The S50 is bullshit (no?)

I was gonna pick up the S50, but research has clearly shown that the unit is an overpriced mp3 player. The fact that you can't listen to this thing in the palm of your hand whilst walking is astounding. The funny thing is that you gotta dig a bit at the Sirius ad site before discovering that you cannot listed live when in portable mode. Wow, the possibilities for this thing were endless.... Too bad.

I already have an iPod, so it's incredibly easy for me to plug my new Starmate Replay into my PC and time schedule record using the very excellent Audiograbber. I can then automatically set my ftp program to upload the mp3 file of any show and grab it at my leisure at work.

Yea, but then you won't have a "cool color screen" to play around with! Whatever - this thing should cost $150 and I suspect it will shortly.

What do I do? Iam a landscaper and need it to be mobile. You say that the S50 sucks, so should I get the Xact. That S50 is a lot of cash for it not being live on the go. Please help

Could someone explain exactly how the DC-AC adapter set up works? The S50 is a radio that I want to pick up and wouldn't mind saving $80 by not buying the home kit. Do I simply plug the car adapter into the DC-AC or is it more involved? Is this the type of adapter that I need?



Thanks for the input.

The Xact XTR1 and Power Pod is the only truly live portable solution for the forseeable future. It's the way to go, on the go!!

SEE http://www.sternfannetwork.com/forum/showthread.php?s=&threadid=80509

Does this X-Star stuff really work? I'd hate to pull a Gary and fall for an Internet scam.

Glad I came across this post, I was about to go buy the S50 at Best Buy.

You know, Sirius really fucking sucks. I mean no offense to Howard or anyone who currently has one, but they have really dropped the ball. They have the biggest name in radio coming and they can't even properly put out a fucking portable unit?? Do they not care about their audience at all?

BTW.. Can someone provide some more info on this XTR1/X-Star thing? Is it a true portable walkman-like player to listen to Sirius live on the go? And if so then why are people even bothering with this S50 bullshit?

Stick with the XTR1 and Power Pod (which is rechargable) and has a built in antenna.

See http://www.sternfannetwork.com/forum/showthread.php?s=&threadid=80509

so how much did you shell out when all was said and done for this???

Alot of people, myself included, really like the S50 because of it's ability to easily record music and other content from a live satellite feed.
I no longer have to waste time ripping/downloading/shopping for new music. The S50 allows me to record 50 hours of live music and then during playback I can save the good songs and throw out the bad ones with the touch of a button.

I know there are ways to do this with an ipod and a computer but this is much easier and more convenient.

About $150 after $50 rebate (allow 6 months) for XTR1, Universal Car/Home Kit and Power Pod.

There are also two Boomoxes for about $100 each.

S50 Confusion

I can't believe how complicated this S50 stuff is. I just picked mine up last week and still haven't received the home docking unit. Unless I install it in my car it is uselessly sitting there because of this. If I buy the thing at Radio Shack will I be able to record and then listen on the go? I really feel that Sirius has dropped the ball on how important it is to have something that will be ready to go and easy to use come January 9th.

Re: S50 Confusion

Just use the car docking station in your house with a radio shack a/c adapter(make sure it's 1000ma (milliamps), i.e. 1 Amp output) until you get the home docking station(it hasn't been released yet, the manufacturer is running behind). And yes, you will be able to record and then listen on the go, you just need to get a signal with the car craddle inside your house by positioning the antenna accordingly. Good luck and hang in there. This technology is very new to everyone so it's like cellphones when they first came out, it's painful at first, but it will get better.

FLASH

Live portable based on S50 chip to come by July 2006.

http://www.sternfannetwork.com/forum/showthread.php?s=&threadid=84399

Haha,

One more reason why the 'Lifetime' subscription is a titanic waste of money.

Whatever you do, don't wait until an S50 live portable comes out before you get a Sirius subscription. You'll be missing a lot of Howard Stern. There is no telling, when, if ever, this S50 live portable will come out. They've had delays with every product they've announced in the past, so it may not be out till the end of next year, or early 2007. Don't hold your breath!

I got an S50, and have it in my car, but it's useless for what I wanted it for - to record Stern on Sirius so I could listen later at work. It only works when plugged into the car and the car is running, so I'd have to be in the car during the show - which is what I was trying to get around in the first place!!

I bought a TimeTrax ( http://www.timetraxtech.com ) system and it seems to be what I should have got in the first place. I can schedule when the show is on to record automatically, and it can edit out the commercials automatically - I've tested it on some of the other talk shows and it works great - I end up with a directory full of MP3's of the show, no commercials. I copy it over to my IPOD and listen later on.

So it looks to me the best (for me) solution is TimeTrax. I'm keeping the S50 though, I like it better than my old Sportster, and it just looks cooler.

You could have bought a very cheap power adaptor at Radioshack that would have allowed you to use the S50 at home.
I plan on hardwiring my S50 to the car's battery so that it will work when the car is not running. It has an automatic on/off timer so battery drain won't be an issue.

Yes, but the S50 only lets you record for an hour at a time, so unless you want to hang out in your car and hit record every hour you'll only get one hour of show. Even the scheduler only lets you do a two hour recording. So it's still useless for recording Howard every day. I rather suspect they did this on purpose because of some contract thing with Howard - the manual says "four hours" maximum but an addendum sheet added at the front changes it to "one hour".

The TimeTrax lets me record whatever I want whenever I want, and it knocks out the commercials as well, which the S50 doesn't do. For recording Howard, it will work much better than my S50.

All of the restrictions on the S50 were imposed by the manufacturer to limit liability exposure to lawsuits if they violate the Audio Home Recording Act and copyright laws. The RIAA has very strict rules and has hinted at litigation against Sirius and XM for any device that allows users to create a music library. Also, the royalties contract that both companies pay the music industry is up for negotiations early next year and both companies are worried that the royalties will go up substantially if they allow too much freedom with their recording devices, not to mention there's a push by the RIAA for Congress to pass more regulations, and finally the RIAA will pursue litigation if pushed. These issues are behind all the delays and feature limitations with both Sirius and XM recording units. There's no sinister motive behind it, the manufacturers know exactly what we want, and they were originally going to provide all the limitless features we want, until the RIAA threw a fit and threatened. Just an FYI for anyone interested in the "why?" all the limitation with the S50.

Sirius S50 Firmware update

If you own an S50, they've updated the firmware. Now you can schedule recordings on all channels, including music.

The new firmware is available by updating to the newest version of My Sirius Studio, and then click on File, then Divice setting, then "Check for Updates"

This new firmware make the S50 better and is based on feedback.

Here is what the update will let you do!

- Schedule recordings on EVERY CHANNEL EVEN MUSIC ONES
- More memory allocated to My Sirius Channels
- S50 stability, bug fixes.

The new firmware is V1.0.10
New My Sirius Studio verison is 1.0.1.4886

By hitting the record button twice instead of once you can schedule back to back recordings and get the entire show. The TimeTrax sounds great but you are misinformed about the S50.

Yeah, but when is the show ever exactly 4 hours? As it stands now it normally runs about 4 1/2 hours, sometimes longer. Maybe it'll get shorter when they cut the amount of commercials that eat up chunks of time, but I doubt it.

well, you can schedule up to 50 recordings with the s50. you can schedule recordings to record daily, m-f, once, etc.

for stern you schedule 2, 3, or 4 recordings. you can schedule back to back recordings easily. get the home dock it automaticallywakes itself up to record anything that is scheduled.

6-8, 8-10. or do 3 one hour recordings and one two hour daily so the show is split up in parts. when you listen back on the s50 it automatically goes to the next selection like a cd so there is no interruption.

reading this thread, i can't believe how dumb some people are ab out this product. it could be better than it is, but it is far and away the best sirius receiver today..

recording to the computer and transferring to the ipod is great, and i plan on doing this, but i also may want to listen to howard live in my home, car, or office and with the s50 i onliy need this one radio to do that, and its far and away the best radio sirius has to offer at the moment. if $230 is too much for you after rebates, etc then don't buy it but if you can afford it it is the best thing available.

NOTICE - unless you live in a big city with alot of repeaters a portable unit isn't going to w work for shit to pick up a reception, thats a fact. sirius does need to make it as an attachment, but for many its not gonna work anyways.

While it's true that without ground repeaters, the satellite radio is more dependent on the direction the antenna is pointed in, and it needs a sky view, but it works fine. It's not perfect, and you will have drop in signal in certain spots, and you will have situations where you won't get a signal at all if you are in a dead spot for a long period. But that's not unlike cell phone coverage, or blackberry coverage. When you make the radios portable with our xstar product, it works great. Check our feedback on ebay. We have had ZERO returns, and zero complaints. If it worked poorly, we would be receiving returns every day. Not one yet. Although I'm sure we'll have a few soon, probably from some knuckleheads who figured they could use it while scuba diving.