Digital Audio: Satellite Radios That Rock

There's nothing like good tunes to keep you company on the road or at home. With the latest crop of satellite radio products, you get higher-quality sound and more listening options than FM can deliver. Digital HD Radio is making waves, too: In-dash units became available last year, and tabletop models should arrive this summer; see " HD Radio Emerges" for details.

Sirius Gets Seriously Cool

Tivoli Audio's $300 Model Satellite is an AM/FM/Sirius tabletop radio tucked into an appealing retro wooden case. The shipping device features a beautiful blue-text-on-black display, an alarm clock, and sleep mode. But the remote has no volume control--a distinct inconvenience--and the radio's five programmable keys (an unusually low number for a tabletop model) can hold up to four stations each, for a maximum of 20 presets.

Compact and well integrated, Sirius's shipping $100 Starmate comes with everything you'll need to use it in your auto of choice: a car dock, an antenna, and a charger that plugs into the cigarette lighter. Slightly larger and thicker than a deck of cards, it includes a windshield mount--good for small, cramped cars that don't have a lot of dashboard real estate. (A $40 optional kit allows you to listen at home, as well.) Six buttons hold five stations each, for a total of 30 presets. I found navigation a breeze when using the buttons and two-way switch to scroll through lists of radio stations. Unfortunately, the display is difficult to read in bright sunlight; and the tiny screen displays only three lines of text at a time.