SIRIUS Stiletto SL100 Portable Satellite Radio Receiver

I installed the Stiletto in my car using the Vehicle Kit, which included an antenna. With the vehicle kit I haven't experienced any of the reception problems that some people described. I did try using the antenna in the headphones and only got one bar of signal strength. This really isn't an issue for me as I plan to use it in the car and on the boat.Right now I have the antenna up on the dash board as it's been too cold to fish the wiring for a roof installation. The directions say this is a no-no and will reduce signal strength, but so far I've had no problems and a strong signal.If you're using it in a car you really want the vehicle kit for the antenna and the 30 presets on the cradle. When mounted in the cradle the SL100 is charged while you're driving and powers on and off with the car.I'm connecting using an accessory port and not the FM antenna splitter so I can't say how well the FM input works. The kit also includes a remote control which isn't mentioned on the Sirius or Amazon web site for some reason.If a song comes on that you like just hit the "heart" button and that song will be saved to memory! You can fast forward and rewind through songs that you've already listened to and set the SL100 to record at a certain time and station. You can also hook it to your PC and download music as you would with any MP3 player. It's like having a TIVO for satelite radio.We have XM in one of our cars and the programming on Siruis channels is better in my opinion. I'm installing another car kit on the boat to use the player in both places.The problem comes when you activate the unit and you have to actually talk to someone at Sirius. It took four tries to finally get a call center in the U.S. and someone who spoke English well enough to have a conversation. Both Sirius and XM are pushing "lifetime" subscription plans, which really only cover the lifetime of the receiver, and both will significantly discount the cost of the service once you get transferred to "customer retention".But the process was FAR more painful with Sirius than with XM. Sirius customer service is just AWFUL, but once you're up and running you'll love Sirius and the Stiletto 100.Update After a YearI still enjoy my Stiletto and am still not happy with Sirius customer service. I had some problems with the unit that turned out to be a loose power connection and their support was worthless. Also the software that ships with the Stiletto sucks. I had been told by support that you could upload recordings to your PC. You can't. Sirius also promotes access to programming via the Web when you subscribe. They don't tell you it's only through their interface (not Media Player) and that you'll be prompted every hour "Are you there". It gets old after a while - to the point where you just want to listen to something else.I paid around $160 for my Stiletto, and I came to Amazon today to order a second unit to keep on my boat. I WOULD NOT pay the $328 they're asking now. I'll burn all my CD's to a cheap MP3 player instead.

I have had my Sirius Stiletto since November 2006, and I love it! Had a problem with the extended battery suddenly dying, but I called the Sirius Warranty Center and they swapped out an entire new replacement unit quickly to me. I am very happy with the Stiletto. Four stars only because of the unusable antenna headphones, no Macintosh compatibility for the Yahoo Music Service/MP3 transfer, and the fact that you can't use the remote control directly with the unit (has to be plugged into the home or car kit). Sirius is now offering a FREE car kit with purchase (too late for me, though!).I am using this in the Princeton NJ area, my live satellite signal using the home kit and window antenna is mostly two bars, but my house is directly next to a tall forest of trees--I may have to install an outdoor antenna for maximum signal. If I place only the Stiletto unit in my window it gets a usable signal just using its internal antenna pointed outwards! The Stiletto easily connects to my Apple home Wifi Airport Express, so I can listen to Sirius Internet at home as well! Just walking around outdoors, if you are near a repeater you will get a great live signal even with no antenna. Otherwise, the headphone antenna is adequate but as everyone else has said, very weird looking and painful to wear.At work I am using a home kit and window antenna, and the live Sirius signal is at full strength since I work near a terrestrial ground repeater, so I can record hours and hours of whatever I want daily for later listening in the "Replays" mode (Replays are saved as each individual channel you listened to previously, so it's easy to select what you want later--also, the channels automatically append new recorded material as you start and stop recording daily). This is what I use in my car so I don't even need to hook up the Stiletto car kit. If I do want live Sirius Satellite mobile reception, the car kit gets excellent strong signals everywhere. I like the fact that I can operate the Stiletto in my car or at home with the remote control also!At home I can wirelessly control the docked Stiletto via remote extender from anywhere in the house, broadcasting the Stiletto to a Sennheiser wireless transmitter and listening to the output on wireless speakers or wireless Sennheiser headphones anywhere as well, even outdoors! Or I can hook an audio output cable directly to a home stereo. Sweet!The sleek interface is impressive. Sirius smoothly sends firmware and program channel upgrades automatically to the unit (even over Wifi!). Also useful are the weekly emails that Sirius sends me for Music and Sports events/program updates which are great for keeping on top of all the programming choices!SIRIUS AND XM MERGER? Now that Sirius and XM have announced a tentative merger (barring FCC interference, since there is a Federal law stating that Satellite providers cannot purchase each other), it will be interesting to see how their separate programming is merged as well. In an ideal world, I would want to combine all of Sirius' existing programming with just a couple of XM's unique programs like Bob Dylan's show...that would be awesome...hope they don't screw up the programming!

Yes this item cost over $300 and it is worthless unless you want a paperweight that constantly says acquiring signal. I had this item outside in broad daylight, under clear skies and it was getting no signal. The item was fully charged and if I was lucky and moved into the perfect position and the stars and moon were aligned I would get a singal for about five seconds. But then it would go right back to acquiring signal.It would be nice if Sirius did not try to milk every cent out of subscribers by monopolizing production of their equipment. Right now it is only Direct Electronics, which I believe is soley owned by Sirius and of course completely made in China. In short, they make lousy products, so it would be nice if Sirius let go of the leash and allowed companies like Pioneer, Samsung, Sony, etc. make products- as they are allowed to do for XM Radio.Until then, Sirius will not have a decent portable radio. But if you want to spend over $300 on a paperweight that does not get signal this is for you.