0ur opinion:

:
The sleek Sportster4 includes SlRlUS Replay, advanced sports features, a large, easy-to-read display, rotary tuning knob and moves easily between your car, home or boombox with universal docking capability.

:
Get in the game with the plug-and-play Sirius Sportster 4 satellite radio receiver, which sports a new slim profile while still maintaining the same great features for which the Sportster series is known. Just like other Sirius-compatible receivers, the Sportster 4 offers a large, easy-to-read display, a rotary tuning knob, and accessible buttons, but now moves seamlessly into your car, home, or boombox. More significantly, the Sportster 4 maximizes the listening experience of Sirius radio's broad sports lineup, with the ability to decode the incoming Sirius digital-quality signal from more than 120 music, news, and sports channels. lt's also easily transportable, and thanks to the bundled car kit, lets you listen to your favorite satellite radio programs while driving.

An easy-to-read, six-line display tells you the channel name and number, category, artist name, song title, and time simultaneously. The receiver also lets you program up to 30 presets of your favorite streams, as well as search by stream, artist name, song title, or category. And with a quick press of the 0ne-Touch Jump button, you can instantly switch between the traffic and weather reports for your city or any of the other music, news, or entertainment channels. 0ther programming details include an S-Seek function that stores your favorite artists and songs and alerts you when one is playing on any of the music channels, direct station tuning via the numeric buttons, and a channel lock option. Time functions, meanwhile, include an onscreen clock, alarm, and sleep timer, as well as a program alert that allows the unit to switch to a preprogrammed stream at a selected time.

The Sportster 4 really earns its stripes, however, with its variety of enhanced features designed specifically for sports lovers. The Game Alert feature prompts you when your favorite NFL or other sports teams are playing on Sirius. The Game Zone lists all of your favorite teams in one virtual category and lets you select a different team from each of the various sports leagues, including the NFL, NBA, NHL, and college sports. And what sports fan could do without the Sportster's instant replay function, which lets you pause, rewind, and replay 44 minutes of live radio? As soon as you tune to a channel, the receiver automatically begins storing the audio for later playback.

The Sportster 4 also includes a built-in FM transmitter that sends Sirius radio programming to your vehicle's FM tuner, so you don't have to make a direct connection to enjoy the full array of channels. Simply set an empty FM frequency on your radio and tune the Sportster 4 to the same frequency. This function also works with other FM tuners, such as the one on your home stereo, but is easily paired with the car thanks to the bundled vehicle kit, which includes everything you need for listening to Sirius while driving. Components include a vehicle docking station, a suction cup mount, a vent mount, a DC power supply that plugs into your car's cigarette lighter, a roof-mount antenna, and mounting hardware.

Sirius satellite radio is a subscription service that provides more than 120 channels of programming, from digital-quality music to news, talk, and sports. lt is available only in the lower 48 states--not in Alaska, Hawaii, or U.S. territories. The Sportster 4, which measures 4.5 by 2.9 by 0.6 inches (W x H x D), is backed by a one-year warranty.

What's in the Box
Sportster 4 satellite radio receiver, wireless remote control, lithium battery, vehicle docking station, roof-mount antenna, suction cup mount, vent mount, cigarette lighter power adapter, mounting hardware, installation guide, Sirius channel information card, user's manual.

---

---

Buyer's feedback: - * You'd Better Have Good Reception Where You Live! ...
If you do not have good reception, Sirius tech help WILL NOT HELP YOU!

They won't even tell you where the repeaters are, for some strange reason.

I guess they've gotten so big they don't care any more. What a waste of lots of money for the radio, the equipment (which doesn't come with the radio, by the way, you'll need to buy that separately), activation fee, and finally, the subscription fee.

Tech help not only would not help me find a good signal, they kept trying to sell me more stuff!

---

Buyer's feedback: - My date with the Sportster 4...
I purchased my Sportster 4 package deal elsewhere (not on Amazon) despite reading these reviews - the radio deal was too good to pass up and there were no other radio options at the store. My first Sirius radio - the original orange glow Sportster from late 2004 - died a slow death once I started to transport it back and forth from my boombox to my car in 2007, so I was used to the many features of a Sportster and chose another. I plugged my Sportster 4 into my car lighter, put the antennae on my dash, tuned my FM radio to 88.1, and out came Howard Stern ... with static. My boyfriend has a Stratus and was able to hook it up in my car as a test - it sounded clear. Since he hardwired his vehicle for his Stratus, he took my Sportster 4 and plugged it into his car and the Sportster played clear (he has that FM connector as a boost). Being a Howard fan and unable to find a reasonably priced cassette adapter in a pinch (Sirius now has them ... hmmm), I decided to play my radio anyway. Maybe it's me, and maybe it's because I'm listening to talk radio as opposed to music, but the static doesn't bother me much - my commute is 40 minutes, some spots have more static than others, at times I have none, even have reception under some bridges which I didn't have with my old Sportster. I have a 2003 Audi A4 convertible that is not prewired for satellite - when I have the roof down, the static isn't noticeable at all because of the wind, but I'm definitely buying the cassette adapter as recommended on others' reviews regardless - cool weather is coming, roof will be up! As for the home dock that came in my package, that's another story. It takes a super steady hand to find that tiny spot on my CD boombox's FM stations where the Sirius will pump thru, no where near the clear sound I had when using my Sirius boombox (and old Sportster) and blasting the sound thru the same portable stereo. One reviewer suggested an FM transmitter for the house - don't know if I'm ready to spend another $80 for the transmitter on top of the $15 for the cassette adapter on top of the Sportster 4 package price. Sirius obviously knows there's an issue by selling its own cassette adapters now - plus, notice how the Sportster 4 price goes down weekly? I thought Plug N Play meant just that, plug it in and play it - clearly. But I'm still sticking with Sirius and my Sportster 4 - I need my daily dose of Howard.

UPDATE: My boyfriend found a Coby Cassette Adapter for $10 in Brooklyn and now my Sportster 4 sounds GREAT in my car! No static, no loss of signal - granted, I now have wires everywhere since I didn't hardwire my car. Be sure to buy an adapter when you buy your Sportster 4 if your vehicle has a cassette player. I still have yet to tackle my house reception issue - I'll listen via my PC for now.

---

Buyer's feedback: - * It'll do. ...
I spend enough time in my car on business to justify satellite radio. It squeezes out the dead zones between major urban areas and the quality stations that emanate from them. One of my vehicles, a Ford, has built-in Sirius service and great sound. The other, a VW Passat, has great sound but no satellite radio.

The answer? The Sirius Sportster. I can add service into my Passat for just $7.00 more per month. Jason and the good men at Indianapolis' Auto Outfitters took care of cleaning up my son's and my raw installation.

Be warned. There is a vast difference between the quality of built-in Sirius components and this kind of off-the-shelf add-on. Still, this is an adequate solution at a decent price point.

That's a deal.

---

Buyer's feedback: - Nice rig, but...
Easy to use, considerable improvement over older models, but the car mount kit only includes one option - the suction cup mount and it leaves a lot to be desired. On modern vehicles, it's almost impossible to use the suction cup unless you put it on the window and that interfers with driving vision - in paricular with a large pickup truck.

They need to redesign the mount or add an additional option beyond the silly little vent clips which also don't work on modern interior air vents.

A mechanical mount would be a great addition and make this a wonderful accessory for the car.

---

Buyer's feedback: - * Do not buy - piece of junk. ...
I received this unit as a replacement for the original Sportster unit I bought when I returned the Sportster to Sirius for repair. The unit does not reliably receive signals from the satellite and suffers from frequent loss of satellite signal, even on clear days with no obstructions using high quality antennas. It is basically unlisternable.