Comments on: Delphi SkyFi3 XM Review

By: Cn

Cn — Sun, 03 May 2009 13:12:36 +0000

Read the manual! Very easy to reboot. Hold in the volume up key and then press the mode key for a couple seconds. PRESTO – like magic.
Also, all electronic manufacturers will tell you to power off your unit before starting the car. The surge can do havoc to your unit – but easily correctable.

By: Cn

Cn — Sun, 03 May 2009 13:09:06 +0000

Purchased the SKIFI3 in April 2009.
Had a ROADY previously.
Love the SKIFI so much. It’s recording ability is GREAT. I can record my sports team’s game and listen to it after the midnite hour (that’s my working hours). It’s overall ease of use and visibility is also very good.
HIGHLY RECOMMENDED !!!

By: Doug

Doug — Mon, 16 Mar 2009 20:51:30 +0000

The way you reboot the unit is hold the volume buton to the up position and the menu key at the same time for a few seconds then just let off of it and it should reboot.

By: bill kite

bill kite — Sun, 08 Feb 2009 15:53:34 +0000

alot of people need to just learn to operate your radio

By: Caleb

Caleb — Thu, 29 Jan 2009 23:53:05 +0000

To reboot all you have to do is take the back cover off and remove the battery. It is difficult to take the back off I broke mine but the battery stays in without it.

By: Don

Don — Sun, 25 Jan 2009 16:33:35 +0000

Good radio – when it works. Software locks up frequently. Have to be very careful to power down the unit and remove from the car cradle before shutting off the car (disconnecting power to the cradle). If left in the cradle it will lock up again when you start the car. When it does lock up only way I’ve found to re-boot is to let it run the battery down. That means no radio for hours. Very inconvenient and aggravating. Did any of the engineers at Delphi think through the actual customer use of this thing? Idiots.

By: Jen

Jen — Tue, 17 Jun 2008 14:32:10 +0000

I purchased this device because I traded my car that had a built in XM radio…liked the description and XM Radio was offering a special, I CAN NOT figure out how to channel up or channel down on this device!!

By: Jen

Jen — Tue, 17 Jun 2008 14:32:10 +0000

By: Phil

Phil — Wed, 11 Jun 2008 01:49:13 +0000

The SKYFi3 is a total piece of junk. It’s one of the worst products I have ever purchased. The thing hangs up very frequently, which requires doing a reboot, sometimes up to five times. It records and plays songs off of the air ok, but can’t seem to find the songs that you load into it via the USB. It shows the titles for them ok, but when you select a particular song, something different always plays.

The bottom line is – don’t buy this radio!

By: Luis Villa

Luis Villa — Mon, 19 May 2008 01:04:05 +0000

Thanks for the Post! I was not able to connect the car unit until I read your explanation of the SureConnect.
Now all’s working and the sound is very good pus I’ve got a whole lot more radio options.

By: Mel

Mel — Fri, 28 Mar 2008 21:51:00 +0000

The skyfi3 DOES have presets. While you are on Live XM mode, you have to go to the channel you want to add to you presets, then go to the menu and find Favorites>Add Channel>Favorites(choose ABorC), then pick which number preset you want your channel on.

I will say that the “instruction” manuals that came with the radio were sadly lacking in instructions–most of what I know about the thing I learned from trial and error and just being willing to mess around and figure it out. That includes the Sure connect stuff. I’m not a techie, but I’m not totally ignorant either–just be willing to dink around with it a lot.

I have had my Skifi3 for about 3 months after about 3 years of Skifi1 and Skifi2–I MUCH prefer it to Skyfi1. I LOVE that it is portable and can be removed from the car and used as an mp3 player (and that I can record–only while the radio is plugged in and turned on–and listen to recorded XM programming outside of my car!!). Would be great if I could listen to Live XM while it was on battery, but oh, well. Also wish you could search for channels like on Skyfi2, but can’t have it all I guess. Other than that I have been VERY happy with it. We can use the same antenna in the car so we didn’t have to restring all the old antenna wires.

For the price (I paid about $40 for the radio with car kit, but you certainly ought to be able to get it for less than $75) this is an awesome deal and a pretty great radio.

By: John

John — Mon, 03 Sep 2007 22:26:41 +0000

If you like to take long walks and listen to XM Live, only buy this product if you are willing to pay between $69-$99 to add the Wearable Kit with Extended Life Battery. You will only get about 45 minutes of operation with a full charge from the standard battery listening to XM Live; with the extended battery you get up to seven. Fortunately, you can find this product online for as little as $120 so even adding the wearable kit, it’s a pretty good bargain. Find someone who already has XM and add yourself to their family plan for only $6.99 a month and the deal gets even better.

The best things about this product are the huge, easy to read screen (not color, but I don’t mind) and ease of use. I have an XM2 in my car so I can’t attest to how well it works in autos, but it makes a very nice walkman.

By: The Wud

The Wud — Sat, 25 Aug 2007 04:48:47 +0000

The thing is junk. Wasted money and time on this. Four months and it never worked on the car deck and now won’t work in the home deck. Plain junk!