Sirius radio

[krunchykrome]

My father has a unopened sirius unit + speaker dock with 3 months of free service. I'm going to pick it up later tonight and try it out. Call me old fashioned, but I still can't accept the idea of paying to listen to the radio when it's free. Is there a significant difference between satelite radio and traditional radio?

At work, I listen to Pandora for free on my blackberry storm. Why would I want to switch to Sirius and pay monthly?

UPDATE:-----------

Well, I picked it up. It's the Sportster 5. It includes a vehicle kit as well. I'm going to install it in my Honda CRV this weekend.

I was looking at accessories for it though, hoping I'd find some portable speaker system I could take to work. This is the smallest one I saw at Best Buy (actually the only one). It seems a bit big to take to work, so I might just keep it in the car and buy the speakers to keep around the house. I suppose I could take the speakers with me when I go camping.

So which subscription plan should I get. I was thinking about getting the $12.95/monthplan. I just want the music channels, Stern, and NFL football. Maybe some talk radio also.

 

[murphy55d]

I just got Sirius 2 months ago and I really enjoy it. Around here there are not that many (read: zero) good stations, and ESPN Radio goes in and out on my drive to work, so its definitely worth it for me. Plus I'm a big Howard Stern fan, so thats another huge bonus.

 

[nageov3t]

my brother in law has sirius and I think it sucks... we drove from NJ to Canada a couple weeks ago and as soon as we left the NYC-area, reception was constantly on and off.

 

[Babbles]

I've had it for about a year and a half and I absolutely love it. The selection of stations is amazing, it is a fantastic way to hear new stuff - or usually in my case older stuff I've never heard before. I find that the cost is totally worth it, without a doubt.

 

[Babbles]

Originally posted by: loki8481
my brother in law has sirius and I think it sucks... we drove from NJ to Canada a couple weeks ago and as soon as we left the NYC-area, reception was constantly on and off.

Has to be an installation problem. The wife and I drove up from Ohio into Canada, out to bum-fuck Maine and all over New England without any problem (driving underneath the city of Boston withstanding). Furthermore it should probably work better outside of NYC in that sometimes large buildings can inhibit the satellite signal.

Again I think it is more likely operator/installer error and not Sirius.

 

[jlee]

I had it for a few months and sold it. I prefer Zune + Zunepass.

 

[Slick5150]

It WAS worth it to me, but I let my subscription die earlier this year. The downgrading of quality, combined with removing my 2 favorite stations (Punk & Buzzsaw) and the raising of prices was enough for me. i now just use Pandora via my Palm Pre when I'm in the car.

 

[alkemyst]

Depends on your radio market. If you always have what you want to hear on your local stations, then sirius is not going to benefit you.

I like how I can target what I feel like listening too and not get the same local station rotation

 

[JD50]

The NFL channel is good. I have a long ass commute so it's worth it for me. If I didn't spend hours in the car every day then I wouldn't pay for it.

 

[swbsam]

I used to love it - allowed me to passively discover new music. But then the merger happened and my favorite station (left of center) was gone and the comedy stations took a weird, vaudevillian change (more talk shows, less funny).. then the quality changed too - i'd lose signal all the time and, best of all, they started raising the price randomly . a buck or two at a time, but still annoying when service felt it was on the decline.

Now I use zune + zune pass and am pretty happy, but do miss the educated djs who often go into the history of bands and the stuff you don't get just listening to music on shuffle.

pandora's also pretty nifty, ditto for slacker radio

 

[Gunslinger08]

All I listen to is Sirius NFL Radio and a few of the news/political channels. I like it a lot for that.

 

[fisheerman]

go with Slacker Radio (internet radio) free on a Blackberry or Iphone with an unlimited data plan. Same thing but you can take it with you as long as you have a digital signal. I hook mine up to my car and it works great.

 

[A5]

I have it for free with my new car. It's nice, but I'd never pay for it.

 

[Exterous]

I really like it. I only have reception problems in parking garages or tunnels (Go figure). I've gotten to hear some songs I have never heard before and I certainly don't miss the commercials. I also have one of the units that you can program in artists so it will alert you when their song is playing on a different channel and will give you sports updates for teams that you pick (Perfect for keeping up with games when your SO doesn't want to listen to them during the road trip)

But I also don't pay a monthly fee so...

 

[Babbles]

Originally posted by: Exterous
I really like it. I only have reception problems in parking garages or tunnels (Go figure). I've gotten to hear some songs I have never heard before and I certainly don't miss the commercials. I also have one of the units that you can program in artists so it will alert you when their song is playing on a different channel and will give you sports updates for teams that you pick (Perfect for keeping up with games when your SO doesn't want to listen to them during the road trip)

But I also don't pay a monthly fee so...

Mine does that and I love it. I always try to keep a few memory spaces clear in case I hear a new song/artist I like I can "bookmark" it then go and look them up online or do a Pandora channel.

I know others have mentioned using streaming internet radio, but in the car I think Sirius beats those hands down. I do love Pandora and listen to it quite often at home; I have it on my Blackberry and use it there on occasion. However in the car Sirius is really the best option for me.

 

[dmw16]

Depends. The music content has definitely gone downhill since they merged with XM. However, I like the football coverage and playboy radio.

I drive ~700miles a week between MD and CT so it's worth it to me so I don't need to constantly search for stations and I don't need to fiddle with an iPod in crazy traffic.

That said, if I had a normal commute I don't think I'd spend the money.

 

[jiggahertz]

I've had it for a few years, my brother got me a unit+sub for my birthday. I probably never would have gotten it for myself. Once I had it I renewed and eventually got an indash+3 years on a new vehicle. I've moved the portable unit into my entertainment center at home and is nice for just having background music on when people are over or listening to the news/talk stations while I'm doing stuff. In the car, I probably listen to the news/talk 90% of the time. I drive 1-1.5 hrs/day and usually prefer this over the ipod. I also listen to sirius online while at work.

I do agree that the programming went downhill after the merger with XM. Maxim used to have their own channel which was good, just BSing about current stuff, without the political/business perspective. Now they've cut down to 3 hours/day and put on a channel called "talk radio for men" which is more like talk radio for gay and/or old men.

 

[SP33Demon]

I have XM and basically like some of the music, MLB, and traffic/weather channels. Occasionally comedy is fun. But all in all, if I had to pay for it myself I wouldn't get it.

 

[murphy55d]

Originally posted by: Babbles

Originally posted by: loki8481
my brother in law has sirius and I think it sucks... we drove from NJ to Canada a couple weeks ago and as soon as we left the NYC-area, reception was constantly on and off.

Has to be an installation problem. The wife and I drove up from Ohio into Canada, out to bum-fuck Maine and all over New England without any problem (driving underneath the city of Boston withstanding). Furthermore it should probably work better outside of NYC in that sometimes large buildings can inhibit the satellite signal.

Again I think it is more likely operator/installer error and not Sirius.

Yeah I agree. With the exception of tunnels(yay pittsburgh), I have never had any signal problems at all.

Also by reception, do you mean static interference, or actual signal issues? If you use the wireless FM Modulator, then no kidding you will have reception problems. Lots of things can mess that up, just driving next to someone using another FM Transmitter can goof it up. Mine is hooked up wirelessly in our car, but in our truck it is a direct, and it sounds WAY better in the truck, no static whatsoever.

 

[Exterous]

Originally posted by: murphy55d
If you use the wireless FM Modulator, then no kidding you will have reception problems.

Yeah, the included FM transmitters suck. I forget what it's called but you can get a unit that, when you turn on the satellite radio device it blocks out all other receptions giving you a much better exerpience

 

[ultimatebob]

Sirius is great on long car trips... it beats having to find a new radio station with decent reception every 30 minutes, only to find that it's playing the same 10 pop or classic rock songs that all of the other Clear Channel stations are playing. After driving for 8+ hours, even the stuff on your iPod or CD changer gets boring after awhile!


If you're working in an office all the time, though, you might as well stick to Pandora on your smart phone.

 

[mb]

I have a lifetime XM sub and I love it. While I do have it integrated in my car, I purchased a portable unit so I can listen to it at work (dock), in the car (aux in), and at home (aux in on receiver) with just one sub. At work the internet is incredibly locked down, and even if it wasn't it's too slow to stream music.
There are only 2 decent FM stations around here, and for some reason I can't get either of them at work. Even if they did it's worth it to hear non-stop music and no commercials!

 

[JeepinEd]

Just being able to listen to commercial free music makes it worth my $$.

 

[Poulsonator]

Originally posted by: mb
I have a lifetime XM sub and I love it.

I do as well. For me, it's all about baseball. XM has the exclusive MLB rights, so that made my choice of the two services easy. The rest is just gravy. I can't imagine driving my car without it.

Originally posted by: JeepinEd
Just being able to listen to commercial free music makes it worth my $$.

Combine this with MLB? No-brainer of the century for me.

 

[dainthomas]

Originally posted by: loki8481
my brother in law has sirius and I think it sucks... we drove from NJ to Canada a couple weeks ago and as soon as we left the NYC-area, reception was constantly on and off.

Shens. You can see space from outside NYC. Better, in fact.