The biggest boost yet for satellite radio has to be Delphi's radiant MyFi XM2GO portable satellite radio receiver and digital music player. The MyFi can record and play back up to 5 hours of XM's digital programming whenever and wherever you choose. It requires a subscription to XM satellite radio ($9.95/month), but just about everything else you could want for home, outdoor, or car listening comes in the box. XM's 130 channels include 68 commercial-free music channels as well as premier news, sports, talk, traffic, and weather listings.

The MyFi comes with a densely packed carton of accessories, everything from headphones and antennas to a remote control, belt clips, and separate docking apparatus for integrating the receiver with your home and car stereos. Smaller than a PDA, the receiver exudes greatness even before you hear it: it's just heavy enough to seem solidly built yet light enough to merit the term "portable." The receiver even comes with world-class manuals, from its tips sheet to the longer quick-start guide to the 42-page user's manual (separate English and Spanish editions of each are provided).

The Delphi XM MyFi comes with all of the accessories needed to enjoy XM on the go, at home, at work, or in any vehicle.

An illuminated 6-line LCD is your gateway to browsing XM's programming. You can browse by station, by category, or (our favorite) by currently playing artist. Thirty channel presets simplify access to your favorites, and a handy memo button stores artist and song data for up to 20 performances you'd like to look into later (or find again on XM).

Any satellite radio system requires a fairly heavy-duty antenna. Accordingly, the MyFi comes with three: one for the home (place it in a south-facing window), one for the car (mount it on the roof or trunk), and a clip-on antenna for when you're hoofing it. Our home reception was perfect--we never experienced a single drop out. Car reception was spottier, though still excellent. You just have to get used to the fact that where analog radio gets noisier in areas with poor reception, satellite radio drops out altogether; it's either all there, crystal clear, or all absent. And that's where My XM, MyFi's recording feature, comes in handy.

Compact and easy to use, the MyFi gives you 130 satellite channels all in one little package.

My XM lets you record XM programming to MyFi's onboard memory--perfect for time shifting your listening (as with a news program or a scheduled performance on XM Live) or for tuning in when you'll be someplace lacking XM reception (in a canyon, on a subway, in a windowless cubicle, etc.). You can schedule a recording or start and stop recording at any time you wish, and new recordings pick up where you last stopped. But you can't erase anything unless you clear the memory--which means you can't whittle away songs you don't like to retain your favorites. It's also important to remember that when you've filled the unit's memory (128 MB, or 5+ hours of full bitrate XM radio), it'll record over earlier material, starting from the top. During playback, however, My XM lets you skip easily from track to track and even pick from a list of all tracks.

You can configure the MyFi's LCD to scroll stock and sports-score tickers, a great way to keep an eye on important stats. The receiver also features a built-in sleep timer (15 minutes to 1 hour) and an alarm clock (wake to a beep or to XM programming).

For car use, you have a choice of mounting options for the vehicle cradle: flush mount, vent mount, or swivel mount. The cradle houses a power jack for a DC vehicle power adapter (included), an antenna input, and an audio output for use with the provided cassette-shell audio adapter. You can use the cassette adapter or the MyFi's built-in wireless FM transmitter, which turns any FM radio into an XM radio. (Audio quality is better using the supplied cassette audio adapter, however. You may also purchase a wired FM adapter, though XM asserts that the cassette adapter sounds better than that, too.)

Positioning the car antenna can be inelegant, despite its heavy-duty magnet. You can have it professionally installed or live with an exposed antenna cord, though XM recommends using "existing holes, body grommets, and other wiring channels" rather than closing a door over the cord on a daily basis. The receiver's battery pack proved good for about 5 hours between charges. The included earbud headphones are neither comfortable nor particularly well made; a nicer set would represent XM's strong sound quality. --Michael Mikesell

Pros:

• Truly portable satellite-radio receiver
• Simple setup
• Includes a wealth of accessories
• Excellent sound quality
• Great reception indoors and out
• Convenient 5-hour recording mode
• Lets you skip from song to song while playing recordings
• Well-written manuals
• Permits channel browsing while listening

Cons:

• Car antenna tricky to arrange for permanent use
• No hold switch
• Can't save or delete specific recorded tracks
• No elapsed-time or time-remaining displays for live or recorded programming

What's in the Box
MyFi receiver with a clip-on antenna, an integrated rechargeable battery, a complete home accessory kit (with antenna and audio cable), a complete vehicle accessory kit (with antenna), stereo earbud headphones, a remote control, a remote battery, a belt clip/stand, a protective carrying case, and quick-start guides and user's manuals in English and Spanish.