Portable "plug and play" radios in 2023...

[Kryptonite]

I use my phone with unlimited data. Where I'm not fortune enough to have WiFi, no worries. My car has Bluetooth. If I'm really strapped in an area with no data, it's not for long.

My "radio" subscription is tied to someone else's car.

With that said, I realize that not everyone has unlimited data with Bluetooth.

It'd be interesting to know what percentage of radios are Starmates, Sportsters, MyFis or whatever they sell now. I just took a brief look and it seems like they're selling a lot of radios with Pandora/podcast abilities, obviously tapping into the world of "things that are similar to radio, but aren't radio."

They've obviously been pushing the app and cars hard the past few years...and when I say cars, I mean "push SAT instead of AM/FM."

Do those car docks and extra wires with the dot antenna still even exist?

 

[IdRatherBeSkiing]

My SL2 and my wife's Airware are in a box somewhere. I use the free internet that comes with the lifetime sub. I have a SXM Canada built in sub in my car. I do see some of the stuff in some stores buried away in a corner. The stocker had no idea they had. Not like the glory days when there were huge XM & Sirius displays.

 

[scotchandcigar]

They've obviously been pushing the app and cars hard the past few years...and when I say cars, I mean "push SAT instead of AM/FM."

Every time I hear that SXM advertising phrase, "now you can listen outside the car", I want to hit someone in the head with a bat. They're referring to the streaming service, which has been around for a really long time, but they make it sound like it's new. Plus, they falsely imply that it's not for use in a car. I've been using the streaming app to listen IN THE CAR since 2011. Why they advertise it as something for using exclusively outside the car is beyond me.

On my current car, which is actually a 2008, I briefly activated the built-in satrad during the trial period, but it sounded like shit. However, streaming in the car from my phone sounds great, just like it did in my previous car. Now if I had a newer car with a newer satrad unit, maybe it would be a different story.

 

[Kryptonite]

Every time I hear that SXM advertising phrase, "now you can listen outside the car", I want to hit someone in the head with a bat. They're referring to the streaming service, which has been around for a really long time, but they make it sound like it's new. Plus, they falsely imply that it's not for use in a car. I've been using the streaming app to listen IN THE CAR since 2011. Why they advertise it as something for using exclusively outside the car is beyond me.

On my current car, which is actually a 2008, I briefly activated the built-in satrad during the trial period, but it sounded like shit. However, streaming in the car from my phone sounds great, just like it did in my previous car. Now if I had a newer car with a newer satrad unit, maybe it would be a different story.

Exactly.

My first radio was a Sportster Replay. I had the app when it first launched. For a while, I want to say online listening was a premium feature... although I know they had a higher SQ at an additional fee.

Howard's first contract didn't include online listening. That came in late 2010 for the contract which ran from 2011-2015.

The only thing I really listen to are the music and Howard channels and I think those come through at maximum quality. It wouldn't surprise me if podcasts, TV audio and some of the other talk channels have lesser quality.

I think the car my account is attached to is a 2021, although I have no idea what type of speaker system it has.

Of course, even back in 2006, Howard was promoting "listen in the car" like that was the only place people were listening. Callers would talk about having to stay in their car for extra time just to listen...of course, if you plugged your radio into a home system or boombox, you'd miss part of the show.

I wonder if part of that is someone (maybe also including Howard) thinking that people are listening in their car OR not...and the whole idea of putting your phone in the cupholder and continually streaming from headphones to car speakers is foreign to them.

Of course, they're also pushing their Amazon integration. You can listen via your smart device just by teaching it the skill. Marianne from Brooklyn did her usual yelling thing when her husband set it up for listening throughout the house.

 

[HecticArt]

I still listen on my SL2 in my car.
I used to use it at work, but have been streaming from my laptop during the day. I could stream from my phone, but I don't like having to fart around with the phone and app when I get up from my desk or take a call on my cell.

If they block streaming at work, I'll go back to my SL2.

Every time I hear that SXM advertising phrase, "now you can listen outside the car", I want to hit someone in the head with a bat.

You know that they are targeting people that don't know that SXM has evolved, right?
I mean, they may still need to get hit in the head with a bat. I don't think that the two are mutually exclusive.

 

[Kryptonite]

When you say SL2, I'm surprised it still works. Didn't Xoom or whatever it was stop support eons ago? Indeed, that thread I started ages ago...

I do believe it's satellite-only now, right? What's your method? Car-only? Even though those weren't the "pain phones" they were still quite uncomfortable.

I miss the way that screen matched the blue of my old aftermarket car stereo...back when car stereos couldn't play CDs and you had to get a separate one and they always got jacked. (Take the face out and throw it under the seat!)

 

[IdRatherBeSkiing]

For SL2, sat only or recorded songs (if that works -- mine won't record due to firmware bugs). Once it dies, no recovery. TSS used to be able to recover for you. Not sure if they still can.

 

[HecticArt]

Oh shiz. I parroted SL2 by mistake. I still have a SL2 that might work, but I use my Lynx in the car.

My bad. It's been a really long week.

 

[sadchild]

It'd be interesting to know what percentage of radios are Starmates, Sportsters, MyFis or whatever they sell now.

Onyx plus in the car unless I'm listening to the VJ, which I stream from the 'episodes' area of the app.

 

[scotchandcigar]

I miss the way that screen matched the blue of my old aftermarket car stereo

Haha, yes! Here's my old portable, the Sirius XACT visor-mount. It had the same orange display characters as my BMW. I believe I used it from 2005 to 2006.

 

[Kryptonite]

For SL2, sat only or recorded songs (if that works -- mine won't record due to firmware bugs). Once it dies, no recovery. TSS used to be able to recover for you. Not sure if they still can.

TSS is awesome. Someone elsewhere was looking for a radio...of course, in 2022/23, everyone is going to link them to Amazon.

Not me.

 

[Kryptonite]

Onyx plus in the car unless I'm listening to the VJ, which I stream from the 'episodes' area of the app.

That radio is awesome. It was my last one before I got unlimited data.

It had that "Tune Mix" or whatever it was. I'm not sure I ever figured that feature out.

 

[Kryptonite]

Haha, yes! Here's my old portable, the Sirius XACT visor-mount. It had the same orange display characters as my BMW. I believe I used it from 2005 to 2006.
View attachment 8567

Eep. One line? That must have been like moving from iPod Nano to the iPhone Pro or something.

 

[scotchandcigar]

Eep. One line? That must have been like moving from iPod Nano to the iPhone Pro or something.

There was a lot of scrolling involved.

 

[sadchild]

It had that "Tune Mix" or whatever it was. I'm not sure I ever figured that feature out.

I still use Tune Mix, more than any other feature. And don't use the app because it doesn't have it.

It takes 18 of your presets (A1 - A9 / B1 - B9) and saves up all of the music they play. Then when you press Tune Mix, it goes to the oldest song they aired from all 18 channels. If you don't want to listen to it, press the 'fast forward' button and it slips it & plays the next one. It saves 1/2 hour for all 18 stations. Before a long road trip in my previous car, I would start the radio a half hour before leaving and have over 100 songs pre-loaded in the radio from my favorite stations and skip the ones I don't like (or am sick of). Love this feature.

Can't pre-load songs in my new car because there's only one cig-lighter (source of power) and it only gives power while the car is running. My old one had two lighters and one gave power even with the engine off.

Q: What is Tune Mix™?
A: Tune Mix is a special Satellite Radio feature that "mixes" songs from your Favorite music channels stored as presets creating a custom listening experience just for you. Requires at least 2 music channels stored on the currently viewed page of Favorites to operate. Group like channels together to create a wider playlist or make an eclectic channel collection by choosing channels from a variety of music categories.

 

[Kryptonite]

Ahh. I never took it on long trips, so I guess that's why I don't really understand TuneMix. When it worked for me, it was just a few songs.

 

[geosync]

My old ass Inno radio is still going strong. I've had a few to be sure. I used it to record bits and songs. When I talk to the sirius call center they say what's the cars number. I have an old radio sorry. I know I'm old and old school.

Oh and that Xact is as attractive as it was in the good ideas when sirius was better again.

 

[geosync]

Brother and sister. Last 2 being used in the world.

 

[goreds2]

Even though I recently dropped SIRIUSXM after 18 years (Mrs. Goreds2 has it so I listen on her account), I still use the XM MYFI that I have had for about 15 or so years. It has the 70’s on 7 Top 300 recorded on it from New Years Eve I think from 2020. Nice to listen to once in awhile.

 

[geosync]

Remember the FCC sued and sirius said naw you can't get any content off of it. Ya right I have droves of stern content on my computer.