To XM or not to XM? That is the question.

[tonyj311]

My free 3 month trial is up next week. I lived without until I got this new car, does anyone think its worth the money that is paying for it? I would get the lower tier without Howard Stern and NFL games.

[the_Journeyman]

My fiancée loves, it, so does my sister and Dad.  None of the three complain about it not being with the money.  My fiancée spends more time in the car than I do.  I'd rather pop in my favorite CD (tape in my Taurus ) or whatever.  I also commute on the bike a lot so a subscription would be wasted for me.

JM

[Popeye the Sailor]

You should totally get it.





<--builds the satellites for them.

[Rev. Millertime]

I've had Sirius for a little over a year...

Now my cds are collecting dust in the trunk of my car.

Of course I live in the middle of nowhere, my terrestrial radio choices are very limited.

[mitt]

I've had Sirius for a little over a year...

Now my cds are collecting dust in the trunk of my car.

Of course I live in the middle of nowhere, my terrestrial radio choices are very limited.

+2 - both my wife and I have sirius going on 3 years.  It is a lot of money, but we don't buy CD's, and we don't update mp3 libraries very consistently.

mitt

[OverCaffeinated]

I've had XM for about 7 years or so, before Sirrus was even out there. I tell people it's like having cable, you don't really notice how great it is until you get into someone else's car that doesn't have it. As for price, it started out at 9.99/month, then 12.99/month. But I just heard there are packages now, like satellite tv, you can choose a basic package for 9 bucks a month.


In short get it.*



*unless you have an iPhone with pandora radio.

[ducpenguin]

*unless you have an iPhone with pandora radio.

+12 on the Pandora radio...It is awesome!
I also agree that you will miss it when it is gone...my free year ended last month and I am going to subscribe...I hate the commercials on regular radio!

[toaster]

i hate to say it, but you would be better off getting an ipod. after the initial purchase and the cost of the stuff to make it play through your radio, you would come out ahead after as little as one year if you get one of the cheaper ones.

the nano that will do 2000 songs* is 149, and the one that holds 4000 songs* is only 199. and if you get the nano, they have a armband so you could, in theory, put it around your arm outside the jacket with the cord running up your sleeve and pick your tunes while you ride.

this is just what im planning on doing.  i do not currently own an ipod, but it is one of the things i plan on purchasing in the near future.  my buddy has his setup to do the radio in his car and its great.  but then again i have a buddy with xm and its also great (90s on 9 for the win).

*according to the apple website.

[JEFF_H]

have it and love it.
we listen to it live at home.
recorded in the car,working in the yard, snowboarding, etc (pioneer inno and samsung nexus)
and streaming on the laptop at work.


the sirius merger also gave it some extra channel choices.
(still no SKA channel  )

our ipods are gathering dust

[NAKID]

I've had Sirius since 2006. We like it, Have it in the car and the truck...

[OverCaffeinated]

our ipods are gathering dust

same here. ipods are great, but even if you have 5000 songs you will get bored of them. With xm or pandora radio you get to hear new stuff. I'm listening to pandora right now and you hear stuff you normally wouldn't search for but will like when you hear it.

[CowboyBeebop]

Depends on what you want it for.  If its music you like, there are much better (and free) options.  Post merger, the XMSiri stations are little more than terrestrial radio without commercials - repetitive playlists with little variety in either artist or song choice.  Pandora, Slacker, and Last FM beat it hands down, and are free. 

If you get it for the sports coverage, nothing can beat it.

If you get it for Stern...don't.  His show's jumped the shark and its become painful to listen to. 

If you do decide to keep it, get a month-to-month contract.  In all likelihood, the company will go bankrupt this year. 

[mitt]

I've had XM for about 7 years or so, before Sirrus was even out there.

Hmmmm, from wiki:

"Sirius was officially launched on July 1, 2002"

" XM satellite service was officially launched on September 25, 2001."

The first people I knew with sat radio were Sirius owners...

mitt

[mitt]

If you do decide to keep it, get a month-to-month contract.  In all likelihood, the company will go bankrupt this year. 

There is a chance of this.  Neither company has ever made a profit, and they continually pay bloated salaries to stale celebrities like Stern, Steward, and Winfrey.

mitt

[OverCaffeinated]

Ok then I've had it for 8 years. I remember getting my car in late 2000, then soon having a stereo installed that was xm ready.


The channels that do play commercials are now playing longer commercials and several back to back. Very much like fm, I'm not happy with that. They used to be short 30sec bits that you would even notice.