SIRIUS Stiletto 2 Portable Satellite Radio with MP3 Player
by Sirius Satellite Radio
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Digital Cameras Photo Reviews of SIRIUS Stiletto 2 Portable Satellite Radio with MP3 Player
Customer Review: Long Term Update - Problems, Problems, Problems
Summary: 5 Stars
After eight months of use, this device started crashing multiple times a day. I had to restore it several times and then repeatedly program my favorites and recording information (like a DVR). It ultimately wouldn't boot. The final failure occurred before the 12 month warranty period but I didn't have time to contact Sirius. Ultimately, I had to cancel the service. SiriusXM has some of the worst customer service I have ever seen. Poor English, weak technical skills and no follow-up.
Original Review:
As a person who owns an iPhone, Blackberry, and iPod, I have no shortage of gadgets or portable entertainment options. While I am personally not a sufficiently enthusiastic fan of Howard Stern to purchase a satellite radio in order to listen to his show, I do enjoy listening to CNBC financial news during my brief commute to my job in the financial sector. Much like I would record a TV show on my PVR (personal video recorder), I record a four hour block of CNBC every morning and then begin listening to the recording an hour after it started. If I have a free hand, I fast forward through the commercials. Oddly, the commercials on CNBC radio are quite a bit worse than on the television channel. The TV version of CNBC pounds users with repetitive commercials for a variety of investment products and services, generally from legitimate companies such as Scottrade and Ameritrade. The radio version has even more annoying ads with questionable services such as back tax negotiation services, debt relief, and small business marketing services - most from obscure enterprises.
The music selection on Sirius XM is great, even if one already has a significant iTunes collection. Personally, I listen to so much music on my iPod, I often run out of music that I still enjoy. So, I really like Sirius stations such as Alternative Nation, The Spectrum and Lithium with fairly large track lists. For some hard-to-describe reason, I enjoy having a live DJ make a few comments occasionally. These comments are far less frequent than on traditional terrestrial radio and there are no commercial messages. While iTunes and Internet radio have their advantages, listening to Sirius makes you feel somewhat connected to the outside world especially when working late or when on long bicycle rides. In addition to using the Stiletto 2, I enjoy logging on Sirius Internet radio when at home or work even though I have access to a number of Internet radio options.
As anyone considering the purchase of satellite radio should already know, there are certain limitations in obtaining a satellite signal. Specifically, it can't be received more than a few feet from a window. Fortunately, those of us living in metropolitan areas can receive the terrestrial broadcast signals. Getting a signal even in an urban canyon is not a problem when on a street or in the bus. Moving far into the interior a commercial building can be problematic, however. Recently, I purchased the Stiletto 2 home kit, which has a small antenna the user can put close to a window and then run an included 25 foot cable to the cradle that holds the radio. I would highly recommend the home kit if you want to listen to the radio indoors. Incidentally, Sirius provides a rather large set of headphones with an integrated antenna, in addition to a smaller set. I have never needed to use them as I pick up the terrestrial broadcast.
While I have been quite happy with my purchase, I did find the screen extremely easy to scratch. By accident, I placed the radio in an inside pocket with my keys, which led to several scratches on the screen. While I should have known better, this situation never caused such severe scratches on my BlackBerry or iPod. Other oddities with the Stiletto 2 include what appears to be its significant power consumption. The device gets warm when recharging and even gets slightly warm when listening to and recording a station.
The user interface is quite a bit more colorful than your typical mp3 player. With bright blue, white and orange colors clearly outlining a collection of icons for selecting Satellite Radio, Internet Radio, Recording, etc, it is rather easy to navigate where you want to go. On occasion, it seems to slow down much like a computer that has too many programs running simultaneously. On one occasion, it has crashed. Even with such limitations, the UI is a nice alternative to my iPod UI. All pros and cons considered, the Stiletto 2 is excellent addition to my gadget collection that allows access to important news and appealing music selections like no other device.
Pros
Portable access to content unavailable elsewhere (CNBC, Bloomberg)
Allows recording of radio, allowing the user to skip commercials
Commercial-free music
Compact, fully portable
Significant amount memory for recording radio or loading mp3's
Excellent sound quality
Two pairs of headphones - one with integrated satellite antenna and one regular compact model
Cons
Screen scratches easily
Power hungry
Optional satellite headset a bit bulky
Customer Review: Don't buy refurbished Stileto 2.
Summary: 1 Stars
I bought a stileto 2 to listen to Howard Stern (I'm a huge fan). It was a refurbished model, but I didn't care as refurbished stuff has always worked out for me. Who cares if they open the computer and change the chip out and screw it back togther? Boy was I wrong with this thing. It broke a couple of weeks after I got it. I called and they sent a new one right away. The people on the phone were nice enough and shipped the new one out and I just put the old one in the same box and mailed it out. I thought for sure they were going to do that "Ship it to us and we'll have it back in five weks." thing, so I was happy.
This happened SIX times. Each time they act amazed that I am so incredibly unlucky as to have this happen so many times. It's like wen you call a car company and they tell you that they're stunned that your water pump broke and are you sure you didn't break it accidentally, when they really took 25 calls that day about broken water pumps. Unless I really did win the bad luck lottery and got sent six broken radios. In short, I think that when I sent my radio in they just picked up a broken radio that someone else tuned in and put it in a box and sent it to me. They often still had music on it from the lst guy that had it. It's like a big broken radio cycle. I have heard that Sirius knows about the quality problem with Stiletto 2's and has hired Audiovox to take over the manufacture of them. If this is the case then make sure you get one made by them, as it cannot be worse than the crap they have now. I'm getting my seventh one now and if it drops recorded programs again I'm just going to give up and mail mine to Mel Karmizin and start hitting every web site on the internet warning people of this crappy radio. Remember- in marketing class they taught me that you can never know how much damage just one angry customer can do to a company; so make sure everyone's happy.
Here's stuff I found on the net after 1 minute of looking:
i am so disappointed by the low quality of the units. i had a sportster in the car and after the 5th one and the warranties running out i gave up but in between i bought my husband a stilleto which i use now and it has been acting up for some time. Today it was doing all the things everyone is complaining about, constantly repairing media, not holding the recorded material. Really, the only reason is Howard. But how can this madness go on. What the Heck!
Does anyone have any problems with the Sirius Stiletto 2?
Mine plays fine until I try to record something, then it plays for maybe a half hour then stops. It worked fine since I got it for Christmas but now this! Do I need to get a new one or are my settings messed up
Bruce E. Fleming
I got my first stiletto 2 earlier this year. After 2 months the library feature was no longer working which means that anything i tried to record to listen to later would not work. I cant listen live to my radio at work because i'm indoors so the replay feature is the reason i own this radio.
[..]i love satellite radio and Howard Stern but enough is enough. This radio has a design flaw and i wont be a subsriber again until Sirius/XM's engineers get their crap together.
I won't go into all the features and limitations of the Stiletto 2 because that's been done in other reviews. I will say that this is my second Stiletto (had the Stiletto 100 previously) that has started to fail in less than 1 year. My recordings now regularly get deleted - sometimes while I'm in the middle of listening to them. I put it in the home dock every night to record the Howard Stern show, and never know if it will just decide not to record, only record a portion of it, or mysteriously delete all previous days' recordings that I haven't listened to yet. It's become so unreliable that I've decided to cancel my service - I just can't see spending money on another piece of hardware.
Sadly, when I called Sirius technical support about this, they claimed to have no reports of the problems I'm having. But all you need to do is search on the internet for "Sirius stiletto deletes recordings" and you can find plenty of people complaining about the same problem.
Shame on you, Sirius. My predicition is that this company will eventually be gone, not because of the quality of the stations (that part is great) but because of all the problems with the hardware.
I thought this thing would be like a Tivo for Sirius. Its not. I have had several defective units. I would galdly pay more for something that works. This kinda stinks because I love Sirius so much I sure they will dupe me again next year.
Customer Review: Nice idea, flawed execution, abisimal service.
Summary: 2 Stars
My wife gave me the Stiletto 2 as a Christmas gift. Here it is New Year's eve and I'm awaiting my 3rd return. Yes, 3 defective units.
In my case, the device will not hold a WiFi connection most of the time and will disconnect in as quick as 30 seconds. It connects and buffers quickly, but drops connection (even while showing a strong signal) in moments. Several times the dropped connection initiated a reboot of the device which takes an exceptionally long time to run as it is.
I've had few problems with the Satellite signal with both the internal antenna as well as the headphones. Both work as well as my GPS receiver in that as long as I have a fairly good view of the sky, I get a signal. If I go inside, I lose it. In fact, I've even had a weak but usable signal inside where I never expected one.
In dealing with Sirius custom support, I sent a highly detailed e-mail with the results of testing with my second unit. Over 48 hours later (they promise a 24 hour response) I got a reply that told me to call their Technical Support.
I get a 'Supervisor' on Technical Support that insists that the problem with my WiFi is a bad internal Antenna. This is the same reason I got for unit #1 that was malfunctioning in a similar manner.
I find this diagnosis doubtful for several reasons.
1) I can connect and initially download (buffering) from any distance from my router that I can get a signal on my laptop.
2) Even sitting less than a foot from the router with full signal and no other RF devices (computer, phone, cell phone, etc) on, the unit drops connection as if I had a marginal connection.
As an engineer who has developed software for networked devices and did some early packet radio work, the failure looks more like an issue with lost packets and time outs rather than a "Faulty Antenna". Especially since the same antenna is used for the satellite reception and I've found that to be quite good given the size of the device.
If you are looking for a portable satellite radio, this is a good unit, but if you are looking for a way to enjoy Sirius programming while working around the house where you can't get a clear view of the sky or the average boombox or stereo is not a good solution, this device seemed like a perfect solution, but is instead very disappointing.
Hopefully Sirius will get the WiFi issues resolved soon, but until that occurs, I CAN NOT recommend this product as the primary use as portable
radio is simply not well served.
UPDATE: There was a firmware update earlier this summer. I have since set up a satellite repeater inside my home so that I do not have to use the WiFi service (the WiFi service also does not carry things like NFL Games, so this is just as well.) However, since the latest firmware update, I have tried several times and succeeded in getting the WiFi service to work as advertised.
I changed NOTHING on my network. So, there must have been something in the Stiletto that wasn't working correctly. In any case, it seems to be fixed.
I'd now upgrade the Rating of this device to a 4. I still have a few reservations, but it's now functioning as advertised.
Things I still don't like:
Recordings can act odd at times. Generally a complete shutdown and restart solves whatever was wrong. Be sure to clean up your recordings so that you don't fill the memory. Once full, really weird things happen.
If you have the device docked and it records something while in standby mode, you can not turn it on without either undocking it, or toggling the on/off several times.
You can not delete Radio Replay items. It says you did, but they are still there.
Many times the processor can't keep up with operations from a remote control. I can't tell you how often I have to hit a remote button more than once for the device to actually do what I ask. This is most annoying when the phone rings and I can't pause the music.
Things that are just AWESOME:
Basically a Tivo for radio. Record what you want, and you can fast forward, rewind, etc. Pause live material and you can then pick up where you left off or move ahead to 'now'. Can also rewind to hear something you might have missed. This only works over the satellite, not on WiFi.
Any music station you listen to is recorded for radio replay. If you can't get a good signal, just replay an old recording.
All in all I'm quite happy with this device now.
Customer Review: I really wanted this to work
Summary: 2 Stars
As the subject states, I really wanted this to work.
For those who read through my review, I want to make it clear that I am a Sirius fan. I've had a Sirius satellite radio in my car for two years now and I cannot imagine driving around without it.
Last year I accepted a new job that puts me on the train every day instead of in the car for my morning commute. I've missed my satellite radio since then so for the last few months, I've had my eye on the Stiletto. I decided to wait for the Stiletto 2, and I finally took the plunge over the weekend.
Out of the box, the radio looks very attractive and fits perfectly in my hand. The large display is colorful, bright, and easy to read and navigate. The controls are very easy to operate. Overall, a very intuitive design.
The radio is feature packed. You can import your own music into the device via included software. In my opinion, there is plenty of space for stored content out of the box (about 100 hours worth) and I think that will acommodate most people. For those of us with large music and audio book libraries, the added micro-SD card slot is a nice touch. Another feature was wireless connectivity. Some claimed they had problems with frequent disconnects. I didn't have this problem.
Activation was pretty simple, however I couldn't grab a signal indoors, I needed to stand outside on the front porch to complete the activation and the initial download of the channels. I was hoping this wasn't going to be a typical problem, as I even had the antenna headset plugged in. By the way, I've heard rumblings about the Altec Lansing headphones being uncomfortable and I would have to agree. I think Sirius could have made a better choice in headphones, since they seem to be a requirement for this device to get any kind of a signal.
Now, on to reception. Let me make it perfectly clear that I live in the outer suburbs of Chicago. I live near a small city called Crystal Lake, and although is not very close to downtown Chicago, I wouldn't consider myself as living in the "boondocks" either. I also want to make it clear that I purchased this radio so I could listen to it on the train. Those of us who have long train commutes would appreciate having such ability to listen to their iPod or satellite radio. And since my commute is up to 1.5 hours each way (up to 3 hours round trip commute) one could see how I would become excited about bringing my Sirius programming with me on the train.
When I first put the headphones on and fired up the unit, I was standing in the depot after having just finished mixing my coffee. No signal. Okay, so I walked outside and with a cloudless sky, I was able to get two bars and I was able to listen to the radio. I walked across the tracks and went to one of the open-air shelters (it was a particularly cold day and there are warmers installed overhead in the shelter.) As soon as I entered the shelter, I lost signal. Huh, okay. I decided to test it. I walked out of the shelter and received signal again. I walked around and although uninterrupted, I walked under a tree and the signal was interrupted. I started to become discouraged.
So, the train arrived and I boarded, selected a window seat and settled in. I was very disappointed (heartbroken, would be a better term) that I could not get a signal for pretty much the entire train ride. I tried moving the headphone wire closer to the window, I tried leaning my head closer to the window, tried holding the unit closer to the window, but the screen continuously displayed "Acquiring Signal." It was only when we were a couple miles from downtown that I was able to get a signal, but I attribute this to retransmitters that I hear people talking about.
I realized the same results on the way home. I tried it again the next day, this time sitting on the upper row of seats but to no avail. Since this purchase was primarily for entertainment while on the long train commute, I have decided to return the radio. I suppose I'll look into XMs option or just get an iPod. I will keep a sharp eye out for future offerings from Sirius and XM. I haven't given up on my quest to bring satellite radio with me where ever I go.
I give this product two stars, for the added features and well designed menues and navigation. It's too bad that I couldn't use it for its intended purpose, hence the deduction of three stars.
Customer Review: Pleasant Surprise; good radio; decent MP3 player
Summary: 4 Stars
I should point out that I got my Stiletto 2 directly from Sirius for a $100. I would not pay anything more than $150.
As a Satellite receiver, it actually works well. After reading the original reviews, all I can guess is that Sirius updated the system. I can actually listen to the radio inside near the windows using the provided headphones (as one reviewer noted: they aren't that bad; imagine using a typical 1987 headphone set; bulky but not too bad). The battery life is only about 4 hours listening to live radio. Not too convenient if listening on the go or at the beach. You will want to invest in a car kit but again this will not help in all cases.
Wi-Fi: The Wi-fi connection works great. I have used it at home; at a friend's house; at the airport. The only problem I have ever had is at a hotel as it required that the user click on an approval button first on their website (which is not possible on this device). The battery life is amazing when using Wi-Fi; almost 8 - 10 hours long. Yes the streaming quality is low (about 96 or maybe even less)- but the songs still sound good. I should point out that you can use normal head phones when streaming. This means you can plug in the Stiletto when using Wi-Fi, which then gives you infinite listening time.
MP3 Player: It is a decent MP3 player as long as you keep in mind that the MP3 functionality is not the core component of this device. You can add a micro SD card so the amount of listening time can be very large. Unfortunately (at a loss of 1 star), Sirius still makes you use their not-too-easy-to-use software to transfer your music to the device (Sirius did provide access to a third party service - which of course is no longer is business). You cannot use Windows Media Player to transfer nor can you copy your music files directly to the device. The copying of files using the Sirius Stiletto is slow. You can create playlists; however no playlists can use files saved to your micro SD card. Again at the description says - "with MP3 player" - remember this and you will not be disappointed.
**EDIT*** - Forgot to mention that the life when listening to MP3 / "Hearted" Sirius Songs or radio playbacks is well over 15 hours. Again you can plug the Sirius in while listening to MP3s etc. as you can use normal headphones. (FYI: If you listen to a channel a lot, the Stiletto will record the channel in theh background. You can then listen to the channel if you do not have access to any live feeds)
"Heart" function: If you are listening to live radio (ONLY! Does not work with Wi-Fi OR Radio playbacks (i.e. My xxxxx channel if you used the older radios) or if you rewind / fastforward), you can press the "heart" button and the radio will record the song. You can then listen to the song from Sirius at any given time. If you think about it: if you record 1 song a day - within 3 months this radio has basically paid for itself when compared to paying $.99 per song. Sirius only gives you a limited amount of space (although I think many hours worth of songs). Still compare this function to using an IPOD. Finally Sirius did update the menu area for the Sirius recorded music.
Overall if you can get this radio for $150 or less, I believe you will be happy. Sirius seems to have fixed a lot of the quirks of the older models (we had to take back our S50s numerous times as they kept failing) and this model seems to be more stable. The live radio works well (with a short battery life). If you can Wi-Fi, then you will have almost endless listening time. The MP3 player is not that bad but you are forced to use weak software to transfer songs.