Delphi XM MyFi
Manufacturer: Delphi Corp. Part number: SA10113
- More product information:
- Editors' review
- User reviews
- Specifications
- Manufacturer info
- Bottom Line:
- Though not without its flaws, the MyFi is a groundbreaking portable audio product.
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Where to buy
| store | customer rating | inventory | tax & shipping | price |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Amazon.com Marketplace |  | In stock | Enter zip code to get total price: Price +Tax +Shipping =Total price | as of 12/08/2009 |
 | Not yet rated | In stock | as of 12/08/2009 Refurbished |
CNET editors' review
Delphi XM MyFi price range: $129.99 - $209.00
- Reviewed by: David Carnoy
- Edited by: John P. Falcone
- Reviewed on: 11/24/2004
- Updated on:04/07/2006
- Released on: 11/15/2004
The good: Truly portable XM satellite radio; 5-hour memory buffer for timer recordings; built-in FM transmitter; includes all necessary accessories for home and car use.
The bad: Fairly expensive; iPod sounds better.
The bottom line: Though not without its flaws, the MyFi is a groundbreaking portable audio product.
There are two ways to listen to music and other XM programming on the MyFi. In Direct mode, you tune in to the XM satellite service in real time as you normally would. Obviously, this requires that you get satellite reception, which means you have to either have a fairly unimpeded view of the sky or be in an area where XM has placed a lot of repeaters--as is the case here in New York City, where we did most of our testing.
So what do you do if, for example, you spend time underground riding the subway to work every day? Well, you can prerecord up to 5 hours of content into the device's memory buffer and listen to it essentially as you would if you were using an MP3 player (the mode is called MY XM), with the ability to skip from track to track. You can either hit the 2Go button to record what you're currently listening to, or you can preprogram the device to record a certain station at a certain time, just like a VCR (you can schedule only up to two sessions). The nice thing is that you're getting refreshed content on a daily basis--say, early morning news from the BBC--rather than the same stagnant content that sits on your player's hard disk.
After a quick browse of the manual and playing around with the MyFi for a couple of days, we found navigation to be fairly straightforward once we got used to using the scrollwheel on the side in concert with the buttons on the front. (Most navigation is done via the scrollwheel.) You can store up to 30 preset stations. The sound can be muted with a touch of a button or locked down by holding the same button. We also liked the TuneSelect feature, which allows you to store up 20 artist names or song titles and continuously check whether they're playing on any XM channel. And day traders will be happy to note that you can set the MyFi to stream a stock ticker across its face. Need more? It also displays sports scores and works as a clock and an alarm.
As we said, the MyFi is also designed to be used at home and in the car and comes with all the cables, antennas, docking stations, mounting brackets, and chargers to make that happen. A protective carrying case with a belt strap is included, along with a remote, earbud headphones, and an extra rechargeable battery, which is rated at 5 hours of battery life, though times will vary depending on whether you're listening to direct or prerecorded programming; we got closer to 6 hours listening to prerecorded music. The inclusion of those extras makes the somewhat hefty $350 price tag a lot more palatable, and as a bonus, the MyFi has a built-in FM transmitter (the equivalent of an iTrip for the iPod) that allows you to wirelessly transmit songs and programming for output on any FM radio. (Yes, it worked.)
A lot of things really impressed us about the MyFi, but the sound quality didn't blow us away, especially when we were using it as a portable. It doesn't sound bad, but it is a little volume challenged. It doesn't play loud enough for the streets of New York, for instance, and we definitely felt our iPod delivered richer, more refined sound. We can't say what the audio bit rate is, but it sounds compressed--even more so than your standard 128Kbps MP3. In other words, if you're used to ripping your MP3s at high bit rates (192Kbps to 320Kbps), you'll probably be disappointed. However, for more casual listening--both at home and on the road--the sound quality is acceptable.
Summing up, the MyFi has a lot to recommend it, and it's a truly groundbreaking product. In fact, if not for the average sound quality and volume levels, the MyFi would be Editors' Choice material. Ideally, Delphi could figure out a way to add a slot for memory so that it could be an MP3 player as well, covering all the bases. We'd also like to see better customized-recording capabilities, so you could pick and choose songs and other content from a programming guide, much as you would with a TiVo. It's a safe bet to assume that successive generations of portable satellite players will improve, but the MyFi is ready for prime time.
Editor's note: We have changed the rating in this review to reflect recent changes in our rating scale. Click here to find out more.
User reviews
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WARNING: For me, this receiver is not a portable unit.
by fla10000 on March 10, 2005
Pros: Programing is as advertised
Cons: Without the car antenna or home antenna there is no consistent signal hence no consistent reception
Summary: This unit is advertised as portable. The lasting impression of Elton John walking around listening to this device has to be pure fantasy. I have talked to four other people ...
Summary: This unit is advertised as portable. The lasting impression of Elton John walking around listening to this device has to be pure fantasy. I have talked to four other people who have purchased this unit and have the same complaints as myself. As long as it is plugged into the provided home antenna or the car antenna I get consistent reception. Without these external antennas, reception cuts in and out continually. The third external antenna that you clip on your cloths makes absolutely no difference in my reception, thus is totally worthless. If you are looking for a portable radio type device this is definitely not it. Read the blogs and you will see I am not alone in my viewpoint. By the way I live in South Florida and have "a clear view of the southern sky".
Updated
I spoke to a Delphi tech and he told me that this unit was built to specifications demanded by XM Satellite. He said that XM Sat is fully aware of the unit's shortcomings. He said it was never designed to be a "portable radio type" of device, hence the five hours of recordable space on the unit. He also told me he gets allot of calls similar to mine. So there you have it. Maybe I should not have jumped to the erroneous conclusion that this was a "portable radio type" of device, after seeing Elton John walking around listening to the darn thing.44 out of 45 users found this user opinion helpful.
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Great way to enjoy XM
by klb on April 9, 2005
Pros: Portable and has everything you need for home/office etc
Cons: Inconsistent signal strength, long time to charge the battery
Summary: Got my XM2Go for $219 from an online store,and haven't looked back.
I travel quite a bit, so it goes with me everywhere. On the good side, it ...Summary: Got my XM2Go for $219 from an online store,and haven't looked back.
I travel quite a bit, so it goes with me everywhere. On the good side, it is portable, and easy to bring with you almost anywhere. On the cons, the battery takes forever to charge, and there's no external charger so you can't get another one and swap 'em out. I get about 4.5 hours in XM mode so it's not bad at all.
Somewhere in the middle of the pro/con arguement is the signal. With the car antenna it maxes out almost everywhere I've been. But with the home or personal antennas it's more hit or miss. If XM had a little better repeater coverage that'd be a huge help, but it's better than what my Sirius had.
I love it, but defnitely look online for the deals. Mine was $219 when the stores were still selling them for $350.12 out of 12 users found this user opinion helpful.
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Couldn't love it more!
by daphne049 on March 2, 2005
Pros: Box comes with *everything* you need
Cons: Can't figure out how to delete specific recorded tracks
Summary: I've had this for about 3 weeks now, and I couldn't love it more. I live in Los Angeles, so I get excellent reception, which might have something ...
Summary: I've had this for about 3 weeks now, and I couldn't love it more. I live in Los Angeles, so I get excellent reception, which might have something to do with my love-fest for this baby.
First, everything you need (and a few things you probably won't) comes with it. Delphi thought of everything when they packaged this, including giving you 2-3 output options for home and car use. In addition to packaging all the wires, antennas, etc, they've also given you a remote control, so that you don't have to be right next to the thing in order to use it.
Typical day: Wake up turn on MyFi in the home charging cradle. I use the wireless transmitter to my FM stereo, and get pretty decent sound. Leave the house and the unit slips into the vent mounted car cradle. Driving around LA I get excellent reception - even going under bridges and into parking structures. Once I get to school, I slip the unit into the carrying case and plug in the earbuds. The sound quality on the earbuds isn't great, but that's easily remedied by purchasing better quality earphones.
Overall, this is the best $350 I've spent in a long, long time.
On the downside, I can't figure out how to delete specific songs from the recorded tracks. Also, the ability to burn a few songs from cd's would be great, but SO not necessary. I mean, I bought this to hear NEW music, not the same old stuff I already own. Besides, if you want an ipod, buy and ipod. If you want satellite radio, BUY THIS!10 out of 10 users found this user opinion helpful.
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The most fun you can have with a portable music gadget.
by jlzelenka on March 27, 2005
Pros: Extremely easy to use, clean functional design, great sound.
Cons: Nothing important.
Summary: I am truly baffled by the number of reviewers, professional and amateur, who seem to have no problem picking this great product to pieces! I've been a gadget geek (...
Summary: I am truly baffled by the number of reviewers, professional and amateur, who seem to have no problem picking this great product to pieces! I've been a gadget geek (especially radio gadgets) ever since buying my first crystal radio for $1.55 MANY years ago and as a former licensed and certified radio technician I find the MyFi to be a blast to use. Those who figure limited portable reception to be a big deal are missing the point as are those who also whine about not being able to store their own songs on it and/or delete individual songs from it. That is what our mp3 players are for. I've found that I can simply hit "2go" (twice) on the MyFi and let it run until the memory is full then go through the playlist and transfer the songs I want to save by way of the internal FM transmitter. I've had particularly good results when used with the Creative MuVo Slim mp3 player.
At any rate, I can hardly think of a single thing that should be changed about the MyFi. The size is entirely appropriate, the backlighting is excellent, and the sound quality (while not audiophile perfect) is perfectly fine for casual listening with a decent set of after-market headphones.5 out of 5 users found this user opinion helpful.
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Severe dropouts = return
Pros: Cool gadget, small device.
Cons: Reception, reception, reception! I must not have any repeaters in my area, because I can not keep a signal on this thing. Any tree, building, etc simply blocks the signal and causes dropout. The only way I could see this thing as useful is when I'm sitti
5 out of 5 users found this user opinion helpful.
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To work or not to work...that is the question...
by mrghos7 on April 8, 2005
Pros: It is kinda cool looking. . .
Cons: Unpredictable signal. . .
Summary: So check it out, I am sitting in my house one day, looking at tv and I see Elton John walking around his mansion holding this portable unit. Find out ...
Summary: So check it out, I am sitting in my house one day, looking at tv and I see Elton John walking around his mansion holding this portable unit. Find out that it is an XM2GO. I figure, heck the one in my car works like a charm. Now I will be able to take my music with me wherever go. This cant be real. So I go get me $325 bucks and I beat it to my nearest electronic store. Here is where it gets ugly: It worked good for about three months and then things started to go wrong. 1. It is not portable. The signal does not pick up all the time and the sound it makes when the signal goes in an out makes me want to throw up. Especially in the middle of my favorite song...
2. The sound is subpar at best. The ear buds are useless unless your ear canal is the size of an elephants. 3. The battery life is very good but that is probably because I never listened to it for more than an hour at a time. 4. The recording function is nice but that is when you can get a signal on the home antenna to actually record something. Also, you can only record 2 (sessions) at a time so basically a total of 5 hours between only 2 of the more than 130 channels. Who wants to listen to 2 stations for five hours? The unit also records the filler chatter between songs. The chatter is not a commercial but it aint music either so that is frustrating to say the least. In summary, yes it is about content but if you cant get the signal it does not matter. The unit is not totally portable as advertised even if you wear the big antenna around on you(which you wont). The recording feature is useless. 2 channels out of 130 is laughable. XM support is garbage and the retailers are sad. They pass you back and forth between each other if you have a problem. No one wants to help you when you have a problem.
I canceled service for my car and for the "portable" unit and bought me a 20gb Ipod. You wanna talk about content now. . .6 out of 8 users found this user opinion helpful.
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much better than originally expected. reception is good
by Fraz003 on June 1, 2005
Pros: clear reception, awesome portability, 5hrs of music storage
Cons: inability to delete individual songs from memory
Summary: overall I've been very happy with the performance and flexability of the product... reception has been great in pittsburgh area without any external antennas, and while using in the ...
Summary: overall I've been very happy with the performance and flexability of the product... reception has been great in pittsburgh area without any external antennas, and while using in the car (with car antenna) reception has been great all throughout PA and OH...will greatly expand your music library, however, you're obviously not able to listen to your favorite songs all the time... can definitely replace an ipod
3 out of 3 users found this user opinion helpful.
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Great Versatility with some reception problems
by jawny03 on April 20, 2005
Pros: More versatile than ipod, good look/sound
Cons: No boombox, Reception problems indoors when not in docking unit
Summary: Great way to have XM anywhere, that is anywhere that you can get signal. The only frustration I had with the radio is when you are outside of a city ...
Summary: Great way to have XM anywhere, that is anywhere that you can get signal. The only frustration I had with the radio is when you are outside of a city it is hard to get reception when indoors without pluging the unit into the home docking kit with the more powerful antenna. The wearable antenna is crap!! I actually cut the plug from it off and reattached it to a more powerful antenna. I have no idea why they give you such a useless antenna to wear with it. Other than reception problems a great radio with the record feature helpful for times ground repeaters are out of reach.
3 out of 3 users found this user opinion helpful.
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Nice look, good features with a few minor flaws
by jbcpi1 on April 14, 2005
Pros: sleek. Nice display. The 5 hour storage makes the product.
Cons: not very mobile unless in 2go mode, or installed in the car
Summary: The product is a great idea. Nice contours but a bit bulky for the shirt pocket. I really like my MyFi. If you are a music listener who enjoys new ...
Summary: The product is a great idea. Nice contours but a bit bulky for the shirt pocket. I really like my MyFi. If you are a music listener who enjoys new continuous music, this is the product for you because you can download new content whenever you want to. If you are a collector of cd's and enjoy hearing certain albums completely then you will not want this product. Go get an Ipod or Iriver M340 instead. I wish that it had a memory slot so I could play my own songs but it is a small drawback.
The built in FM tuner is nice. I love this feature because I can have xm with me anywhere.3 out of 3 users found this user opinion helpful.
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Activation nightmares
by edyang on June 10, 2005
Pros: None so far
Cons: 18 hours and account activation still stuck in pending
Summary: Got the MyFi as a birthday present and was happy as can be. 18 hours and 5 phone calls into tech support later and I'm not a happy camper. ...
Summary: Got the MyFi as a birthday present and was happy as can be. 18 hours and 5 phone calls into tech support later and I'm not a happy camper. For some reason my account activation is still in "pending". Apparently this is not that new, although I haven't seen reviews of anyone else running into this issue. I abhor calling tech support in general, and XM support is no different. They all tell me to leave it on Channel 1 for 20 minutes after the call. Then another guy tells me it may take up to 72 hours for them to activate it out of pending. Them them them...who the heck is "them"!? I own XM stock and was really excited to get this as a present. Right now, 1 is the best I can give this device due to the horrible activation experience.
3 out of 4 users found this user opinion helpful.
Specifications
- Manufacturer: Delphi Corp.
- Part number: SA10113
- Description: The Delphi MyFi is the first personal, portable XM2GO satellite radio that delivers XM's Ultimate PlayList anytime, anywhere - at home, at work, in the car and now, on the go. The hand-held MyFi gives users the personal freedom to enjoy XM Radio's Ultimate PlayList of more than 130 digital XM channels in two ways: a "live" listening mode and a time-shifting "memory" mode. The MyFi's live mode enables users to listen live to all of XM's 68 commercial-free music channels, plus premier news, sports, talk, traffic and weather channels. MyFi's memory mode - called "My XM" - allows users to store five hours or more of XM's outstanding content with the press of a button, even when the unit is not in use. The MyFi makes it possible to enjoy XM Satellite Radio anywhere, anytime, effortlessly.
General
- Product type XM personal radio
- Weight 7.3 oz
- Carrying case Case -
- Included accessories Belt clip, XM antenna, Cradle stand, Car power adapter, Mounting hardware, Car cassette adapter
Audio Features
- Digital storage None
- Sound output mode Stereo
- Timer Wake
- Built-in clock Digital clock
- Additional features Built-in FM transmitter, XM radio recording capability
Built-in Display
- Audio system built-in display LCD
- Backlight display Yes
CD System
- CD system type None
Cassette System
- Cassette system type None
Radio
- Tuner type Digital XM radio tuner
- Station preset qty 30
- Tuning display LCD display
MD System
- MD system type None
Remote Control
- Remote control Remote control - Infrared
Headphones
- Headphones type Binaural Ear-bud
- Sound output mode Stereo
- Connectivity technology Wired
Connectivity
- Cable(s) included 1 x Audio cable -
Battery / Power
- Battery Lithium ion Rechargeable Player battery
- Mfr estimated battery life 5 hour(s)
- Power device type Power adapter
Manufacturer info
- Delphi Corp.
- Manufacturer profile
- Browse Delphi Corp. products on Shopper.com
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- Website: http://www.delphi.com/
- Address:
5725 Delphi Dr.
Troy, MI 48098 - Phone: 248-813-2000
- Fax: 248.813.2670
