although i dont have it, everyone i know that does has said it was easily worth the money. most folks i know that have it said the rarely listen to their CDs anymore, it's that good. so yeah, i'd say its worth it. i will have it in my next vehicle. that, and a CD player that is mp3 compatible.
For those who don't know, "XM" is a commercial-free alternative to FM radio that will cost you 9.99 a month. I plan to get it installed in my car the minute I get back to Texas mainly because of its selection of niche genres, especially Bluesville, that you just don't hear on FM radio in Houston outside of 90.1 at times. The system does have a mobile option, so you can listen to it in your home as well. I'd suggest Tweeter for getting it installed. The benefits outweight the costs for me on this one big-time.
This has been discussed in the past, but the general consensus from those who have listened to it is that they love it. I have it built-in in my new car and absolutely love it. I was one of those people that said there was no way I'd pay for radio, but this is worth it for me. I can't say enough good things about it. You may also want to look at Sirius (XM's competitor) and check their programming. Each one caters a bit differently but both have a good base of genres.
We got XM in our new Yukon. Its pretty awesome. That coupled with the Bose system makes for perfect sound. We also got On-Star. Has anyone tried to use the hands free dialing feature?? Frustrating and creepy!!
I looked at both and chose Sirius. I would recommend it to anyone that is a Sports fan, especially NFL. Sirius has an NFL package that broadcasts an NFL channel and also every game during the season. They broadcast somewhere near 40 NBA games a week, some NHL and MLB games also. As far as channels go both have similar lineups they just call the channels by different names. Sirius costs $12.95 a month if you pay month to month, but if you pay for a year at a time it is around $9.95/mo. I have had it for a month and a half and I do not listen to regular radio or cd's anymore.
Sirius all the way. But I guess it depends on what kind of music you listen to, I listen to mostly rap and sports.
I have a pretty good stereo system in my car.. bose.. would i have to replace that to get xm... or is their an adaptor or what?
I love the comedy stations. They ROCK when you are on a long road trip. It's so easy to pass time when there is something that will entertain you for so long.
Yup. The comedy stations are good. Lots of good comedians. Mitch Hedberg, Bill Hicks, Richard Pryor, etc.
You could also get one of those portable units that you can put in your car and then take inside with you and listen once you're out of the car.
http://reviews.cnet.com/Delphi_XM_SkyFi_Radio/4505-7866_7-20745797-2.html?tag=top This seems to get the best reviews
I keep researching this topic, and I've come very close to making the purchase. The only problem is I can't justify the upfront cost b/c I don't listen to the radio much. I live five minutes from work, so in total I drive about 15 minutes (with traffic) per day. On the weekends, I mainly keep to myself and watch movies at home. Probably drive 45 minutes total on the weekends (grocery shopping, weekly trip to Best Buy/Microcenter/Fry's for browsing purposes, and visit to the parents house for some homecooking on Saturdays). For such a little amount of driving, it seems worthless to invest the $$$, even though I would LOVE 24-hour a day access to ESPN Radio. Now, if there was some way to plug headphones into an XM receiver, I would buy this in a heartbeat. With all the hours I spend at the gym each morning, watching 3-4 "Sportscenters" while listening to 610AM can get pretty damn dull.
Have you checked into the portable xm systems? I am pretty sure Delphi makes one that you can carry around.
I've had XM for about a year and a half now, and I still love it. I just discovered a new great station this week. That's the thing about XM, there's so much good stuff you really can't digest it all. You'll never run out of stuff to listen to.
