Sirius S50 Satellite Radio
March 2006
Pocketable and Sort-of Portable
In race to be the most innovative satellite radio company, Sirius presently takes the lead with its S50 product—a device that combines a plug-and-play satellite radio with a flash-based MP3 player. The big appeal of the S50 (and XM's Helix and Inno appearing later this year) is that you don't have to choose between owning a satellite radio or an MP3 player, plus you can record satellite radio content and take that with you as well. The S50 is about the size of an iPod Mini, a little smaller really, and it's got one of the best color displays of any portable player. In the box you get an install kit for the car. If you want to use it at home, that takes a separate $99 home kit.
Using the S50 simply as a satellite radio is fairly simple, as most satellite radios are these days. The car unit comes with a mounting apparatus that you'll love or hate. In my car, it fits well and didn't get in the way of anything, but some dash designs may give you trouble. The S50 grabs space-based stations quickly and locks on well. You can beam the music from the S50 to your car's stereo via the built-in FM transmitter, which also worked well. To make sure your eyes stay on the road while you're changing channels, a little voice lets you know what channel you're on as you turn the dial. Since there are no numbered buttons, finding your pre-set favorites isn't as simple as other satellite radios. You have to press the Find button, then turn the dial to find your preset stations, then press the dial in to tune to it. Note, that this is a satellite radio only when it's docked in either the car or home kit. It doesn't tune in live content when you tote it around town in your pocket. For that ability you'll need to look to the XM2go models.
If you want your music on-the-go, the S50 lets you record up to 50 hours of Sirius content. You can schedule up to 20 two-hour recordings or press the record button (which unfortunately is a heart—because you just love the music) to record individual tracks as you hear them. When listening to live programming the S50 provides about a 30 minute memory buffer so you won't miss the beginning of a song. You can't just press the record button to save a whole day's worth of music, however. Each recording session is limited to two hours, and to schedule recordings you need go into the setup menu and navigate your way to the content management section—a process that you'll have to do several times before you remember the sequence.
In race to be the most innovative satellite radio company, Sirius presently takes the lead with its S50 product—a device that combines a plug-and-play satellite radio with a flash-based MP3 player. The big appeal of the S50 (and XM's Helix and Inno appearing later this year) is that you don't have to choose between owning a satellite radio or an MP3 player, plus you can record satellite radio content and take that with you as well. The S50 is about the size of an iPod Mini, a little smaller really, and it's got one of the best color displays of any portable player. In the box you get an install kit for the car. If you want to use it at home, that takes a separate $99 home kit.
Using the S50 simply as a satellite radio is fairly simple, as most satellite radios are these days. The car unit comes with a mounting apparatus that you'll love or hate. In my car, it fits well and didn't get in the way of anything, but some dash designs may give you trouble. The S50 grabs space-based stations quickly and locks on well. You can beam the music from the S50 to your car's stereo via the built-in FM transmitter, which also worked well. To make sure your eyes stay on the road while you're changing channels, a little voice lets you know what channel you're on as you turn the dial. Since there are no numbered buttons, finding your pre-set favorites isn't as simple as other satellite radios. You have to press the Find button, then turn the dial to find your preset stations, then press the dial in to tune to it. Note, that this is a satellite radio only when it's docked in either the car or home kit. It doesn't tune in live content when you tote it around town in your pocket. For that ability you'll need to look to the XM2go models.
If you want your music on-the-go, the S50 lets you record up to 50 hours of Sirius content. You can schedule up to 20 two-hour recordings or press the record button (which unfortunately is a heart—because you just love the music) to record individual tracks as you hear them. When listening to live programming the S50 provides about a 30 minute memory buffer so you won't miss the beginning of a song. You can't just press the record button to save a whole day's worth of music, however. Each recording session is limited to two hours, and to schedule recordings you need go into the setup menu and navigate your way to the content management section—a process that you'll have to do several times before you remember the sequence.
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