Satellite Radio

So if you give someone the $50 radio, how long are you on the hook for the $14 a month subscription fee. 1 month? not really worth the $50; 6 months now you spending $150 for the gift.

I'm sure a lot of people are giving them this year, I want to give my bro one , I'm just undecided on the subscription thing.

 

http://www.abesofmaine.com/viewproduct.asp?id=dlsa1011311p1

I just got this one and I love it. It has car and home kits that come with it, but it also comes with an antenna built into the unit so you can carry it around and jog with it getting LIVE satellite radio. It also allows you to record 5 hours of content to replay later when you are on a subway or something where you cant get satellite reception.

I got mine for $77 after rebate, but it looks like the price has gone up and is $109 now after rebate.

 

I have a question. I was looking at both radios at Target earlier today. I noticed XM said if you had the subscription you could listen to the MUSIC channels on the web. Does that mean ONLY the music channels????? Yes, I'm too lazy to read the fine print over at the XM and Sirius sites.

 

Sirius only allows the music channels on the web, so XM doing the same wouldn't be surprising.

 

If your dad wants football..then the only way to go is Sirius..they have exclusive rights to the NFL and most big time college teams. The music between the two is about the same, with Sirius more hits based and XM being more eclectic. As far as model goes, I'd go with the Starmate Replay. I've had Sirius for about 2 years and love it. I'm in my car most of the day and couldn't live without it. The one thing I recomend is getting it directly connected into the radio using audio cables. The wireless FM transmitters really cut down on the quality of the service.

 

Well, that blows. I was hoping, if I bought into satellite radio, that I could listen to Stern via the web at home and just buy the car unit.

 

I'm pretty sure Sirius will be streaming Stern's show on the web. With 500 million thrown at the guy, how could they not?

 

Buy a home kit. Receivers are cheap...under $30 with car kit (Starmate - I have it and it works fine) Transport it between your home and car.

 

For the most part, yes, it's the music channels on XM. They also give you some music channels from AOL's AOL Radio online that you won't find on their "hardware" units. Don't go buying it thinking you can listen to sportstalk all day long at work or anything (that's what I was hoping for... lol).

 

ESPN and Sporting News Radio stream anyway, don't they?

 

Crap. Are you serious? I didn't even know. lol.

 

Nope.

And they just gave him something like 34 million shares (over $200 million worth) as part of that deal I believe.

 

Buy XM if you primarily listen to music, their selection is much better than what Sirius offers

Buy Sirius if you want to listen to news or sports, they have better news channels and exclusive deals with most sports

 

SIRIUS

 

Except golf...which would be dangerous to listen to while driving since it's been classified by the FDA as a semi-legal narcotic.


I got Sirius because it has enough music and the NBA...can't miss a game.

 

Pulled from here.

Yes, I am a member of way too many web forums.

 

In April 2004 naysayers were predicting that Sirius would be bought out by XM, mostly because at that time Sirius had 350,000 subscribers and XM had 1,800,000. This has a lot to do with the fact that XM was being installed in new automobiles (a great marketing move) and Sirius had yet to score the NFL, NBA, and College Sports packages. Now Sirius has 3,300,000 subscribers, and XM has 6,000,000. They both expect to add about 3 million more by the end of the year. Sirius has made a push in China, XM in Canada.
Its an interesting battle, and I think both will be around for a long time. If they stay around for at least two more years, then my "lifetime subscription" to Sirius will pay off, considering I paid $450 back in Aug 04.

I have Sirius, but my buddy has XM and they are both great. He got XM for the baseball coverage, he's rather listen to Pirates games (poor kid) on radio than go to sportsbar....and his wife wont allow the MLB Extra Innings in the house because she's a reality TV addict (sigh.) The music is comparable. I dont think Sirius is more mainstream than XM. Considering that Sirius turned me on to the Kaiser Chiefs, Decemberists, KT Tunstall, and Bloc Party this year, I think they are at least a tad more progressive than the Clear Channel Fifth Reich. XM's techo stations are superior. If I was 10 years younger and still chomping on disco biscuits after hours, I would get XM and never look back. I cannot judge the rap or metal...I only dabble in both. My wife loves Sirius's Roadhouse Country station. There are only three classical stations of Sirius which sorta sucks. I like all three, and one esp has Choral Tuesdays which seem to mellow me out after work (or maybe its the Makers Mark.) The reason I went with Sirius is bc I live in New York and can get the Texans and Rockets games, plus Vanderbilt hoops and football. I get MLB Extra Innings so I dont need the baseball. NASCAR is a friggin joke to me. NASCAR on radio seems as interesting as golf in braile.

If your Dad wants football, then Sirius is the way to go.
But XM is a great system, too.

 

mateo, the XM + Sirius merger rumors have died down quite a bit, but some people still think it's inevitable. I hope both do well enough to start making money eventually and offer a two-pronged attack against Clear Channel. I have my doubts though. If they combined and you took the best of both (including the sports), that could offer a compelling combination for people still on the fence about satellite radio.