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Great XM Starter Package with Some Design Flaws
Pros
Comes with everything you need plus great accessories, portable, records 5hr for later playback, screen
Cons
Mediocre controls and sometimes confusing functions, recording feature needs work, lots of cables
Recommended it?
Yes
The Bottom Line:
Great starter XM radio, comes with everything you need for home, car, and some outside use. Controls are less than perfect, but it?s still a good radio. Highly recommended.
Overall Thoughts:
The Pioneer AirWare is a great starter radio for XM users. It comes with two kits, one for home and one for car use making it quite competitive with most other XM radios. The portability is a nice added bonus if you can sit it on a table while reading outside, but it's not a really fantastic feature due to the limitations of satellite receiving technology (unless you know that you live right near a terrestrial repeater).
Recording is easy but limited in how you can manage your recordings. For those of you who are accustomed to the ease of Tivo or another DVR, don't expect such easy and versatile functionality. It's great for those times when you don't have signal, but it's hard to keep the exact content you desire readily available and updated for later playback.
Despite its usability issues (small buttons, lots of wires, not easy to use in the car) the Pioneer AirWare is a great value for the $99 I paid. It's a very good device that has delivered great radio to me pretty much wherever I've gone, making me very happy. If you're looking for an all-in-one package and you can find this for under $120, I would highly recommend it.
Background, Service and Hardware Comparison:
I'm brand new to satellite radio, but I was desperate to start hearing some new music beyond the 20 songs on the radio and my aging iPod music collection. Not to mention my FM antenna on my car died, making car trips a bit stale. At the time I bought this, they were showing the new mp3 satellite radio combo players at CES that would be sold a few months later for $300+. If I didn't already have an iPod, I might have considered this option. But I just wanted a radio and I didn't want to pay more than $100.
I chose XM over Sirius based on content and hardware. After listening to both through their online trials, I determined that XM had stations that better suited my tastes. I'm not that big into sports, so even though I prefer NFL to MLB, the music was more important. However, I was sad to give up NPR (since my car FM is shot, I can't get it locally), and I'm still not entirely happy with XMPR (the XM alternative to NPR), but with the selection of other talk channels I get my fill of talk radio.
After signing up for the trial of XM online, I got a discount coupon for their Friends and Family online store valid for two weeks. I had a choice of all of their radios at awesome sale prices – Roady XT for $30, SkyFi2 for $50, and the XM2go family for $99 – including activation, but requiring a six month service commitment. I figured that if I were spending $100 on hardware, I'd stick with it for at least 6 months anyhow to justify my purchase, but it did negate the option of reselling it.
Looking at hardware, I initially preferred the Delphi SkyFi2. I didn't see myself needing to record 5 hours of music for later playback, and the SkyFi looked much easier to use while driving. However, at $50 I would only get the radio and the car kit, meaning I would need to shell out another $50 for the home kit. So if I was spending $100 either way, I figured I'd go with the portability. Even though I liked other Delphi models, I just couldn't get on board the MyFi train. I hate it that styling makes such a difference, but they look like kid's toys. So I went to the store to try the AirWare, and found it to be easy enough to use with the features I wanted.
Ordering, Activation and XM Online:
Once I decided on the AirWare, I placed the order through the Friends and Family store for $99, plus one month service for $12.95, and free activation and free ground shipping. Within the next couple of days they sent me a confirmation saying they had activated the radio and shipped it, meaning that my service would start before I had the radio (I knew this before buying, so I wasn't mad or anything).
The reason I mention this is that if you end up buying a preactivated radio and you're waiting for it arrive, you can sign up for XM online for free. I called customer service with my address and order information and they gave me my radio ID over the phone allowing my to get XM online. So for the next week I had the music I wanted through my computer (minus a few channels).
Included Accessories:
Everything you need to get started with XM comes with the Pioneer AirWare. Inside the box you'll find the AirWare radio, remote control, ear buds (which I've never used), home kit, car kit, and portable accessories.
The home kit includes: a home docking station, home XM antenna, power cord for a standard electrical socket, and mini-stereo to RCA audio adaptor (for home stereos).
The car kit includes: a car docking station, magnetic low profile car antenna, cigarette lighter power cord, cassette tape adaptor, vent mount, dash mount, and swivel mount.
The portable accessories include: a protective carrying case with a clear plastic front and belt clip, and a belt clip which leaves the AirWare more exposed but doubles as a stand which is really great for using the AirWare away from the external antennas.
Setup and Installation:
Setup is not that hard, but to get my home and car set up the way I liked it took about an hour total. The manual gives you very little guidance for setup and has a few drawings that don't offer much help or explanation. It's a shame when the manual tells you to set up the vent mount as shown in the picture when the picture isn't very clear.
Even though my radio was preactivated, I had to "refresh" the radio before receiving all of the channels. Refreshing was just going to a website, entering the radio ID, and waiting 10 minutes until all of the channels were available.
Setup at home was fairly simple. It's really a matter of finding a place to route all of the cords (power, antenna, line out) and a good location for your antenna (I'll talk more about this in a later section). The antenna cord is around 25' long, I believe, which worked well for me, but could present a problem for those who don't have a south facing window or can't get a signal through their roof.
Setup in the car takes a bit more time and provides a few more challenges. It's really not much more than finding a good path for the wire which may require some poking around the back seat and trunk or lifting up a few of the panels by the floor to get the wire out of the way. You can be as thorough as you want to, and it will depend on your car how easy it is. I routed it through some front panels to get the wire out of the way, but you could just put it under the floor mat to get a similar effect. The antenna is magnetic and sticks quite well to the roof, and the cable is long enough to go from the roof through the trunk around the side of the car and back to the center console of a mid-sized sedan.
The mounting options seem pretty good, but you'll need at least 1-2 square inches of flat, non-leather space on your dash to use the swivel or dash mount. I had no such luxury since I already have an iPod mount, so I used the vent mount. With this setup, the AirWare is a little far away from me making it a bit hard to read and control. But it does work well enough for me. You need to support the bottom of the docking station when inserting the AirWare or else I fear the vent mount might break. Also, you need two hands to wiggle the radio from the dock, which is a bit of a pain to do every time you park. In fact both the car and home docking stations seem really tight and will hopefully loosen up a little over time making the transition easier. But it does seem quite solid.
An Aside: Retrofitting a car with an XM antenna practically advertises the fact that you have an expensive radio in your car that's worth stealing. So leaving the AirWare in the dock while I'm parked anywhere outside a garage is a bad idea. However, the AirWare is small enough to put in my crowded glove box.
Portable setup is another option for using the AirWare. I have enjoyed sitting outside in the hammock in my backyard or by a pool while listening to live XM. You can place the AirWare in the belt clip and by pushing on the clip all the way it will pop into place and act like a stand. You just put the radio on a table so it stays still and can get a good signal and you're free to read or nap or just listen.
Features and Functionality:
The features on the AirWare are above average, but they don't work as well as they should. The manual is pathetic, either leaving out things you can do, showing you how to do things you can't do, or ignoring important details.
Live Radio: For live radio tuning you can enter a station number manually, choose a preset, or browse stations in a full list or by category. You can see station names, song names, or artists names. Here's where the large screen is really nice as you can see 5 station names in a quick glance.
Presets: The AirWare allows you to store 30 presets in 3 categories – A, B, and C. Storing is easy (just press and hold), but the whole preset and direct tuning can be a bit of a pain. You are able only to set the AirWare to one category at a time, either A, B, C, or direct tuning. This changes the functionality of the number keys. So if you are set in preset A you can't directly tune to a different channel unless you hit the Pre/Dir button 3 times first to toggle back to direct turning. However, in general this isn't so bad. I've set up the 3 presets for different moods or situation – driving, relaxing at home, and entertaining friends. Nevertheless, this can make it difficult to switch around while driving if you want a station other than your presets.
Tune Select and Memo: Memo stores artist and song names for later recall. Tune Select allows you select artists or songs you like and the radio will alert you when any station is playing that artist/song. When the radio beeps you have around 5 seconds to switch stations. It's a neat feature that is activated by pushing in on the scroll button on the side of the radio. This isn't the most intuitive button and it's a little hard to use. It makes more sense to push the center button, but that would only mute the radio. Also, in order to get an audible alert, the button tone needs to be turned on. So either the radio beeps all the time or never. Tune Select should have its own tone control.
Remote: The remote is good, with about a 15' line of sight range. It would have been nice if the button layout on the remote was the same as the layout on the radio to make the switch from one to the other seamless. However, certain buttons are inverted, so you'll hit jump instead of mode and mode instead of menu and menu instead of memo – well, you get the idea. The remote has a nice large "XM" button that copies the function of the scroll wheel, aiming Tune Select easier on the remote than the radio. Two buttons not found on the radio but on the remote are the "search" button that scans stations and the "jump" button that goes to the last station. These are really nice features and should have earned a place on the radio itself. All in all, the remote is really nice to have at home. While I can't really see what's on the screen from a distance, I can switch presets easily and jump to my Tune Select songs. It's another great little accessory that adds a lot of value to the AirWare package.
MyXM Recording Feature: This is a good feature that adds a lot of value to the AirWare and would have been amazing 5 years ago, but people are accustomed to having more control over their media these days. I expected it to be more like Tivo, but there are several key differences. You can program the AirWare to record two sessions, but you cannot choose the day to record. So if you like the hear a certain program every Friday at 5pm, you need to set it Thursday after 5pm. Since it doesn't have a dual tuner like some DVRs, it won't record a pre-programmed session while you're listening; however, you can record live radio at anytime with the 2go button, which is very easy to use. You have very little control over the recorded audio – you can skip songs and commercials and go backwards or forwards in the list, you can see the entire list of recorded radio and choose a certain song. You cannot erase specific programs (so if you want to keep the music and erase the talk radio after you've listened to it, too bad), and whatever is the oldest song on the list gets erased. Bottom line: This feature is great if you want to hear a program that you might miss in the early morning or at night, and it's wonderful for those times when you don't get any signal and still want to listen to radio. It just takes some planning.
Volume:There are two volume buttons on the AirWare and on the remote that only control the headphone jack volume. This makes sense when you are using it as a portable device, but not at really at home. I've connected my home docking station to computer speakers, so if I want to change the volume I need to go to the speakers and do it manually. It would be nice to have the option of controlling line out volume with the remote. Additionally, you can adjust the line out and FM transmitter volume only when you are using the car docking station. The manual makes it seem like you can do this all the time, but it's only for the car (I spent 30 minutes on the phone with Pioneer waiting for that answer).
FM Transmitter:
There's an FM transmitter built-in to the AirWare which is a nice feature. Since I have a tape player, I use that, so I can't really say much to the quality of the FM transmitter. I tried to use it once inside and it had a 10' range and couldn't go around walls.
General Usability: The buttons on the AirWare are small, a bit difficult to read, and not well suited for a car environment. However, they are all backlit, which is very nice at night, and for the most part, you're only using the 10 number buttons to switch channels anyway. The display is big, clear, and bright (but not too bright) making it easy to glance over and see the artist and song information even while driving. It's just ok as a portable player; those of us used to the sleek and simple iPod will be disappointed. It's neither sleek nor simple. The AirWare is quite thick, and I often find myself trying to use the volume buttons to scroll through station names. Also, the headphone jack is recessed, making it impossible to use some headphones with the AirWare. (If you're worried about it, go to the store and check it out.) In general, the Pioneer AirWare is usable in the home, the car, and on the go and I have really enjoyed having it. It's delivered great music to me night and day almost wherever I go, and I've loved that. But to be a 5 star product, it needs some work.
Satellite Signal and Terrestrial Repeaters:
I live in a suburban community where houses back closely onto each other. Most of my windows face south, but between a back porch roof and the neighboring houses, I have a very limited view of the southern sky (about 5 degrees). My windows apparently are energy efficient meaning they block out a lot of the sun's rays; however, they also block out the XM signal. So I was at first pretty worried that I wouldn't get any signal near where I wanted the radio to be. But using the antenna aiming function, I found that the signal was able to shoot right through my roof. When I snaked the antenna upstairs so it only had to go through the ceiling and wooden, shingled roof, I got 3 bars of signal! And the signal has held even through cloudy, stormy days. (However, when I was in a house with a ceramic tile roof, I had no luck getting a signal with the AirWare's built in antenna.)
In the car, I've had no problem with signal, but I don't drive by many mountains, tall buildings, or through any tunnels.
When I bought the AirWare, I had no intention of using it like a portable radio, but when I took it outside with me for the first time and it got a steady signal I was thrilled. This feature made up for most of the usability issues. I clipped it into the belt clip/stand, set it up next to me facing south, and sat in the hammock listening to live radio. Occasionally it would lose signal and then come back. I don't have a clear view of the southern sky in my back yard which may account for the spotty signal, but most of the time it worked fine.
I was able to travel with the AirWare over the past weekend and was in general pleased with the signal. Both the Austin, TX and Phoenix, AZ airports have terrestrial repeaters nearby. What this means is that you can listen to XM radio reliably inside while waiting for your flight. The comedy channel certainly made my hour delay pass a lot faster. Unfortunately, the Ontario, CA airport did not have a terrestrial repeater. But when I sat outside by the pool for the weekend 1000 miles away from home, I got the same clear XM I was used to listening to at home.
Value:
For the $100 I paid for the AirWare, it is an excellent value. It came with everything I needed for home and car use and I was able to enjoy live XM outside and recorded XM at times when I didn't have a signal. For the $170 it's going for online it's a decent value. The recording feature would need more work to make it worth the extra $70 – it takes too much planning to record what you want since you need to know that you're not going to get signal at some point in the future and then program a recording session. For the $200 MSRP, I'd say either wait for the mp3 XM combos or get a SkyFi2 or Roady XT.
I've only had the AirWare a couple weeks, but I've really enjoyed it so far. In fact, I even dropped it onto concrete once from about 4 feet, which seemed only to ding the corner a bit – no other damage. I've had a clear signal with the AirWare package almost all of the time, and I love the XM programming for the most part. It can get repetitive just like other radio stations, but with 160 channels to choose from, there's usually something good on. It's still a bit of an investment to get started with satellite radio, but it's a lot cheaper than it used to be and if you can find a good deal on the AirWare, I would highly recommend it and XM radio!
The Pioneer AirWare is a great starter radio for XM users. It comes with two kits, one for home and one for car use making it quite competitive with most other XM radios. The portability is a nice added bonus if you can sit it on a table while reading outside, but it's not a really fantastic feature due to the limitations of satellite receiving technology (unless you know that you live right near a terrestrial repeater).
Recording is easy but limited in how you can manage your recordings. For those of you who are accustomed to the ease of Tivo or another DVR, don't expect such easy and versatile functionality. It's great for those times when you don't have signal, but it's hard to keep the exact content you desire readily available and updated for later playback.
Despite its usability issues (small buttons, lots of wires, not easy to use in the car) the Pioneer AirWare is a great value for the $99 I paid. It's a very good device that has delivered great radio to me pretty much wherever I've gone, making me very happy. If you're looking for an all-in-one package and you can find this for under $120, I would highly recommend it.
Background, Service and Hardware Comparison:
I'm brand new to satellite radio, but I was desperate to start hearing some new music beyond the 20 songs on the radio and my aging iPod music collection. Not to mention my FM antenna on my car died, making car trips a bit stale. At the time I bought this, they were showing the new mp3 satellite radio combo players at CES that would be sold a few months later for $300+. If I didn't already have an iPod, I might have considered this option. But I just wanted a radio and I didn't want to pay more than $100.
I chose XM over Sirius based on content and hardware. After listening to both through their online trials, I determined that XM had stations that better suited my tastes. I'm not that big into sports, so even though I prefer NFL to MLB, the music was more important. However, I was sad to give up NPR (since my car FM is shot, I can't get it locally), and I'm still not entirely happy with XMPR (the XM alternative to NPR), but with the selection of other talk channels I get my fill of talk radio.
After signing up for the trial of XM online, I got a discount coupon for their Friends and Family online store valid for two weeks. I had a choice of all of their radios at awesome sale prices – Roady XT for $30, SkyFi2 for $50, and the XM2go family for $99 – including activation, but requiring a six month service commitment. I figured that if I were spending $100 on hardware, I'd stick with it for at least 6 months anyhow to justify my purchase, but it did negate the option of reselling it.
Looking at hardware, I initially preferred the Delphi SkyFi2. I didn't see myself needing to record 5 hours of music for later playback, and the SkyFi looked much easier to use while driving. However, at $50 I would only get the radio and the car kit, meaning I would need to shell out another $50 for the home kit. So if I was spending $100 either way, I figured I'd go with the portability. Even though I liked other Delphi models, I just couldn't get on board the MyFi train. I hate it that styling makes such a difference, but they look like kid's toys. So I went to the store to try the AirWare, and found it to be easy enough to use with the features I wanted.
Ordering, Activation and XM Online:
Once I decided on the AirWare, I placed the order through the Friends and Family store for $99, plus one month service for $12.95, and free activation and free ground shipping. Within the next couple of days they sent me a confirmation saying they had activated the radio and shipped it, meaning that my service would start before I had the radio (I knew this before buying, so I wasn't mad or anything).
The reason I mention this is that if you end up buying a preactivated radio and you're waiting for it arrive, you can sign up for XM online for free. I called customer service with my address and order information and they gave me my radio ID over the phone allowing my to get XM online. So for the next week I had the music I wanted through my computer (minus a few channels).
Included Accessories:
Everything you need to get started with XM comes with the Pioneer AirWare. Inside the box you'll find the AirWare radio, remote control, ear buds (which I've never used), home kit, car kit, and portable accessories.
The home kit includes: a home docking station, home XM antenna, power cord for a standard electrical socket, and mini-stereo to RCA audio adaptor (for home stereos).
The car kit includes: a car docking station, magnetic low profile car antenna, cigarette lighter power cord, cassette tape adaptor, vent mount, dash mount, and swivel mount.
The portable accessories include: a protective carrying case with a clear plastic front and belt clip, and a belt clip which leaves the AirWare more exposed but doubles as a stand which is really great for using the AirWare away from the external antennas.
Setup and Installation:
Setup is not that hard, but to get my home and car set up the way I liked it took about an hour total. The manual gives you very little guidance for setup and has a few drawings that don't offer much help or explanation. It's a shame when the manual tells you to set up the vent mount as shown in the picture when the picture isn't very clear.
Even though my radio was preactivated, I had to "refresh" the radio before receiving all of the channels. Refreshing was just going to a website, entering the radio ID, and waiting 10 minutes until all of the channels were available.
Setup at home was fairly simple. It's really a matter of finding a place to route all of the cords (power, antenna, line out) and a good location for your antenna (I'll talk more about this in a later section). The antenna cord is around 25' long, I believe, which worked well for me, but could present a problem for those who don't have a south facing window or can't get a signal through their roof.
Setup in the car takes a bit more time and provides a few more challenges. It's really not much more than finding a good path for the wire which may require some poking around the back seat and trunk or lifting up a few of the panels by the floor to get the wire out of the way. You can be as thorough as you want to, and it will depend on your car how easy it is. I routed it through some front panels to get the wire out of the way, but you could just put it under the floor mat to get a similar effect. The antenna is magnetic and sticks quite well to the roof, and the cable is long enough to go from the roof through the trunk around the side of the car and back to the center console of a mid-sized sedan.
The mounting options seem pretty good, but you'll need at least 1-2 square inches of flat, non-leather space on your dash to use the swivel or dash mount. I had no such luxury since I already have an iPod mount, so I used the vent mount. With this setup, the AirWare is a little far away from me making it a bit hard to read and control. But it does work well enough for me. You need to support the bottom of the docking station when inserting the AirWare or else I fear the vent mount might break. Also, you need two hands to wiggle the radio from the dock, which is a bit of a pain to do every time you park. In fact both the car and home docking stations seem really tight and will hopefully loosen up a little over time making the transition easier. But it does seem quite solid.
An Aside: Retrofitting a car with an XM antenna practically advertises the fact that you have an expensive radio in your car that's worth stealing. So leaving the AirWare in the dock while I'm parked anywhere outside a garage is a bad idea. However, the AirWare is small enough to put in my crowded glove box.
Portable setup is another option for using the AirWare. I have enjoyed sitting outside in the hammock in my backyard or by a pool while listening to live XM. You can place the AirWare in the belt clip and by pushing on the clip all the way it will pop into place and act like a stand. You just put the radio on a table so it stays still and can get a good signal and you're free to read or nap or just listen.
Features and Functionality:
The features on the AirWare are above average, but they don't work as well as they should. The manual is pathetic, either leaving out things you can do, showing you how to do things you can't do, or ignoring important details.
Live Radio: For live radio tuning you can enter a station number manually, choose a preset, or browse stations in a full list or by category. You can see station names, song names, or artists names. Here's where the large screen is really nice as you can see 5 station names in a quick glance.
Presets: The AirWare allows you to store 30 presets in 3 categories – A, B, and C. Storing is easy (just press and hold), but the whole preset and direct tuning can be a bit of a pain. You are able only to set the AirWare to one category at a time, either A, B, C, or direct tuning. This changes the functionality of the number keys. So if you are set in preset A you can't directly tune to a different channel unless you hit the Pre/Dir button 3 times first to toggle back to direct turning. However, in general this isn't so bad. I've set up the 3 presets for different moods or situation – driving, relaxing at home, and entertaining friends. Nevertheless, this can make it difficult to switch around while driving if you want a station other than your presets.
Tune Select and Memo: Memo stores artist and song names for later recall. Tune Select allows you select artists or songs you like and the radio will alert you when any station is playing that artist/song. When the radio beeps you have around 5 seconds to switch stations. It's a neat feature that is activated by pushing in on the scroll button on the side of the radio. This isn't the most intuitive button and it's a little hard to use. It makes more sense to push the center button, but that would only mute the radio. Also, in order to get an audible alert, the button tone needs to be turned on. So either the radio beeps all the time or never. Tune Select should have its own tone control.
Remote: The remote is good, with about a 15' line of sight range. It would have been nice if the button layout on the remote was the same as the layout on the radio to make the switch from one to the other seamless. However, certain buttons are inverted, so you'll hit jump instead of mode and mode instead of menu and menu instead of memo – well, you get the idea. The remote has a nice large "XM" button that copies the function of the scroll wheel, aiming Tune Select easier on the remote than the radio. Two buttons not found on the radio but on the remote are the "search" button that scans stations and the "jump" button that goes to the last station. These are really nice features and should have earned a place on the radio itself. All in all, the remote is really nice to have at home. While I can't really see what's on the screen from a distance, I can switch presets easily and jump to my Tune Select songs. It's another great little accessory that adds a lot of value to the AirWare package.
MyXM Recording Feature: This is a good feature that adds a lot of value to the AirWare and would have been amazing 5 years ago, but people are accustomed to having more control over their media these days. I expected it to be more like Tivo, but there are several key differences. You can program the AirWare to record two sessions, but you cannot choose the day to record. So if you like the hear a certain program every Friday at 5pm, you need to set it Thursday after 5pm. Since it doesn't have a dual tuner like some DVRs, it won't record a pre-programmed session while you're listening; however, you can record live radio at anytime with the 2go button, which is very easy to use. You have very little control over the recorded audio – you can skip songs and commercials and go backwards or forwards in the list, you can see the entire list of recorded radio and choose a certain song. You cannot erase specific programs (so if you want to keep the music and erase the talk radio after you've listened to it, too bad), and whatever is the oldest song on the list gets erased. Bottom line: This feature is great if you want to hear a program that you might miss in the early morning or at night, and it's wonderful for those times when you don't get any signal and still want to listen to radio. It just takes some planning.
Volume:There are two volume buttons on the AirWare and on the remote that only control the headphone jack volume. This makes sense when you are using it as a portable device, but not at really at home. I've connected my home docking station to computer speakers, so if I want to change the volume I need to go to the speakers and do it manually. It would be nice to have the option of controlling line out volume with the remote. Additionally, you can adjust the line out and FM transmitter volume only when you are using the car docking station. The manual makes it seem like you can do this all the time, but it's only for the car (I spent 30 minutes on the phone with Pioneer waiting for that answer).
FM Transmitter:
There's an FM transmitter built-in to the AirWare which is a nice feature. Since I have a tape player, I use that, so I can't really say much to the quality of the FM transmitter. I tried to use it once inside and it had a 10' range and couldn't go around walls.
General Usability: The buttons on the AirWare are small, a bit difficult to read, and not well suited for a car environment. However, they are all backlit, which is very nice at night, and for the most part, you're only using the 10 number buttons to switch channels anyway. The display is big, clear, and bright (but not too bright) making it easy to glance over and see the artist and song information even while driving. It's just ok as a portable player; those of us used to the sleek and simple iPod will be disappointed. It's neither sleek nor simple. The AirWare is quite thick, and I often find myself trying to use the volume buttons to scroll through station names. Also, the headphone jack is recessed, making it impossible to use some headphones with the AirWare. (If you're worried about it, go to the store and check it out.) In general, the Pioneer AirWare is usable in the home, the car, and on the go and I have really enjoyed having it. It's delivered great music to me night and day almost wherever I go, and I've loved that. But to be a 5 star product, it needs some work.
Satellite Signal and Terrestrial Repeaters:
I live in a suburban community where houses back closely onto each other. Most of my windows face south, but between a back porch roof and the neighboring houses, I have a very limited view of the southern sky (about 5 degrees). My windows apparently are energy efficient meaning they block out a lot of the sun's rays; however, they also block out the XM signal. So I was at first pretty worried that I wouldn't get any signal near where I wanted the radio to be. But using the antenna aiming function, I found that the signal was able to shoot right through my roof. When I snaked the antenna upstairs so it only had to go through the ceiling and wooden, shingled roof, I got 3 bars of signal! And the signal has held even through cloudy, stormy days. (However, when I was in a house with a ceramic tile roof, I had no luck getting a signal with the AirWare's built in antenna.)
In the car, I've had no problem with signal, but I don't drive by many mountains, tall buildings, or through any tunnels.
When I bought the AirWare, I had no intention of using it like a portable radio, but when I took it outside with me for the first time and it got a steady signal I was thrilled. This feature made up for most of the usability issues. I clipped it into the belt clip/stand, set it up next to me facing south, and sat in the hammock listening to live radio. Occasionally it would lose signal and then come back. I don't have a clear view of the southern sky in my back yard which may account for the spotty signal, but most of the time it worked fine.
I was able to travel with the AirWare over the past weekend and was in general pleased with the signal. Both the Austin, TX and Phoenix, AZ airports have terrestrial repeaters nearby. What this means is that you can listen to XM radio reliably inside while waiting for your flight. The comedy channel certainly made my hour delay pass a lot faster. Unfortunately, the Ontario, CA airport did not have a terrestrial repeater. But when I sat outside by the pool for the weekend 1000 miles away from home, I got the same clear XM I was used to listening to at home.
Value:
For the $100 I paid for the AirWare, it is an excellent value. It came with everything I needed for home and car use and I was able to enjoy live XM outside and recorded XM at times when I didn't have a signal. For the $170 it's going for online it's a decent value. The recording feature would need more work to make it worth the extra $70 – it takes too much planning to record what you want since you need to know that you're not going to get signal at some point in the future and then program a recording session. For the $200 MSRP, I'd say either wait for the mp3 XM combos or get a SkyFi2 or Roady XT.
I've only had the AirWare a couple weeks, but I've really enjoyed it so far. In fact, I even dropped it onto concrete once from about 4 feet, which seemed only to ding the corner a bit – no other damage. I've had a clear signal with the AirWare package almost all of the time, and I love the XM programming for the most part. It can get repetitive just like other radio stations, but with 160 channels to choose from, there's usually something good on. It's still a bit of an investment to get started with satellite radio, but it's a lot cheaper than it used to be and if you can find a good deal on the AirWare, I would highly recommend it and XM radio!
