No flash, but great value.

The Roady2 (R2 from now on) is the new bare bones plug and play device for XM Satellite Radio.

For those of you who dont know what satellite radio is, let me give you a brief description. It is a monthly pay service that gives you access to around 100 channels of music and 100 channels of various other forms of radio. There are little to no commercials on each channel and it allows from completely uninterupted enjoyment. The reception if always clear and best of all it is almost entirely unedited so no more cut up radio versions of your favorite songs.

But lets get back to the ol Roady2.

Like I mentioned earlier it is the bare bones plug and play device from Satellite Radio. There is no fancy rewind or save function and no internal battery pack.

Despite these things, the Roady2 is the best bang for your buck. It can be set up in one of three ways.

1. (HOME) The Roady2 can easily plug into your home stereo system allowing you to hear the content from your nice stereo system.

2. (Office) The Roady2 can be set up in your office using the Audio out jack as a head phones or portable speaker port.

3. (Car) The Roady2 can be set up to use with your car stereo by either using a tape player adapter, connecting it to your stereo directly (takes some technical knowledge), or the radio can be programmed to transmit a signal on an empty FM frequency which can be then be picked up on your car stereo.

As stated earlier the Roady2 has no internal power source so it must be plugged into the wall in order to work (a battery atachment can be bought, but it will run you over a $100). The Roady2 can either be plugged into a normal wall socket or it can be powered by your car's cigarette lighter.

The Roady2 needs an external Antenna in order to recieve the signal from the XM Satellites. The home version of it looks like and open make up kit and as long as it is placed near a window or not behind several feet of convcrete you will recieve crystal clear reception. THe car version is much smaller and can be attatched to the roof of your car with considerable ease.

Both the power adapters and the antena atach next to the audio out port on the radios left side.

The radio itself is very easy to use.

A screen (smaller than the skyfi and the myfi but it serves its purpose well) take up most of the center of the unit. It can be switched to one of many displays. It can show the channel name, channel number, name of singer or group who is currently on, name of song or program that is currently on, or stock information that you can program in. What is shown on this screen can be altered by using the display button directly above the screen.

Next to the display button is the memory button. This will save all information associated with a song that is currently playing. If you hear a song you like, you will now be able to remember it for a possible future purchase. The radio can also alert you if this song is playing on another channel.

The menu button is next to the memory button. It cycles you through various sections such as volume (necesary if your headphones dont have there own volume control).

The next button is the preset button which works with the 10 preset buttons bellow the main screen. It allows you to save all your favorite channel information so they are always a button push away.

Next to that are the category buttons. XM stations are set up in groups. Decades, Rock, Country, Comedy, talk, Dance .etc. These buttons will cycle you though these various groups so you can easily find what you are in the mood for.

THere is a small wheel on the upper right corner of the device. Rolling it in one direct will cycle the channels up one at a time while the other direction will cycle them down. Pressing in on the wheel will switch you over to that channel. My only complaint with the device has to do with that fact that the wheel doesnt feel particularly sturdy when im using it and is a little too small. THat being said I have never had an actual physical problem with using it. When you are listening to one channel the wheel can be used to cycle through the other channels on the screen so you can preview whats on them without having to stop listening to what you are currently enjoying.

The Roady2 is the smallest satellite radio on the market, but it manages to organize all of its features very nicely. It weighs next to nothing making it effortless to transport between your car and home set ups.

I orginally has Sirius Radio and while it worked find, I quickly got bored of the content and switched to XM Radio. Not only is the service great, but my Roady2 allows me to enjoy it anywhere I go.

While the Skyfi2 and the Myfi are excellent devices and I recommend both, dont think that just because you are buying the lower end model you are getting anything less than the best quality possible.