Review on XPMP3H1 Portable Satellite Discontinued Manufacturer by Chad Mills

This is an excellent satellite radio if you understand that it has some limitations and quirks. First, when I received my XMP3i, the scroll wheel was not working. From what I've read on other sites, this happens relatively often with new devices. I updated the firmware with a USB cable (very easy) and left it on the stand for a few hours to charge. After the reset, the scroll wheel worked again. Not the best way to get started with this radio, but I was able to use the included remote to navigate menus when the scroll wheel wasn't working. In a home stand, signal reception is rather unreliable. The manual that came with the XMP3i states that the antenna should be pointed south for the best reception. I don't like the south. I have to change the orientation of the antenna frequently throughout the day to get a decent experience. Sometimes straight into the sky, sometimes north, sometimes south. Also, the shielding of the antenna cable is pretty thin, and running the cable over other live wires really reduces the signal strength. Buying online broadcasting (for an extra $3 a month) solved those problems for me, but it's a shame I had to pay more to get a good indoor radio experience from this radio. In a car mount (sold separately) the reception is perfect. The only time I lose signal is when going under a bridge (for half a second) or through tunnels. Both are to be expected from a line of sight device (as with all satellite radio). I bought a cassette adapter for this, which makes it easier to find a clean radio when traveling and also eliminates the problem of not having an input to the car radio. Other quirks I encountered were that the device needed to be restarted from time to time. One of the worst experiences I've had was when I plugged it into my work computer via USB for charging. It was constantly being plugged in and unplugged as if the cord had been lost even though it was tight at both ends. I eventually had to turn it off and restart it for it to stop freaking out. When I first turned it on it acted like it was a brand new radio with only single channel access and the scroll wheel didn't work (like the day I bought the radio). Hard reset (pull out battery) and everything is back to normal. It hasn't happened since, but the fact that it happened at all has annoyed me a little. Battery life for me when streaming live radio was around 2-3 hours (instructions say up to 4). The battery life when listening to recorded music is fantastic. A little over 8 hours later, the battery gauge was still showing 60% battery remaining. I was very surprised about that. The music recording on XMP3i is amazing. Heard a song you want to record? Press the record button and select "Record Song" and make sure you don't lose the signal until the song ends (or the recording stops). Of course, the quality of the recording depends on the strength of the signal. So if you have poor signal quality and your music sounds bad, your recording will play (sorry, there's no magic here). I recommend recording in the car kit and you get great shots almost every time. There are two purchases that I recommend for use with this radio. First, these are headphones with an antenna. They really increase the reception of the radio signal when walking or outdoors. Without headphones with an antenna, you must hold the antenna on top of the XMP3i in line of sight of the sky or you will lose the signal. Antenna headphones allow you to put the radio in your pocket or clip it to your belt and keep the signal strong. I also recommend getting a leather tote bag. It gives you a belt clip and wrist strap and also offers some protection when wearing the XMP3i (especially from scratches). All in all I can recommend this radio. It's not perfect and has its own quirks, but there's no other radio that even comes close to matching the XMP3i's capabilities or portability. Plus, none of the quirks are universal, and the features it offers over a basic car-mounted radio really make it worth it if you're outdoors or walking/running a lot.