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: Great Idea, Bad Execution
Summary: 2 Stars
I've had the Stiletto 2 almost since it's launch so I think I can speak to it's abilities or lack there of. The idea of being able to record your favorite music or talk show along with being able to fast-forward and rewind is fantastic and the reasons I bought it. But here's the problem: Sometimes it doesn't record your pre-scheduled show, Sometimes it will just stop recording in the middle of a program, Sometimes it just randomly deletes the content you recorded, Sometimes it just randomly deletes the content you recorded while you are listening to it! Sometimes it will just refuse to go to a satellite channel and leaves you at the main menu. Go online and search under Stiletto 2. You will find countless people complaining about the problems and work-arounds to get the thing going. Get used to pulling the battery out and resetting the entire device every couple of weeks.
As to reception, I defy anyone who owns it to use the built-in antenna and get a good signal. You can stand in an empty field with a cloudless sky (Yes, I've tried) and unless you find the exact direction of the satellite signal down to the millimeter you will get nothing. Once you do find the signal DO NOT MOVE. I will say the large headphones with the antenna built in that come with it do work fairly well. Just don't walk under leafy trees for an extended amount of time. Yes, you can use Wi-Fi when you are near a network, but it's not the most convenient method if you plan on using it on the go. And with Wi-Fi you lose all description of what's playing on the channels, only channel names are provided, and you can't record. The reception hooked up to a car or home kit is fine, but again, this is supposed to be a portable device.
The Stiletto's MP3 capability should be considered it least attractive selling point. At best it's a mediocre MP3 player and quite honestly, why would you spend this much money on an MP3 player and not get an iPod with it's superior build, functionality and reliability.
The content provided by Sirius is great and in no way should this review reflect on it. At the end of the day this is an extremely glitchy device that when it works is a great piece of electronics. The problem is getting it to work consistently.
Customer Review: Great when you can get reception
Summary: 4 Stars
What an adventure! I have had this radio for 4 days now and purchased the home docking kit so I could listen to it at work. I work in a single story building located in zone 2 (for those of you who found the satellite zones on the sirius website because of signal problems) and do not have access to an open window that faces north to northeast. In fact, I do not have access to a window at all! So I have had difficulties trying to get a good (or any) signal where my desk is at. I was able to squeeze 1 bar, but it was intermittent. I called Sirius to no avail. They suggested I use the wi-fi. We do have one at work, but I cannot get it to authenticate and connect. I think it has something to do with our proxy server. Sirius suggested that I mount an outdoor antenna. YEAH RIGHT! Not possible at WORK!!! They suggested that I use a signal repeater. NOPE! I am not about to spend another $100 just to get it working. Finally they suggested that I just use the internet radio through the website! At that point I was just about ready to return it. But, I have been a Sirius subscriber for over 4 years now, and I love the service. So, I searched the web to find a solution. I found on one of the forums I scoured, that someone had used the car antenna, which got a better signal than the antenna that comes with the home docking kit. I was skeptical at first, but found the car antenna (the low profile one) at a local dealer for $15. I took a chance and bought it. I figured that if it does not work, I can replace the bigger antenna that is already on my car with this one. So, I connected it and got no signal. #$^@!!! I disconnected it and was ready to take everything back. But, I thought to myself, I really did not try all the available spots to place the antenna. I placed it on top of the hutch at my desk, in the same spot I had the home docking antenna. VOILLA!!! It WORKED!!! I was able to get 3 bars or @ a 70% signal vs. the intermitten 1 bar and 30-40% signal with the home docking kit. I guess it has something to do with the multi-directional technology vs. the directional that the home docking antenna uses. Try it! It may or may not work for you, but I think it's worth a try. I'm a happy camper for now.Customer Review: Stiletto 100's and 2's - just say "no"!!!!!!
Summary: 2 Stars
I cannot tell you how horrible a device these Stiletto 100 or 2's are. I believe I have had at least 8 shipped to me this past year 2008. Granted, all but one have been refurbs, but I went through at least 5 S-100's, one being new and that only lasted 7 months before it wouldn't receive the satellite signal anymore.
The refurbs were all bad right out of the box. I am convinced that no one actually refurbs any of these things, as I received a couple with settings of other owners still intact. All were broken in one way or another. Thankfully, I found a great customer service rep who switched all of my equipment over to an S2, but that did not go any better. It took 3 units before one worked, and that lasted only a few weeks before the playback files got scrambled and it could not play anything in order or even play what the file said. It played random files from whatever date and time and length it felt like and not even the same way twice, which when you are recording Howard Stern, is not a good thing. I record six hours Mon-Thu, in one hour increments, and cannot find the next file (part) anymore. The next unit worked a few extra weeks and I had just gotten confidence that it was a good one - emailing the rep and thanking her, when that very night (yesterday) it happened again - another scrambled brain. I cannot find what I want to hear - the file names do not match the contents. Another is soon going to be on its way. Oh, the pain.
I love to hate this thing. When it works, I love it, but that isn't very much time - the rest of the time, I despise it and Sirius should be ashamed of itself for inflicting these things on its loyal (lifetime) customers - they are a true piece of CRAP. If I had paid full price, I would be even madder, but I got the first one for only $150 and even at that price, they aren't worth the aggravation. I can only hope to get lucky this next time, but I Siriusly doubt it can happen. On the bright side, at this rate, the warranty will likely never expire because I cannot get one to last anything close to a year. I suppose that is an upside, albeit a small one, a very small one. If you buy one, you had better have a ton of patience or develop it very, very quickly.
Customer Review: Very buggy software limits, ruins the experience.
Summary: 2 Stars
I received my Stiletto II about two weeks ago, and I've enjoyed the convenience of listening to Sirius programming on-the-go after recording it in my office during the day. The headphones it comes with are quite nice (metallic wiring). Most of the joy I get out of the device, however, is dashed by the very buggy software that's installed - and that I find myself having to reinstall over and over again - on it. In the last two weeks, I've had to perform an approximately 15-minute "device recovery" using a PC and the provided software to erase everything I've recorded and then reformat the Stiletto II. Thus far I've had to recover because: 1) the device had some kind of issue with an inability to delete recorded programs I no longer needed, freezing and then giving me an "error, plug into computer to recover" message; 2) for no apparent reason other than waking up the device after it had been recording during the afternoon; and 3) the software crashed the first time I attempted to upload mp3's onto it because I foolishly downloaded updated device software when prompted to by the "My Sirius Studio" program (the software you use to upload music and manage the files already on the Stiletto II, provided on a CD-ROM). In fact, I'm typing this as my Stiletto II is recovering after incident #3 ("Recovering / Please wait..." it says).
I regret buying this; I had a Sportster 4 that worked just fine. I haven't had to reboot the Stiletto 2 in the last few days (the time between incidents 2 and 3 because, I suspect, I'd been limiting my use to very simple things, like recording and listening to just one station, rather than attempting to upload mp3's or manage what files I had on the device after successive recordings. That means, however, it seems that to avoid future crashes I'll have to avoid enjoying the Stiletto 2 to its fullest advertised capability. I hope in the future other device makers than Sirius/Directed Electronics offer Sirius reception. The Stiletto 2 is just a mess.
It's been about 15 minutes already and my Stiletto 2 is now in the "Receiving Software" stage of the software recovery. I'll have to reselect my favorite stations and will have lost all my recordings. Sigh.
Customer Review: DON'T WASTE YOUR MONEY
Summary: 1 Stars
Simple. There is no customer service. None. Try it. If you enjoy a listening to a person from a foreign land who cannot do anything to help you reading a pointless script, you are in luck. The details I mention here have all been subject to repeated conversation with customer service, and they don't even pretend to address these issues.
HEY! Before you invest any time or money in this product, be aware - THIS DEVICE WILL PERIODICALLY ERASE EVERYTHING ON IT WITHOUT WARNING. If you have saved anything, either from the radio or something you've copied from another source, it will be erased with no apparent cause or notice. It will also dump your settings, the programs you want to record, everything. The closest thing I have seen as to a cause is that it happens when Sirius does an automatic update. And you might think, well since this problem is mentioned all over the web there must be a solution. Nope. You will find posts about this issue literally from the day it was released until the present. You will also see that this company will tell you that this is not happening. Sirius has your money, and they could not care less.
Users who had other units should also be aware that this product will not broadcast to your FM radio unless it's hooked up in your car. Sure, removing that ability would seem to be shockingly stupid, but when you consider the other design choices made with this device it's no surprise. No more listening to your radio throughout your home. In addition, my own experience with it is that, with a side by side comparison, that it's ability to receive the satellite single is very poor compared with my old crappy Sportster. I can plug in the old radio and get a perfect signal, and then plug in the Stiletto and get nothing. It is also finicky, slow, and flat out annoying to use.
Remove the recording and storage features from this product - which Sirius has already done for you - and you have literally nothing to recommend it over the much (MUCH) less expensive units available. The Stiletto 2 is simply a piece of garbage.