My favorite co-pilot!

I have had the Sirius Starmate 4 radio in my car for about eight months now; my husband also has the same radio in his car, which I mention because there are a few differences between our radios that I will point out in the review. The Sirius Starmate 4 is my second Sirius radio, and I am very pleased with it, especially compared to my former radio.

In order to use the Sirius Starmate 4, you must have an active Sirius subscription. The radio only works on the Sirius network. Until you activate the radio on your subscription, it will only play a demo channel or display information about the radio. Activating the radio is easy and involves either calling Sirius with the radio's activation code, or logging into the Sirius website with the code. You need to be in the car with the car running and the radio on to activate it, so I brought my laptop outside and used my wireless Internet to connect. Once you activate the radio, it will work continuously without further involvement from the Sirius people.

The Sirius Starmate 4 can be mounted on the car dashboard, vent, or on the windshield using a suction cup. I chose to mount mine with the suction cup. This method is extremely easy to install and to re-position if needed, and securely holds the radio in a visible yet not distracting location. The suction cup mount includes a swivel piece that allows me to find the best viewing angle for either the driver or passenger.

Installing the antenna on the car was a challenge, but it was identical to the process of installing the antenna for my old radio. (Please note that this process will vary depending on whether you drive a car, truck, minivan, etc. I drive a sedan, so my description is only accurate for sedans.) A magnetic disk is attached to the top of the trunk, and a wire running from that disk is fed into the trunk through the rear hinges. A small adhesive plastic piece secures any loose wire outside the trunk and maintains a neat appearance. Inside the trunk, I fed the antenna wire through the tiny gap between the rear seats and rear dash. Once the end of the wire was inside the passenger cabin of the car, I neatly tucked it along the rear seats and ran it under the front seats until it reached the radio. The antenna simply plugs into a slot on the radio.

The radio is powered using the car's cigarette lighter. A power adapter plugs into the lighter socket, with a wire connecting it to the radio itself. With the windshield mount, the wires are not particularly intrusive in the car, although with a different interior layout I can see how they might be in the way.

The Sirius Starmate 4 can connect to the car's audio system in a number of ways, including direct wiring into the car stereo, a cassette tape adapter, or by coordinating the Sirius broadcast signal with an unused FM radio frequency. I used this last method, which has worked well for me. My radio broadcasts clearly without static or interference. However, it is worth noting that my FM radio has difficulty picking up signals and doesn't work well. My husband's radio does work well, and he found that he could not successfully connect his radio using the FM broadcast method. The actual FM stations were interfering too much with the Sirius broadcast. He needed to buy an additional cassette tape adapter to use his radio.

The Sirius Starmate 4 has an on/off switch of its own, but I rarely use mine since my radio automatically powers down when I turn off my car. Here is another way that my radio differs from my husband's--his does not automatically power down when the car is off, but will continue to run and eventually drain the battery. We're not sure why the radios respond differently to the car being turned off--they are the same model radio.

A nice feature of the Sirius Starmate 4 is that it comes with a small remote control. Although it seems silly at first to have a remote control for a radio that is in arm's length, it quickly becomes apparent how much easier it is to control the radio with the remote--and how much safer. I can hold and use the remote without taking either hand from the wheel, and while maintaining good posture and eye contact with the road.

The Sirius Starmate 4 also allows the user to set up to 30 favorite artists or songs, and be alerted when those artists or songs play on any channel. When you receive an alert, the radio beeps, and the name/artist and channel display on the radio. By simply hitting the select button, you can switch to that song. I do not find the alerts too intrusive, but I have needed to make some adjustments. For example, as much as I love U2 I was unable to add them to the alerts because they play so often on so many stations that the alerts do become intrusive for them. The favorites is a great feature that ensures I never miss my favorite songs or artists.

The Sirius Starmate 4 radio allows for 10 preset stations (numbered 0-10) which can be accessed either by hitting the corresponding button on the radio or on the remote control. Setting the presets is easy--simply hold down the button while the desired station is playing until you hear a beep.

While it may seem unimportant, the Sirius Starmate 4 radio is also quite attractive. Its display is lighted in an attractive bright blue, and the radio itself is sleek and black. My last Sirius radio was much less attractive, so I find myself valuing the appearance of the Sirius Starmate 4.

The Sirius Starmate 4 radio cost about $85 from Amazon when I purchased it. I have seen it priced anywhere from about $80 all the way up to $120. If you search different stores and websites, you should easily be able to find this radio for under $100. I would say that the Sirius Starmate 4 is one of the nicer models of mid-priced Sirius radio. It seems to be right at the price point before a big leap to several-hundred-dollar radios.

Overall I am extremely pleased with the Sirius Starmate 4 radio. It works well, is attractive, and has several great features that I really enjoy. I would recommend this particular model of radio to anyone considering installing Sirius radio in their car. Please note that this radio does NOT move from the car to the home, at least not without the purchase of additional equipment.