by John B. Carnett: Photo by John B. Carnett

Think of these pretty portable players as the lovechildren of TiVo, satellite radio and the iPod. They allow you to record your favorite crystal-clear satellite programming TiVo-style and then listen to it later on, wherever you are. Although these wearable units are not themselves satellite receivers-they have to be docked to receive and record content-the XM Samsung neXus and Sirius S50 have two key advantages over their antenna-outfitted relatives: They´re half the size, and you can upload your MP3 and WMA files and mix them into your satellite-radio playlists. Pick your device based on programming (Sirius has about 120 channels, including the NFL; XM has about 150, including Major League Baseball), or weigh the tech specs below.

Samsung Nexus for XM

Covet it because Press a button on the handset to "tag" a song you like. When you connect the neXus to your computer, you´ll be prompted to purchase the song through the new XM + Napster music service.

Buzzkill Old-school black-and-white screen

Size 3.4 x 1.9 x 0.7 inches

Capacity 512 MB (25 hours of content) and 1 GB (50 hours of content)

Battery life 15 hours

Channel presets 10

Accepted formats MP3, WMA

Price Not set (player available late 2005)

Get it xmradio.com