Simviation Forums

 I'm going to get me a sat-radio receiver but now I'm confused whether to go with XM or Sirius, does anyone subscribe to either or both of these and if so what are the differences, it seems like the programming is almost the same. Sirius is a little more per month.

Hello?

Hello I tried to reply last night but the page wouldn't open.

I was just going to say that I'm thinking of getting one of these myself, was looking into them a great deal when they first arrived on the market and noticed very little differance between the two providers. I think the one that is a little more costly offers a few more channels.
I mainly want some news and some metal stations ('80s mainly) but notice even on "pay" radio that the crap music owns space also. Here in my part of TN the radio is crap. Country, pop, hip hop all of which I don't like and Classic Rock station that claims to have the largest music collection in the US, but seem to only play five albums and two are Lynard Skynard and the other Pink Floyd, George Thorogood, and ZZ Top, all of which I liked until I moved south and now can't stand to hear it anymore.

The idea of satilite radio is awesome, especially when taking road trips, on my many trips to MI to see family there are a few stations that kick ass but I can only hear for a few mile on 75, those mainly in Cinncinatti and Detroit, cool to tune into a good station and hear it through out your entire trip!
And the cost of it is comming down to where normal people can afford it. At first you had to buy the reciever, then something to play it at home, something extra to play it in your car etc, so just to be able to use it your talking about $500, for radio!

Let us know what you decide on!

 I'm leaning towards Sirius, it's a couple more dollars per month but I have compared the programming to that of XM and there are a few more stations on Sirius that I think I might be interested in.
 My main reason for wanting sat radio is the limited number of stations around here most of which are either classic rock which I hate and refuse to listen to or country which I also avoid, the only couple of stations I will listen to play 1 or 2 songs and then 10 minutes of commercials which is my que to change the station, so I like the idea of uninterupted, uncensored radio, I will be happy to pay for this, plus the fact that you get over 100 stations to choose from, this includes almost all major sporting events, XM has Nascar but I read that Sirius has NFL, NBA and NHL (in the event that we ever get hockey back).
 I have been pricing the gear and believe I can hook up with everything for both car and home for around $250.

well if I ever go for it, I believe I'll end up with XM mainly for the Nascar, not a real nascar nut, but definately more interesting to me than some other sports IMHO...

Good luck! :-) Let us know how it works out for you! ;-)

About $250, where at?

That is half it's cost a year ago.
I do dislike the fact that each have their own stations to choose from, but for me it is Nascar!! and hockey would be great as for the ball sports someone else can have it

It does seem to be the future, but I also know not all stations are commercial free, uncertain if they all are or not but the local resturant I eat breakfast at plays XM and the country station they tune into has commercials as frequent as regular radio. but the other plus side is no-static! Sounds real good!!.

Was looking at the XM site
" 21 dedicated Channels of XM Instant Traffic & Weather"  seems like a waste, they should include airbands instead of traffic!

About $250, where at?

 Most of the places I've checked into have the Sirius receiver for $149 or less and this normally includes the car kit, then the boombox kit for home use seems to be around $100, XM can be set up for slightly less, I was looking at one receiver (XM) yesterday for $129 and there is another model for $100, but it just depends on which receiver you go with, there are several on the market for both services.
 It seems you don't have to buy the boombox, the basic receivers incorporate a FM modulator that sends the signal to any FM receiver using a variety of seldom used frequencys that you can choose from.

 I just seen in the Best Buy ad this morning that XM has a walkman out call Mi-Fi, the kit includes the walkman, home kit and car kit for $350, I'm pretty sure Sirius won't be far behind, I may wait a while longer because I listen to a walkman at work and that would be perfect, I'm not sure how well the reception would be considering all the steel beams my work area is surrounded by.

 Both Sirius and XM have the traffic stations for major cities, I read an article this morning in the paper on satellite radio, it comes down to your preference of programming which service you go with, both are basically similar with a few very specific differences that would tend to sway someones decision (Nascar or NFL for example), the article went on to say that sat-radio will continue to grow in popularity as prices come down and programming choices expand, and yes I guess some stations do still have ads, but at least there are a 100+ stations to surf between to avoid the annoying things, and many stations play uncensored music which is a big deal to me, I hate censorship.

And uncensored comedy! That is what I'm for also NO CENSORSHIP!!!!!!

I did a lot of reading at both sites (XM and Sirus) and too be honest XM looks to be the way to go, they have some killer rock stations! And Playboy radio!!
The thing I wonder about is the FM Modulator, I have one that I use on my MP3 player and there are only 5 stations that can be used 89.1 -89.5 at the very far end of the band.
Problem is you must have the FM Transmitter within 10' of the antenna, meaning that I can have my MP3 player on the other side of the room and have the radio pick it up, in my shop it must be on top of the radio. In the car it flucuates, for the channels available to transmit to carry stations in some areas and the sound quaility is far less than perfect after all you are broadcasting a signal to your FM antenna. But this is dependant on how strong the XM transmitter is, hell if it is strong enough you and all your buddies in the local area would be able to tune in to your radio without having to pay extra (that is your friends want to listen to the same station)
I'm going to go to the dreaded WalMart to see and hear what they have and also see if you can activate one there, noticed that they like to have a credit card and I no longer use them And I agree for $10 a month can't beat a variety of channels un-censored non the less

I can see this as the future for new bands to break through! Because we all know the good stuff never gets radio airplay

I own XM.  LOVE IT!  My dad got it in his vehicle with his new truck, my new truck didn't come with it so I bought the add-on kit.  $130 for everything you need. and I only pay $7.99 since I'm added to his plan. Normal is 9.99.  That is per month chaged yearly or every two years...Basically I my sound a bit biased cause I have XM so I'm loyal to them, but if you are a sports NUT go with Sirius. If you want 100% commercial Free programming with a lot of music, comedy and yes..NASCAR (and a separate IN-Car Audio channel for all NASCAR series!!!) go with XM.  Hope it helps with your decision.      

Brent Reeves
Shift Captain/Training Officer
Kalamazoo/Battle Creek Int'l Airport Fire Department
Kalamazoo, MI

 Finally someone who actually has sat-radio, thanks for the input ARFFguy.