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Proper antenna pointing at home and car installation are important and of course a view of the southern sky if outside urban areas with local transmitters. It even works as far south as southern Mexico and perhaps beyond. If you travel and want to stay in the loop it is the best option. I have owned one of these for five years now and love it. I use it at home, on the road and when travelling. The range of stations is perfect - all the news channels, tons of music choices and the sports choice is almost universal - MLB, NBA, NHL, College and even the NFL if you spring for the "Best of Sirus" option.
So far its not sounding too good, but there are functions this radio serves quite well. Most of the reviews state it will record up to 5 hours of programming. The small antenna included that clips to your clothing is virtually useless. Otherwise, you will likely be disappointed. If you are in the market to buy a radio, There are some things you should know about this particular radio before you purchase it. The recording function is also a huge plus. Its extremely clumsy control (a thumbwheel on the side) makes it difficult to change channels unless all you want is a preset channel.
There are limitations here. The font and lack of an adequate backlight also make the screen very difficult to read when driving. The large display does have some advantages. You certainly can't use it jogging or on a bus, train or plane, unless you have recorded programming previously.and even then, the life of the battery in playback mode isn't great. Given its limitations, I think I have squeezed all that is humanly possible out of this radio.
Its portable in that it can be taken from place to place, but its certainly not a "WalkMan." If you plan to listen to XM in a variety of settings, its a decent option.but certainly not a perfect one. You can record something you are listening to, or you can set it to record automatically while the unit is turned off and docked. It can't record something while you are listening to something else. The docking cradle for the unit isn't very stable. There is a scroll at the bottom of the display screen that can be programmed to track stocks in real time as well as sports scores. I thought it might be perfect for laying in the hammock, but the integrated antenna is better suited than the "portable" antenna. The sound quality is quite good and the dedicated home antenna is very good at recieving a consistent signal, even in nasty weather.
I wish you could program to only record on certain days of the week, but I don't think the radio knows what day it is. If you are fortunate enough to have an external input on your car stereo, I would recommend you use that. The Delphi MiFi XM2Go tries to pass itself as a satellite radio for any situation. Most of these shows are talk oriented and may be delivered in mono, thus requiring less space to record. Now that XM has joined with Sirius, there is even more to enjoy. Its much easier to read the display sitting in front of you on a desk that it is sitting in the drivers seat on the interstate. The "portability" of this unit is pretty limited.
You can program the Delphi to record a program coming up in the next 24 hours or one that airs everyday at the same time. Also, Delphi should re-evaluate selling point of "portability" entirely unless a more effective body antenna can be produced. It could certainly use a second generation version that would iron out some of the flaws, especially the ease of use while driving and the underwhelming FM signal. I have the cradle and external antenna at work wired into the external input my iPod speaker dock and I purchased the Altec-Lansing XM3020 for docking and use at home. This is true, but it is good at some tasks and only barely passable for others.
If most of your time listening to XM will be in the car, this is not the unit for you. If you want to use your XM radio at home or at the office, its perfect. I know for a fact that mine is currently holding about 8 hours of recorded shows. The FM transmitter signal volume is very low, making "CD quality" music sound pretty muddy at times. Anyone who knows me knows I love my XM Radio.
The Delphi radio itself is heavier than most satellite radios, but the dock for it is just cheap plastic. Its the one part of the radio that really exceeds expectations.
There is the occasional signal fade in and out, depending where you're at. So I bought a replacement unit and hope I will not have the same problem. But overall I highly recommend this unit if you love commercial free and different types of music as I do at home, in the car or at the gym. I bought my first unit 4 years ago and used it heavily. The only part that fell apart was the bottom of the unit where you dock it to charge at home or in the car. The battery needs to be changed every year of so depending on use.
The antenna doesn't work well in this environment, but as a portable home and car unit, it's great. I wish Delphi hadn't discontinued them. This is my second unit since my first one purchased 5 years ago gave up the ghost, most likely due to overuse and my own carelessness. I searched and found a quality replacement and it is up and running smoothly and effectively. The unit is not effective on your person, mimicking an Ipod.
LOL, when I talked to their service dept, they said I shouldn't have bought this unit at all, that I should buy the Inno instead. Seriously bad. I am still using it and still loving it. The little pins where you plug in your device, so it can recharge etc.well, the little pins go bad. Really, my actual XM2go radio unit always works absolutely fine and has not needed servicing or replacement. My problems were with the battery and the dock, that's all. But here is what you should know: After six months of use, it started to freeze up and stop working. Also, it turns out that the "home set" dock is a sensitive little thing.
I ordered, like, 4 different home sets just to get new docks. Finally I decided to just leave it in the dock and use it like a non-mobile, non-"2-go" device, and it seems much happier. I bought my Delphi XM2go in 2006. It turns out that you have to change the battery a few times a year. They work fine for awhile.and then they don't.
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