DelphiSA10224 SKYFi 3 Portable XM Radio Receiver with Vehicle Kit

I read so many negative reviews about the lock-up issue. I have had this happen twice but there are 2 simples actions to take to correct and prevent from happening. When the unit locks up, hold the power button and press the up volume button and it immediatly shuts off and you can power it back on. What usually causes a lockup is starting the car with the unit docked and the power adapter plugged in. When I got in the habit of unplugging the adpater when I shut off the car and plugging it back in after the car started I have not had a single lock up. I have a convertable and leave the top down at work and the temp has never caused a malfunction. The radio works great. I love it. As a matter of fact I switched from a competitor's portable radio on a different service. The competitor's device was a HORRIBLE piece of equipment but that is another review all together.As far as using this unit as an ipod I would not reccomend it. It is a little bulky. If you want portable tunes then buy an mp3 player. The design on the skyfi is good, it sits snugly in the cradle (more than I can say from the competitor's unit)Recording is simple and I love the bookmark feature that alerts you when an artist is playing on another station.Bottom line: If you want a great radio for the vehicle that will record your favotite songs and alert you when your favorite artist is playing then buy it! Great price. If you want a portable player to run, bike, hike, etc then get an mp3 player. I would, without hesitation, reccomend this unit.

I've been using this receiver for several days now with no problems whatsoever, before or after I upgraded the firmware. There are several XM proprietary limitations to this receiver being "portable" that some people want to know about. I was looking for a completely portable receiver that I could use outside of a home/office and/or car, so I've listed a few things below that you might want to know before purchasing:A) Recording XM programming works. If you tune to a song and start recording, you'll be able to record only (to my knowledge) from the point in the song where to you tuned to it.B) It seems as though you can only use the receiver to receive XM signals if you purchase the separate antenna headphones, which I haven't tried yet. The unit (without a dock) only has the XM proprietary interface socket a the bottom, and no separate socket for an antenna.C) The unit charges well (when docked) and communicates easily with a PC via USB. I loaded one MP3 onto it and it plays well and shows the ID3 tags (song title and artist name)D) Searching by artist is very easy, and Tune Select bookmarks allow you to select certain artists or certain titles. When those titles are playing, you'll receive a reminder.E) This product comes with a car kit, but does not come with an AC adapter (to plug into a home outlet)F) The remote control works well, but scrolling is slower than using the controls on the unitG) The unit has a stereo input and aux setting, so you don't have to worry about unplugging it and plugging in your iPod in the car or at homeOverall, it's a really good receiver for the sale price (under $40.00).

This is my 5th one of these in the last 10 years. Yes they are an old design by a company that is bankrupt. Yes, they have lots of software flaws that cause reboots and crashes.HOWEVER, it is still the only Satellite radio that I have been able to find that will record up to 20 hours and more of shows that I listen to.I like to listen to a certain talk show that is 3 hours long per day. I record the show each day while at work, and then listen to it driving home, skipping all the commercials. So the show is really probably only 1.5 hours without commercials and I have a 1 hour commute.I have called Sirus/XM customer service and I have called other independent websites that sale satellite radios and they have never been able to point me towards a radio that has the recording power and scheduling power of this old radio. You program it like a DVR to record any channel, any day, any time.So, despite its many flaws, it seems to remain the only radio that works like a DVR and can record long talk shows. That is why they are still selling them after all these years.

It apparently works (I paid $14.95 to verify that), given how old it is (the packaging said "Air America" would be on XM), however, it does NOT work as I assumed it would when buying it. I thought it was a replacement for the wonderful XMP3i player, which is no longer available (that is XM's horrible decision--apparently, they no longer support ANY portable radios like this). When I saw it recorded 10 hours of programming, I thought it was just the updated version of the portable radio (as Samsug replaced Delphi, then Pioneer, etc.). Instead, it was a clunky device with a black and white screen, that required me to buy new home cradle kits for work and home, and---much worse, a new separate kit with clunky headphones just to be able to walk around and listen, which EVERY OTHER XM portable radio--back to the silver Delphi that was the first, had built into the radio. I hope to never have to use it, as I have been buying up new and used XMP3 and XMP3i players and batteries as they wear out, but if I run out of usable receivers, and XM is still in business, I do know I should be able to reluctantly use this one since XM is still broadcasting on its new radios in a way that works for this one.