SIRIUS Stiletto SL100 Portable Satellite Radio Receiver
by Sirius Satellite Radio
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List Price: Our Price: $189.99 You Save: $210.00 (53%) Availability: Usually ships in 1-2 business days Category: Car Audio or Theater See more product details |
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Customers in the UK,
Buy this product at amazon.co.uk
for British Pounds
Digital Cameras Photo Reviews of SIRIUS Stiletto SL100 Portable Satellite Radio Receiver
Customer Review: Love Love Love my s100
Summary: 5 Stars
Just got my s100 last month - and I love it. My favorite feature - surprise to me, as I hadn't thought it was that big of a deal when I read about it - is the wireless internet radio feature. I use this all of the time at home and at work, sooo handy! Small lightweight, cool looking. And other features? All good, no complaints. Reception on satellite is great with the built-in antenna, using the headset antenna is good for some tougher outdoor reception areas. And if you are tricky with the headset antenna and a splitter for the headphone jack, you can even rig your own home or car kit that'll do just fine in a pinch if you don't feel like paying the extra $$s for the real home or car dock kits. Love the fact that it comes with 2 batteries - one slim, one a longer lasting fatty, how cool is that. This is a slick item, and with lifetime a Sirius radio subscription, would qualify as an ultimate gift for people who are hard to shop for - a lot of wow factor along with usability.
One little annoyance when shopping/buying - where ever these are sold, there doesn't seem to be any mention of case color, or a way to choose between a white or black case, and photos tend to primarily show the black case. So - mine arrived with a white case, and I wasn't pleased, as I expected black. However, the white is a pearlized, metallic white - not too horrible, so I kept it. But - if that might be an issue for you - ASK before buying which color you are getting, the two definitely look different. Small improvements that would be nice (and will probably be on the next release - but I couldn't wait :) A real carrying case or clip? Though it seems no portable devices come with those anymore - why? The headset antenna earpieces are sometimes a little uncomfortable - but I don't need to use it that much - still, they should work on that. Would be nice if they could include car/home kits while keeping the price low.. but I'm dreaming.
All in all - a great product, I love it, use it every day and recommend it to my geek friends. It seems like some of the lukewarm reviews I saw for this item were misplaced - looked like old reviews for the original Stiletto (s50)? I've had Sirius for a while and wanted the original s50, but held off because I heard it had issues - and I'm glad I waited.
Customer Review: Lots of hype, fair performance
Summary: 2 Stars
Summary: Save money, use free Internet radio and copy your CDs to your mp3 player.
What does work: Satellite radio ONLY with an external antenna (and not with the headphones/antenna). MP3s uploaded to memory.
Problems: Satellite radio with the built-in antenna or with the headphone antenna doesn't work. WiFi connection to Sirius.com is awful. Sirius programming lacks language diversity.
This device has lots of promise but very little performance. It took 40 minutes just to get a connection to register the thing, and I was standing in open Arizona desert without anything to block the signal. Once I got it registered with Sirius, and found out the reception was so horrible, I figured I'd use the built-in WiFi. WRONG. It doesn't play for more than 5 minutes without going to dead air while it caches more. The same Internet connection plays 128kbit audio and higher video streams all day long on the computer, so it's clearly a Sirius service problem or the device is crap.
Sound is fair in satellite mode, more like a 16-32kbit IP stream than "near CD quality". The compression required to send the signal from satellite significantly reduces fidelity, and even talk radio sounds tinny with lots of compression artifacts. Standard FM radio is much higher fidelity than what this radio delivers over satellite reception.
If you want satellite for high fidelity, don't get this radio. I don't know if other Sirius radios have better satellite fidelity, but I doubt it. They have to cram a lot of data into a limited pipe, and you can really hear the compression loss.
I would return the radio if I didn't live in the middle of nowhere where any radio is hard to get. If you do want satellite radio because you can't get other radio, then do not bother with the Stiletto models, since the "portable" "live" satellite and wifi Sirius radio don't work. Just get the cheapest device you can find and be sure to get an external antenna. Better yet, get a good shortwave radio and you'll get similar fidelity for free, and in any language you want.
-1 star for lousy wifi radio
-1 star for no satellite radio without external antenna
-1 star for not coming close to the advertised features
Customer Review: Sirius Stiletto: Not just for knives & boots anymore!
Summary: 4 Stars
PROS:
- 100 hours of recording! (2GB NAND FLASH)
- Record in 6-hour blocks (useful for Stern fans)
- Gets ALL channels, U.S. & Canadian
- Smooth rubbery feel and easy navigation
- Larger screen than the Inno
- Two batteries, the Standard (4 hours satellite) and Slim (2 hours satellite)
- First satellite radio with WiFi... very useful.
- Similar to the S50 in other ways
- 5V for Satellite, WiFi, less electrical draw when playing from NAND
- Record a song while listening to a song stored on your stiletto!
CONS:
- Sometimes, the WiFi will just disconnect on its own
- You cannot record via WiFi or from satellite buffer. (Due to the RIAA)
- Without the home dock or car dock out, you have to find a creative way of getting a satellite signal indoors while recording 6 hr blocks.
- The antenna headphones are at 45 degree angles, not only for XM, now for SIRIUS. I have no idea what they're thinking when they designed this.
- The batteries are made cheaply, it doesn't fit into the stiletto anymore if it's been through the wash.
- Tune into a song you like half way in, and hit record, it starts from when you tune in all the way until the end of the song.
- Internet Radio is useless while browsing if you don't have a list of artists & songs.
- In a clear view sky without any surrounding buildings, the Stiletto only gets one, maybe two bars. Same with the antenna headphones, although it's acceptable. In a terrestrial repeater area [...]
- No song seek or artist seek. (Again, due to RIAA)
Overall:
I love the Stiletto for what it is. While the design could use some upgrading, it has some amazing features and it was worth the $350 I paid. For those who say the music programming sucks, I let a 3-year-old listen to Kids Stuff and she cried a lot when I had to go. (She just loved it) Great functionality. I recommend this to the die hard Sirius fans who don't want to pocket a hot radio while jogging around on a D.I.Y. battery power. I would highly recommend this for biking trips, camping, and would actually wait to buy this until the car kit and home kit comes out.
Customer Review: Extremely well developed product - a first of its kind
Summary: 5 Stars
I've had my Stiletto for a week and a half now and have been using it almost continuously since I got it. I honestly can't say enough good things about it! When I first heard about all of the features it was to have, I was concerned that the user interface would be complicated or that new features would be offered as a trade off for other features, but my worries were unfounded. Here are some key observations from my use thus far:
*The software is visually appealing, incredibly easy to use and navigate.
*I was pleasantly surprised to find that the surface is at least somewhat resistant to scratching (MUCH unlike the iPod which has a similar surface and cannot be TOUCHED without damaging it), and cleans very easily.
*With the antenna headphones it holds a signal extremely well and has an integrated antenna (technically you could use your own headphones if you could figure out a way to keep the top of the stiletto within clear view of the sky.)
*The Wi-Fi feature truly sets it apart from anything I've seen before and is incredibly useful when you can't get a clear view of the sky.
*Everything is included, including the antenna earphones, earbuds, a charger and 2 BATTERIES!! (Extended life and a low profile.)
*One touch recording allows you to very easily record Sirius content on a timed basis OR will automatically clip a song. EXCELLENT FEATURE, just hope the RIAA doesn't climb all over Sirius like they have XM for offering a similar feature.
My only suggestions would be that an external antenna be offered that is not integrated into a pair of headphones. I don't really like the in-ear headphones and would like to see Sirius follow the lead of XM, whose portables come with an extremely small external antenna that is independent of the headphones. Furthermore, I wouldn't say that this device should be seen as a worthy replacement of the iPod. It simply doesn't have enough storage space. While you can upload your own content to it (Not AAC) it is primarily a Sirius radio. Nonetheless, I cannot say enough good things about it... Has totally transformed my Sirius listening experience!
Customer Review: Received my Sirius Stiletto from Circuit City yesterday: My review
Summary: 4 Stars
I have a feeling I'm one of the lucky few who has actually received and tested the new Sirius Stiletto. Circuit City delivered my unit on 9/29/06. They might have prematurely shipped the radio to me since the reported release date is listed as 10/4/06. There doesn't appear to be any hands on reviews of this product to date. Please check satellite radio sites Orbitcast and SiriusBackstage for more info. Consider this an amateur review with only about a day and a half's use of the new device. With that said, I can truly say that I really enjoy using the Stiletto. It picks up the signal very well while inside my apt in NYC. When walking outdoors the unit stayed tuned while inside my jeans pocket. During a four mile walk throughout the city my signal was completely uninterrupted. As expected, when going deeper inside of buildings the device lost its signal. Switching to the WiFi connection to get the stations worked great on my apartment wifi, but I had some problems linking up with various other wifi hot spots. You'll want to record and store various programs for use with the device indoors, when without a signal, and for way longer battery life. The slim battery I used lasted only about 2hrs while listening to continuous live satellite radio. The extended battery which comes standard should last much longer but you will definately want to keep this unit charged while at home. It's very easy to use the Stiletto and I like that the device resumes playback to it's previous spot when you power it on and off. The previous S50 did not. The screen is large and bright and the resolution of the fonts and logos is sharp. It's very cool to have all this programming at your fingertips while on the move, though I found myself listening to Howard most of the time. The Stiletto's live feed is fun to surf and really makes you yearn for more battery life. Overall, I'll say this radio is a must have for Sirius fans. Though I wish it were a touch smaller and lighter, it does has a suprisingly solid feel and works well. It's loaded with other features I haven't used. I really recommend this device, but stay tuned for more in-depth reviews of the Stiletto when it finally ships.