Audiovox SIR-PNP2 Sirius Satellite Radio Receiver

Antenna has a long cord and you can mount it if needed. Receiver allows you to store up to 30 pre-set channels. Comes with a cool remote control (large buttons for those of us with big hands), The Window display gives exact time, channel name, song, author, talk host, etc. ALL the info needed beamed direct down from the satellite, no setting required! If you like sports, this is the service for NFL, NBA and NHL. The display has BRIGHT buttons, dial and window. Orange collored buttons and dial, yellow screen. BIG screen to read information beamed from satellite. Whomever you order this for will not be disappointed. Makes a great gift. If you like talk, Sirius is the service for you. There's liberal stations, conservative, truckers, ABC, a gay oriented channel (OutQ) to name just a few talk channels. Plus the music is great CD quality! And a VERY cool radio classics channel that has the old time radio shows (Twilight Zone, Lights Out, Suspece, Box 13, Abbot and Costello, Red Skeleton, etc.) that play 24/7.Ever listen to the radio and say "hey what's the name of that song?" Well no more doing that with this receiver as it displays the song title and singer! Plus you can hit the memory button and it'll store it for you! And you you can even set it to beep each time your favorite song or show comes on!If you like sports, there's life NFL games, a LIVE 24/7 NFL talk channel 24/7, NBA, NHL, college, sports byline, English soccer.And coming soon Howard Stern!These PNP2 are selling fast! Just check around and you'll see many places are out of them! One of the better ones. It's a bit larger than the PNP3, but if you have large hands/fingers you want this one as anything smaller and you'll be hitting two buttons at once by accident.Check around, you won't find these prices anywhere for the PNP2.Sirius almost takes place of having a TV!! What I find very relaxing is sitting back in a darkened room listening to my favorite show and watching the screen of the receiver show the topics being talked about, etc.

I bought one radio, two cradles, and a boom box. Then my first radio died, shortly after warranty expired. Because of investments in cradles and boombox, I bought another. It too died just out of warranty. No more. Audiovox no longer makes 'em, and won't repair them. Beware. Just look at the 1 star to 3 star ratings! Over half the folks are barely satisfied or dis-satisfied. And the company washed their hands of this unit. I am too.

Sirius satellite should be considered a great complement to your audio system, whether in home or car. It should not be considered an end all to music selection. It will not replace CDs, mp3s or typical over the air radio. Once this expectation is established, it's good to see Sirius as a decent addition to those who love music.First off, how much does it cost? You'll need a receiver, then a docking system for the home or office. Then there is a setup fee. So you're looking at a little under $200 to get started. Quite a huge investment for just checking out a new type of radio. I would advise getting Sirius professional installed in your car, unless you don't mind wire flaying around when you drive while looking at a tacking do it yourself setup. Also, if you want both home and office, you'll have to buy a boombox. This can run to about $350 total. Quite pricey, especially when it doesn't include any monthly fees.Secondly, how about the reception? It's surprisingly well in my car, but does suffer some dark spots when you go under a tunnel or when travelling through a tree line street. However, I was unable to get any signal in neither my home nor my office, so don't automatically assume that it will work at your home. The only consolation is that if you sign up for Sirius, you get monthly web access.Thirdly, how about the playlist? The best way to describe Sirius's playlist is probably a lot breadth, but not quite a lot of depth. For music, unless you love every type of music available, you'll actually only have about 10 music stations to listen to. For example, all Classical, Latin, Electronic, Jazz, Children and Love stations are absolutely useless to me as this not my type of music. In terms of sports, it's got the NFL, NBA, and if ever, NHL. The best game for radio, baseball, is with XM satellite, which is a huge bummer. Many of the news stations and entertainment stations are just audio replays of audio stations, so it's got commercials and aren't altogether suited for radio. For example, you'll hear, "take a look at this replay". Well, I can't look, it's radio. All in all, the talk and music is the equivalent of doubling the FM and AM radio stations of a big city. You'll still listen to your normal stations, but the number of stations will be expanded.Fourthly, how about the receiver itself? It's pretty good. The display is huge. You get to see the band or song name before switching to a different station. I love that. It can store 20 songs, which, when one of the songs comes up, the receiver will beep and give you the option of changing to that station. The only small problems were that sometimes the stored songs didn't come up, and the turn wheel will lacks a grip, which is annoying when driving.Fifthly, what were some of the major problems of Satellite radio? Besides the high cost for the equipment, the fact that they charge an activation fee was annoying. I'm willing to pay a monthly fee, do I need to add another fee to that? Secondly, the nickel and diming continues with the fact that the receiver contains no basic antenna nor power supply. You must buy a docking kit no matter what. I bought a car docking kit, but it only had a power supply for the cigarette lighter, which meant that all setup has to be done outdoors, in the car, with the car running. I couldn't even test it to see if it would work indoors, so I had to buy a boombox to test, only to find out it didn't work, and then return the boombox. A cheap home AC/DC power supply included in the docking kit would have saved me hours without costing me fifty dollars for the other docking system. Also, the customer service is not that great. The people on phone are nice, but you have to endure the navigation system along with a large self-serving tirade about how well Sirius radio is before you can get to the menu. In order to get stream player access, you have to e-mail them for the password, but no one bothered to reply to my e-mail, so I had to call them again. When the company won't give you the password for the free web access, and won't reply when you follow the website instructions, it gets annoying. Another thing is the repetitiveness and limiting factors of the playlist. Some of the bands I'm interested in, Carbon Leaf, the Streets, Perfect Circle, Tool - groups that I thought should appear for paid radio, are not really there. However, Ashlee Simpson, Maroon 5 and Leonard Skynard are pretty much on 24/7. Not quite the original playlists I was hoping to get.Finally, what were some of the things that surprised me? First off, it's still cool. To be free of Clear Channel's chokehold on music radio is great. The web access is free. XM charges you about four dollars a month, making it more expensive monthly if you use web access. If you get Dish Network, the music stations are there already to listen through over your television. If you don't get Dish Network, you can get a free preview via the web for three days. Nice. Finally, I've become acquainted with many bands that I would not have known or just barely remember. It's nice to hear Traffic, Public Enemy, Guns and Roses, Flogging Molly, N.W.A., etc.So, all in all, it's a nice complement, but it's no magic musical panacea.Pros:Song preview20 Memory StorageLarge displayFree online access after signing upFree 3-day online previewCons:Nickel and dimingVery repetitive song listEntertainment and News is Just a Replay of TelevisionCustomer Service is lackingSignal cannot be received in many places.Minimum Setup Cost ~ 200 dollarsOptimal Setup Cost ~ 350 dollarsMonthly Cost ~ 13 dollars

This type of radio came on the market back around 2004. I owned two of them, buying the second one after the first one died. The original radio lasted about two years, while the replacement lasted about three. My research, after the second one quit, indicated that the problem was caused by poor cooling of the electronics that damaged the integrated circuits.I used the radio modules in the boom box, where the module plugs into a recess in the front of the box. That configuration no doubt restricted air flow to the module's cooling vents, increasing the internal temperature. Maybe if the module is used only in the car dock it will get adequate cooling air to the vents and last indefinitely, but I can't say that for sure. Maybe you would get long service with the boom box if you are clever enough to rig a muffin fan to it that would move air through the module.Except for the short life span, I was very happy with the radio. It performed well and had several features that I found useful. The boom box runs on either AC or batteries, making it portable. I gave it only four stars because the service life was so short.