Review - Delphi Roady XT

I just got back from a 400 mile car trip (one way) with my wife and daughter. Yes, that is a long time to be in a car. I have to tell you, though, it could’ve been a lot worse if not for XM Satellite Radio and my Delphi Roady XT. It’s tough enough finding a decent radio station in the town I live in, let along along my entire travel route. That is what makes XM Radio so nice (and I’m sure Sirius as well). Rather than gush about the virtues of satellite radio, however, I’d like to tell you a little about the Roady XT.

I was introduced to XM Radio when we bought my wife’s VW Beetle, which has a built-in XM receiver. I immediately loved how you could actually tell who was singing the current song that was playing and even the name of the song. I also fell in love with the XM comedy station. When it was time to buy my new car I wanted XM as well, but it wasn’t meant to be. That is until last Christmas when I decided I wanted an XM receiver. All I really wanted was a receiver that was cheap and easy to install. I picked the Roady XT.

Cost (5 out of 5)

Being a new dad, I don’t have a lot of spare cash around, so this category is one of the most important for me. Last winter I think the going price for the Roady XT was around $59 dollars, but since we got it at Christmas-time I think it cost us aroudn $35. I just did a search on Wal Mart’s site and they now had it listed for $29. That is a pretty good value for what you get, in my opinion.

Ease of Installation (5 out of 5)

There really isn’t much at all to installing the Roady XT, and I’m not one who does very much with car audio. As far as mounting goes, the device come with a cradle so you can mount it right to your heating/AC vents. It also comes with a flat, magnetic antenna that you simply stick on top of the car and forget about (though hopefully you remember it in the automatic car wash).

You have two options for getting the receiver to play on your car’s stereo. You can either have the Roady professionally installed and wired to your sound system, or you can do what I did and use the FM Modulator. Simply tune your car’s FM radio to a station with a strong signal and point your Roady to the same station. The device will then transmit via FM to your car radio and out your car’s speakers. The only down side of this is you may have some visible wires unless you can tuck them behind the dash. I’m more concerned with function and ease (and cheapness) of installation rather than cosmetics, so this isn’t a big deal for me.

Features (5 out of 5)

Here is where I really love the Roady XT and satellite radio in general. The receiver we have in my wife’s car must be first generation, because it lacks some of the features my Roady has.

My favorite by far is the up and down arrows on the receiver, which allow you to surf what is playing on the radio without leaving you current station. For example, I can be listening to comedy on one station, while checking out what is playing on the other stations. If I find a song I want to hear, I simply push the select button, which then takes me to the music station. This may not sound like a big deal, but use it for a few days and try to live without it afterwards.

Another cool feature is the Ticker feature. You can set your Roady to display certain select Stock Market quote or even sports scores. For example, I have mine set up to display the scores of the Pittsburgh Pirates, Pittsburgh Steelers, and Pittsburgh Penguins, so at the touch of a button I can see the score of any of their games. This is convenient when traveling or even late at night when you missed the score of the game and you are driving you daughter around trying to get her to sleep. Unfortunately there is no feature that calms your road rage when you discover your favorite team lost again.

The Roady also has the ability to store up to 30 of your favorite stations as favorites, but this is pretty common with any receiver.

Sound Quality (3.5 out of 5)

I have read reviews that said the Roady didn’t have great sound due to the fact it was transmitting to the radio via FM. I would say the sound in my experience has been pretty good. The only time I have had a problem is when I’m in the mountains and the satellite is blocked (and would be for any satellite receiver) or when traveling and my preset XM station wasn’t available in that area. In that case all I had to do was change my station and everything is ok.

Overall (18.5 out of 20)

I would surely recommend this receiver to anyone who would like to give XM radio a try. I have been using this device for seven months and love it. There is little cost risk involved and the benefits are great. This is especially nice for someone who doesn’t want to pay for installation but is sick of the same radio stations playing the same music over and over.