- Complete satellite radio kit for listening to Sirius programming in car or at home
- Tuner with 6-line display offers 18 station presets and real-time satellite-updated clock
- S-Seek feature searches for stored song titles (up to 10) on current Sirius playlists; includes remote control
- Built-in wireless FM transmitter; includes universal docking cradle and home and car antennas
- Requires Sirius satellite subscription; tuner measures 2.75 x 4.62 x 1.38 inches (W x H x D); 1-year warranty
Sirius Satellite Radio is an excellent service, with extraordinarily rich and varied content, and therefore worthy of much more than XACT Communications offers in this "universal" kit. This review is ONLY related to XACT's equipment, and NOT to the Sirius service.
I've owned the receiver and kit for three months and I am now in the market for a replacement. Here's why:
1. The keypad interface is the least intuitive of any I've ever encountered. Although I pride myself on being something of a technophile, I must contstantly refer to the user's guide to figure how how to accomplish things with this keypad. You can't even enter a station by number directly! (You must select each of the 3 digits from a displayed list of digits using arrow keys and the enter button). Although the receiver boasts storing 18 "favorites," you can not get to any directly via the keypad; in all cases you must scroll through groupings (A through F) or lists first.
2. The user's guide has a few significant errors, such as how to store favorites channels.
3. The "universal" mount for vehicles comes with one small plastic disk with two-sided tape that adheres to the dashboard. The base unit easily detaches from this disk for use in the home. However, if you want to use it in a second VEHICLE, you need another of these little disks. XACT absolutely refuses to sell the disk alone, and insists that you spend another $50 (!) for another complete kit if you want to move the unit from car to car.
4. The display is too small, and often gets "stuck" with info from prior selections, requiring a reset.
5. Mobile reception is spotty, even in clear, unobstructed areas. I'm in the NYC suburban area, and lose the signal every ten minutes or so when on the road. A friend with an in-dash receiver for Sirius experiences no such problems.
6. In order to power this unit by batteries (for use like a walkman), you must purchase a huge, clunky wrap-around battery kit for $100 (!).
I recommend you definitely consider the Sirius service, but look for an alternative to any XACT hardware.
P.S. Since first writing this review, my XACT unit failed completely due to overheating, which I discovered is a very common problem with XACT equipment. Although the store where I purchased it provided a replacement, I fear the problem recurring after the warrantee has expired.
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I bought the unit from a large retailer in Dec 2004, having been "sold" on the premise that the XACT unit had the most functionality for the price and was more portable than other units available easily transferring from car to home to boombox, etc., if I elected those routes (with additional hardware). I liked the idea of portability and went with the XACT vehicle package.
I agree that the vehicle mounting unit is extremely limited. The actual mount has limited tilt and is cluncky with a screw that fastens to the back of the unit, making mounting and dismounting somewhat difficult. I ended up building my own base for the mount that fits in a cupholder, because the original mount wouldn't fit anywhere else. With my homemade creation, the setup works quite well. I keep my antenna on the dashboard and haven't had a big problem with reception. I even traveled 1200 miles across the county and the reception was fine. Of course, I did have to change FM modulator channels periodically from city to city, but that should be expected.
The unit is very limited overall. Scanning stations is very difficult while driving and I rely on my saved stations nearly exclusively. However, the keypad only gives access to 3 saved stations at a time and this can be annoying. I still haven't figured out the Memo/S-Seek button, even after reading the manual several times, and it seems usless.
Most troubling, in April, I returned to the big retailer where I purchased the unit (in Dec), to buy the home mounting dock. However, the retailer no longer carries XACT products in its stores. It is available on the web, but this is rather unsettling. I purchased the unit as the newest, best product less than 4 months ago and now I can't find it in any stores. I bought the unit for portability and versatility and it's already difficult to find the additional components for it.
In general, the redeeming quality of the XACT unit is that it allows me to listen to Sirius, which is an excellent service. Other than that, XACT offers poor functionality and design. If I were to do it again, I'd get a unit from a more recognizable company and definitely one with a dial.
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I have had the unit two weeks and worked hard to make it function as required. First the FM signal to my radio is so weak that there is too much noise, what happen to CD quality?
Due to the FM broadcast issue I had to have it mounted and setup with a hard wire into my system which cost an additional $100.
The screen and functions are managable, but not great. This is a pull over and reset unit, it is way to hard to manage this unit while driving because it is not designed for ease of use and the screen is so small and hard to read.
The unit gets very hot so you have to mount it accordingly. Holding the unit and using the keys is uncomfortable because of the heat, so the remote is a required tool.
The antena had to be on the roof because through a window it did not get enough signal.
Overall I liked the low price and have fixed most of the issues, but would not purchase this unit again if there were any other choice.
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With both the interface (as noted above) and mainly with the lack of mounting options. Every other unit I've looked at seems to have lots of options for car mounting, while this unit has one silly ridiculouly priced option that only contemplates bottom mounting. While there are 18 presets only 3 are readily available. The FM quality is spotty but that's an issue I've seen in reviews of most of these type units.
All in all, Sirius service is wonderful but I may well replace this Xact unit with some other option.
The receiver has a built in FM broadcast modulator that did not function well. You can remedy the situation by plugging in a headset in the upper left corner and hang the headset wire from your rearview mirror. This acts as an added transmitting antenna.
The search function is understood by Albert Einstein, and the presets are limiting. On the positive side, It does store many channels on band A-F most easily accessed by using the remote. The channels are generally crisp and clean. The Sirius stations offer a great variety. All-in-all, I'm happy with what I got for the price of the unit.
