Home > Consumer Reviews > PIONEER AirWare XM2Go Portable XM Satellite Radio Receiver

Fantastic product .
A portable XM satelite radio that has 5 hours of recording capability .
It was extremely easy to set up and sign up for activation .
Simple to use functions with remote.
Car adapter with mounting hardware , base with charger , headphones and a built in transmitter to listen through any FM source.

PROS:
* Very sturdy. I use mine for biking and I have dropped it on the side on the street doing 25 mph 2 times and on the sidewalk more times than I care to admit, end result, scratches here and there, but no real damage I can tell. All of the functions still work and the reception has not been degraded.
* Recording is straight forward.
* Reception In Car with EXTERNAL Antenna: Works pretty good, no that many dead spots. I routine drive back and forth from Chicago, and pas through all of the cornfields between those two cities and never get dropped reception
* Since the menu is limited, there is not a lot to get confused with.
* Size: Not sure if this is a pro or con, but this is about the size of pack of cigarettes and weighs about 3 times as much. (Again as soon as you pick it up it feels solid.)
* Accessories: I got everything I needed to use at home, in the car and on the go. It comes with serveral different mounting types for the car, and a couple of different portable options.


CONS:
* FM transmitter is very weak. (By far the unit with the FM transmitter is the Audiovox Xpress). This was pretty much the deal breaker for me. You get so so quality when the unit is plugged in the docking station, but the fidelity is just not there. Forget about using it at home to transmit to your home stereo, get much more than a couple of feet away and you can forget it,.

* FM Transmitter Channels: Limited Selection , the usual upper 107.xx and the lower 88.xx. Causes major problems in larger cities

* Reception when EXERCISING: Is pretty Poor, ( I use mine for biking and if you are under a slightest canopy or if there are buildings to your southwest you are going to have issues. I routinely ride the Monon Trail in Indianapolis back and forth to work. My guess is that when Fall arrives, receptions will improve as the leaves fall from the trees.

* Reception In Car using INTERNAL Antenna is ok, not great, but still better than when exercising. (This is probably due to the fact most of my drive is not covered by trees

* When you record, song at time or program at a time. So if you record a program from CNN, you record the whole thing there is no way to fast forward through it.

* Sound quality coming through the headphones (even goods ones is lacks fidelity)

OVERALL:

I didn't buy this unit for the recording, I bought it mainly for the ability to use the live satellite function to listen to the CNN and Fox news as I biked to and from work. However; since listening to live broadcast did not work out like I had hoped, I seem to be using the record function more that I thought that I would. One of the side effects of that because you can skip from song to song, I find that I am listening to more of XM's channels and and broadening my music selection. I never was much into techno, but a couple of people on Amazon had recommended listening to channel 81 BPM during their workouts. I found that I don't care for about 60% of the music on that channel, but with 5 hours to spare, skipping through what I don't care to listen to while working out is pretty easy.


[...]

We have had our unit for less than one year. I sent it back once already for repairs. The My XM listings would not correspond to the song playing and the unit would just freeze at random. Pioneer sent me a new one and now that one is going back as well for the same problems.
I am also very disappointed in the "built in" antenna. I have been outside in an unobstructed area with the radio pointed in all directions and the reception is very bad. That said, I have also been in 10 story buildings where it picked up all channels with some care to face it in a southernly direction without the external antenna.

All in all, I would not purchase this model again if I new the problems it would give me in the portable mode.

I have a friend who has several Delphi's MyFi units.
I was perplexed by the controls. Then spied the clean lines of this Pioneer AirWare and jumped. Am pleased with this unit. Easy and intuitive. Good booklets to get started and navigate.

Here's the toughie:
1) The unit comes shipped in that clear plastic that needs a razor knife or serious scissors to cut through.
Just so you're warned....they oughta store nuclear waste in this stuff.

2) I'm not a klutz, but it did take me more than one try to remove the back of the unit to even INSTALL the battery. It got me laughing.

I charged it up overnight. Signed up with XM and began listening to ballgames right away.
Yes, buy this Pioneer AirWare!

JDawg
Santa Fe, NM

PS Now.....the following comments are directed towards XM radio and NOT Pioneer.
You WILL have to navigate the same as I to activate your XM subscription.

XM Radio has a kludgey computer interface designed during the Dark Ages. Don't believe me? You need a Wintel platform to activate your account!
Right, it will not recognize Linux, Opera, Safari, Mac, etc.
Who is their IT?
Steve Ballmer? C'mon XM, update your WEBSITE, please! This is 2006! Get a clue.

This forces a prospective XM subscriber (you) to register via phone!
XM charges MORE for phone activation. Yes, complain. They'll wave this stupid upcharge.
Hold on, it gets better!

So, I dial their toll free number and get some operator speaking Tutu in Zimbabwe.
Or was it Saturn's planet Titan? I dunno.
If you LOVE VOICE MAILS JAILS, XMs is a doosey!
Just a maze.
I hung up and called right back.

I got some gal in the Phiilipines where English is obviously broken. Forget it.
I hung up and got ahold of a Jamaican woman who was QUITE GOOD! Congrats!
The whole snafu was over a dash or comma in my address, so be QUITE sure how your credit card is addressed. She had a sense of humor and the whole process was painless. Still, having a useless website registration page and getting shunted all over the globe to OutSource Heaven was trying.
Just be prepared!

This player delivers on most fronts. The ability to records XM songs live and replay them later as truly portable is why I purchased the system in the first place. One disadvantage of the player is the all or none of recording. System does not allow selective deletion of individual recorded songs as the 5 hours capacity fills up. To make room for more songs, all previous songs must be deleted.