Delphi XM Roady XT Satellite Radio Receiver
See it at Amazon.com for $49.99Average Customer Rating
(4.0 out of 5)
Amazon Customer Reviews
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(5 out of 5)Best XM radio for the money
The Roady XT has made some major improvements over the Roady2. First and foremost, artist names and song titles will now scroll if they are longer than 16 characters. Each will scroll twice at the beginning of a song. If you need the complete name/title further into the piece, the best way to trigger the scroll again is to to hit the "display" button five times. This takes you back to the same display mode you were using, and it will begin to scroll again within a few seconds.
The sports ticker is great also. I was able to set it up for every NFL team, so there doesn't appear to be any limit on its size. It's not instantaneous, however; it takes about 2-3 minutes for an actual change in the score to be reflected in the ticker.
There is also a "Jump" button which allows you to flip to the previous channel.
The "Tuneselect" feature now allows you to search for songs not only by the song title, but by the artist name as well. This is accessed through the menu screen. You do, however, have to pick one or the other.
Another big plus: The Roady XT now gives you access to virtually the entire FM spectrum (88.1-107.9) if you want to listen via the FM modulator. The "Jump" button also comes into play here as well. If you hold it in for a few seconds, it will bring up a screen showing the last 6 FM frequencies you used. You can then use the arrow buttons to go to the one you want, then hit "Select." And by setting your in-dash radio's presets to the corresponding FM frequencies, it makes it much easier to adjust the modulator if you start running into interference as you drive.
Tip: The XM antenna also serves as the FM transmitter. If possible, place it close to your regular car antenna.
(5 out of 5)Update More Compatible with Car's Original Stereo
The Roady XT is a well needed update to the previous model because it seamlessly goes back and forth between satellite and conventional AM/FM settings with a simple push of your preset button. The antenna is strong enough that I have mine inside my car and I seem to be enjoying strong enough reception. You may want your antenna outside your car as prescribed by the owner's manual, but I was concerned that the antenna would be too easy to steal or simply vandalize, so based on my installer's recommendation I had my antenna placed on the upper right windshield, inside the car.
The radio's interface is easy to use. You can scan, digitally enter desired station or use presets. The ticker feature is nice and easy to read. Also my professional installer (I recommend professional installation even though this is supposedly a "plug-and-play") said he has installed many satellite radios and he thought this one was the best he has seen.
Bear in mind all satellite radio is not a perfect technology. It's got great content but remember it's vulnerable to reception glitches in the same way that a cell phone is. Going under tunnels, bridges, for example; or driving up in the mountains or by the beach with lots of overhanging structures; even heavy cloud cover can compromise your signal. But even with its similar cell phone weaknesses, I think on balance satellite radio is a good buy, especially for long drives when you don't want to be faced with "cow pasture" radio stations.
In conclusion, the XM Roady XT, with its effortless transition between satellite and FM/AM radio, represents the best technology for this type of radio.
Post Script: Contrary to my installer's advice, the radio works better with the antenna mounted on the dash than it does in the upper right window.
Update 8/20/06: If I could do it over again, I'd only get satellite radio if it was pre-installed in the car because my installer, as a result of moving a car panel, has made a rattling sound in the side car panel, which he removed to put in the radio. Don't get one installed, only pre-installed.
Final Update on 12-15-07: I did not renew my XM subscription. As I said, the installation resulted in car rattles and vibration noise. The actual satellite sound was unacceptable: loud hissing, static, sometimes outright lack of reception, compromised fidelity even in best conditions. Living in LA, I have so many terrestial radio choices plus "radio" websites such as Pandora leave me with no desire for satellite radio.
(5 out of 5)Great Improvement
Great improvement over the Roady 2 and it is amazingly lightweight. I bought the Roady XT after trying to get a home kit for the Roady 2, only to find out the A/C adapter in the Roady 2 home kit didn't want to power up/stay in the Roady 2 (after trying 2 different kits - same thing). Certainly worth $99.
(5 out of 5)Awesome Eh!!!
Just bought this incredible little gem during the Boxing day sales.What can I say , other than completely outstanding!I live in Miramichi, New Brunswick Canada and the selection of decent radio is non existent. I originally drove to the city Moncton to get to the closest retail store that sells satellite radio...150 Kms away. I installed the unit in my car in the parking lot immediately after purchasing it,(10 mins total) wrote down the activation # and went back into Future Shop to use their computer to activate my service at XM online( I really didn't want to be subjected to the garbage on the radio for the drive home ...all 5 stations worth!. The XM subscription was 12.99 per month which you can buy in quarterly installments if you wish ,so only 40$ for 3 months to start.Normally there is a 15$ one time activation fee,but due to the promotion XM had for its service being available now in Canada finally, it was waived if you activated before Dec 31st.
Regardless, a real pittance compared to what you get!.My service was activated within 10 mins of leaving the store. Well let me tell you ,I was completely blown away by the scope and quality of selection available.I went from Jazz to Rock to Classic radio and BBC news with pristine reception the entire drive home,which I might add seemed more like 30 mins than 90 that it actually takes. I was quite honestly disappointed when I got home that I couldn't continue to explore the stations more ...so of course I sat in my driveway for at least another hour when i pulled in, my neighbours already consider me odd so this wasn't out of the ordinary I guess.
Anyway after getting inside and reading the instruction manual I only then noticed that there was a home docking kit for the Roady as well. Needless to say I phoned Future Shop back and asked if there were any in stock, the salesperson said there were only 2 left til mid Jan, he was instructed to hold onto 1 until the next morning under penalty of death.I drove back again the next morning to pick it up. The built in FM transmitter is incredible!!! I just plug the Roady onto its cradle, tune in the antenna, set the roady freq to 88.3 or whatever unused freq there might be and bang, perfect reception and clarity coming from every stereo in the house! At first I assumed the Roady would have to be within inches or feet of the receiver for it to pick up, I then went to the kitchen and turned on the stereo there, voila again perfect. The bedroom , the basement gym and then the unattached garage all perfect. By this time I was beyond impressed ,but of course I am always curious to see the limitations of my toys.Next experiment was to get in my car and tune the car stereo to 88.3 ,about a block away I finally lost the reception.I even screwed with my uncles head who lives 5 houses over, I told him to turn on and tune in his stereo to the same, then asked him to pick whatever genre of music he wanted and I would make it play from his stereo..It was pretty funny after I switched through 4 different satellite stations to his exact requests. Anyway in closing it is fantastic, don't even consider buying without the home kit as it is pretty dumb to pay 13$ a month only to have in the car. Anyone who writes in saying they are unsatisfied with it is probably fairly dim to begin with and is not calibrating the antenna or unit properly. P.s I realize on the website that the home antenna should be placed in a window with a southern exposure for optimal reception , but oddly enough out here at least it appears to be west for me..it has a signal strength bar level built in that shows you how good your signal is as you move the antenna around.. so it really is idiot proof...just be patient with getting the signal for a minute or 2 then no problem.
(5 out of 5)Exceeds All Expectations
I have wanted to get an XM Radio system since the service was first offered, but the pricing of the receivers always put me off. Recently I decided to start looking around again and was pleasantly surprised to see there are now a number of affordable options. I settled on this receiver because it has an FM transmitter, the reviews were decent and the price made me comfortable - if I didn't like the service I wouldn't regret spending several hundred dollars on a receiver.
From the moment I plugged this in, it worked flawlessly. It was simple to mount on an air vent in the car. I didn't bother to mount the antenna, but just threw it in my back window. It still gets a full signal. It is a little disappointing that it has to run off the cigarette lighter, because the wire hanging down doesn't look great, but eventually I will try to figure out a neater option. An internal battery would have been a nice feature, but for the price, I don't feel that I am missing out on much.
It is very useful to have the name of the song and artist displayed, and the stock ticker and sports scores are useful. 30 presets is nice, as there are quite a few good stations. It is also nice to be able to choose 20 different artists, and to be notified if one of those artists is playing on another station. Some of the button labels have unintutitive names, but one read through the users manual set me straight. And, despite what some other users have said, I like the backlight color choices.
The worst thing about this unit is the FM broadcasting, but that has a lot to do with the area I live in; there are very few spots without a signal, but I managed to find a few that work well. Being able to adjust the output volume was a great help, and was something I was unaware of until I read the user manual. It works better than the FM transmitter I have for my iPod, and is much easier to set up.
I suppose the best measure of how much I like this unit it the fact that later in the day I went back to the store and bought a second one plus a home kit. I used to love radio, but the commercials and inane DJs have become almost unbearable. This receiver and the XM subscription have brought back my radio-listening enjoyment.