Satellite radio subscribers -- what's a good package

[CatWoman]

for home and car radio?

[Patiod]

1. Someone please answer this

I'm looking into this as well.

[CatWoman]

2. kick

:kick:

[matcom]

3. you looking for a good package?

might i recommend:

[CatWoman]

6. you and Wayne

are SUCH SMARTASSES!!!!!

[Beware the Beast Man]

4. Sirius has better content, but Delphi for XM has better gear.

Delphi makes the Roady, which is perfect for using in the car (and there's a home adapter kit), but XM lacks a number of things that Sirius carries (such as Air America, NPR, Howard Stern, and NFL games). The subscription rate is also lower for XM than it is for Sirius. I'm probably going to switch to Sirius once my XM agreement is up.

[AlabamaYankee]

8. XM carries Air America

Channel 167

I have the roady with a remote and home adaptor that goes into my stereo. XM also has a mini fm transmitter for you car if you don't have a cassette deck to plug into. It's a minor hassle to switch stations at times, but necessary in my wife's car.

Overall it's a nice package, although I now want their boom box for the office.

[CatWoman]

10. How much is XM?

[Beware the Beast Man]

12. They carry America Left, which is a slightly magled version

of Air America. Really, I subscribe to XM mainly for the music, and it beats the heck out of commercial radio.

[CO Liberal]

5. This is Definitely NOT A Good Package

:-)

[juslikagrzly]

7. We got Sirius a month ago,

pay monthly, and love it.

[CatWoman]

9. How much is it?

[Arbustosux]

11. go with Sirius

I think they are the best content-wise

[CatWoman]

13. What components do I need for my home and my car?

[geniph]

14. Ask, and ye shall receive, Midori

I've had XM for nearly two years now. I have the Delphi Ski-Fi with two home kits and a boombox; one home kit stays at home, attached to my stereo, one stays at work, and the Delphi tuner itself goes EVERYWHERE, and I mean EVERYWHERE with me. I also have a Pioneer unit in the car, but I could have gone with a Delphi car kit instead; I bought the Pioneer before I bought the Ski-Fi. I have two XM subscriptions, one for the Pioneer tuner and one for the Ski-Fi. I pay $9.99 a month for the first one and $6.99 a month for the second unit. You can also pay $3.99 a month to access the Internet stream on your computer, no hardware required.

I love my satellite radio. I haven't heard a commercial on the radio in two years. I can listen to a dozen different types of music on the way to work, and never be bothered by excessive chatter, static, or a single ad. Either XM or Sirius are wonderful, although Sirius has the better fan website (XM's fan website tends to be very right-wing, for some reason). Last year, I drove from Seattle to Reno via San Francisco, and never lost my signal once the whole way. I had the boombox with me and listened in my hotel rooms. It was fabulous. I highly recommend it for any music fan.

What I'd do if I were starting from scratch: I'd buy the Delphi Ski-Fi, a car kit, a home kit, and the boombox (if you buy a package, you can often get a hefty rebate). You can hook the home kit to either headphones or computer speakers if you don't have a stereo to connect it to, by the way. I have not needed to do anything fancy in the way of antenna connections, as my reception at work is via the land-based repeaters (XM has them, Sirius does not), and I'm able to get good reception inside my brick house with the antenna indoors and not in any particularly fancy placement. However, depending on the structure of your buildings and your location relative to the satellites, you may or may not get adequate reception with the antenna indoors. There are antenna extensions available that permit a permanent outdoor antenna placement, if you need it. The newer micro-antennas are about the size of a book of matches.

[CatWoman]

15. Thanks, Geni

:hi:

for filling the void.

these other guys act like it's a state secret or something.

You get Air America, right?

[geniph]

16. Yeah, XM has America Left

which has some of the Air America programming. I don't listen to talk radio, though, not even America Left. I listen for the music - and both services have GREAT music channels, really great.

If you have DISH satellite TV, or know someone who does, Sirius has music channels on DISH. You can sample some of them, see if they're to your liking.

Oh, and if you want to see good information about the equipment that's available, my site of choice to learn and to buy is http://www.crutchfield.com. I love Crutchfield.