SIRIUS Stiletto 2 Portable Satellite Radio with MP3 Player
by Sirius Satellite Radio
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List Price: Our Price: $335.99 You Save: $64.00 (16%) Availability: Usually ships in 1-2 business days Buy Used: from $124.99 (click here) Category: CE See more product details |
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Customers in the UK,
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for British Pounds
Digital Cameras Photo Reviews of SIRIUS Stiletto 2 Portable Satellite Radio with MP3 Player
Customer Review: The Best Sirius Reciever by Far....
Summary: 5 Stars
Let me begin by saying that I've been a Sirius subscriber for close to 7-years. When the Sirius S50 Portable Receiver was released, I was one of the first bunches of people to purchase it. I used the S50 with both the Home Kit and Car Kit. I am proud to say that I loved this product up until the end...when I broke it.
Now for the Stiletto 2:
I am very cautious when it comes to making an electronic purchase. I find myself doing tons of research on the product and reading allot of user reviews. With the Stiletto 2 there are a lot of positive and negative reviews. I found myself having some reservations on making the purchase due to the negative reviews that I was reading. After some hesitation I finally ordered the Stiletto 2 and it turned out to be the best decision that I've made in a while.
The Stiletto 2 is awesome! It has the ability to pick up a satellite signal when you are on the go...and when it can't find a good signal it can utilize a Wi-Fi Spot to get you service. It can pre-record your favorite Sirius music channels and your favorite songs so you always have music. For an additional $20 (approximately) you can add an 8GB memory card to add all of your favorite MP3's to the unit.
I purchased the Home Kit with it and it works flawlessly. I'm glad to see that both the car kit and home kit cost a lot less money than what the kits cost for the S50 when it was released.
So to sum it all up...I highly recommend this product if you are a fan of Sirius Satellite Radio. I believe that a lot of the negative reviews that you will read are a result of people maybe not fully understanding how to operate the unit. In addition there have been a few firmware upgrades that have enhanced the product. This unit has a lot of features so there can be a short learning curve but after you figure it out you will absolutely love it!
Customer Review: Could be so much better
Summary: 3 Stars
The device itself is nice, but the included antenna/headphone unit is PAINFUL to wear and does not pull a steady signal - at least around where I live. To solve this, I had to buy the home docking kit and hang the accompanying antenna out of a bedroom window - this is the way to go I think because you can download whatever you need and charge the device at the same time. Buying the Stiletto 2 without the car kit or home kit is probably not going to work for many users. With the home kit, I get two bars (out of three) and am able to save a lot of recordings for later playback in the car. Good battery life, sound quality is good but not excellent. I like the variety of programming, but the setup over the phone was not great -- and of course there are all kinds of extra fees they tack on when you subscribe for the first time including an activation fee. Also, and this is my fault for not researching more, the only way you can save a song to the library using the LOVE function is when you are listening to a live satellite feed and the song plays pretty much in its entirety -- and only then can you catch just the song by itself into your library. If you change channels to catch a song that you love and the song is halfway over, the device doesn't magically download the beginning half of the song - it just records whatever is still left to play in the live stream. Also, if you record a sequence of songs for an hour or two and there is one song in particular that you want to save in your library - you can't do that either - you only get to save the whole sequence. And, you can't save anything when listening via an Internet stream, wi-fi , etc. I had the idea that this would let me easily save a bunch of single songs and comedy sequences to a library on the device for future playback - it does do these things - but much less easily than I had hoped.Customer Review: A well functioning portable device
Summary: 4 Stars
I was concerned by the polar opposite reviews I was reading here but decided to order the unit. I am glad I did. I suspect the polarity of the reviews results from the satellite coverage: If you are situated in a poor coverage area, you will get poor reception. Here is my experience: I found the unit itself well made and easy to operate. one caveat is that there is a slight delay between the input and the device's reaction. At first, it seemed like the device was not responding properly, but I quickly got used to it. The delay is only a few seconds. I have poor reception inside my house. Despite that, I was able to get a consistent signal everywhere but my basement. It did take a while to acquire, but once it did, it worked fine. The favorites feature, which allows you to save songs that are playing is great. I also got the home docking system, which is very nice. The docking port charges the battery and allows a connection to a home stereo. It also provides an antenna that can be mounted internally or externally. Although I was only able to get a signal of half strength, according to the signal finder function, the unit itself shows all bars and has played without interruption. The remote control is a nice feature. My only complaint is that there is no provision for auto dimming based on ambient light. I use it in my bedroom and it is fairly bright when the room is dark. (The vehicle docking unit does have an ambient light feature). In sum, I think this is a great unit. I would have given it 5 stars except I consider the home and vehicle docking features to be an integral part of the system and one should not have to pay an additional $40 - $50 for each docking system. If they offered a complete package at a special price, the unit would be much more attractive. Still, I think it's well worth it.Customer Review: Awesome
Summary: 5 Stars
Bought this for wife for last XMas. Took her a little while to really get into it but she really loves it now. Installed car kit which really makes it handy, it's never low on charge since she uses it almost daily on 45 minute drives to work and back. I use it sometimes also, as do the kids, we all like it a lot. The wifi comes in handy, quite a few places (like some gyms, coffee shops, etc) where we'd have to listed to pre-recorded stuff because sat-reception isn't possible but can still get Sirius via internet. Wife also uses recording features a lot, she really likes that aspect as well. I haven't even used the memory yet, doesn't seem like that much of a point. I have thousands of MP3's but there is just SO much available on Sirius that it just doesn't seem necessary. I would like it if the player was compatible with [...] but hopefully it's just a matter of time. The headphone/antenna is fine with me though I think most people wouldn't like wearing them, but if you're in wi-fi range you can just connect that way anyway and stick with the earphones. Bottom line is that it's a bit of work to get the car kit (or whatever accessories) installed and figured out, along with figuring out all of the players features, but once that's out of the way life is much better!
EDIT: Just wanted to add something after having this for almost two years now (it's 10/29/09). We've since installed a car-kit in our truck that we tow our trailer with so the Sirius is ALWAYS with us on trips. Wife uses it as a portable all the time too. We've had a little glitch here and there over the two years, where the batter had to be pulled out and then it worked fine again, with nothing lost. Other than that, no problems at all. This thing is probably still the best little piece of electronics we own.
Customer Review: As Portable as a Desktop Computer. (Hint not very)
Summary: 2 Stars
Lets get the positives out of the way.
Great selection of music, Nice clear sound, excellent features like replay,save and channel announcing.
Thats where it stops.
This is rediculously overpriced, and one would think it is because of the extra Tech invovled in making it "Portable" which it is not.
The painfull antentae headphones only work when you are outside, in clear view of the north sky and practically motionless. You can not, I REPEAT CAN NOT, use this device inside a vehicle. unless its connected to a car system. In other words, if you plan to use this on your commute, train, bus, etc. wipe that idea from your minds RIGHT NOW. Aside from looking prettier than other bulkier Siruis radios you can purchase at a fraction of the price, There is no difference, The option to use the wifi feature as opposed to satellite might get you a clearer signal, but you need a wireless router, and you lose some of the save features only allowed in satellite mode, (not to mention a few channels as well)
So recap.
terrible "portable" reception
3 times the price of a regular sirus radio.
reduced features while using wifi.
The fact that we use this while we work on the computer feels even more insulting considering that you can order internet radio through sirius, blast the music thru your PC speakers, and save yourself 300 bucks.
BUt I didnt do that. because i thought this sirius radio was PORTABLE.
And no, just because it works fine indoors doesn't been that should be enough to give it a great score.
If someone told me I should be more lentient because my "portable" grandfather clock, told time as perfectly as my swatch watch,
I would laugh at them.