Manage updates with the Download AppPioneer AirWare (XM)
Manufacturer: Pioneer Part number: AIRWARE
- More product information:
- Editors' review
- User reviews
- Specifications
- Manufacturer info
- Bottom Line:
- Pioneer's XM Satellite radio works in your car, at home, or on your hip.
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CNET editors' review
Pioneer AirWare (XM) price range: $279.99
- Reviewed by: Steve Guttenberg
- Edited by: John Falcone
- Reviewed on: 07/27/2005
- Released on: 06/15/2005
The good: Truly portable XM satellite radio; records as much as five hours of XM broadcasts; internal XM antenna; built-in FM transmitter can turn any FM radio into a XM radio; stock ticker and sports scores; full-size remote; includes all necessary accessories for home and car use.
The bad: The recessed headphone jack renders the AirWare incompatible with some headphones; intermittent reception in some areas; no MP3 support or AM/FM reception.
The bottom line: Pioneer's XM Satellite radio works in your car, at home, or on your hip.
User reviews
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Great product ... don't hesitate if considering getting one
by kevyman on July 16, 2005
Pros: Good, effective built-in FM transmitter; XM programming; flexibility
Cons: 5 hour battery life is acceptable but could be improved
Summary: I don't normally submit "product opinions" (I know, shame on me) but this portable XM radio from Pioneer is so good that I felt that I had to. I ...
Summary: I don't normally submit "product opinions" (I know, shame on me) but this portable XM radio from Pioneer is so good that I felt that I had to. I had been considering getting some kind of a satellite radio for my car for more than 6 months and when I found out that a friend of mine had a Delphi XM unit in his car I knew that the time had come to finally make a move
I was thinking of getting a Delphi MyFi but then discovered that the Pioneer AirWare had recently hit the store shelves. I like the Pioneer brand and also liked the looks (and controls) of the Pioneer unit more than those of the MyFi .. so I picked up an AirWare at the local Circuit City (can get it cheaper elsewhere for sure). I have had it for 3 weeks now and during this time have used it EXTENSIVELY in the car, in my home office and also on business trips. It works great ! I am especially impressed by the effectiveness of the built-in FM transmitter ... I have used a few built-in and external FM transmitters in my time over the past few years but haven't had much luck with them (too much interference from other radio stations). I was pleasantly surprised (and relieved) to discover that the AirWare's transmitter is VERY effective ... I have been driving around the Connecticut/ Westchester County/NYC/Long Island region quite a bit since I got it, without having to switch FM frequencies at all ! The features and sound quality of the unit are great. It is very useful that you can record up to 5 hours of audio (via a "scheduled record" function) that you can then listen to offline when the satellite reception is not up to snuff. Another neat feature is that if you hear a song or artist that you like, you can press a button and from then on whenever that same song or artist is playing on any of the 150+ channels the unit beeps and displays a message so that, if you want, you can press the same button and the unit automatically switches to the relevant channel. The AirWare comes with everything that you neeed to set it up at home or in a car. When using the AirWare in my car I use the "vent mount" to secure it (in its cradle) to an air vent. I have the antenna magnetically-mounted outside on the front part of the car roof. On the more minor tree-lined roads of Connecticut, satellite reception can sometimes be spotty ... you need to have line-of-sight to the XM satellites which are positioned in the southern sky .. but generally reception is very good. All-in-all I am very happy that I got it ... it is a very, very well designed and executed product ... plus the breadth and quality of the XM programming is great. In summary I can heartily recommend both the Pioneer AirWare and the XM service !17 out of 17 users found this user opinion helpful.
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This is the start of somthing great , but it has its limits
by max-9 on August 14, 2005
Pros: Superior sound to standard radio ,ability to record and playback 5 hrs of broadcasts
Cons: reception is hit and miss , larger than the mp3 players we got used to
Summary: Taken into consideration this is a relatively new gadget (portable satellite radio) and the limitations of satellite transmitions needing a clear shot at the sky .This is a damn cool ...
Summary: Taken into consideration this is a relatively new gadget (portable satellite radio) and the limitations of satellite transmitions needing a clear shot at the sky .This is a damn cool gadget.
I got tired of listening to my 1500 mp3s and fm radio is a joke so I decided to try the xm radio. My first radio was the delphi but it was a defective unit (it would not charge from the home or car adapters) ,so I returned it and got the Pioneer.
The Delphi and the Pioneer are very similar (excluding shape) . The exception is Delphi came with a personal antenna and the Pioneer came with a better case .The delphi personal antenna was actually useless and just another wire to get tangled up in. Reception was actually better with the Pioneer unit. Sound quality between the delphi and the Pioneer was identical and all other features were also identical.
Anyway.... I will review the Pioneer. As I said this unit is larger than the ipod .The battery is removable and the unit has some weight to it . The display is adjustable and large enough for most to read easily , however outside in sunlight its kinda hard to see. The sound quality is a little less than cd , the volume is loud enough for me (about the same as most mp3 players).
The controls are a little annoying....buttons and a thumbwheel. Not really user friendly , I keep pushing buttons when I am supposed to use the wheel.The remote is actually better than the controls on the unit.
Recording broadcasts works great and playback is perfect , but you cant delete specific recordings , you have to delete all or none. So if you recorded 20 songs and want to delete one or two you cant. But you can skip them in playback.
The Pioneer airware is a very nice unit and I will keep it and I really like xm radio , its nice to hear such an assortment of music and news ect. Dont get me wrong , I still have my mp3 collection but it cant compare to the variety of stuff on satellite radio.......when you can get signal11 out of 11 users found this user opinion helpful.
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Goodbye FM! Hello XM!
by gavdawg on June 23, 2005
Pros: Easy to move between car and home
Cons: The jog dial could be better.
Summary: Our home in an area that gets very little decent radio reception and we travel by car quite a bit. I am sick of the same 200 songs on my ...
Summary: Our home in an area that gets very little decent radio reception and we travel by car quite a bit. I am sick of the same 200 songs on my MP3 player and on the Radio corporate play lists.
I got the AirWare because it seemed a little more portable than other radios. I also went XM over Sirius because the former seemed to have better equipment options over the latter.
I love the fact that I can play XM over my home radio without wires. This is a big plus as my radio is on the opposite side of my house from where the AirWare needs to be to get satellite reception. i do not want to run wires from around the house and I don't feel like putting the wires behind the wall.
In my car, I use a combination of FM modulator/tape deck, rather than switching FM stations from one area to another. In future cars, I plan to have a factory-installled satellite radio, or have RCA jacks on my in-dash stereo so that I can direct connect the satellite receiver to the stereo.
My only real "complaint" is that the jog dial is rather small, and can be a pain to use while driving in bumper-to-bumper traffic. I am still in the play mode of switching from station to station to hear everything XM has to offer.7 out of 7 users found this user opinion helpful.
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Super XM Receiver
by ryork272 on July 30, 2005
Pros: Solid build, great sound quality, easy to use, easy to record, MLB baseball, nice display, just a great all around unit.
Cons: a little confusion between the front nav wheel and scroll wheel - could have done a better job there.
Summary: Great unit. If you need a portable, this is the one to get. Nice recording feature. Sound quality isn't quite at MP3 player (iPod) level but pretty close.
I ...Summary: Great unit. If you need a portable, this is the one to get. Nice recording feature. Sound quality isn't quite at MP3 player (iPod) level but pretty close.
I use it in my car and on my boat. I was at the north side of Lake St. Clair and reception was superb. I was able to get Cleveland Indians baseball games, Fox News, CNN, all kinds of music choices (no commercials). It was great. Easy to set up in your car. I simply ran the antenna around my car door casing, under my carpet and plugged it into the receiver, which I attached to the air conditioning vents. Came with everything.4 out of 4 users found this user opinion helpful.
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great idea, poor reception without external antenna
by ainsleyiv on August 2, 2005
Pros: interface, display, flexibility, recordability,
Cons: reception without antenna, battery life,
Summary: I would like to see more control over the recorded content, like to delete individual songs. with the car antenna reception is great but more often than not i have ...
Summary: I would like to see more control over the recorded content, like to delete individual songs. with the car antenna reception is great but more often than not i have to run in myxm mode when i am mtn biking, because there is no reception, even when i was at the us open trying to listen to the "NEW" pga network i could not get a signal. would like to see a personal antenna, like the delphi, or some good earphones with an antenna built in that arent to combersome. the other thing is the tuneselect, is great but i have already filled up the artist list. need to have the capability to put more in. but overall i like the unit.
2 out of 2 users found this user opinion helpful.
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The Best Satellite Portable On The Market
by NedKoppel on February 27, 2006
Pros: Good Design, Portable, Easy To Use, Fancy
Cons: Five Hours? Five Hours? And No Pause and Rewind.
Summary: I own the Pioneer and do not own the Sirius S50, though I subscribe to both services, but I still believe the Pioneer Airware trumps the Sirius S50, despite the ...
Summary: I own the Pioneer and do not own the Sirius S50, though I subscribe to both services, but I still believe the Pioneer Airware trumps the Sirius S50, despite the obvious shortcoming that the MyFi only records five hours, whilst the S50 records 50.
I love this unit. It is simple. It is sturdy. It is designed reminiscent of true hi-fi equipment--I hesitated when XM only offered those balloon toy looking MyFi products, and then they contracted Pioneer to create one that even a man could like. Very nice.
I never expected to be able to walk down the street listening to live satellite radio. I only expected to be able to record programming and catch it later on the road. But you can listen live in probably 60 percent to 80 percent of locations, with no external antenna necessary.
I think the AirWare trumps the S50 because it is what it is and doesn't have to rely on a workaround to do it. The S50 only receives sitting on a home base, though it does allow you to record a gig of programming. The AirWare lets you walk around, lets you record on the fly, lets you "Tivo" stuff if it's plugged into its base.
Downsides: Five hours is really not a lot of time, and I think you can only use the Tivo-ish feature for two and three hours at a time or something. And, most disappointingly, the thing does NOT allow you to pause and rewind live programming-I assume they figured that if you could record it, you wouldn't need that feature. They were wrong about that--a pause and rewind feature would be very valuable on this device.
Overall, though, this is the most flexible, most incredible device on the market today, until the next generation of radio from either company starts leaking out come pre-Xmastime.1 out of 1 users found this user opinion helpful.
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amazing product well worth the money
by afison on October 14, 2005
Pros: go anywhere reception
Cons: not easy to use controls
Summary: I already have had an alpine xm box in my SUV for about 3 years, recently my main vehicle has been off the road due to some major repair work. ...
Summary: I already have had an alpine xm box in my SUV for about 3 years, recently my main vehicle has been off the road due to some major repair work. After evacuating because of rita, i had to listen to US commercial radio, after a few days i could not do it any more, so i purchased this unit 3 weeks ago from CompUSA.
Yes the reception with the inbuilt ariel is not wonderful but it works. I have the home cradle in my office and get perfect recetion, and the magnetic ariel works well in the loaner vehicles i have been using.
Set up is a snap and takes about 5 mins, seeing the ariels have about 25' of cable it is not difficult to route anywhere. The record function timer is a little hard to setup but there is a record now function too.
One feature I like is the off when ignitition is off, this means i do not have to turn it off when i go into meetings and run the battery down.
The unit came with home kit and car kit, including 12v power plug, cassette line out, fm transmitter, several mounting options and 2 types of belt clip. They seem to have thought of everything that can possibly be needed, infact they have given too much. They even include a remote control for those with arms like a T-Rex
Now I can have xm where ever i wish and in whatever vehicle, infact when my truck gets back my wife may get this unit.
Overall it is wonderful as a main xm unit and as a secondry one. Ideal if you have more than one vehicle, or a vintage vehicle which you do not wish to hard wire a full xm radio into it.
Buy One1 out of 1 users found this user opinion helpful.
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Amazing machine
by oldthaiger on August 2, 2005
Pros: Sound fidelity with a pair of hi quality headphones is fantastic
Cons: None so far (only had it a week)
Summary: My wifes new car came with XM radio, I liked it so much I had to have one for my pick up truck as here in MT satellite radio is ...
Summary: My wifes new car came with XM radio, I liked it so much I had to have one for my pick up truck as here in MT satellite radio is the way to go. Did not want to redo the OEM stuff so I chose this route. Very pleased with the home and mobil packsges, everything was included and installation was a breeze. Would have given it a higher rating but I'm still in the learning phase.
1 out of 1 users found this user opinion helpful.
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Regular radio is so last Millenia
by yottabyte21-208644521796496775 on June 10, 2007
Pros: Has everything you need to get going (plus XM pwns Sirius)
Cons: As the old saying goes, it's huge like X-Box
Summary: looks great mounted in car. looks great sitting on dock at home. XM Satellite Radio is so nice, I especially like listening to Sonic Theater and Old Time Radio at ...
Summary: looks great mounted in car. looks great sitting on dock at home. XM Satellite Radio is so nice, I especially like listening to Sonic Theater and Old Time Radio at night. And who can say no to Oprah and Friends? Haven't experienced HD Radio yet, but all it is is Regular radio with better quality. This is satellite radio, with better content, and better sound quality. You'd have to be a foold to pass this player up, Records 5hrs, and its rugged.
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I LOVE my Pioneer Air Ware!!! Super Product!!!
by cindersue on April 28, 2006
Pros: Great reception in San Diego,Portable, can use it at work,home,in the car
Cons: It's altttle hard to turn on , lots of wires for adaptors.
Summary: I live in San Diego. We don't have a oldies station anymore so I wanted to get a satellite radio. I looked at lots of reviews and shopped the ...
Summary: I live in San Diego. We don't have a oldies station anymore so I wanted to get a satellite radio. I looked at lots of reviews and shopped the electronics stores. I wanted something I could use in the car and at work... This was perfect! It fits in my pocket.(I don't have to worry about it getting stolen in the car) It's simple to use and has lots of features.
I play it in my (special ed) classroom through the stereo and expose my kids to lots of types music without commercials.
It has great reception in the car... just a few areas where it drops out for a second or two.
There are lots of features I haven't even used yet but I'm so glad I got it!
Specifications
- Manufacturer: Pioneer
- Part number: AIRWARE
- Description: One big idea can change everything. And XM Satellite Radio is one big idea. America's most popular satellite radio service offers over 150 crystal-clear digital channels. Listen to music, sports, talk, comedy, drama, news and kids programming, from coast to coast. To get the most out of this technology, Pioneer has packed the AirWare with a number of innovative features. The FM transmitter allows you to play the XM signal through your car stereo. The home kit brings XM Satellite Radio right into your living room. And with the built-in memory, you can record up to five hours of your favorite programs to hear whenever, wherever you want. This is more than a radio. It's your link to a whole new world.
General
- Included accessories [Jul 2, 2008 from CDS: Miscellaneous] Car cassette adapter,
Car power adapter,
Remote control,
AC power adapter,
Belt clip,
XM antenna,
Docking station Audio Features
- Digital storage None
- Sound output mode Stereo
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 150
- Antenna form factor Built-in
- Tuning display LCD display
- Additional radio features Preset buttons
MD System
- MD system type None
Remote Control
- Remote control Included
Headphones
- Headphones type Binaural Ear-bud
- Sound output mode Stereo
- Connectivity technology Wired
Connectivity
- Connector type 1 x Headphones Mini-phone stereo 3.5 mm
Battery / Power
- Battery Lithium ion Rechargeable Player battery
- Power device type [Feb 24, 2011 from CDS: Power Device] Power adapter - car,
Power adapter
Manufacturer info
- Manufacturer profile
- Browse Pioneer products on Shopper.com
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- Manufacturer:Pioneer
- Address:
2265 E. 220th Street, Long Beach, CA 90810 - Phone: 1-800-421-1404
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