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.
