receiver.

Rating:
Summary: Very Awkward Design
Review: To it's credit, this unit does sound good, once you are able to put it together, keep it together, and manage to place it on a stable enough surface to somehow keep it from toppling to the floor due to it's awkward, top heavy design.

The battery compartment is a lost cause. Neither the manual nor anything on the case explains which direction the batteries must be placed; in fact, the picture in the manual seems to illustrate what is in fact the wrong way. No matter: By the time you figure out how to screw the battery cap back on, it will be mangled enough not to work or be permanently residing behind the sofa anyway.

The flip-flop design of the CD player / satellite radio seems cool at first, until you want to switch between the two from afar. Or lose the radio antenna and a prized CD during the flip - or the 'flop'. Honestly, I've seen better laid out button functions on a cheap watch, but at least the batteries work on those. Although it does play Mp3 CD's, the eight digit across screen is so dim and tiny as to be virtually worthless to garnish information from.

The satellite antenna has a place to be stuck on the back, but yet again, once you figure out how it's supposed to go on, if you even look at it funny, it will simply pop itself off. Visually, the unit resembles a star-wars experiment gone horribly awry or a gaudy Edsel front end, take your pick. As bad as it looks though, functionally, it is simply a mess.

If you buy one, put it together somehow and place it on a perfectly flat, rock solid surface and power it by house AC only. Don't plan on carrying it around by it's goofy pail handle, and try to never touch it again once it's in place. That way, the thing might stay together long enough to hear the great sound.

Rating:
Summary: Multi-purpose unit that does it all
Review: Very nice looking unit that plays satellite radio (XM), CD's (including ones you burn), and AM/FM radio. Highly recommended.

Rating:
Summary: Poor quality & customer service
Review: We bought this Saturday, installed easily, good sound. After a couple days I tried using the portable feature by installing batteries. Never got it to work despite using several sets of batteries. Now it won't work when I connect it back to electricity, just get a loud hum. Customer service is voice mail or email, never got a response. We are returning this for a refund after only four days.

Rating:
Summary: Absolutely the BEST XM accessory out there!
Review: Wonderful product. Just about the best XM SkyFI accessory I have ever had. Extremely durable, and rugged construction. Not much on looks, but is just about the best product of it's type I have ever owned.

Unabashed plug: I am a blind person. I attend a school out here in Rancho Mirage called the Braille Institute. A couple of weeks ago, I mentioned XM radio to about 150 of my fellow students. Just this week, about 70 of them told me that they had got themselves a SkyFI radio, and told me that XM radio was the best thing ever to enter thier lives.

Maybe XM should hire me as a marketer... :)