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Features
Overview: The Sirius S50 is a
portable Sirius satellite radio receiver with a built-in 1 GB memory for
recording satellite programming or storing MP3 or WMA music files downloaded
from your Windows XP or Windows 2000 equipped computer; the provided software is not Apple compatible. The S50 comes with a belt clip and earbud headphones for personal listening, plus a car kit for listening in your vehicle.
Sirius Satellite Radio: Sirius
Satellite Radio features more than 120 streams of original programming beamed
coast-to-coast, including 65 streams of commercial-free, digital-quality music,
and news, talk, sports, entertainment, and children's programming. Sirius
programming is available only in the 48 contiguous states. A subscription to
Sirius Satellite Radio is required in order to enjoy Sirius programming.
Sirius Antenna: The Sirius
antenna has a powerful magnetic base that allows you to mount the antenna on the
roof or trunk lid of your vehicle. The antenna needs to be positioned in such a
way that it will be free of mechanical and line-of-sight obstructions.
Display Screen: The Sirius S50
features a full-color, 1-3/8" x 1-3/4" LCD screen which provides information
about the operation of the unit, such as the currently tuned channel, song or
show being played, mode, status, recording, and other information.
Live Broadcasts: While
listening to Sirius programming in the live environment, you can locate and tune
to the broadcast channels in three ways: by channel, by Genre, or by Preset.
Audio Navigation: The S50
features Audio Navigation which provides voice announcements when buttons are
pressed or the Media Dial is turned, announcing the various modes or the
channels tuned. Audio prompts are also provided for navigating certain other
functions such as channel presets. Audio Navigation can be turned on/off in the
setup menu.
1 GB Memory: You can store up
to
approximately 50 hours of Sirius broadcasts, including individual songs or whole
programs, on a portion of the built-in 1 GB memory. You can save a currently
playing song, or schedule the recording of an entire program. Scheduled
recordings are limited to a maximum of 2 hours each and a total of 20 hours for
all recorded programs. As much as half of the total memory (512 MB) is available
for MP3 and WMA files downloaded from your computer. The S50 is capable of
playing MP3 files recorded at 64, 96, 128, or 384 kbps, or unrestricted WMA
audio files. Downloading files will reduce the amount of storage space available
for Sirius content. You can check the amount of current memory usage in the
Content Management portion of the setup menu.
Replay Buffer: While you are
listening to Sirius satellite programming, you can pause a live broadcast for up
to 30 or 60 minutes, depending upon the content. When paused, the broadcast is
put into a replay buffer. During the playback of a paused broadcast, you can
fast-forward or rewind through the replay buffer to locate or skip songs.
Similar to a CD, you can skip ahead or backward to the beginning of the next or
previous segment (the beginning of a song or program). You can also skip ahead
through a song or program in 10-, 30-, or 60-second intervals. When the end of
the replay buffer is reached, the live broadcast resumes.
Scheduled Recordings: You can
set the S50 to record future programs (from the non-music channels only) and
store them in memory. When scheduling a recording, you can specify the channel,
date, time, duration, and the frequency of recording (once, daily,
Monday-Friday, or weekly). You can schedule up to 20 recordings and a maximum of
2 hours each per recording session. Note: In order for the S50 to
successfully record a program, the unit must be docked, connected to a power
source, connected to the antenna, and receiving a good signal. When in the
vehicle dock, the unit must be turned on at the time of the recording. When in
the home dock, the unit does not have to be turned on at the time of the
recording.
Saved Material: Songs, shows,
or downloaded songs are stored in four categories:
- My Sirius Channels: This
category consists of three playlists which are automatically created and
contain songs or comedy from the three music and/or comedy channels you
listen to most. Content from these channels are stored in playlists named
after the channel name. Individual songs cannot be browsed as a list.
- My Sirius Songs: This
playlist contains individual songs saved from music broadcast channels,
except if they have been saved during a scheduled recording. Songs and sets
are grouped by genres for easy browsing.
- My Sirius Shows: This
playlist contains news, sports, or talk shows and scheduled recordings saved
from the Sirius broadcast channels. They are grouped by sub-categories which
are named after the channel from which they are saved. Sports games are
saved in subcategories names My NBA zone, My NFL zone, etc.
- My Sirius Playlists: This
playlist contains MP3 and WMA audio files which you have downloaded from
your computer using the supplied My Sirius Studio software.
Deleting Material: You can
delete songs or shows to make room for more content. In the category My Sirius
Songs, you can delete songs organized by the least played, by artist, by title,
or delete all. For My Sirius Shows, you can delete by most played, by date, by
channel, or delete all. For My MP3/WMA, files can be listed and can be deleted
individually or delete all at once.
Memory Full Options: If you
attempt to save a song and the memory is full, you have two options:
- Don't Save: The current
song or show you are attempting to save will not be saved.
- Make Room and Save: The 10
songs which are least played are deleted, and the current song is saved.
Controls: The S50 has controls
on both sides. The volume control and lock button are on the left side of the
player. The right side features the Playlist, Setup, Rewind, Fast-forward, and
Play/Pause buttons.
Remote Control: In addition to
the player and dock controls, you can activate even more functions through the
supplied wireless remote control. Additional controls found on the remote
include: Mute, Power, Channel Up/Down, Volume Up/Down, and a 10-button numeric
keypad for direct tuning.
Game Alert/Sports Ticker: The
S50 can be programmed to remember your favorite sports team and alert you when
any of your favorite teams is playing in a game broadcast by Sirius. If you
choose to listen to other programming (not a playlist), you can have a sports
ticker displayed showing the scores of your favorite teams currently playing.
Parental Controls: You can
prevent access to a channel or playlist with the parental controls features. The
locked channel or playlist is protected by a 4-digit password. In addition, you
can designate specific channels to not be displayed when browsing channel lists.
"Hidden" channels can only be tuned by directly entering the channel number
using the numeric keypad on the remote control.
FM Transmitter: When docked in
the vehicle docking station, the Sirius S50 can transmit on an FM frequency
which may be received by your vehicle's FM radio. You can choose from the
following FM transmitting frequencies: 88.1, 88.9, 89.1, 89.9, 90.1, 90.9, 91.1,
91.9, 92.1, 92.9, 93.1, 93.9, 94.1, 94.9, 95.1, 95.9, 96.1, 96.9, 97.1, 97.9,
98.1, 98.9, 99.1, 99.9, 100.1, 100.9, 101.1, 101.9, 102.1, 102.9, 103.1, 103.9,
104.1, 104.9, 105.1, 105.9, 106.1, 106.9, 107.1, and 107.9 MHz.
Auto Shutdown/Sleep Timer: The
auto shutdown feature turns the Sirius S50 off after one hour of inactivity.
This feature is only available when the unit is in the vehicle dock. The sleep
timer will turn off the Sirius S50 after a preset time period of 15, 30, 45, or
60 minutes. During the time the sleep timer is on, you can change channels or
any other activity. The unit can be in the vehicle dock or the home dock in
order for the sleep timer to work.
Power Options: The Sirius S50
can be powered in the following ways:
- Vehicle Dock: When in the
supplied Vehicle Dock, you can power the S50 using the cigarette lighter
power adapter (plugged into the back of the dock). Note: Additional
vehicle docks are available (item #607S50C1) so you can listen to your S50
in multiple vehicles.
- Battery: The S50 comes
with a rechargeable Lithium-Ion polymer battery (3.7 volts/500 mAh). When
fully charged, the battery will provide up to approximately 6 hours of
playback time. When
operating on battery power, you can only listen to downloaded or recorded
songs or programs. The unit must be docked in the vehicle dock or the
optional home dock in order to listen to live satellite broadcasts. The
fully discharged battery can be recharged in approximately 1 to 4 hours
depending upon whether it is charged in the vehicle dock, with an AC
adapter, or when connected to a computer. Note: Additional batteries
are available for purchase (item #607S50SB1).
- AC Adapter: You can use
the supplied AC adapter and the USB cable to charge the battery on common
household current while the unit is not docked in the vehicle dock.
- Computer: The battery can
also be charged when the unit is connected to your computer via the USB
cable.
Vehicle Dock: The supplied
vehicle dock can be mounted to your vehicle using the self-adhesive mount, the
vent mount, or an optional Pro.Fit vehicle-specific mount. The vehicle dock has
4 connectors on the back labeled FM Out (for the supplied FM antenna or an
optional FM relay switch), DC 5V
(for the cigarette lighter adapter), Line Out (a 3.5mm stereo mini-jack for connecting the S50 via an
auxiliary input), and Ant. (for the supplied magnetic roof antenna). Dimensions
(receiver in dock): W=1.892", H=6.572", D=1.481". The dock
also has the following controls:
- Media Dial: The
multifunction control can be turned and pressed to accomplish many
functions. Turning the dial allows you to scroll channels, genres, presets,
menus, and lists. Pressing the Media Dial (on the Sirius "dog" logo) selects
the highlighted option on the display. You can also press the dial up, down,
left, or right to activate the Play/Pause, Love (saves current song as a
favorite), Rewind, or Fast Forward functions.
- Back: Tunes to a previous
channel or playlist.
- Playlists: Allows you to
browse playlists, or, if already in playlists, goes to most recent playlist
screen.
- Mode: Allows you to browse
live channels according to the current tuning mode. Also cycles between
channel, presets and genre.
- Setup: Displays the setup
menu and gives you access to Audio Settings, Content Management, Device
Settings, and Display Settings sub-menus.
Optional Home Kit: In addition
to the vehicle dock, an optional home docking kit is available (item # 607S50H1)
to allow you to connect the S50 into your home audio system.
My Sirius Studio Software: The
supplied My Sirius Studio CD-ROM software allows you to connect the S50 to a PC
running Windows XP or Windows 2000 (with approximately 100MB hard disk space and
256MB RAM). The software allows you to manage music files (import and play
songs, create playlists) and transfer them to the S50. The software also
provides for upgrading features and functionality as they become available from
Sirius, and lets you view and listen to streaming Sirius web content. Note:
You cannot download live or recorded Sirius satellite programming from the S50
to your computer.
