Delphi MyFi XM Radio in Your Pocket
February 2005
Most satellite radios are either car or home units, and there are many, like the XM Roady or Sirius Sportster, that can move between car and home. But their versatility ends there. You can't carry satellite radio with as you would an MP3 player, at least, not until now. Delphi's MyFi XM satellite radio is the first true portable satellite radio yet. It's a handheld radio, about the size of an old Walkman, that sports a built-in antenna and earbuds for listening anywhere just like you would your iPod (or other music player). That's almost enough to be excited about, but the MyFi's biggest trick is that it can also record XM programming.
The MyFi is the first of a series of products bearing the new XM2go logo. The receiver weighs a hair over seven ounces and is a bit bigger than most current iPod-like players. It's rechargeable lithium-ion battery will give you about five hours before you need to plug it in again. Like several of the other portable audio players on the market, it's got an FM transmitter so you can send the audio to a nearby radio—that's mostly for in-car use. The main antenna is built into the body and doesn't need to be extended like a traditional radio antenna, though sometimes it's not robust enough to pull in the signal, so there's an external antenna you can clip onto your jacket, backpack or whatever. The box is stuffed with accessories including a home cradle both for charging the unit and for connecting to your home stereo (plus a home antenna); a car kit; cassette adapter; remote; belt clip and case.
To get started, I set up the home cradle, hooked it to a Harman/Kardon receiver and tuned to some channels. Signal reception via the home antenna was excellent, and the sound quality through the receiver and speakers was solid. I just pressed the 2go button to record what I was listening to. If I wanted to record something later, I could set the MyFi up to record one or two sessions like a VCR by selecting the time, channel and duration of the recordings (up to five hours total on flash memory) then turn the unit off and leave it. I even set it to record at the same time every day. I got in the habit of having the unit update its stored music every night so there would be a new playlist for me every morning. I'd listen to my scheduled recordings during my hour-long train ride to the office, when signal reception was spotty. When I'd get to work, the signal in Philadelphia was strong enough (thanks to signal repeaters) that I could listen to live programming at my desk without any additional antenna. Once I'd get home again, I'd pop it back into the cradle to use with my A/V receiver. When I drove, I'd always take the MyFi and use it with an external antenna and my car's stereo.
The MyFi's design is straightforward, with a rocker, scroll wheel and a handfull of buttons. You can program 30 channel presets, which is essential since there are more than 100 channels. The large screen tells you what you're listening to, live or recorded. However, it would be nice to navigate the recorded content by recording session, rather than having to scroll through every track. Also I couldn't delete individual recordings. The unit automatically records over the oldest content or gives you the option to erase the entire memory. It would be nice to save recordings on a memory card or dump them to a PC.
Has it replaced my MP3 player? Yes and no. This is by far the best XM radio yet. The beauty of XM is that there's so much variety; I'm never without something I want to listen to, plus the 2go recording feature lets me save music without bothering with a computer. I won't give up on my MP3 player—I've spend too many hours creating the playlists and fussing with the software, but with the XM, I don't have to do either of those things. -Grant Clauser
Stats
$349 plus XM subscription
Completely portable
5 hours XM recording
5 hour rechargeable battery
Home and car kits
Belt case
http://www.xmradio.com
http://www.delphi.com
The MyFi is the first of a series of products bearing the new XM2go logo. The receiver weighs a hair over seven ounces and is a bit bigger than most current iPod-like players. It's rechargeable lithium-ion battery will give you about five hours before you need to plug it in again. Like several of the other portable audio players on the market, it's got an FM transmitter so you can send the audio to a nearby radio—that's mostly for in-car use. The main antenna is built into the body and doesn't need to be extended like a traditional radio antenna, though sometimes it's not robust enough to pull in the signal, so there's an external antenna you can clip onto your jacket, backpack or whatever. The box is stuffed with accessories including a home cradle both for charging the unit and for connecting to your home stereo (plus a home antenna); a car kit; cassette adapter; remote; belt clip and case.
To get started, I set up the home cradle, hooked it to a Harman/Kardon receiver and tuned to some channels. Signal reception via the home antenna was excellent, and the sound quality through the receiver and speakers was solid. I just pressed the 2go button to record what I was listening to. If I wanted to record something later, I could set the MyFi up to record one or two sessions like a VCR by selecting the time, channel and duration of the recordings (up to five hours total on flash memory) then turn the unit off and leave it. I even set it to record at the same time every day. I got in the habit of having the unit update its stored music every night so there would be a new playlist for me every morning. I'd listen to my scheduled recordings during my hour-long train ride to the office, when signal reception was spotty. When I'd get to work, the signal in Philadelphia was strong enough (thanks to signal repeaters) that I could listen to live programming at my desk without any additional antenna. Once I'd get home again, I'd pop it back into the cradle to use with my A/V receiver. When I drove, I'd always take the MyFi and use it with an external antenna and my car's stereo.
The MyFi's design is straightforward, with a rocker, scroll wheel and a handfull of buttons. You can program 30 channel presets, which is essential since there are more than 100 channels. The large screen tells you what you're listening to, live or recorded. However, it would be nice to navigate the recorded content by recording session, rather than having to scroll through every track. Also I couldn't delete individual recordings. The unit automatically records over the oldest content or gives you the option to erase the entire memory. It would be nice to save recordings on a memory card or dump them to a PC.
Has it replaced my MP3 player? Yes and no. This is by far the best XM radio yet. The beauty of XM is that there's so much variety; I'm never without something I want to listen to, plus the 2go recording feature lets me save music without bothering with a computer. I won't give up on my MP3 player—I've spend too many hours creating the playlists and fussing with the software, but with the XM, I don't have to do either of those things. -Grant Clauser
Stats
$349 plus XM subscription
Completely portable
5 hours XM recording
5 hour rechargeable battery
Home and car kits
Belt case
http://www.xmradio.com
http://www.delphi.com
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