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Digital Audio: Satellite Radios That Rock

New satellite radio products offer a number of tuneful options for high-quality sound, whether you're listening on the road or in your living room.

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

Click here to view full size imagePhotograph: Marc SimonTivoli 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.

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