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[littleradioboy]

1. The FM preset button, this is a button that will let you preset 5 FM Frequencies to broadcast on, this is super for people like me who live in the middle of 3 major metros, at my house I can get Philadelphia and Baltimore stations, I work out side DC so as I drive at times the FM Feq that worked at my house but as I drove it got static.


2. Memo or song/artiest seek, also very cool if you like Beatles you can set the radio to tell you any time a Beatles song is playing on any Sirius Station. I will also let you do it just for one song.

3. New for the Starmate is the Jump button, this will let you store a traffic channel, or you can use it as a preset. It works the same as the ones on the Sportster

4. Game Alerts, same as what the Sportster would do.

5. Station 000, when you get this out of the box 184 is on, if you try to change the station before you activate, you will get to channel 000 that will display you SID number. This was helpful when on the phone to activate.

6. Display is much better then the old Starmate, the Blue is very nice to the eyes, also it is very clear, the best yet. You can change the display to a 2 line or 1 line display (helps see far away) Also if you hold the Display button you can get a list view of all the stations, hit display again, and then you switch between Station Name, Song Title, and Artiest Name. When you use the reply function you will see a large bar to show were you are in the recording. When in replay the clock changes to a “behind live time” (-0:11:34)
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7. The car kit, is nice the bracket that clips on the radio has a place for the wires. But if you want to plug and play, there is a few more steps to take it out of your car. Unlike the Sportster, you have to unplug the wires (that will stay in place because the bracket holds them up) then unclip the radio from the bracket. There is a very small clip you push to make the radio pop off the bracket.

8. Controls are also set up very nice, I love the Sirius Logo Dog on the center button, good branding. I have the 1st Starmate and the buttons were hard to hit with my big fingers, I have noticed that these buttons are not as sensitive so you will not hit the worng button by mistake.


9. Remote.. Small but set up very nice, best set up easy to navigate. The best thing you can point anyplace and it works unlike the past remotes you had to point at the radio this, on is very nice..


10. Warm, it runs warm but not as bad past radios.

11. Wires out the side, this is a slight down fall, the wires popping out the side, the good thing is that the mounting bracket holds the wires so you can tuck them around, the car power cord and Ant both have 90 degree plugs, so the wires wrap very nice.

12. The Antenna, it is not like the antenna that was packed with the sportster replay, This is just the regular low profile antenna, not the flatter dish shaped on with that coin looking thing in the middle.

13. The sound, it sounds very good over both the line out and the FM transmitter.

14. Home kit, the power cord from my old Starmate will power this, but the old home bracket will not fit..

Overall
SIZE
Small but perfect size for easy mounting in almost any location.
MOUNTING
Package includes suction cup mount and Velcro tape. There is a mounting that will work with use any standard AMPS mount.
DISPLAY
WOW, the best yet.. I did test drive with it.. Day Time the sun washes out the blue background but the text is super clear. The font is thin so it is better then the first Starmate, less scrolling. This blue back ground is also better then the Sportster Replay blue, it works, in all light very nice. Also you can switch between 1 or 2 lines of info.
FM TRANSMITTER
The sound is very good over the FM transmitter, also very powerful for the size or the unit. FM-OUT is also there so that you can hookup a SATSWB to cut down on interference. There is a button that will allow you to switch between FM frequencies presets..
AUDIO OUTPUT JACK
The output jack for audio is much better then the old Starmate, load and crisp. The volume controls that were on the side of the 1st Starmate, are not on the replay
WRAP UP
I would have to say that the pros out weigh the cons on this thing. I fell in love with it even in the package, it is light, and not a box. It is a nice body for a tuner.. The only con I can see so far is the “Plug and Play” part of it.. Without the docking station you need to pull wires out of the unit, and also unclip it (or Velcro) I was worried about the wires out the side, and how it would look, the improvements over the old Starmate has to be all the wires on one side. The mounting clip also acts as a wire holder, and all the wires have 90 degree ends on them, so they wrap nicely. I would have to say if you are getting this for your car, and will not want to take it in and out too much, this is the best tuner out for you right now.

[msucog]

sweet little unit...i would definately recommend it to those that don't want to take it in and out on a regular basis. if you did, you'd still only be looking at unplugging two plugs, so it still isn't that bad. display is super clear and can be adjusted so that it doesn't consume the windshield during night driving, but is easily read during the day. it's small enough to fit just about anywhere, but not so small that you'll have wreck changing stations.

if i had to change anything, i'd make the display a little bigger for easier viewing during high traffic times (maybe i'm just hypnotized by it) all in all, i give it an 8 out of 10...with 10 the best...

[budd]

i have one of these, my wife bought it for me for christmas. i use it in my house, then my car. then it comes with me into work. very nice unit. the fm modulator is very strong also.
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Sirius since 12/24/2004