Delphi's Portable MyFi Satellite Radio

Steve announces he's about to make a thudding generalization; klaxons sound, sirens go off, and ... no, wait, Angela just makes a snarky remark and the show rolls on.

In any case, Steve suggests that there are two kinds of people in the world: "Record people," who like a great deal of control over exactly what music they listen to, and "radio people," who are content to tune into someone else's idea of quality programming. For the latter, the Duo suggest the Delphi MyFi.

Sort of a cross between a TiVo and a podcast player (Steve persists in calling it a "SkyPod"), the $350 MyFi works with XM Satellite Radio and offers more than 100 channels of streaming music, news, sports, and talk. Fans of satellite radio, long relegated to listening in their cars or homes (or wherever their fairly bulky receivers were located), have been adopting the system passionately.

Satellite radio signals also carry data, and the MyFi can receive delayed stock quotes and (nearly) real-time sports scores, along with the more traditional track-and-artist info familiar to most satellite subscribers.

Does it work? A lot depends, says Angela, on whether you can get a satellite signal, which typically relies on a view of the southern sky. There's an antenna you can clip to your jacket if you're determined (and perhaps not fashion-conscious), but in many urban areas local repeaters take care of the need for a clear view.

Even better: A clever workaround for the signal problem actually means that your MyFi unit can act in the aforementioned TiVo-like fashion. The trick is to plan ahead: The unit can record programming automatically, so if you run the risk of getting out of signal range, plug the unit into its charging cradle and fill it up overnight. You'll have five hours of programming on hand--and, coincidentally, a five-hour charge on the unit's battery.