The editors at men.style.com have unveiled their The Year In Gear feature, selecting the 20 most stylish gadgets of 2006, the 3 biggest duds, and 5 things they are looking forward to in 2007.
Unfortunately, they didn't place the Stiletto under "the best" category. Nope, in fact the Stiletto is one of their duds of 2006. Here's the reason:
"Sirius's first true portable satellite radio (and the first player with a Wi-Fi chip that lets you listen over the Internet) was supposed to bring Howard Stern to the mobile masses. But the Stiletto needed better reception and audio quality to get away with a name like that."
Check out the men.style.com list of best and worst after the jump...
The Best:
- Samsung NV10 camera
- Ascaso Steel Duo espresso machine
- Nintendo Wii
- BlackBerry Pearl 8100
- Navman iCN 750 GPS System
- Puma Biomega UM Bicycle
- Apple MacBook
- Nokia 8800 Sirocco Edition
- Herman Miller Leaf Lamp
- Dyson Root 6 Minivac
The Worst:
- Spalding synthetic NBA Game Ball
- Sirius Stiletto Radio
- YouTube
Coming in 2007:
- Etymotic Et8 headphones
- Nokia N95 cell phone
- Philips One-Piece DVD Home Theater System
A word to the boys at men.style.com
"Stiletto" doesn't mean good reception or audio quality, so they need a better excuse to get away with a review like that.
BOW TO THE KING!
Glad I do not subscribe to that Magazine. Those products do nothing for me.
The Best:
* Samsung NV10 camera- Sony's Touchscreen looks much nicer and Sony has never disappointed me with any of their products
* Ascaso Steel Duo espresso machine- Never Drink the Stuff
* Nintendo Wii- Looks like a step backward in hardware and graffics and available games
* BlackBerry Pearl 8100- Treo's seem to do more and a lot easier to use.
* Navman iCN 750 GPS System- Garmin has impressed me with their products longevity
* Puma Biomega UM Bicycle
* Apple MacBook- Not a Mac Guy
* Nokia 8800 Sirocco Edition- Nokia has never made a phone that looked like it belonged in no elses hands but a 15year old.
* Herman Miller Leaf Lamp- I do not decorate
* Dyson Root 6 Minivac- I can give them this one but Mr. Dyson has convinced me of his products long before I even bought one.
The Worst:
* Spalding synthetic NBA Game Ball- Basketball is a boring sport. There I said it.
* Sirius Stiletto Radio- Mine works and I am EXTREMELY Happy with it.
* YouTube- I might agree. MySpace can be added as well.
Coming in 2007:
* Etymotic Et8 headphones
* Nokia N95 cell phone- It's a Nokia. We'll have to wait and see but it even looks problematic.
* Philips One-Piece DVD Home Theater System
Are these people techies or just more fools? did they realize its a Sattelite radio or is the sound really bad? I take all bad reviews with a grain of salt. Fact remains thar the Stilletto is pretty high up on crutchfeild and other online retailers when you search by best sellers. Can it be that bad? Or is it that people don't need to buy XM cause its in their new car while anyone who wants Sirius has 50% less of a chance of finding it factory installed?
sirius? bad hardware? color me shocked.
Based on reading this and other boards, the Stiletto is a home run for the truly diehard Sirius fans. The reviewer is coming from the average consumer perspective and found problems with it. I'm an XM guy, but played with the Stiletto at one of the retail stores. While I didn't like the form factor, the interface seemed to work nicely; the wheel was slick, but I am concerned about long-term wear and tear (which would not stop me from purchasing it if I was a Sirius guy); and the screen is very nice. I cannot comment on the sound quality, but did not find the diehards on the boards even raising that issue.
I applaud Sirius for including WiFi and expect that their next portable to improve on the deficiencies noted. I'm still thrilled with my Helix and also look forward to the next incarnation.
As for the "good list", I have two of the items (Wii and MacBook)!
Happy holidays . . .
HAHAHA PWNED!
This is what all satellite radio companies need to improve.
The reason why ipods are successful is that you never have to worry about the quality of the reception. EVER
Satellite Radio has the content-it just needs to make sure that reception is perfect. Once that happens, it will become a raging success. We will look back on these days 20 years from now and be amazed at how few people subscribed to satellite radio.
Ha! Looks like the writer must be a little biased here. I am completely happy with my Stiletto, especially the Wi-Fi. Hope you XM boys get that soon in the INNO.
BTW, this article must be disregarded as it the the BlackBerry Pearl in the best category, lol at that!
>I am completely happy with my Stiletto, especially the Wi-Fi. Hope you XM boys get that soon in the INNO.>
I'll take the smaller size and better recording capabilities (i.e. record a channel and have it break each song up instead of one big RIAA-friendly chunk). Not to mention (through the right channels) the Inno can be had for $150-$200 new. And how idiotic is it that the Stiletto does ONLY Sirius over WiFi? There's THOUSANDS of awesome internet streams, I want my device to stream them all. I can do most through Shoutcast with my Palm over WiFi. And I'll be getting the new kick-ass Archos 604 WiFi as an upgrade for my portable (non-sat) media device. Even if the Inno could do WiFi; like Sirius online - many good channels are not available as a stream.
"Stiletto" doesn't mean good reception or audio quality"
Your right, it means its supposed to be slim and sexy, yet the thing is so big that you need backpack straps to lug it around. You would think with that size you would at least get good recerption. And yes I mean Sat reception, not WIFI. If i was in range of a wifi network, and was allowed acces, I wouldnt need a little unit to listen to the radios as I would have a computer with speakers to use instead. Ill stick with the INNO, because it does portable sat radio well, and I dont wake up sore the next day just from carrying it.
Hey mrFancyPants, what's your XMFan/XM411 username?
I would agree with the reception but audio quality... I'm comparing the sportscaster to the stiletto and the sportscaster sounds like music in the tin can... the stiletto at least sounds a little better.
I actually dont have a XMFAN/XM411 name. Am I missing out?
How is You Tube the worst? I love that shit.
Oh, and im a Sirius guy, but id have to be crazy to buy that Stilleto. Its utter garbage if you ask me...... but i must say the XM portables sucks balls too. These nikkahs need to make something worth my $300 or else in sticking with a regular plug and play and my PMP (creative, archos,cowan). XM and Sirius need to quit bullshitting us with those pieces of junk
Aside from being a Satellite Radio subscriber, I'm a marketer and find GQ quite pathetic these days. Everything within their pages is for sale and this article they put up was stupid. I sent them the following message, I know it won't go anywhere, but I tried.
To Whom it May Concern,
I used to read your magazine but eventually got fed up with the over-bearing embedded advertising, but I was wondering why you trashed the Sirious Stiletto so vigourously. Did Sirius refuse to pay you? Did N.A.B. pay you more?
Considering that XM has been touting far less capable units for over a year without incurring your wrath, I found your criticism odd. (And no, I'm not being biased towards Sirius here)
Even the articles in your rag are advertising, it should be a paid distribution, but now you're wandering into blackmail. Think about it, if Sirius had paid you like Armani and everyone else does, how would that article have read? The Zune has very slim WiFi capabilities, and it was heralded.
I invite you to respond, but I doubt you have the "cojones" to,
Martin
evilmachines ,
the inno doesn't need wifi ( or headphone antennas ), unlike the stiletto the inno actually works . sorry to hear that you need a band-aid to call your unit a portable .
I just got my Stiletto and it's amazing.
Unlike the useless Inno, it gets great reception.
You probably got the one I returned. What a piece of shit. Should have been at the top of the list.
I just got my Stiletto and it's amazing.
Unlike the useless Inno, it gets great reception.
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I have an Inno and I get perfect reception. Not sure what your talking about.