Sirius Stiletto 100 caught in the wild

Engadget reader John C. managed to nab a Sirius Stiletto 100 and took a bunch of pictures for us -- thanks John! Sounds like he was really happy with it for the most part, mentioning that the sound quality is great, but already we're seeing some drawbacks. Apparently the unit suffers from such a minor but obvious oversight in lacking a charge indicator when it's off, but the big bummer was learning how this unit gets reception without a fat antenna like its XM2Go competition -- they give you some seriously massive and dopey looking headphones that receive the signal from atop your dome. You might not think that's as big a hack as we do -- after all, it's probably only for those pesky dead zones where you need a little extra oomph, right? Not so; John mentioned to us that unless you live near a terrestrial repeater, you're not going to have much of a choice but to wear the big phones, and not the ear buds (of course, your mileage may vary). The things we do for portables.

P.S. -Reader Eric hit us up with a YouTube vid of his Stiletto 100 in action -- check it out after the break.

[Smoke_Dawg_187 @ Oct 2nd 2006 12:36AM]

I'm getting one. This is going to rock!

[Deluxe @ Oct 2nd 2006 1:04AM]

Fluid, nice-looking UI.

[Drew @ Oct 2nd 2006 1:25AM]

seems almost....ergonomic in design?? no way a device that fits your hand? wow. seems long from the angle but when the camera shows the whole device it seems about right..a little chunky though. i think a smarter idea for a sattelite radio company would have been to team up with microsoft. XuMe anyone?

[LittleJoe @ Oct 2nd 2006 1:51AM]

Dammit!

I was looking forward to this thing, but there is no way Im buying something that makes a loud click everytime i press a button.

click click click click click click... arrrggghhh

[russdogg @ Oct 2nd 2006 2:27AM]

Those huge headphones remind me of 80's movies where the nerd has huge headgear braces...

[John C. @ Oct 2nd 2006 8:11AM]

I did find out that there is a charge indicator on the home dock, which of course is a separate purchase ($70), but hey, at least it charges both batteries simultaneously.

-JohnC

[James Whited @ Oct 2nd 2006 8:42AM]

I was at Circuit City on saturday and they had on on display, and it was available for purchase then. I wasn't aware they would be out this early. I woulda got on too, if I didn't alredy have a reciever.

[Kurt @ Oct 2nd 2006 9:55AM]

UGLY!!!!! I know that appearance isn't everything but the contrasting white is awful. Go all black or all white. The battery is enormous and the headphones stink. I had similar headphones from Belkin for my Inno and they were awful. The reception from the phones is fantastic but putting something the size of a dime in my ears didn't work.

I like the features of the stilleto but I think the design and headphones are somewhat awful.

[Keith McDuffee @ Oct 2nd 2006 10:06AM]

Thank the gods my order was backordered at Cruchfield. I just called and canceled after seeing those dorky headphones and how big that sucker is, along with the rest of the annoyances. Sorry, if I'm shelling out that coin, I want better than that.

[leo @ Oct 2nd 2006 10:36AM]

The headphones are not that huge. I bought several days ago and it is awesome. I a in milwaukee and it is using the repeaters to get the music and no need for me yet to wear the antenna headphones. One thing I really liked was that it does radio replay. I had it on while I was out and about and it recorded 4 hours of Alt Nation. I had no idea it was going to do that. I then just listened to the radio replay in the car. Then if i heard a song i really liked you hit the heart button. The thing is awesome and i hope sirius and Sprint start sharing land repeaters. No complaints -- Maybe the extended battery is to big but somethings you have to live with. I am just waiting for the car kit and I will cancel my in dash-sirius.

[Tony @ Oct 2nd 2006 4:31PM]

Leo, you can't "heart" songs off the replay radio I thought, only live, no? Something about having to listen to it live in order to record--unlike the XM where you can save songs off of recorded content--to apease the RIAA. Is this not true for you?

[mr salty @ Oct 2nd 2006 12:36PM]

It looks as if it is using the same ipod like scroll wheel? Is this true how did they get buy without infringing on Apple's Patent? Watch his hand is is scrolling and not like a push button, very odd.

[Scott @ Oct 2nd 2006 1:28PM]

Does anyone one know if you subscribe to the upgraded online service (128k streams), will the stiletto use this service when listening over wifi or will it use the baseic with the crappy quality?

[Johnny C @ Oct 2nd 2006 8:08PM]

the best i can tell, the stiletto appears to be using the higher bitrate stream.

[Kurt @ Oct 2nd 2006 4:25PM]

The headhpones are way too big. If you have ever used the isoloation headphones you will want nothing else for listening to portable music. I have some Sony MDR-EX70 and they are fantastic for portable listening. If I am at home a pair of Gado's are much better but no way I would ever want to use the belkin phones again.

[leo @ Oct 3rd 2006 11:20AM]

You are correct. You can only set them as your favorites and not record the individual song. You have to be listening to it for it to be live.

As for the streaming, I can't tell the difference when it streams from WIFI as compared to satelite. The big diffrence is that you can't record and you miss out on the sports, news, and other entertainment channels.

I haven't used the satelite headphones yet because the terestrial signals are good here in milwaukee. I happy with this and I recommend it as an alternative to the IPOD. I have both and I like the idea of listening to music that is from digital satelite radio. I don't have to buy cd's and only pay my subscribtion. I have one in each car and then this new stileto. 350 is expensive but so is a $4 coffee. Any questions feel free to ask.

[leo @ Oct 3rd 2006 11:44AM]

You are correct. You can only set them as your favorites and not record the individual song. You have to be listening to it for it to be live.

As for the streaming, I can't tell the difference when it streams from WIFI as compared to satelite. The big diffrence is that you can't record and you miss out on the sports, news, and other entertainment channels.

I haven't used the satelite headphones yet because the terestrial signals are good here in milwaukee. I happy with this and I recommend it as an alternative to the IPOD. I have both and I like the idea of listening to music that is from digital satelite radio. I don't have to buy cd's and only pay my subscribtion. I have one in each car and then this new stileto. 350 is expensive but so is a $4 coffee. Any questions feel free to ask.

[submachine @ Oct 3rd 2006 12:24PM]

The antenna headphones are not that big, but they are painful.

What saves the Stiletto is that they fit into the antenna slot, so you can use any other headphones at the same time while keeping these around the back of your neck.

[Scott @ Oct 3rd 2006 2:09PM]

Are you kidding me? I cant schedule a recording over wifi? So if I want to record the first few hours of Howard before I wake up so that I can listen to the begining of the show when I finally get on the train, i would have to put this thing near the window to get sat signal to record? I couldnt simply just have it in range of my wifi? WTF

[matt @ Oct 9th 2006 9:24AM]

I had an Inno and took this non-working piece back to BB.

I don't care if it has bookends for an antenna, if it works, it works for me.

[NativeMonster @ Oct 16th 2006 7:02PM]

Got mine on Saturday from Crutchfield after waiting on backorder. Problem 1. Since it did not come with either home dock or car dock you only have a power supply and usb cable to get a charge. The battery indicator has a plus sign + that I guessed meant it was charging. On my unit regardless if it is using the USB its still using the battery. Does anyone have this problem or does the USB charge for you while you are listening to it? Other then that I have not used the big headphones at all and I get good reception in San Diego. Battery drains fairly quickly.

Another thing, when you are listening to Satellite and select recordings it will continue to save in replay radio. This is good in one way because you can pause a show and pickoff where you left it. Downside is that is you are on batteries your doing 2 things and it consumes the battery quicker. Comments please.

[coolbreezesd @ Oct 22nd 2006 1:31PM]

NativeMonster, I'm in San Diego too... I want buy this. If I'm using this at the gym, then I'm only listening to the recorded music, right? If I'm listening at Starbucks as long as they have wifi access, then I can listen live?