Flashback Sequence
When I removed the SIRIUS Starmate Replay from its box, my immediate reaction was, "Wow, this thing is kinda heavy. It really feels solid." Given its small size, I wasn't expecting the Starmate to have such a heft to it. The buttons were firm and felt like they could withstand long-term use. The Starmate Replay is a rugged satellite radio. I knew I was holding a high-quality piece of equipment. And that's before I even had it hooked up.
The Starmate is a small, yet sturdy, satellite radio.
Forward to the present
That was two weeks ago. My opinion still stands: the Starmate Replay is a well-built and well-designed piece of equipment. It's a fun and easy way to enjoy SIRIUS Satellite Radio's terrific programming. Continue reading and I'll tell you why.
The 15-minute installation
When I finished playing with the thing, I took it out to my van and had it installed in about fifteen minutes. The Starmate comes with a handy suction cup mounting arm for mounting on the windshield. I attached the suction cup just below and to the right of the rear-view mirror. The Starmate snaps into a mounting plate which attaches to the mounting arm via screws. I can see it with a quick glance and it doesn't block my view of the road.
Next to my rear view mirror, the Starmate is unobtrusive and easy to see at a glance.
The package also includes a Velcro strip for mounting on the dashboard or console. Another low-profile option would be attaching the mounting plate to a custom bracket, like those from Pro.Fit. The Starmate is so easy to reach and see up high on my windshield that I'm happy with it there.
As for the antenna, I placed it on the front right corner of the van's roof. I trailed the wire under the weather stripping along the front pillar (next to the windshield). At the bottom of the pillar, I looped it around to the inside piece of weather stripping and followed the pillar back up to the top (above the passenger's door). From there I simply ran the wire inside the van, above the sun visor, over to the rear view mirror and down to the Starmate. The elapsed time for mounting the antenna was less than five minutes.
The antenna cable runs under the weather stripping.
A small jump to the vehicle's interior. I was careful to make sure the cable does not get pinched by the door.
I couldn't devise any such out-of-sight way to run the power cable. It just hangs down to the electrical plug near the bottom of my dashboard — obviously, this isn't going to be the best mounting option for someone looking for a stealthy installation. Now it was time to power up.
Black on blue display
The Starmate's display is backlit in blue. Brightness and contrast settings offer enough adjustment variability so that you should be able to find a setting that is visible during the day, yet not too bright at night. But if you're one of those people who don't like the blue color or have trouble seeing it — and I've met plenty of both — then this may not be the satellite radio for you. And that would be a shame because this is a great little radio.
Once I settled on the lighting, I noticed that the large size of the letters would be easy to see just about anywhere, even if the radio was beyond arm's reach.
Time to play!
Once service was activated, I jumped right in. The controls are intuitive, especially if you've used a satellite radio before. Even if you haven't, it won't take long to grasp the basics.
The replay function
One of the most handy capabilities of the Starmate is being able to pause and record the live satellite radio broadcast. You can pause the current program while you run through the drive thru, pump gas, or?gulp?talk to that friendly police officer. When you're ready, just press the play button and it'll continue where you left off.
You can also use this function to time shift the radio programming, but the Starmate must be receiving power — most likely via the optional home kit — for this function to work.
The true potential of replay
All of that sounds nice, but the day after I wrote the above paragraphs, I had an epiphany regarding Starmate's replay function. I was driving to work when one of my favorite songs in all the world came on: "Powderfinger" by Neil Young. I cranked the volume on my stereo and sang along in near-perfect tune. As the final chords faded out and the next song began, I thought to myself, "man, I'd sure love to hear that again."
And that's when it hit me: the true potential of replay. Tentatively, I pressed and held the rewind button at the top edge of the Starmate. I gasped as playback halted and those final sounds of Neil Young's guitar came over my speakers again. "It's just like a CD player!" I thought out loud. I pressed the rewind button again and let out a whoop of excitement as the satellite radio jumped back to the beginning of "Powderfinger".
When in replay mode, the bottom of the display uses a progress bar and play position indicator to show you where you are, compared to the live signal.
As the song wound down again, so did I. I considered listening to it a third time, but didn't want to spoil the moment. Once again, the radio started the next song. It was here that my TV-viewing habits kicked in. I didn't like the next song, so I pressed the fast forward button once. Playback advanced to the beginning of the subsequent song. By having an "instant replay" of Neil's delicate pastoral melody, I had built up a buffer of music as the Starmate continued recording the live music signal.
In fact, the Starmate continuously buffers thirty minutes of music. At any time, you can replay the past half hour. And yes, this feature works on the sports channels too. You can conduct your own instant replays of whatever game you're listening to and then fast-forward through breaks in the game.
The remote control slips easily into your hand.
The remote control
I quickly became spoiled by the Starmate's remote control. Since I have the Starmate mounted on the windshield and I'm driving a minivan, it's a bit of a reach. Having a remote control makes it easier — and safer — to make adjustments. All of the buttons on the Starmate are present on the remote control, so operation via remote is just as easy as using the Starmate's controls. The remote control also has a mute button and volume control.
Other features
In addition to the features I've already listed, the Starmate has the usual satellite radio features too. Song Memory lets you save 30 of your favorite artists, songs or sports teams in the radio's memory. You get an alert whenever one of them is playing anywhere on the SIRIUS line-up. The built-in FM modulator lets you choose any five FM frequencies for sending the SIRIUS signal wirelessly to your car stereo.
The Starmate gives you three banks of ten presets, which means you can store up to 30 of your favorite channels as presets for quick access. Plus, for that channel that you visit frequently, there's a special "Jump" button. Pressing this button lets you jump from where ever you are on the SIRIUS dial to your designated Jump channel. After checking in there, you can press the Jump button again to return to the previous channel. Use it for your favorite music or news channel to quickly hear what's going on there, then get back to the channel you were listening to.
Play it again, Sam!
When I first offered to review the Starmate Replay, I was hesitant. I was worried about being less than impressed with yet another satellite radio. But after just a day or two of using it, I found that I liked it. In fact, I actually enjoy using it. It's easy to use, does everything I want a satellite radio to do, looks good, doesn't take up too much space, and has some features that are really handy. Yes, it's another satellite radio. But the Starmate Replay is a far cry from just another satellite radio.
