 |
Sirius S50 Portable Satellite Radio Receiver with Car Pack
By: Sirius Satellite Radio Average Rating: 3.0 Total Reviews: 122
More Information
 On: 2007-12-25
I bought the s50 when it first came out and 2 years later, Im still in love with it. I bought it for Howard Stern and I got a good system going. I program it to record the show in 3hr chunks. Then when I get home or on the weekend I hear the shows. It would be great if it could listen to a show while I record one. However, thats really my only complaint.
 On: 2007-06-10
I was really looking forward to my new S50. Unfortunately, Sirius could not activate it. So I went through a series of support calls that ended three hours later with Sirius coaching me through an update of the units firmware using my computer and a huge software download from Sirius. No luck. So the tech said to return it. The box it came had stickers on it that said it could not be returned to the seller (Tiger Direct, via Amazon) which Sirius said violates their agreement with Amazon. Sirius does not warrantee the radio for the first 30 days and will not accept returns during that time. But the lady at Tiger Direct allowed us to return it. Seems this is a problem item for them. So I went to Best Buy to get a working version, but they dont carry it. The clerk told me they had problems with that model and dont sell it any longer. I bought the ST4 and had it installed. Its great! The sound is excellent and it has all the features I need for alot less money. You couldnt GIVE me an S50! If I need to carry music with me I will get an Ipod.
 On: 2007-03-14
This is the most perfect creation since online shopping. Seriously, this is an amazing radio with the most spectacular, user friendly options. This single device has skyrocketed my exercising motivation and my daily joy of driving. Not only can you download your own songs but any song you hear on the satellite radio broadcast you can save as well. Shuffle the songs and you have an outstanding array of your favorites. Sleek design looks perfect in the Benz too!
On: 2007-02-17
I am pleased with the unit. It functions well and looks great. The sound, as well as the viraity, is great, and the preformance of the unit is near flawless. You can record and rewind what you are listening to, plus you can load your own stuff. I travel a lot and it it is great to have. I havent used it as an MP3 player yet, but so far it is a great unit. The only draw back that I see is that there are still national shows that have not signed on yet, but if you like sports, this is for you.
On: 2007-02-13
I purchased the S50 w/ both car and home dock when it was first available which set me back over $400 dollars. Now after only 13 months it has completely quit working and I have been told it is no longer under warranty. Sirius has told me to simply buy a new one. Im having a hard time with this due to the fact that my previous Sirius radio (a Blaupunkt model) also broke down completely after 13 months.
On: 2007-02-07
Love the S50! Ive had my 3 months now.
Best features:
Looks cool.
Remote is very handy. Wouldnt think so, but the remote gives you so many more buttons right at your fingertips.
Sound quality is excellent.
Nice screen size shows artist, song name, station, sometimes other features, all very clear.
Records as you play, so you can back up a bit if you miss something (if youre listening to talk radio shows)
You can record your favorite shows.
If you leave it in the dock while youre at work or in the house, it will have recorded whatever station youre on so that when you jump in the car, you just back it up a bit, then you can jump right over the commercials they have on talk radio.
Great mount. Very slick mounting system lets you get it where you want it.
Cons:
The unit does seem to glitch out on me. Sometimes the buttons quit working, sometimes it is supposedly transmitting but no sound is coming out of my stereo, sometimes it completely freezes up. Always easy to fix, just shut it off and turn back on, but annoying as heck. Id give it 5 stars if it werent for it glitching out.
The little removeable unit seems like it is potentially tempting to steal, so I feel compelled to have to take it out of the car every night or when I park somewhere for a few hours. Thats just me, though
Overall:
For the price, I think it is an awesome unit. Its the difference between regular TV and TV with TIVO. For those with a TIVO (or DVR), you know how huge a difference it is!
 On: 2007-01-30
I bought an S50 in May 2006. I worked fine for about a month, then would not pick up the signal at all, then it wouldnt even come on or boot up. I have to say that Sirius was good about sending me a brand new unit (with the agreement that I would send the bad one back within 30 days) within a week of calling. However, the new unit hardly works at all. It turns on fine and does pick up the digital signal, but the sound quality is horrible. Tons of static. I have tried about 10 different station settings (which the Sirus customer service gave me the stations that work best for my area) and only 1 station works slightly. I will get an FM adapter (Sirius is currently, of course, sold out right now) and see if that works. If it doesnt, I will throw the S50 away and get a Sportster, which by the way, I have had in my other vehicle for a year with not one problem at all. My advice to buyers is to avoid the S50, but consider the Sportster if you want digital radio.
On: 2007-01-23
This thing is great for what it is: a decent satellite radio receiver and a portable MP3/WMA/Recorded Content player. The gripes you read about from other reviewers are petty; it seems that some people expect it to change the world. Anytime you shrink something and gain portability, youre going to lose some features, but no basic functioinality has been lost here, just soem menu features and a couple buttons. My favorite feature is the ability to play MP3s even while its docked in the car. Any time I can combine 2 devices into one Im happy. Now if I could only make phone calls on it........
On: 2007-01-22
Since November of 2006 I have gone thru. 5 different Sirius Plug & Play Receivers. The first 3 where the Stratus each of them didnt work. Then I had the Starmate 4 which lasted about 2 weeks.
After returning the Starmate 4 to the Electronic Store the Manager talked me into the S50 which he said happend to be the best model in his Store at that time.
Well I purchased the S50 and have had nothing but issues and problems. First off the Reception was awful. Was told to move the Antenna to different locations. I did just that and it didnt help at all.
Even tried different Antennas to be sure it wasnt actually an Antenna issue or problem. Each different Antenna had the same problems. I couldnt get a good Satellite signal. Out of 100% I was getting about 20%.. Plus the sound quality was and still is Awful......
Phoned Sirius Tech. support and was told to try a Cassette Adapter which would directly send the Sirius Signal into my Cars stereo. The Adapter which was $24.95 didnt work.....
Phoned Sirius again.... Spoke with another Tech. who suggested getting a better type of Antenna. Well this time I got the Home Kit style Antenna that is the type that comes with Boom Boxes Etc..... I now have a 100% Satellite Signal... But the sound Quality is static and more static.
Was given a list of different FM Frequencies (stations) to tune the radio to.... That also hasnt worked....
Anyone looking into this S50 dont buy it.... Its a waste of Money...
Also before getting Sirius compare it with XM in your area....Do the Homework now to avoid any Headaches later....
On: 2007-01-20
Overall a good product. I use it daily on my hour long commute back and forth from work. Very good quality FM transmission to the car radio. The ability to browse channels and see what is on before switching channels is nice compared to the built in sirius stereo in our VW car where you cant easily browse without changing channels.
On: 2007-01-06
Bought this for husband as gift 12/06. Worked great in truck once he found the "right" radio stations- one for where we live, and one for where he works (about 45 mins away).
It was working great, he was saving songs, making a playlist. It was easy to use once you learned how to navigate through.
After about 5 days it stopped working, he got "no signal".
Apparently it had not been charging at all, during this entire time, because there is a little piece of soft plastic that has to be removed. He hadnt removed this. BUT it had been plugged into the vehicle, and powered on, but just said "no signal"
When he finally realized the battery had this piece of plastic,he removed it and charged it, the SID# had been wiped out and was all zeros 000000000. That was why there was "no signal"
Anyway, since I bought it at Bestbuy, they exchanged it and the second one is working for the moment. I noticed the second one had a note saying "remove plastic from inside battery chamber" and I also noticed the second unit had more packaging material on the unit itself leading me to believe the first unit may have been opened and returned. When it was exchanged, I made sure the box had all seals, and noticed at least 8 out of the 20 or so boxes on display with the seals very obviously re-sealed.
PS you have to call sirius to change the sid# if you switch radios, and the quickest way to get help is to press "0" because youll never reach a human if you listen to the prompts. They were able to switch if over in a couple of minutes.
mdsrn2k@aol.com
2/07 update: Still working, no problems at all.
On: 2007-01-05
Im extremely frustrated with the S50. Out of the box it would not work transmitting from the docking station to my stereo receiver. Customer service is a cruel, slow, inept joke. Techs will hang up on you. You get put on hold and then are cut off. Finally talk to a human, theyll send you to warranty who will send you to somewhere else and expect to be given bad phone numbers. I got the radio for Christmas 06, and hope I can send it back to get money back. Be warned, this product can be defective, and Sirius customer service will curl your hair if it is straight and straigten it if it is curled. Ive wasted hours trying to get simple answers. Most answers Ive receive are wrong...Id get a simpler radio, or none at all from them.
On: 2007-01-05
Bought this recently and have it installed in my car with the docking station. The unit has a nice display which is a bit above average in size compared to other units I looked at which was important to me. It also is packed with a ton of features and custom settings.
But the FM modulation on this is crappy and you will need the FM direct adapter to get good quality sound if you cant hook this directly into your head unit. I also had wished this unit was a little easier to navigate through the different features and such. It does however have a excellent record feature that is activated by the push of one button. You can also pause current broadcasts or rewind it if you like.
The unit will also ask you if you want to hear your playlists should your signal disappear.
Ive yet to try out the mp3 portion of this unit out, mainly b/c Im still trying to figure out the software. But for the price and 50 hours of music you can put on this thing, its a good deal.
I also will mention that this unit came with everything needed to hook up to my car vs the other products out on the market which you had to buy extra stuff..
Installation of the S50 in my car was simple and straight forward. Activating it was also simple as well.
On: 2007-01-03
I use this primarily at home and it works great, I have it hooked up to my stereo using the cables that came with the product. The color display with wallpaper and channel logos looks great but the artist and song title is quite difficult to read if youre too far away, and being theyre shown in white doesnt help much either...you can manually take off the wallpaper but it really doesnt make a difference. Besides that thats my only complaint. The remote control though quite small is easy to use and the functions dont take long to remember and get used to. The voice feature which announces each channel you tune to is a nice touch but I found it annoying after a while, it can be taken off though. Though this is not a live portable, Im not ready for a live portable yet as Im waiting a while for them to improve and get more established and the price to come down some but the recording of shows or channels does the job for me as Ive constantly got a ton of recorded material to listen to on the go and Ive been able to check out numerous programming options I otherwise wouldve never heard listening to live radio...the best part of recording is the ability to fast-forward through commercials and/or songs you dont want to listen to (you can also pause live radio, and then fast-forward or listen from where you left off). If it were possible Id of given the S50 4 1/2 stars rather than 5 being that I have to squint my eyes sometimes to read info on the screen when far away, plus when Im using the S50 on the go, the radio is so small and delicate Im constantly afraid of dropping it but other than those two I love my S50.
UPDATE 4 MONTHS LATER: If I could, Id change my review to one or no stars. The S50 out of the blue completely went kaput! Total piece of junk, avoid like the plague! Ive already canceled my Sirius subscription service which I really didnt want to do but their products leave a lot to be desired. They offered me a free radio but Id have to buy the home kit (always a catch). I decided just to stick with my iPod.
On: 2006-12-29
I loved this radio until about 86 days into it. The hardware stopped working. It would freeze up during the boot process. Fortunetely it broke within the 90 day waranty. They sent me a new one within 2 weeks. 90 days later I got THE EXACT SAME FAILURE!! Their hardware is crap!!!
On: 2006-12-21
This is not a portable satellite radio; in order to use it, you need to have it connected in your car or using home kit in home. It seems that it is a portable satellite radio however it is not. When you are mobile, you can use it as MP3 player or FM radio receiver. If you have time to do that, you may sit and wait for good songs and add them to 50 songs capacity memory when it is connected to car or home kit in order to listen them when you are mobile.
On: 2006-12-17
Yes, another poster lamenting the all too familiar customer service woes. Suffice to say Ive switched to XM and dumped any holdings.
Ill regard the bard: "Brevity is the soul of wit".
~AX
On: 2006-12-15
We have a S-50 in our car and it works great. My husband even uses it at the gym. And if you have any trouble just call Directed Electronics not Sirus. They are the makers of the product and have the #1 customer service in Electronics. No issues here.
On: 2006-12-06
if you have a problem with sirius you are out of luck.
bought radio and boombox nothing but problems...
wanted to cancel another order i placed as a gift.
beware they will not cancel orders, even if they have not been shipped...
problem with my new unit ,they will not help... and can be very rude.
this was not my first purchace from sirius, and while their radio content is excellent... customer service is the deal breaker... they suck
call them with questions before you buy... youll get something else
On: 2006-12-04
Purchased a new S-50 in Aug 05. Never worked; repair service told me to go to hacker websites to repair myself. Returned Mar 06, repair dept, takes 3 to 4 hours on hold before answering phone. Brad in repair said S-50 isnt very good, should buy another model. The only thing worse than this radio has to be their customer service. Last week received a refurbished used S-50, but they didnt send the docking station,and some cables, they said "Sorry we are out of them". Over a year and still no radio service. Last year they were $350, now the are $129, and still overpriced.
On: 2006-12-04
Ive had the S50 Sirius satellite receiver, using it with both a home and car dock for a few weeks now. The setup replaced a JVC car and home dock system for Sirius Ive been using for a couple of years.
If youre interested in Sirius content (BBC, CBC, NPR, Metropolitan Opera Radio, Howard Stern, etc, etc), the S50 is an intriguing way to go. I keep the unit on the home dock overnight to record programming, toss it in the car dock on the way to work, often listen to recorded programming at work and chuck it in the car dock on the way back home.
More recent units have a firware upgrade that fixes some of the oddness about scheduling recordings (you can record over four hours in one block from a channel) mentioned by other reviewers.
Some reviewers have had issues with the unit crashing; Ive not experienced any problems with it so far.
Things I like - the TIVO-like functions that allow you to schedule programming and that automatically record blocks of programming on your favorite channels so you always have something to listen to, clear and informative display compared to other Sirius receivers, car kit has lots of mounting options (more than the previous unit I had); the buffer that allows you to "rewind" things youre listening to. The unit also seems to hold a signal better than my previous unit - there are particular tree-heavy areas on my commute that would consistently cause a drop out of reception with my previous unit and this one doesnt have that problem.
Things I dont like - sound quality can be a bit off at times, especially with classical music, with things sounding like theyre happening underwater (a problem with the previous unit I had and probably systemic to Siriuss compression scheme); no Mac compatibility for using MP3s or upgrading firmware.
Overall, Im very positive about the unit. Its convenient, has been reliable for me, and the recording functions let you make the most of your Sirius subscription.
And, by the way, arguing over whether XM or Sirius is "better" is a bit pointless. Each offers some unique programming - just choose the one that fits your listening style and enjoy. There are really good receivers (and really bad receivers) for both services out there.
On: 2006-12-03
Problems,problems,problems. Read the other reviews here. Customer service is astonishingly terrible. The unit has never worked properly. A very frustrating experience all the way around. Save your money & go bang you head on a wall for about an hour....same effect.
On: 2006-11-30
I bought this product around Christmas of 05, like many others and have had nothing but problems with the unit. Since i bought this unit, the car dock on this unit has gone completely dead and after getting it fixed, it went bad 2 months later with being unable to pick up a signal from the satellite, again, another car docking problem. The first time it just so happened that a software update that i had performed on my computer to "work out the bugs" caused a system wide failure and according to customer service, the update had been "frying car docks." Needless to say it made me very uneasy about their updates. after the second time i called sirius, filed a warranty claim, and waited. i waited for over 4 months for my unit. everytime i called, they said they were on back order. it was a frustrating experience, and a complete flop on siriuss end. im hoping that it was just a flaw in design which caused these units to fail. if i was going to give you any advice, it would be to go with the Stiletto which is basically a reworked S50, or go with XM. Apparently though, and you wont have to look hard, sirius has a major problem keeping up with demand.
On: 2006-11-21
Got one for Christmas 05 and its been nothing but trouble. Have to pop out the battery every two weeks or so to get it going, and 4 times have had to connect to computer and re-install software (with customer support on the phone because its so counter-intuitive and complicated to use) at which point all saved songs and programs are lost, because there is no easy way to upload programming onto computer for saving a back-up.
On: 2006-11-12
Got My S50 for christmas 2005, it went down in July and after 2-3 weeks of reboots I was told a replacement would be sent in 4 weeks. I have called every month since then and given the same line "Im sorry but the replacements are not in yet we expect them any day". BSBSBS.
I called again tonite as was told they just came in 5 days ago. Why wasnt I emailed?? Why do I have do take care of this? WHy do I have to call customer care to credit my acct for 4months down??
DO NOT BUY THIS POS. Go XM.
 On: 2006-11-10
Reception is great and it is so nice to not have to sit on the computer and download all of your songs to have a portable MP3 player.
On: 2006-10-26
Lots of negative reviews from people who seem not to have read the product description before buying! Wow! My first got stolen. Got another. No problems from either. Ive had the service/S50 since their inception and have had NO problems with the radios, customer service, reception or either of my docking stations. My reception even impressed me due to the antenna being way back underneath a metal awning-covered porch. Though I am in an urban area. I dont understand the hostility. Not discounting the customer service comments, but whose customer service DOESNT suck? You never hear positives there. Oh, also no problems with loading music or the software. I will eventually try the new one, with portable live reception- without hesitation. Oh, and NO I dont work for Sirius.
On: 2006-10-20
My S50 went dead 2 months ago and I filed a claim with Sirius. After many telephone conversations and e-mails and countless hours on hold, I continue to get no information and no radio. The replies to my e-mails do not even address my questions-they tell me what great customer service they have. What a joke! I rated this 1 star-would have gone lower but couldnt.
On: 2006-10-18
Had the unit 2 months then it goes down. After about 6 hours total hold time I get a customer service drone that gives me a claim # and says she has no idea when the new units will be available. That was 6 weeks ago. Im not in the mood to hold another 6 hours so I email with no response from them. The great part for them is they are still collecting the monthly fee from me. I paid for the unit I continue to pay for the service and they are providing nothing. It oughta be illegal. Stay away from Sirius Im serious!
On: 2006-10-16
My S50 has been dead for over three months. I cant get through to customer service, which would be useless anyway, as they have been telling me "you will be getting a replacement in two weeks" for three months. Over $400 worth of radio and docking stations which do not work. Angry does not begin to describe!
On: 2006-10-05
Ive had mine for 2 months now, no problems with it whatsoever, I have the speaker system I use at work and the car dock works fine over FM radio. I read many negative reviews on this product before purchasing, and figured I needed to see for myself- I am very glad I did. This product replaces any need for an ipod, as you can record any song you hear and do so without spending a $1 for each one. The only part of the product that I wish was a little better is the antenna- it seems to only work well for me when I am able to have it outside pointing to the sky... I get very poor reception out the window- something to think about if you are planning on using the device indoors. Overall I am very pleased with the product and would recommend it to anyone in the market for satelite radio.
On: 2006-09-23
First I think its crap that this thing is suppose to hold 50 hours of recorded shows but not continuous hours like, say, a 4 or 5 hour show (like some of the shows on Sirius are).
Anyway, my reciever will work fine for days and then one day Ill come home, turn it on and... nothing. Its like its been wiped clean. No background graphic for the channels, no station names and best of all no sound at all. I got online and updated the software and (eventually) it worked again. Sometimes I can just take out the battery to reset it and thatll work, too. This adorable little quirk has happened enough times now that I could just as easily smash the S50 with a sledgehammer and not waste anymore time with it.
But if and when it does work it sounds good.
On: 2006-09-21
I ordered this thing from Amazon about a month ago, expecting to be wowed and siriusly impressed. I still like it, kind of, but there are a lot of negatives. Overall, I gave it 2 out of 5 stars; if these issues would be fixed, I would love to give it 5 out of 5.
1) The rocker button on the docking unit doesnt work very well... usually, you need to mash it down and rock it about 10 times in the direction of the operation that you want to do in order to get it to do what you want.
2) The record feature is awesome, of course... thats why I bought the thing. However, I cant copy the files to my computer here at work and listen to them because theyre in a proprietary format (PAC and TAG). Ive searched for a converter but cant find one.
3) The record feature has some flaws:
3a) It seems that the live DJ has control of this, and depending on the channel youre listening to, they can change the display to be their name and phone number. When that happens, the S50 thinks that the song has started (or ended), so you end up with a song recorded about 10 seconds late, or ends 10 seconds early - chopping off the first/last 10 +/- seconds of the songs.
3b) The beginning of song marker is oftentimes placed incorrectly; you miss the first few seconds of the song, or the previous song is just ending, so you get 2 seconds of the finale of the last song before the song you wanted starts.
3c) The DJ oftentimes continues talking right over the beginning of the song. I (perhaps naively) thought that "no commercials" equalled "no talk" and was looking forward to hearing only the songs, not chatter. The chatter wouldnt be so bad if they would shut up once they started the song... but some DJs talk on and on over the lead of the song.
4) When Ive left the device in my vehicle overnight, its still on in the morning, which is what I want... build up a 45 minute buffer of songs that I can fast-forward through, recording songs that I want to keep. That way I can (a) skip the songs that I dont like, and (b) build up my library at the some time. However, most times (9 times out of 10) the device goes from displaying the current song to saying "Lost the signal"/"Poor signal quality". Im hyphothisizing (sp?) that starting the vehicle is somehow interfering with the antenna signal or the power connection just enough to confuse the device. The really bad thing is that the only way Ive found to clear this out is to un-dock (shut down) and re-dock the receiver, which clears out the rolling 45 minute historical buffer. :(
5) This morning, when I went pressed any of the buttons (to skip to the next song, previous song, record, or change the channel) the device displayed "NO PSRAM! IR Not Support". When I undocked the device (shutting it down) and re-docked it, everything worked again. However, again, I lost my 45 minute historical buffer. :(
6) The percentage of memory used varies greatly, depending on if you are docked or undocked. For example, my device shows 42% used when docked, but 94% used when first undocked... however later, it goes back to 42%. It seems to still be recording more and more songs (Im up to 283 songs now), so it seems to be recording the new songs without dropping the old songs off.
7) Recording songs that youve already listened to and are completely in the 45 minute buffer sometimes takes 5 seconds and sometimes takes over a minute. There doesnt seem to be any ryme or reason to the amount of time. However, it does seem to go more quickly if you leave it recording (with the heart symbol down in the bottom right) until it finishes; dont skip to the next song until its done recording the previous one. It still works if you do skip around within the song history buffer, but it seems to take a lot longer to record the song you wanted to keep.
8) Speaking of recording, I presume that this is a feature, but I cant find it documented anywhere... when I try to record a song, sometimes it doesnt take any time at all to save the song (I mean that the heart appears in the center of the screen, acknowledging that I want to record the song, but the small heart symbol never appears in the bottom right corner). I *think* this is when that song is already recorded and Im attempting to save it for a second time... but Im not sure of that. It would be better to display a message like "Youve already got that song recorded" instead of simply ignoring you.
All in all, I will continue using the S50, but I would not highly recommend it to anyone else without some or all of these issues being addressed.
On: 2006-09-07
The interface is simple enough but it is just not well built. it freezes all the time. Talk to sirius support much more then I ever should... they cant fix it over 2 months to replace unit and STILL WAITING.
DO NOT MAKE THE SAME MISTAKE I DID. THERE SHOULD BE A GENERAL RECALL ON THESE. PEOPLE WHO PRAISE THIS HAVE NOT RUN INTO PROBLEMS YET!
On: 2006-08-27
Not the easiest for me to learn the remote but I really like the look and all the features that come with this model of sirius radio. This is my 3rd radio for sirius and plan on having this one for some time a great buy.
On: 2006-08-24
One thing for sure, when you buy the Sirius S50 portable radio pack it comes with a lot of parts. Thats the good news. The bad news is you need to take the time to learn what each does. The really bad news is the S50 does not tell you in advance that if your intention is to use the radio receiver in your home you cannot do that without the Home Kit from Sirius. Why dont they create a bundle product for the home like the car in the first place? I didnt really want it for the car but now that I know I can broadcast my playlist through the FM radio it will be a nice bonus as that is part of the car pack features.
On: 2006-08-20
DONT BUY THIS RADIO!!!!!!!!
DONT BUY THIS RADIO!!!!!!!!
The only reason I have this radio in the first place is because it was a birthday gift from my wife! Ive had nothing but problems with this radio from day one! And Siriuss tech support is the worse that Ive ever encountered!! After having the radio for exactly 36 days, it just died!!! I cant return it because Im 6 days past Siriuss return policy!! So now Im waiting ELEVEN WEEKS for a replacement from Siriuss warranty department, because their radios are on back order!!! I even offered to downgrade to one of their cheaper radios and take the loss, but they havent gone for that deal! So Im stuck with this lemon until I hear from them! I checked out the Better Business Bureaus Web Site about Sirius and they rate them unsatisfactory because of all the complants!!! I wish I would of checked out the BBBs web site before buying this radio!!! What a way to promote satellite radio!! Good job Sirius!!!!!
Oh, and by the way.....
DONT BUY THIS RADIO!!!!!!
On: 2006-08-04
I have had this product since November 2005 and it has been nothing but a disappointment.
1. Car dock had to be replaced after 3 days
2. Various lockups even with the so called new firmware
3. Flash drive corrupt
4. Home dock at warranty service for over 3 months. Still waiting for replacement.
Finally, so tired of dealing with Sirius lack luster customer support ended up taking it back and buying a starmate replay. Siruis should be ashamed charging 300+ dollors for a poorly tested product
On: 2006-08-03
I just purchased my S50, for the sole purpose of listening to the Howard Stern Show. I had mixed feeling about purchasing the unit because of the negative reviews, but the S50 unit has exceeded my expectations. The sound quality is fantastic and I had no problems programming my unit to record the entire Howard Stern shows. I purchased the home docking unit which makes it easy to use the unit. I only wish there were more accessories for it, such as cases to protect the delicate face of the unit etc. Overall - I say that the negative reviews written on this website dont do this unit justice. I took the time to read the manual so that I could operate it properly and I am pleased to finally be able to listen to Howard Stern at work...even if its the previous days show.
On: 2006-07-26
My el-cheapo MP3 player fizzled and I was in the market to replace it. Going to the gym just does not work without my jam bands.
I chose this because I absolutely DID NOT want an iPod. We receive satellite free via Dish Network and had been toying with subscribing. This seemed like the perfect solution.
We had absolutely no difficulty installing ourselves, in fact, cannot believe people pay to have it installed! I purchased an additional cable for $20 at Best Buy that keeps my signal steady. MP3s are easy to load. I especially love the fact that I can record songs that I hear on the radio--a perk that hopefully the RIAA will not take away from Sirius in court.
Sound quality is great (I have a really nice car stereo). The unit is solid and I have had no trouble at all with it. In fact, I plan on adding a home dock through my stereo, and an additional car dock for our non-commuter car.
I cant wait for our 6 hour drive to the beach!
On: 2006-07-23
Purchased the S50 about 2 months ago. First the volume button randomly went up and down. Next I dropped it on the road while running and the dislay cracked and is now black. It worked for about a week more then totally died. Technology is way behing XM as they have a portable unit with satellite feed.
On: 2006-07-11
Well, as many of the reviewers have warned, stay away from this product. As cool as the concept is, this unit doesnt get near delivering to expectations. The 512MB MP3 capacity is not even worth having and the recording capability is weak at best.
I have also had major problems with the unit. It will lock up or the quality will go down inexplicably to a point where you cant even understand the song. I sent it in for warranty repair and now am being told that it is on national backorder and I will be contacted in two weeks with an update. That is two weeks without a radio, and mind you, they are the manufacturer. You can get it in two days off of Amazon though.
This unit has been a huge disappointment and the home dock is just as bad. No FM modulator capability, etc. Stay away from this expensive unit and get a cheap one. I had an audiovox before and I liked it a lot better. Now I am stuck with this expensive thing...
On: 2006-07-08
When the device actually works, it is great, but I have already been through 4 devices since 1/06 because they crash ALL THE TIME! And the sirius technical support cannot and will not do anything for you. Today I called the warranty line because my device wont even turn on now, at all, and they said the device is on backorder for at least 2 more weeks and someone will call me to tell me when I can mail my device in get it fixed!!! So I already havent been able to use my device for 2 weeks and now who knows when I will get a new one! This device has caused me so many problems I would save yourself the stress and headache and not buy one. But if you do, BUY THE WARRANTY FROM THE STORE YOU PURCHASED IT FROM! I cant stress that enough!
On: 2006-07-07
Ill be brief. I have had more than unreasonable difficulty obtaining a signal through the home kit antenna. Sirius provides almost no support for this. I have had several problems with the player itself as well. Refused to power up a few times, I had to remove and replace the battery. I dont like the navigation interface. I dont like the knob on the home kit, it doesnt seem like a very solid piece of hardware. Finally, I have also had difficulty with the computer software. It hangs and gives me errors on close.
I wish I could talk about the actual service, but I have not been able to listen to it at all with this device.
I am returning mine and buying a home-only unit. I personally find Sirius programming to be far superior on paper to XMs, so I have no choice but to wait for a new Sirius portable model.
On: 2006-05-30
Ive owned the S 50 for just 1 month and it has to be sent in for warranty work already.Seems the memory is shot according to one of Sirius crackpot tech team. Told it might have taken a powersurge by not turning off the S 50 before turning the car off.I find that extremely hard to believe and a major inconvenience if thats the case. I also bought the home kit which was quite over priced as well.THe main reason I purchased the unit was its tivo like abilities which cant even be preset so if you want to tape Stern you have to sit there and record every 2 hours.Quality wise I find it not as good as standard fm radio and no where near DVD quality..Thumbs down.. Unfortunately its the only way to catch Stern..Save your money and buy the cheapest model..
On: 2006-05-13
Ive had my sirius s50 for one week and am pretty happy with it. I keep the whole thing mobile (antenna, car charger, etc.) so that I can use it on the train, in my cars (got a couple) and at home. The antenna doesnt necessarily have to be installed on the roof of your car, just somewhere so radio signals can get to it so that was a big plus that I didnt have to buy a separate home unit or multiple anntenae installed on my cars. I have a radio shack ac wall plug car lighter adapter which allows me to use the unit at home or on the train. Im glad that I didnt order the home unit!
With the docking unit, you can either listen to Sirius or pre-recorded content. While Im driving, I can use the remote to switch between channels and a female voice tells you the current channel. The docking unit needs to be placed near the car radio so that you get good audio through the FM transmitter even if theres a station on the channel youre using for Sirius. I can just put it on the dash with the antenna or in my lap, etc. and thats good enough.
The MP3 player itself is very light and compact and has a nice color TFT screen to display graphics and text. Uploading songs in Windows was a breeze and the "love" button for saving favorite songs is nice - you have a couple of seconds to decide if you want to store it or not, otherwise if you hit the "love" button in mid-song you wont get it entirely. You wont get SIRIUS content with just the MP3 player itself, but you can record shows and listen to them later. I havent tried using the scheduling feature to record a show yet though, theres a lot to learn about using this device.
I choose this device instead of the others because of the ability to record content and also put in my own. You cant download any recorded content so I only gave it 4 stars. It has a line out on the docking unit though so its still possible.
On: 2006-05-12
I love SIRUS and the S50 is great when it works but has so many problems. The system is very dependent on software. The upgrades fix one problem and but create a new problem. In particular, since the 3.15 software update, just about every unit it was downloaded to has got the dreded "No Signal" problem. Technical supoort says nothing can be done until the next firmware update in 2 months -- I would recommend no one buy for 2 months until the problem is fixed.
On: 2006-05-08
Well I tried to like this, especially as mine was working well, then I finally started having major problems with it and I have to return it for a warranty return so I will not have it for 2-4 weeks.
They also do not tell you that you need a PC to keep it in working order (Mac user here)
I would not buy this again and do not recommend it.
On: 2006-04-13
I love the S50 for my car and being the portable MP3 player
HOWEVER I just got the home docking kit!!! Big disappointment!! With my old receiver I could just plug it in to the wall, hook up the antenna and turn on any FM radio in the house and hear it. NOT happening here. You MUST hook it up to amplified speakers or a home stereo system. So unless yur stereo is realy loud you cant hear it all over the house. I was hoping to start enjoying the pool and just use my FM station on the boombox to hear the sirius. So I am gonna switch units with my husband and go get an I-Pod. Over all it is a nice unit but I dont think I would have bought it had I known that. Maybe they need to make a boombox for it - instead of a home docking kit.
On: 2006-04-11
I have had my S50 for several months now. I am very pleased with quality and style of the radio in my car, it looks fantastic in the new Avalon Touring interior. It is in another class from all other satellite units. I love it! The pause and record features are addicting. When you get a cell call just pause the live radio, take the call, and pick up where you left off after the call. One touch of the "heart" button saves any song or show to the memory. You essentially have the best programmed radio station in memory any time you want or need it. The S50 is loaded with functions. Some you will use others you wont. Menu navigation is just fine, I have read others complain about navigation however I find no problem adapting to Sirius conventions. The unit works as advertised and its quality and style are exceptional. I have no complaints with my S50, and any sat radio can be no better than its programming and Sirius programming has it all! Im hooked!
On: 2006-04-08
Well, I have had my S50 for about a week now, and here are my thoughts on this item.
CONS:
1. If you live off a dirt road like I do, then the radio can tend to slip out and turn itself off easily. But that is on me.
2. when you update it, HAVE ONLY THE MY SIRIUS STUDIO RUNNING PERIOD. It took me about three hours to figure this out before I was finally able to download the dock and the receiver updates from the website. Otherwise, if i tried to leave it downloading in the background, the program would lock up. big pain.
PROS:
1. I like the remote. Someone on here complained that looking at the display would make him have a car accident. He said that the remote would get lost. Well, they at least gave you a remote so you could learn the remote by touch and change channels that way. thats on you.
2. I like the ability to pause the song or program in mid stream. I keep forgetting that i have the capability to do that.
3. i like the record feature too. I was able to record the final of the Final Four. Even with the two hour limit, i just set the timer to start again once the first two hours were up.
4. i like the score updates. I went ahead and made all the sports teams my favorites so i can see the sport scores scroll; however, it does suck when it signals you that a team is playing because you have to hit ignore about fifteen times.
Misc: Sometimes, i do get tired of the repetitiveness of the comic programs. I probably should just listen to another station instead. Oh well. also, i wish Sirius would slow down with the "commercial free" ness. even though there arent commercials per se, i get tired of hearing what channel im on about fifteen times in one hour, and I really dont care that Erasure is having a Sirius premiere on the OUTQ channel. I also wish Sirius would get a new Bill Bradley ad too. Thats the one about the former NBA player and congressman who has done a lot of travelling. blah blah blah. To close, i have had no problems with the unit freezing, frying, bricking, or locking up. It used to turn itself on when it wanted to, but since ive updated the software for it, it has seemed to stop.
On: 2006-04-08
I really can not understand why the sirius s50 is getting such bad reviews. There is nothing out there to compare to this, what other product can you have satlelite radio, record your favorite songs with the touch of a button, rewind with a touch of a button, to hear your favorite song again. What other product can you buy that has satlelite radio with a portable player to take wherever you go, you can download music, download your own cds onto the portable player. I have purchased and I-pod cable so I can plug it into my boombox which is great!! I have not actually permanently installed my car antenna, and have purcahsed an AC to DC power cord so I can make the system mobile.
I love the commercial free music, and when I get tired of music there is plenty on variety to listen to.
The s50 is not flawless, I wish the battery would last longer on the portable player (like and ipod), and the first unit I had fried when I did the software upgrade, but this is new technology, and a one of a kind item, and I believe they will get the bugs out of it. The sirius people were great when my unit fried, they gave a months free service and my unit was replaced promptly from Amazon.
I believe this is a siriusly cool product and would definitly recommend it!!!
On: 2006-04-06
PEOPLE ARE STUPID, I READ REVIEWS, THEY MAKE NO SENCE.
THE S50 DOES EXACTLY WHAT U WANT IT TO DO, U JUST HAVE TO NOT BE A COMPLETE MORON.
WHY WOULD U WANT TO RECORD COUNTLESS HOURS OF HOWARD STERN??? HE HAS 2 CHANNELS FULL OF ALL THE SAME CRAP THAT HE HAS BEEN SAYIN FOR YEARS. I"M NOT A BIG STERN FAN, BUT IM NOT BASHING HIM ETHER. IM JUST SAYING, THIS IS MADE FOR MUSIC. YES, MUSIC PEOPLE!!
I LOVE SHADE 45, I LISTEN TO IT, I HEAR A SONG I LIKE, ALL I DO IS CLICK THE BUTTON, AND IT RECORDS! STARTS AT THE START OF THE SONG, ENDS AT THE END OF THE SONG! THEN IT TAKES IT AND FILES IT BY GENRE, ARTEST, TITLE..... ALL BY ITS SELF! SIMPLE!
PEOPLE ARE TOO STUPID TO REALIZE HOW TO RECORD "PROGRAMS"
PROGRAMS WORK DIFFERENTLY THAN MUSIC, BECAUSE THE S50 THINKS THAT IT IS A SONG. THE RESON U CANT RECORD A COMPLETE SHOW, IS BECAUSE U WERNT LISTENING TO THE COMPLETE SHOW!! USE THE PROGRAMING FETURE TO AUTO RECORD!! DONT BE STUPID!
PEOPLE GIVE BAD REVIEWS BECAUSE THEY BUY SOMETHING, AND DONT KNOW HOW TO EXACTLY USE IT! SO THEY THINK ITS HARD TO USE, THEY DONT READ THE INSRUCTIONS, AND I CANT GET IT TO WORK RIGHT.
SO THEN OF COARSE THERE IS SOMEHING WRONG WITH THE PRODUCT.
AND THERE IS NOTHING WRONG WITH U??
MORONS
THIS THING IT THE BEST, JUST WISH IT WORKED WITH MAC, AND IT HAD MORE MEMORY, BUT IT DONT MATTER. BECAUSE I READ THAT BEFORE I BOUGHT IT. IF IT WAS GOING TO BOTHER ME, I WOULD OF BOUGHT ANOTHER IPOD
I LOVE THIS THING!! HAVENT MAXED OUT MY MEMORY YET, BUT IF I DO, Ill DELETE SOME OLD B/S I DONT LIKE TO LISTEN TO N E MORE. I WAS GOIN TO GET A VIDEO IPOD, BUT WHEN I SEEN THIS I WAS SOLD!!
AND NOT DISAPOINTED!!
OH AND I HAVENT GOT THE HOME DOCK YET, BUT U PEOPLE R STUPID ABOUT THAT TOO. READ ABOUT IT B4 U BUY IT, STUPID!!!!!!!! IF IT HAS NO SPEAKERS, IT DOSENT PLAY MUSIC. IF IT HAS NO FM TRANSMITTER, IT WONT TRANSMIT. DUH!!
UR LEAVING BAD REVIEWS ABOUT I GREAT PRODUCT BECAUSE U R A RETARD!
ITS CALLED INPUTS AND OUTPUTS, THEY ARE ON ALMOST EVERY PRODUCT WITH SPEAKERS!
FIGURE THEM OUT, AND USE THEM!!
ALL AROUND, GREAT MACHINE!
NEVER "FROZE" OR "LOCKED UP"
NEVER HAD TO TAKE THE BATTERY OUT!
I ONLY GAVE IT A 4, BECAUSE NOTHING IN THIS WORLD IS PERFECT.
IF THERE WAS A 4.9999999999999 I WOULD DO IT!
THANKS FOR READING, HOPE THIS WILL GIVE U A "REAL" EXAMPLE OF THE KIND OF STUFF THE S50 CAN DO. THAT IS IF U R NOT STUPID, OR IGNORANT!
THIS IS KUJO FROM D-TROIT, REPPIN SHADE 45!!!!
SIRIUS BUSINESS!!
On: 2006-04-06
and dont get involved with the Sirius S-50. Its a really good concept... but badly implemented. If you get one, you will be hooked and spend countless hours on the phone with customer service and surfing the internet trying to find solutions to the ultimate problem...a bad product with bad software. Maybe over time they will have the bugs worked out..or maybe they will go bankrupt..but my advice is to wait.
On: 2006-04-01
I bought the S50 with the Home Dock for my husband this last December. He thanks me for it everyday! The main purpose was to listen to Howard Stern (he loves him). We had the car unit professionally installed and yes you can lose reception when going over a bump, tapping on top of it fixes de issue most of the time. But for what my husband needs it, it works great. We leave the unit on the home dock overnight to record the 5+ hour show (Yes you can only record a max of two hours a time) so we just program the unit for 12AM, 2:01AM and 4:02AM and we have 6 hours of recorded material. The next day he takes his portable unit in his pocket and can listen to the recorded show (most of the time). Our one issue has been the battery does not last the whole 6 hours, some days it does others it works for 3. But most of the time it works great. It is easy to program, and we are technology challenged; we have not even seen an I-pod up-close, can barely program our VCR, What is Tvo? If you are a Howard Fan that wants to listen to the show while your are not close to your Sirius equipment, this is a good alternative. The portable unit has a removable clip for your belt, the portable unit is really sleek and comfortable to carry, the audio is great maybe because of the headphones or because we get a better signal since we record on the home-dock and not a moving car. Our needs were, to keep listening to the show and have a portable unit. My husband ends up listening to "a day old" show, but he is not one to call in, so he just enjoys the show.
On: 2006-03-24
I bought the S50 for my Mazda RX-8 and in five minutes, it looked very close to a factory installation. The unit does just as it was marketed to do: get live Sirius content on a dock and play recorded content on the go. The sound is not as good as an iPod (I have both), but thanks to the 120 stations, I get a lot of new music to listen to, so its a fair tradeoff. The only complaint I have is that the "Do Not Disconnect" message stays on for an awful long time after I hook it to my PC, but Ive disconnected without a problem yet. I have the most current update on the software, so many of the past software issues dont apply. Even on a harsh-riding sports cars dashboard, the unit has not been dislodged from its mount as in a past review. The dial is spongy-feeling and accurate. Side buttons are unnecessarily small. I believe others when they say that the unit will become scratched quickly, but knowing that, Ive been extra-careful with how I handle it. The display is a thing of beauty and the voices announcing the channel selected are cool. Because you can record songs that you might not have known that you wanted, the S50 gets my vote as my purchase of the year.
On: 2006-03-21
As cool and unique as this unit looks. Dont be deceived. I bought this unit three months ago and I am now on my third replacement. The first unit I had mysteriously stopped powering on one day. After many calls to product support they sent me a new unit. The replacement unit worked fine for three weeks but apparently there is a bug in the S50 software where it gets stuck on a radio station if you take it out of the cradle before the powering it off. Again, talked witn product support and we went through resetting the sofware, doing a manual hard restart. Finally they sent me second S50 so far so good but is has just been a day. My advice is skip this unit. It is still very buggy and has many issues and is not worth the money. The sirius product support is very good and has been helpful through all these problems. If you like Sirius I would go with one of the cheaper models you will be saving yourself a lot of money and aggravation in the long run.
On: 2006-03-19
the unit i bought from amazon was a replacement for a unit i bought from another company. at the time of the purchase from amazon i was told that a replacement wouldnt be available for another 4 weeks (from the other company). thats when i went to amazon and the unit was here within a week. it works very well and i am very satisfied with my purchase.
On: 2006-03-14
My cheap old XACT receiver was suffering from internal rattling and buzzing, so I decided to upgrade to the S50. Ive been hearing good things about it lately, so I dropped the $250 + $75 install (the $50 rebate knocked the price down to $199 which helped with my decision).
The car adaptor is a permanently mounted cradle that has a big knob for scrolling through channels, genres, or presets depending on what mode you have selected, along with other menu buttons. This scrolling knob is a nice sleek feature, but hard to manipulate while driving. Since there are no preset buttons, you have to scroll through all 30 of your presets to find the one you want, unlike other receivers that have the 5 preset buttons with a bank selector for multiple presets. There is however a friendly voice that announces your selection as you scroll so you dont have to take your eyes off the road.
When you are in the "preset mode", you cant enter the preset number using the remote as you will go to the Sirius channel number that corresponds to your selection.
I havent tried the portable feature as I already own a 30 gig MP3 player. The S50 only has 1 gig of memory which they say can hold up to 50 hours of Sirius programming. The unit comes with a USB cable for loading MP3s from your computer.
On: 2006-03-09
I love this radio. Ive read some of the other reviews and cant for the life of me figure out what their problems are. I can use the entire 1 GB for my MP3s. The sound quality is excellent in the vehicle and headphones. Why do you need to adjust bass and treble with your unit? You dont. Your stereo should have these adjustments. If youre not an idiot and can use a little common sense, this is the perfect radio. The other reviewers, I believe, are just plain dumb.
On: 2006-03-07
Here are my thoughts on the S50 Sirius with the car pack (and some on the whole set with the home docking station):
-You can NOT use the 1GB for MP3s, I tried it, and Sirius Studio gave me an error message, explaining that my "personal usage" limit is indeed 512MB!!!! I suppose the rest is reserved for Sirius? (Probably so they can guarantee the pause and love-button functions) No matter what I actually want on MY device??? Oh yea, and a tiny bit (insignificant, but worth mentionining) is used for the flash OS.
-It may be me, but I didnt find another way but to use Sirius My Studio to transfer songs onto the device, which is INCREDIBLY SLOW, instead of just copy/past files like a flash memory stick or so. You can do that, but for some reason, no matter into which folder I dropped the files, the device doesnt find the files.
-The My Sirius Studio software uses at least 40 MB of your working memory, which for some computers is a WHOLE lot and might slow your computer down. You can download the software for free on Sirius website.
-YOU WILL NEED A DOCKING STATION TO ACCESS RADIO! THERE IS NO PORTABLE SIRIUS RADIO S50! If you dont hook it up to a docking station, you will only have mp3s or what you may or may not have recorded off Sirius before. It comes with the car docking station, in my op a way to make money, since I will be at home when I first unpack it, and I may not even want or need a car station...or have a car for that matter. So for home use and to use it like you may think you could, you will have to find (theyre sold out often times) and buy (100 Smackeroos) a home docking station on top of the S50!
-Nice portability, buttons take time to get used to.
-Good locking slide switch.
-Battery should last you a day good, charges 1-4 hours (depending on what you hook it up to).
-Pretty lightweight.
-Solid belt clip, though they should have left a hole to plug the transfer/charge cable in...but this way no dirt gets in, also a good thing I guess.
-For some reason, after pausing it shuts down and you have to start the whole thing over, but that may be me, I just started using it.
-You cannot record Sirius off the internet. Not all Sirius stations are on the web!
-I like the sound quality, though no options except volume.
-No optical or digital line-out, youll have to use the pc-link on the home docking station for that.
-Comes with all the car parts...but they are car parts. Havent used it in the car yet, as I dont have a car right now. (See above)
-Other people report problems regarding: if you record a show, it will not separate tracks, so its all or nothing; single tracks may be cut/interferred with; some odd time limit on what you can download; so far no way to transfer Sirius songs onto the computer, which would probably put iTunes out of business with Sirius customers;
-Nice packing, looks, service there, but not always competent with regard to the details.
-Home docking station is tiny and nicely looking, great sound, but thats the least you can ask for your money.
-Car adapter tiny (a little box, about an 1.5 in cube), but the usual cable/antenna nonsense to dangle around your car...but good thing you program your car radio to the Sirius and dont need to plug in and install any nonsense.
-Once you invested all that money (USD240 or so for the device, 100 for the home station, one-year subscription), heres what you get: Crystal clear (beware of steel concrete, that will block most waves) radio with a vast array of stations, styles, and categories; great celebrity djs, howard (if you care) with his team, two stations to himself; the love button lets you record that song you love but dont know the name of with a button across the room thanks to the remote; and they do play some rarer and more unusual stuff than your average station (at least for the music styles I know), though your recording may have a dj babbeling sometimes, they dont do that often, but hey, its radio; service radio like traffic, sports; news and weather (who needs TV anymore?); many ways to combine stereo, pc, and s50, with enough in/out combinations to satisfy most appetites; sleek design, good functionality; even if you are out of radio reach (play with the antenna, shouldnt be a problem to pick up a signal) you switch over and listen to your 100+ songs on the s50; good sound quality (well, what did you high-end fanatics out there expect?); good portability and quick setup (set up the home station in a friends room for a week, took me 10 mins); multi-language stations, check listings, but Korean, Spanish, and others I know for sure; a good browse function (browse stations or genres or favorites while listening to radio or mp3s); for the blind users: audio supported menu (also nice if you dont want to take your hands out of your pockets).
-The bottom line:
I got it as a gift and love it, it is a ton of fun and will me help get rid of TV, but after we figured all the pitfalls, neither my girlfriend nor I would have bought it again. After all, it works differently from what they make it sound like. I know I will enjoy it greatly, and at least Sirius is good enough to let you pause subscriptions and things like that when youre traveling or so. Only buy it if you really have the money, though, but if you are looking for a new toy, I could see this complementing many peoples life-styles easily.
On: 2006-03-07
While XM is coming out with their 2nd generation "true portable" units this year, Sirius tries to pull the wool over Sirius subscribers eyes with this piece of junk. Besides the fact the S50 DOES NOT RECEIVE LIVE SIRIUS PROGRAMMING UNLESS ITS DOCKED, what it can do, it does poorly. XM offers true portables for half the price of this piece of junk. There should be an option for 0 stars.
On: 2006-03-06
Here are my thoughts on the S50 Sirius with the car pack (and some on the whole set with the home docking station):
-You can NOT use the 1GB for MP3s, I tried it, and Sirius Studio gave me an error message, explaining that my "personal usage" limit is indeed 512MB!!!! I suppose the rest is reserved for Sirius? (Probably so they can guarantee the pause and love-button functions) No matter what I actually want on MY device??? Oh yea, and a tiny bit (insignificant, but worth mentionining) is used for the flash OS.
-It may be me, but I didnt find another way but to use Sirius My Studio to transfer songs onto the device, which is INCREDIBLY SLOW, instead of just copy/past files like a flash memory stick or so. You can do that, but for some reason, no matter into which folder I dropped the files, the device doesnt find the files.
-The My Sirius Studio software uses at least 40 MB of your working memory, which for some computers is a WHOLE lot and might slow your computer down. You can download the software for free on Sirius website.
-YOU WILL NEED A DOCKING STATION TO ACCESS RADIO! THERE IS NO PORTABLE SIRIUS RADIO S50! If you dont hook it up to a docking station, you will only have mp3s or what you may or may not have recorded off Sirius before. It comes with the car docking station, in my op a way to make money, since I will be at home when I first unpack it, and I may not even want or need a car station...or have a car for that matter. So for home use and to use it like you may think you could, you will have to find (theyre sold out often times) and buy (100 Smackeroos) a home docking station on top of the S50!
-Nice portability, buttons take time to get used to.
-Good locking slide switch.
-Battery should last you a day good, charges 1-4 hours (depending on what you hook it up to).
-Pretty lightweight.
-Solid belt clip, though they should have left a hole to plug the transfer/charge cable in...but this way no dirt gets in, also a good thing I guess.
-For some reason, after pausing it shuts down and you have to start the whole thing over, but that may be me, I just started using it.
-You cannot record Sirius off the internet. Not all Sirius stations are on the web!
-I like the sound quality, though no options except volume.
-No optical or digital line-out, youll have to use the pc-link on the home docking station for that.
-Comes with all the car parts...but they are car parts. Havent used it in the car yet, as I dont have a car right now. (See above)
-Other people report problems regarding: if you record a show, it will not separate tracks, so its all or nothing; single tracks may be cut/interferred with; some odd time limit on what you can download; so far no way to transfer Sirius songs onto the computer, which would probably put iTunes out of business with Sirius customers;
-Nice packing, looks, service there, but not always competent with regard to the details.
-Home docking station is tiny and nicely looking, great sound, but thats the least you can ask for your money.
-Car adapter tiny (a little box, about an 1.5 in cube), but the usual cable/antenna nonsense to dangle around your car...but good thing you program your car radio to the Sirius and dont need to plug in and install any nonsense.
-Once you invested all that money (USD240 or so for the device, 100 for the home station, one-year subscription), heres what you get: Crystal clear (beware of steel concrete, that will block most waves) radio with a vast array of stations, styles, and categories; great celebrity djs, howard (if you care) with his team, two stations to himself; the love button lets you record that song you love but dont know the name of with a button across the room thanks to the remote; and they do play some rarer and more unusual stuff than your average station (at least for the music styles I know), though your recording may have a dj babbeling sometimes, they dont do that often, but hey, its radio; service radio like traffic, sports; news and weather (who needs TV anymore?); many ways to combine stereo, pc, and s50, with enough in/out combinations to satisfy most appetites; sleek design, good functionality; even if you are out of radio reach (play with the antenna, shouldnt be a problem to pick up a signal) you switch over and listen to your 100+ songs on the s50; good sound quality (well, what did you high-end fanatics out there expect?); good portability and quick setup (set up the home station in a friends room for a week, took me 10 mins); multi-language stations, check listings, but Korean, Spanish, and others I know for sure; a good browse function (browse stations or genres or favorites while listening to radio or mp3s); for the blind users: audio supported menu (also nice if you dont want to take your hands out of your pockets).
-The bottom line:
I got it as a gift and love it, it is a ton of fun and will me help get rid of TV, but after we figured all the pitfalls, neither my girlfriend nor I would have bought it again. After all, it works differently from what they make it sound like. I know I will enjoy it greatly, and at least Sirius is good enough to let you pause subscriptions and things like that when youre traveling or so. Only buy it if you really have the money, though, but if you are looking for a new toy, I could see this complementing many peoples life-styles easily.
Update 2008:
Well, years later, it is still going. Reception indoors is so-so, but I am too lazy to climb on the roof for ideal antenna placement. I am, as many users (see Sirius Backstage S50 forum), paranoid about firmware updates, and am way behind, but oh well, never change a running system. I still enjoy recording random stations over night and listening to them, battery drains more quickly because the Sirius recordings are way more complicated to decode and play back for the machine than mp3s. Thats also why the radio can record ten or twenty HOURS of radio music!!! Would be better without the DJs or Sirius announcements, but oh well.
All in all I dont regret learning how to use it and I keep using it. A boombox would probably have been better, but this is WAY more portable, and after using it as an MP3 for two years constantly, I cant say all too many bad things about its performance here either.
On: 2006-02-16
and if you aint got no Pez, the dispensers pretty useless.
On: 2006-02-11
I bought this primarily for the Tivo-like recording feature and thats a huge disappointment. If you want to record a full Howard Stern show, forget it. Its not designed to record that many hours and it rarely records the full amount its supposed to. Show are almost always incomplete - or the device frequently crashes! Ive had to remove the battery multiple times because it was frozen.
If youre a Mac user, theres no software interface fo the MP3 functions.
The sound quality is pretty mediocre, even with full signal strength.
Given the cost (dont forget to add $100 to be able to use it at home) and the mediocre performance, dont buy this.
On: 2006-02-05
Im highly suspicious of some of bad reviews--I suspect many may have ulterior motives (Investors selling stock short?) OR are simply too lazy to read manual. It is definitely a fairly intricate device, but it specifies that hooking up to your laptop via included USB cord enables software updates that can be downloaded to device to continuosly improve function. (Ive got new DirecTV DVR and thats a self-admittedly complete glitch infested nightmare that needs to be reset every couple of weeks.)
For those that are upset because theyre not able to get LIVE radio on the go, WELL HELLO--it specifies that quite clearly on every ad! (XMs on the go device is reportedly spotty reception at best.)
All in all, Im very pleased with S50. Major advantage over an iPod is youre not paying for each and every song download. Just one flat monthly fee of $13 which amounts to cost of one TV premium channel. With ability to save approx. 800 songs (50 hours) at .99 per song --thats $800 bucks youve saved & you can constantly update.
Finally, where else are you able to record rare items like Rolling Stones live, U2 extended versions, Michael Stipe with Chris Martin, early obscure Beatles classics, Tori Amos covering Madonnas Like A Prayer or acoustic John Lennon coupled with modern day great alternative music? Its like having a juke box with all your personal favorites!
Feb. 19th Update--Managed to acquire Home Docking Kit through Best Buy Cust. Fulfillment (direct from warehouse prior to store distribution--you can call and request this). Am now in Sirius heaven--with home recording capabilities and the system automatically recording your 3 most listened to stations--this offsets not having live capabilities. In just 1 week that Ive had it --MY Alt. Nation, MY 1st Wave, and MY Bridge have over 2 hours of new content on each of them, Ive recorded approx. 400 songs through single Love button feature and memory is showing Ive only used nearly 60% of capacity. Keep your iPod -- S50 with Home kit truly completes the package! PS--Note that many negative reviews have been from people who have not taken time to familiarize themselves with manual guiding proper access to its abundance of functions. . . helloooo?
BUT why take my word for it? . . . IF YOU WANT THOROUGH PROFESSIONAL REVIEW -- SEE Matt Holliday @ CrutchfieldAdvisor.com (It is extremely thorough and unbiased --from someone who does this for a living!)
On: 2006-02-05
Dont Bother buying this for another month or two if you want to listen to it in your house because they dont have any home kits in stock. Ive had mine scince Dec and still cant hook it up unless I go buy a car to put it in. I live in Manhatten and dont need their stupid car kit, they make it look like you can listen to the radio while you work out and are on the go but the only thing you can listen to when its off its dock is stuff you already recorded. Total bait and switch, buy the sportster and a mp3 player and save $100 bucks.
On: 2006-02-03
First, why cant I listen to LIVE programming while walking around, at a game or at the coffee shop? XM has had it for years in portable units. Second, it stops recording show that are longer than 1 hour. If your show is longer than an hour chances are youll miss parts of it. Third, this thing gets really hot, I had to take it away from my skin as I was afraid I was going to get burned, It did not get to that point but it scared me.
Listening to my S50 right now of a Fox News Recording, NEWS FLASH: THE USA HAS CAPTURED SADAM HUSSEIN! oh wait... its not live, that was months ago! very disappointing. Im going to get an XM Nexus and have a real portable satellite radio / MP3 player.
On: 2006-02-02
Live? Its not live, you have to dock it to record. The unit I saw was boxy and clunky compared to the XM unit, which does pick up live broadcasts and costs half as much (though I suppose the price will come down). Im interested in the Sirius programming, but with this kind of drastic difference between the hardware, its pretty tough not to go with XM. Maybe they should have spent that Howard money here. Note the manufacturer; Pioneer? Samsung? Nope, "Directed Electronics". Uh huh.
On: 2006-01-31
The S50 is by far the worst product Ive ever dealt with. It has a lot of potential but unfortunately it just doesnt work. Ive already exchanged the product once because it wasnt working properly and now I am having even more problems with the functionality. I also have to say that it is not user-friendly at all. Ive spent hours and hours sitting on hold trying to get through to Sirius and wrote them an e-mail with 11 issues I have with the product that I shouldnt have if Im spending $300 on a radio. Needless to say, their response to my e-mail was short and sweet saying that would e-mail my complaints to the product support department. Thanks a lot Sirius.
On: 2006-01-31
While I enjoy having Sirius in my car, I hate this product and would have returned my THIRD S50 also if it werent for Stern. It tries to do too much and fails at just about everything it tries to do.
What I dislike most:
1. Only executes scheduled recordings half the time.
2. No indexing feature to allow you to return to a specific point in a recording.
3. Hard to use.
4. Way less portable than they would like you to think - It must be "docked" to receive live broadcasts
5. Not Commecial free. If Im going to pay to listen, I would expect original programming to not have commercials.
6. Always feels greasy. Whatever material it is made out of is impossible to use and keep clean.
7. For all it does, it could have more buttons for easier access. Worded labels wouldve been nice too.
8. Everybody I know thats bought one had to buy two before they found one that worked
9. Hearing Stern talk about how great it is.
What I like:
1. The screen looks nice.
On: 2006-01-28
I dont write reviews, but this is one I think you should read. I bought this unit 12/7/05 and until 1/25/06 the unit worked fine. I then encountered numerous bugs which ultimately ended in me not being able to listen to the programming I am paying $13.00 a month for. The forums at www.siriusbackstage.com regarding the S50 have been moderately helpful but have given me virtually no hope in terms of seeing this unit to a healthy state again. Unfortunatly my return period has expired and I am left to deal with the less than perfect manufacturer warranty. Luckily I havent subscribed to the lifetime plan with Sirius, because that only allows the subscriber to switch between receivers 3 times.
As with any new technology, I guess there is a period where the bugs need to be worked out, but I STRONGLY suggest waiting until Sirius does extactly that with the S50. At a fraction of the cost, you can go with a more reliable alternative in the meantime.
On: 2006-01-24
People complain about the live reception, and while I would LIKE live reception, Im willing to give that up for what this device offers. However this device fails on basic design levels... Im highly disapointed.
The designers spent so much time on bells and whistles, they obviously forgot what people REALLY want. Its not about the flashy design, or a color display, its about usability.
However, before I bash the unit, Ill tell you what i LIKE about it:
Likes:
- I like the integration as an MP3 player. I can store my favorite songs and CDs. Depending on my mood, I have the flexibility to listen to what i want, when I want.
- Love button is a nice feature.. however you cant use it on scheduled programs. You have to be live, or listening to "my sirius channels" while in the dock to use it. Prerecorded programming is the same as on the XM2GO.
- Sirius programming... I generally prefer it to XM
- Dock mount has a flexible mount so that it will fit curved interiors and dashboards. You can put the unit where you want it.
- ability to mix/match sirius and personal collection into playlists
- I love the "my sirius channels" function. It records even when youre using the MP3 player. However, as a drawback, it only records when youre on one of your three most used channels.. and it has to be on to record. It only records what its tuned to.. Being that it only comes with a car dock, if you have a 40 minute commute, when you get to work, youll have the same 40 minutes of programming you just listed to!
Now, my Dislikes.
- No presets: Yes, the Amazon description says that it provides for up to 30 "one touch" presets. Not true! Presets are like a favorite channel lists.. you can set up to thirty channels to "browse" through. You have to use that bulky knob(or the buttons on the remote, which I prefer) to browse through your 30 favorites one at a time. This is like having a sportster and skipping all the channels you dont like, then browsing through them. In short, there are NO presets on this device. I had hoped you could use the numbers on the remote as one touch presets, but this is not the case.
- To get TO your presets, you have to hit the magnifying glass button three times. Your system does not remember this, you MUST do this each time you turn it on, so the "skip channels" actually works better for me. Just a plain horrible design, even the starmates offer this sort of functionality! Just horrible!
- No "multiple line" list of whats playing - Another feature I love on the sportster and XM2go units is the ability to list your channels to see what artist/song is on 6 at a time by presets or genre. This IS how I use a sattelite radio, I list all my favorites on the screen at once(well, you do have to scroll down to see 7-10) and select from there. Take this away, and it takes away a lot of the functional fun of Sat Radio.
- Knob is a pain to use, and feels cheap. The heave click feel when rotating slows down tuning(not fast like on the Sportster). And Why not use this thing like a joystick? No, you have to rotate the knob to make menu selections. I can get around this by using the remote control, which i use the knob design is so poorly used. The whole unit is not very intuitive.
- Why have talking navigation? I care more about whats playing than what channel Im on. If i had presets, I wouldnt need to look to know where I was... and by the time it tells you, youve already seen/heard that the song is one you like or not. It gets in the way. Id rather have cut this functionality and added something useful(presets? live reception?)
- Color Display: Looks nice.. but WHY? At this time you cant show video, sure you can customize your startups or backgrounds. The negatives are big.. it eats battery live, and it has to shut itself off to conserve powere. A B&W LCD could be on all the time. And its all i want OR need. An expensive and useless gadget. Spleaking of conserving power:
- Battery life sucks
- Lack of ability to "love" a song from the My Sirius Channels option when out of the dock. When I hear something I like, i have to dock the unit and find it again to save it.
- The unit will lock up at times.. mine hasnt been as bad as some others, but often when "undocked" the system wont shut down. I have to reseat the battery to get it to shutdown at times. If I dont do this, the battery will drain before Im ready to use it.
- I have to say it... I knew it wasnt there, but EVERYONE wants live reception. Where I work, I have a very strong Sirius repeater. I could listen to it at work.. live. Ive used an XM2GO at the same location, and it works great with a weaker signal. To claim as Sirius does that this its not what consumers want is crazy talk. The idea that they wouldnt have such a unit available with Howard went online was a poor decision, and will end up hurting them. They are offering internet streaming, but this is often against internet use policies.
All this being said, though Im firm on my 2 stars, Im considering living with it for the IPOD functionality. However, Im also considering just using a sportster and getting an IPOD for less money. Ive very disapointed in Sirius, they just dont get it. XM had a better feel for what people are looking for in hardware and its a shame because Sirius has a better idea of what programming people want.
Purchase with care!
On: 2006-01-22
The first one wouldnt hold a charge. After that was returned, the second didnt "wake up" and record my show (Howard, of course) like the booklet said it would. It didnt come with a home kit--purchased an adaptor so that it could be used at home--another $40. Sometimes it would come a bit loose and lose the signal. In short, youre better off buying the Kenwood Here2everywhere units. They are less expensive and come with car and home docking kits.
On: 2006-01-20
When I first got this product (as a Christmas gift) I was initially frustrated and thought about returning it. But this is one of the rare gadgets that gets better the more time you spend with it.
The menuing system is definitely not intuitive (i.e. what does the button with the 4 dots do - and what does the button with the 3 horizontal lines do?) but works well once you figure it out.
I was having trouble with the unit disconnecting in my car until I realized that it WILL operate when its not fully seated in the dock. Once I realized to give it an extra little push to get it fully seated and in place, it works great.
The way they packaged it with a car kit but not a home kit is also kinda strange.
But putting all of that aside, this unit has some very cool and unique features and works well. I love the service and my reception has been quite good so far. The Love button is a great feature - much better than MP3/iPod if, like me, you like to keep your music to go varied. I use it with a tape adapter (not FM) in my car and the sound is great.
So now that Ive figured it out, overall Im very happy. Hopefully Sirius works the kinks out of the next version, but I still wouldnt hold back from recommending this - as long as youre willing to spend some time learning it.
On: 2006-01-20
The S50 is not at all that bad. Yes, if you use the FM frequency to transmit the stations, you will have a bit of BG noise, its really not that big of a deal. When a song is recorded through the unit, the songs playback is pretty much cd quality with no static. The static is coming from the transmission to the FM frequency, so if you use the line in straight to the radio and use it as an AUX instead, as long as you have mounted the antenna correctly, you should pick up a perfect signal. I have had no issues with mine yet and from reading reviews about people with issues of the unit turning off and on by itself, and according to one user, killing the "bass" ??? on his radio? This just doesnt make any kind of sense and sounds like someone needs a new car anyways. If you are just not getting a clear frequency, I recommend you just try to find a dead air station that is not close to a real radio staion (dont just use the default 87.7) and should give you a better reception. The only gripe I have with the unit, which is not a major one, is not being able to record more than a 2 hour block of listening at one time...so, just give them some time to work with things and Im sure you will have better, more sleek components in the future. As for now, Sirius and satellite radion in general is the future, there is no need to listen to fake radio DJs any longer, everyone on Sirius is real and there is no holding back. I hope this review helps you more than the complainers on this blog.
1-31-06 update:
You know...after reading everyone still complaining, you just need to stop all the spoiled crying about this product. Well no way...there are a few changes that need to be made to the S-50, isnt that obvious. This is the first product like this people...Can you say PROTOTYPE? Of course all of these things that you want will be added into the future, this was quickly marketed to compete as fast as possible with XM. You are all spoiled and are not coming to realize that the product works. When the television was invented, did people that bought their first TV say, "Oh, Gee...its not in color" or "these idiots are going to make me walk to the TV to change the channel?"...What! No remote?? Of course not cause they dealt with what they had at that time. It played movies and it worked. This is the best thing over radio and there is no doubt about it. There is not 1 DJ on sirius that is not true to what they are saying over the air. You dont have that radio style, clear channel style talking...that to me, just sounds fake. Everyone is outgoing and open on Sirius and the music is 10 times better. If you purchased this product for yourself, then you are obviously a person that is interested in new products or electronics in general so should realize that THINGS WILL CHANGE. So relax and DEAL WITH IT...there will be better components to come. ;-)
On: 2006-01-17
A great way to carry music. My first one had lockup issues I swapped it out and have had no problems since. Software updates are available on the internet. I had XM but SIRIUS has better formating for me and a better playlist. If you like a song you are hearing hit the heart button and it is saved to your playlist.
On: 2006-01-15
Just got my s50 and so far so good. Mine came with 1.2 firmware upgrade. Ive had XM. I used to have a Sportster. The s50 is excellent. A lot of features that lacked in the Sportster I now have in the s50. Now I can record stuff. I can control the volume with the remote. I can take the radio with me and listen to recorded material. I can pause run into the store or whatever, and return to whatever I was listening to. The unit I have is pretty stable as far as defects and bugs I have seen in some of the reviews. The s50 sits in the dock with confidence. It is mounted and seems solid. If you are thinking about buying this product then I would give it a try... There isnt a better radio for this technology. Also if you listen to the s50 in a standalone configuration you will not believe the quality of the audio. Howard sounds crystal clear. Its as if you have an aux jack plugged right into thier studio.
On: 2006-01-13
This unit was a Christmas gift. I have three main comments.
1) Core programming: Excellent - 150 stations, commercial free. Needs more international music (African, Carribean, etc). Grade: A-
2) User Interface: Very confusing and counter intuitive menuing system. Grade: C-
3) The unit itself: Drives me nuts. Sometime it turns on immediately, more often, the unit powers up but it cant find a signal and sits silent. Only extensive fiddling - unplug the power, plug it back in; turn the unit on and off; remove the unit from the dock and remount; and then finally, for no apparent reason, it powers up finds the signal. I swear I will have a car accident trying to fiddle with this thing while driving. Grade: D-
On: 2006-01-11
Strengths - Great all in one product. Satellite radio, MP3 player and radio Tivo all built into one. This was designed to be a primary car/home product with the ability to go mobile. If you only need occasional mobility then this is good. If you are a college geek trying to look cool all day in class get an IPOD.
Weakness - Still has some kinks to work out. Trys to do to many things and does none of them perfect.
Summary - Unlike a lot of users I personally love my S50. I have been using it for about two weeks now and it fits my needs perfectly. My routine is as follows: Put the S50 in the car at night and since I live on the West Coast it tapes Howard from 3AM to 7AM, so when I leave for work in the morning I have the entire Howard show at my disposal. I listen to Howard as I drive to the Park and Ride and then pop the S50 out and continue listening on my bus ride into downtown. I do the same on my return trip home. I hope to improve this by adding a home base station once production catches up with demand.
In regards to music. I look at this in a similar fashion to Tivo. I hardly ever watch live TV with Tivo and I am finding I hardly ever listen to live radio with the S50. Why you ask? Because I can first upload over 500 Megs of my own MP3s to the S50 and then when I do listen to live radio I can hit the "love" button and it will record the song to another 500 Megs of memory. So right now I have over 150 songs on my S50 and when I am traveling with it outside of my car I just listen to the MP3s on shuffle. No it is not an Ipod that you can store some 6 Billion songs on, but who really needs that many songs anyway?
On top of that when you are in the car it records what it thinks are your three favorite music channels. I would say I have at least another couple of hours worth of queued music channels on the S50 that I am able to listen to. This is great because I can fast forward through want I dont want to listen to and can "love" the songs I want to keep for later. I can also hit pause when I run into the store. If you have a Tivo you will understand how nice it is to be able to pause and listen when you want.
And lets not forget that you can always listen to live radio. I live in Seattle and I get satellite as well as terrestrial (old school antenna broadcast) Sirius feeds. Yes there are some dead spots here and there, but overall it has been quite minimal. I notice that the quality of FM reception is just poor compared to the Sirius sound quality and I use the built in FM Transponder which works much better then I expect.
Yes it has its limitations. The software is probably the biggest problem, but I am sure they will continue to upgrade that or better yet I am sure someone will figure out how to hack it. Please do not buy this if you are intending to go mobile with it more of the time then you have it in a home docking station or in a car. It was just not designed that way. And yes getting activated was tough. The satalite needs to send the receiver a signal. Go for a long drive and then call to get activated. Worked like a charm.
And dont forget you get to listen to web streams of the channels over the internet. So when at home I just stream my radio as well on my computer.
On: 2006-01-11
Ive never reviewed any items before, but I felt that in this case it was important that I wrote one. This is my very first Sirius radio and I am very dissapointed in this product. I bought the radio right after Christmas let me list the problems.
1. When I would start my car the car base would often not power up, but would turn the main unit on. So the FM transmitter would not come on. Would have to play around with the main unit for a few minutes until I finally could get it to work.
2. Sometimes when the reciever would work correctly the signal strength would be very weak. So would have to turn the reciever off again and mess with it some more until the signal strength was strong. The antenna was mounted correctly away from any objects that might block the signal.
3. Sometimes the main unit and base would act like it was getting no electrical current at all. I would turn on my car and everything would just remain dark. Yes, my cigarette lighter does work. I use it often for my cell phone and Ipod.
So I called the help line that is available for the S50. Talked to a lady she said I just needed to exchange the item for a new one. So thats exactly what I did. So I installed the item again, and waited on the phone with Sirius for at least a hour so that I could get the subscription switched over. I never got to talk to anyone so I finally just hung up the phone. I got in my car a few minutes later, and the reciever just shuts off on its own. This reciever has all the symptons of the first one plus the added bonus when it does work correctly it shuts itself off after just a few minutes. I was hoping it was just some kind of software flaw, but then I updated everything and nothing seemed to change. I e-mailed Siriuss customer care yesterday morning and still havent got any replies back.
Bottom line find a product that is more reliable. I think this item could have waited a few more months to come out, but instead was rushed because of Christmas.
On: 2006-01-09
It is hard to know where to begin when describing the problems with this product. After 3 frustrating days, mine is in a box with an Amazon return label firmly attached. The product is advertised as Sirius answer to the two very good XM portable devices. The problem is that it is really a car-based device that allows you to play recorded programming out of the car. That would be OK for some, except that you can only record when you are not listening to live programming. It also consists of a poor user interface and very difficult to master control mechanism. Where the iPod is the king of simplicity, using the S50 requires a thorough knowledge of a 50 page manual. It is hard to believe that there is no real viable option to listen to Sirius on the go (not in the car) and record programming in a simple manner. If Sirius keeps this up, XM will continue to eclipse their subscriber growth. To show I have no bias here, I have Sirius in two of my cars and XM in a third.
On: 2006-01-09
I have had this unit for about a month. It looks great but it locks up, it turns it self on and off randomly. The unit has a lot of issues recording. When you set it up to record a show some times it records sometimes it does nothing. I am on my third unit now and this unit still has a lot of issues. There is no way to backup the unit so every time you do a hard rest you lose everything off the unit. When you record songs on the S50 there is no way to play them back on the PC. If you record a talk radio show there is no way to resume were you were last listening. Fast Forward and Reverse are very slow. To Fast Forward through 1 hour of audio it takes about 10 minutes. I can go on and on. Do not buy one of these.
On: 2006-01-08
This is my second Sirius radio. The main reason I purchased was because it looks much better in my car than my previous Sirius Sportster. I usually dont value form over function, but I knew this would be a better looking and more easily installed Sirius receiver for my car.
Unfortunately, the unit is buggy and Im getting a replacement under warranty. I usually leave the S50 in the car dock and just turn my car on and off. Sometimes when I turn the car on, the S50 turns on and goes right back to the last Sirius channel I was listening to. That happens less than 50% of the time. Sometimes, it powers on, announces the channel, and then there is just silence and a blank screen. Other times, it says it is looking for a signal even though there is no obstacle (and it never finds the signal). Last week, the Sirius logo came on the screen, the car dock lights came on, and then the S50 went blank. Even with the firmware update (Please do this if you havent!!!), there was no improvement. If I removed the S50 from the base and re-inserted, I eventually will get the Sirius signal. No one should have to go through that much trouble!
Ive ordered a replacement under warranty and will hope it is less buggy.
I like the looks....I like the features....I like Sirius...I can only hope that my replacement S50 will operate properly.
On: 2006-01-07
Purchased this on December 4, activated on December 11, broken by December 28.
Nice looking unit, neat idea the few times it actually works.There is an entire forum devoted to problems with the S50 at Siruis Backstage. Make sure to read it before you puchase this. The number of problems listed is astounding.
Im fairly comfortable with most tech devices, but there is no way to figure out all the quirks on this.
Good luck with getting help on their service lines. People are polite, but little knowledge of the many bugs with this system. Most advice re fixing was incorrect.
It amazes me that something like this was released. Compare to the iPOD...difference is astounding.
Ultimately returned mine after Sirius refused to replace. Would only send a refubished unit. What a waste. They should be ashamed.
On: 2006-01-06
This thing is so buggy it has its own forum devoted to it and its problems on the major sirius website. Im no XM fanboy (I subscribe to both XM and Sirius), but this thing, especially for the asking price, is ridiculous. $350 for limited recording, no home dock, no equalizer, TONS of bugs, etc. If Stern wasnt on Sirius, they would sell 5 of these throughout the country. Even the 14-month-old MyFi accepts a satellite signal, and the next generation (look up Pioneer inno)--and includes a home dock. Im trying hard to think of something good about this product because I was so looking forward to it, but I just cant.
Thats fine if you like this, but to rate it 5 stars, you HAVE to be a Sirius shill, its just too buggy to use, even if youre fully aware of its advertised limitations.
On: 2006-01-06
I thought it was going to be a Tivo for radio -like as advertised. Instead, it locks up when I do have a scheduled recording and the radio on (which by the way caused the radio to stay on all night draining my battery). It does not record in the car at all.
The core features i am pleased with, the programming is good -the devices innovative new features arent so good.
On: 2006-01-05
Bought my Sirius S50 about 3 weeks ago. Have really enjoyed it. Am anxious to receive my home set-up which I have already ordered. Sound is great on this and recordings sound better than any I have heard.
On: 2006-01-05
I am not one who likes to take time out and write a review, but after reading the 4 or 5 star reviews that claims this item is "Brilliant" and "Great" I had to write a true unbiased review, since I am convinced that the people writing those favorable reviews are employees of SIRIUS or maybe even Sal the Stockbroker.
I already own an iPod so when I purchased the S50, it was to record and listen to Howard Stern. I did not learn until after I had activated it, that I can only record up to two hours of the Stern show at a time, meaning I can listen to about half the show. They advertise that it can store up to 50 hours... this was very misleading to me. Also, on SIRIUS.com they tell you once you have an account youre able to listen to SIRIUS via the online stream... just not any of the talk channels, like Howard 100. To top it all off in order to record it must be in the dock, to date they only have a car dock, which means you have to have your car on. So I can A) Record something while I listen to it (pointless) or I can let my battery be drained while it records the 2 hours (out of 4) of the Stern show. This is not a portable SIRIUS radio. Period. It is an Mp3 player, but not a portable radio. Dont be fooled. RIP OFF!!!
On: 2006-01-05
I got mine for Christmas and had it installed in my car (will buy a home dock when they come out). I havent really had much time to play with it - hence the 3 stars. I wanted it for Stern and because it records. The S50 isnt as portable or versatile as I hoped. It is a bummer that it wont record from the car unless the car is running. That means, if I want to record, I will have to leave the unit in the home dock and Ill not be able to use it in the car. Its expensive - the unit itself, plus installation at Circuit City, plus the one-year subscription, plus the home dock. I really hope it doesnt end up being irrelevant in 6 months.
On: 2006-01-03
Bought the product on christmas.
To my surprise and disappointment, the S50 does not have a built in tuner like the the XM MYFI portable. The home kit is not available until late january so after 2 days I had to ask myself why spend about 3 bills for it, when its basically no different than having the starmate w/color & cute graphics for each station.
It does save mp3s but there is way too much button pressing to get to your playlist or songs. It works but not impressed with its portability which is how they are advertising this product. Ive returned it and will try the MyFi from XM.
On: 2006-01-01
A nice-looking, compact unit. Installation in my convertible was fairly easy, but I discovered that the antenna magnet would not stick to my trunk. Despite what some salespeople say, placing the antenna on the dash does not work well.
One big problem is drop-outs. Trees and buildings can get in the way and the program drops out. Also, going over a speed bump and driving up a steep hill (depending upon the direction of the hill) can cause a drop out.
Another problem is recording. A few of the reviews on this site mention that recording is limited to two hours, so to record Stern, two two-hour recording sessions would need to be programmed. However, Sirius enclosed a small separate manual update that says, "Recordings are limited to a maximum of 1 hour each."
I have seen reviews questioning whether Sterns show is protected and cant be recorded. I called Sirius and they said that Sterns show CAN be recorded. In case Sirius is not telling the truth, I signed up for the monthly plan so I can easily cancel if they are lying. Also, they said there is no conversion fee to upgrade the monthly plan to annual or lifetime. However, I got two answers regarding the lifetime plan. One person told me that the lifetime plan would no longer be offered after 1/31/06, and another told me he knew nothing about a termination date for the plan offer.
Lastly, the home docking kits are supposed to widely available sometime in January. Apparently, they have to be hard-wired to the home stereo. The kit comes with an indoor antenna. Does anybody know if the indoor antenna is adequate? I have read some reviews stating the an outside antenna was necessary.
On: 2005-12-30
Ok Im a big Howard Stern fan so I had to get the S-50. Let me start by saying the most important thing, for those people who are complaining about not getting the home kit, I have a brilliant suggestion: GO BUY A 5-VOLT AC ADAPTER. Thats all you need. I too was pissed when I found out that the home dock wasnt even available, and I am planning on only listening to it at home, but then I realized all you need to do is go buy an adapter and you can plug the "car kit" in at home too. Genius, huh? Anyways, on to the review of the radio...
UPDATE: I forgot to include that with the car kit, you will not only need a 5-volt adapter, but you will need something thick and VERY metallic, like a cookie sheet or a pie tray to attach the "car magnet". This is a rather crude but cheap way to replace the total lack of supply of the home docks.
So far so good. Sucks that you cant adjust bass/treble, but the fact that this thing is not only a satellite radio, but also an .MP3 player makes up for this drawback. You can record any song or program you want. Another awesome feature. I, like everyone else, was disappointed when I found out its not really "portable" with live content, only with the stuff you have recorded onto it. The good, the bad.. and the ugly. The ugly part being that the Sirius software on the computer is buggy as hell. I put some .mp3s on it, and before I know it, the software bugs out and wont run. I had to uninstall it, and re-install it many many times. Im not the only one who has had this problem either, so I recommend that you put the .mp3s on there that you really want for a long time to avoid this hassle. All complaints aside though, this is a great piece of technology and the pros outweigh the cons. Lots of people are pissed, but most of them are using it in their cars, and since Im not driving with it, I dont have a problem.
In short, the fact that I can play .mp3s on the same device that I can listen to Howard Stern and Eminems satellite channels on makes this a wonderful Christmas present and Im pretty happy with it. But if you have a car, you might want to think about getting a different Sirius radio, one thats a little more reliable through speed bumps, weather, and lots of engine restarts. From what Ive read it flakes out a lot in the car, and if youre just using it to drive, why not play your songs on your regular CD player and buy a cheaper Sirius radio just for the satellite?
On: 2005-12-30
First off, let me say that I view the current S50 as a prototype. I think they rushed to market in order to have the product available by the time Stern started broadcasting. The fact that none of the accesories (including the home dock) are available yet shows that this product was rushed. The bugs and missing features, too, indicate a rushed release. Wait a few months and you will probably see prices drop, reliability increase, and features added.
Missing features: (1) There are no audio settings (not even the omnipresent "bass boost"). It should be against the law at this point to release a product like this without at least some sort of rudimentary equalizer. I have found the sound to be very poor largely because of this. The bass is lacking and the highs sound tinny. (2) If you are listening to one of your automatically recorded favorite channels in playback mode and leave the playback and return, you do not return to the point where you left (even if you dont turn the player off). You must start at the beginning of the recording and cycle through the tracks to find your spot. Remember those old CD players that started at the beginning of the disk each time you turned the player on? Would you buy one today? (3) Can I get a small keypad on the dock so I can change channel without using the dial? Come on, Sirius has almost 200 channels. Im supposed to scroll through them one at a time? True, the remote has a keypad, but I will lose that thing. (4) Unlike your Tivo or DVR (which this unit is constantly compared to), the unit has only one tuner. That means that you can not listen to live radio while recording another channel. Why would you need to record a show that you listened to live? (5) Also unlike Tivo and DVR, the unit will not turn itself on for a scheduled recording. That means, if you want to record Howard Stern in the morning while you are still asleep, youll have to leave the unit on all night. If you were able to track down a home unit during the limited release in December or you have purchased a DC/AC adaptor, you can just leave your S50 on at home. If you only use yours in the car you will find your battery dead and will be calling AAA for a jump start if you leave this thing on all night.
Design flaws: (1) The designers thought it would be cool to have the top of the player shaped like a triangle instead of sitting flush like every other MP3 player. Thats no problem if you only want to listen with the provided headphones (which suck), but if you want to use aftermarket headphones, the 1/8 jack for many will be to big to fit (the housing of the jack, not the jack itself of course). (2) The unit frequently freezes up and fails to respond to any commands. You have to remove the battery and wait ten seconds before reinstalling it in order to "reset" the unit. (3) Six hours of battery life? Thats at the low end of what I would consider exceptable. That is not a huge problem now, but what about a year from now when the battery begins to lose its charge and only holds, say four hours? (4) The interface is anything but intuitive and needs some major tuning. Example: the "Shut off Device" option is in the Setup Menu. Every time I turn this thing off I feel like Im about to make a major change in the way the device functions. (5) Unlike most players, which have a full-time display, the screen on this unit goes black unless you have recently touched a button. I dont need the screen to glow all the time, I just want the text of the song on the screen so I know what Im listening to. Only the backlight should shut off when the unit is "idle." You can go into "display settings" and change the screen to always be on, but since the backlight will always be on, this will drain the already inadequate battery.
I could go on, but I want to wrap this up. I give this product three stars instead of two or one because it is such a great idea. Finally, we can save large amounts of satellite radio content and play it back on a portable. Also, if you want to listen to Stern, but dont have the time to catch the show live, this is the only thing to buy.
Would I buy it again? No, not even at a lower price. My advice is wait and see what comes next. This is a new idea, using new technology. Things will only get better from here on. Wait a few months rather than blowing $350 on a prototype that | | |
