How is your portable XM? (1 Viewer)

I'm thinking about losing the SkyFi2 I have currently. It's been constantly resetting and losing all of my pre-sets. I've noticed the quality of the sound through my tape adapter (I was told is better than FM Mod since it's direct) has been getting pretty poor -- either it's XM, or the receiver is just going out.

I've been thinking about getting a portable player -- I thought the MyFi was a little bulky, and I'd read a fair amount of down reviews about it's reception. What are you using for a portable receiver; are you using it in the car? I read that the new Pioneer out there also did MP3's?

Thanks,
Doug

I'm using a myfi and the reception's not bad[at home it's iffy]on the road with the Clip XT antenna.

I only have a SkiFi but here is some info on the new XM portables...

Pioneer Inno
http://www.crutchfield.com/S-tDi09qj...inno&i=130INNO

Samsung Helix
http://www.crutchfield.com/S-tDi09qj...lix&i=305HELIX

I installed a SkiFi2 in my wifes's Grand Prix and she loves it. And so do I when I drive her car. Doug, I'm not sure if this will work, but maybe since you already have an antenna installed, you could use it with a MyFi. I'm sure the installed antenna would be far better than the Clip XT antenna (if it will work). Has anyone done this?

The mifi wont work with the standard Skyfi car antenna unless you buy a adapter. But you do get a car kit with the togo units that has a car antenna that fits it. I have read reports of people with the new helix and inno units not even needing to have antennas plugged in it picks up satellite, not just terrestrial signals with the unit in a pocket.

If you don't live in a supersized town(like me) the reception is really bad with the headphone antenna. It doesn't even work in the car. It's still good in bigger towns(tested in St. Louis, springfield, peoria, st. paul, minneapolis). As for reception in home with the more powerful antenna, I have it set up going out my dank basement window and it picks up pretty good.

Anyone have any experience with the Inno or Helix yet? The Inno sounds really cool but I'll have a tough time justifying the $399 for it. From the few reviews I've read, it sounds like the reception on them is a lot better -- something about Belkin headphones with antenna too.

I like the idea of being able to store MP3s on it. I can get satellite radio in the car while using an FM mod, or I can play my MP3 with the FM mod. That's pretty cool. While it would be nice to be able to store more music on it, 6-7 hours is still quite a bit of music. I've got a little crappy MP3 player now, that I just refresh with new music when I'm tired of it. I think it's great that I could store a bajillion CDs on an Ipod, but I don't really need it. I think of an MP3 player as being a CD wallet in my car.

Doug

Just found something very shitty about the Inno

http://www.xm411.com/phpbb/viewtopic...=asc&start=105

It seems they've disabled the FM Modulator for stand alone use. As of the new Firmware update, the Inno can only use the FM Mod when in the car cradle -- similar to the Samsung NeXus. That just really, really sucks. I know one of the things I've always liked about my SkyFi2 is the ability to have it broadcast around my house with the home kit. I don't understand why they didn't enable the FM mod to work in the car cradle and in the home kit -- I suppose I can understand (not agree) with not being able to use the FM mod anywhere/anytime sans a kit, but this just sucks.

Doug