I got it for SO last xmas. I went to Best Buy, picked out the radio I wanted - it came w/the car adapter automatically, and I just bought the home adapter kit for like $30. I think they might all come w/the car adapter, but you just don't have to use it. HTH!
I have one and so do almost all of my reps that I ride with. The girls all have the basic one and the guys all seem to have the sportster one. I don't really see the difference really. The basic $99 star(something) is the one I have.
btw- most of the big box stores are out of stock on the units (at least from what i hear) if you go direcly to sirius radio website, they do have them in stock.
Have you checked out the Sirius web site yet? Look at the plug and play radios and just pick which one you like best. My BF has the Starmate 4 and is happy with it but I think any of them are fine, except for the Sirius One radio, because it doesn't have the wide display screen. Like ShopChicago33 said, you then buy the home kit separately and that is all you need.
The portable radios are nice because they hold mp3s. These ones can be used in the home, car, or anywhere else (like a personal radio/mp3 player). You also need to purchase a home kit for these too. They also have home units, but I would personally rather have one that gives me an option to use it elswehere.
I know you said you don't need it for the car, but just FYI if you did ever want to use it in the car, you basically just need to plug it in and place the antenna on the dash rather than securing it--it will fly around if not secured but the radio will transmit just fine. This is what my BF does because he drives a different car every day.
Does that answer your questions? I bought mine from Best Buy and the SA knew absolutely nothing about it and wasn't very willing to help us out, so I know how confusing it can get.
So -here is a link to the radios. You will see with all the radios it says that they come with a car kit. The car kit is the adapter that you will need to hook it up to your car.
If you want a home kit, go to ACCESSORIES and look under HOME KIT or do a search for HOME KIT for whatever model you intend to get.
I totally agree with you that you feel like you are doing calculus. I felt like I just couldn't figure it out. But once I bought it and started hooking it up, it was not as hard as I made it out to be.
I LOVE MINE!! It's well worth the problem solving!!