Sirius "walkman" (1 Viewer)

[DaveMcS]

I'm not well versed in the world of satellite radio..so forgive my ignorance.
As far as I can tell...XM has a true portable that works like an FM walkman that allows live listening while walking or (in my case) commuting. Sirius however has yet to release such a unit. I've only found an iPod like unit that will playback previously recorded programming..not actual live broacasts. I've heard it told that Sirius may not be able to release a "live" unit bacause they don't have nearly as many transmitters/repeaters to make a live broadcast reliably heard.Am I on track here...or just way off base? Does Sirius have plans to release a true "live" portable unit?

 

[TheLongshot]

As of right now, I think that's accurate. It wouldn't surprise me if Sirius does release an "XM2GO" clone at some point, but they tend to be a generation behind in hardware.

Jason

 

[Myram]

http://www.sirius.com/servlet/Conten...=1130363753674

There ya go.........live walkman Sirius radio.


Steve

 

[Douglas_C]

Incorrect. The Sirius S50 is not truly portable a la the XM2GO line. I have the Pioneer Airware and it's great - I live in NYC so repeater coverage is extensive. When I go out to Long Island, the reception isn't as extensive, but it's still pretty good.

The Sirius unit is pretty - but you can't listen on the go. It's a shame, as it is a good looking unit.

In any case, good luck with your purchase! Once you go satellite, you don't go back!

 

[Myram]

Well I think I'll believe the experts(Sirius) on this one........it is completely portable with live Sirius radio on it.

Steve

 

[Jeff Gatie]

Actually, Doug is correct. It is a live player at home, in the car or in the office and an iPod type portable that only plays recorded content away from a dock/antenna. Look closely at the literature:



It says nothing about receiving live content when in portable use. The devil is in the details (and I'm a Sirius subscriber and fan, so I am not biased).

 

[TheLongshot]

I think the key here is that there is nothing in the description about an internal antenna, which the XM2GO has, or the option to have a headphone with an integrated antenna, which XM offers.

Jason

 

[PatWahlquist]

I just got my Sirius S50 this week and it does not receive a live signal the way the XM2Go's do. As said above, you can schedule and record around 20 hours of content in various ways, and you can un-dock and listen to that. Sirius made a last minute change allowing you to set up schedulued recordings for only two hours of shows at a time, and you cannot schedule music channels to record. The do record "on the fly" if the radio is left on. Seems as if the RIAA had some issues with its ability to record this much content.

The S50 has a 1gb internal memory that holds 512mb of recorded Sirius content, and 512mb of your own mp3's- that's where the comparisons to the iPod's come in. However, it doesn't even compare due to the small storage space.

Sirius has pretty much come out this week and announced you will be able to add an antenna to make it receive live broadcasts. Once this happens, you then have a strong competitor to the XM2Go units. This functionality is supposed to be available in the next six months, and I wouldn't be surprised if they announce it officially at CES next month.

I have a MyFi as well, and right now, I'm happier with the it over the S50. The S50 is also being somewhat buggy right now, as it has some connectivity issues and other problems that are common to new devices. Sirius says there will be a firmware update soon that addresses many of these issues. I've been a XM subscriber for around 4 years now, and so far, I think their content is better.