satellite radio

[mrsboz]

Hi, Does anyone know anything about satellite radios? I don't know anything about them. I am considering buying one for my husband for Christmas. How much are they? Is one better than another? Does anyone know where to get a good deal on one? Any help is greatly appreciated. Thank you .

 

[umaangel00]

Per month they are basically the same. XM is 9.95 and if want to stream it through your computer (an awesome feature) then it's an additional 3.00. Sirius is 12.95 and you get the service through the internet as well. We have it and love it. Especially when going down to Disney and or normal stations don't come in anymore once we are out of the range. Then we can turn that on and away we go. We are also spoiled because we have an MP3 player that we can dowload as many songs as we want to it for 15.00 per month from Napster. We belong to Sirius. As far as which one is better, Sirius was cheapier for the equipment for us.

 

[Wish Upon A Star]

I just purchased one for DD's car for Christmas . . .Delphi Roady2 and it says that the XM service was 12.95/month . . .I also picked it up for 15.00 at Staples and it came with a free activation card until 12/31/05.

 

[shades]

I got a 3mos. free trial with XM radio in my new car. I liked it so much that I recently paid for a full year at about $12/mo. The cost per month depends on how many years you sign up for. To get the $9.95/mo., I would have to purchase a 3 yr contract. I went with one year because who knows what will happen with XM radio within the next year or two.

Anyway, 2 of the best features:

- No loss of signal while on road trips - even while driving through mountains.
- No commercials (on most stations)

To buy radios/receivers for a house, I think the initial investment can be fairly expensive - around $200+. However, I've seen some posts about car kits that plug into a cigerette lighter in the car for less than $30.

 

[poohj80]

XM no longer has an added fee for listening online, it's included with all subscriptions.

We tried out both in the begining and chose XM based on content (which has expanded greatly since then). The XM MyFi is great because it can be a walkman (portable) or you can use it in your car or home to have XM anywhere you are.

 

[umaangel00]

I didn't have to sign a contract with Sirius though. That is an added feature.

 

[RAD]

You might want to just tell hubby that you'll buy him a satellite radio but let him decide on which service he would like. Both offer three free days to listen to some music stations on the internet so he can see which one has the better mix of music that he'd like to listen to.

He should also check out all the other channels that each offer. Sirius for example offers all the NFL games while XM does major league baseball to name a couple.

If you're getting the radio to use at home Sirius is a little bit harder to receive since their three satellites do move in orbit, they're not always in the same position where XM's are stationary so once you find a spot for the antenna that works it will always work.

 

[poohj80]

I didn't have to sign a contract with Sirius though. That is an added feature.

We didn't have to sign a contract with XM either. The only requirement at the time was that we pre-pay for 3 months service to get the mail-in rebate on our system.

 

[Scurvy]

I have had XM for about a year and I love it! I have the SkyFi 2 which I really like, but I want to get the MyFi next because it can also act as a walkman.

As far as chossing XM or Sirius, it seemes that people have pretty strong preferences for one or the other. The programming is different on each, so I agree with RAD that it might be better to let your hubby choose which he wants unless you know for sure what progamming he would like better.

Sirius has Howard Stern, and that is a big draw for some people. I liked the channels better on XM, but I also chose it because Sirius had just signed Howard Stern and we REALLY didn't like him.

I wasn't sure whether we would really use it enough to justify purchasing it, but I have it on all the time. Now that we have it, it's on our "non-negotiable" list when we do our budget. We really love it!

 

[scroot]

We got XM free for three months when we bought a new car. Initailly we decided that we liked it but that it would not be worth the $12.95 a month. We let the freebie lapse. XM started to call us with offers finally, after about six weeks we bought a year for $77 which included internet streaming. We had tried negotiating a cheaper price on other calls but they wouldn't do it. We are happy we have it and feel that we didn't spend too much.

 

[kilee]

I got my dh the Sirius for Christmas. He was very clear this is what he wanted because I guess that Howard Stern show or something is moving to this.... . Either way- he asked--- and I wanted to get it for him. So that's what I went with.

 

[poohj80]

Just received this XM Holiday Offer via e-mail if it helps anyone out (may be the same elsewhere):

http://xmradio.com/holidayoffer/avalanche.jsp

 

[mrsboz]

Thanks for your answers everyone. I know that I want to get Sirius because of Howard Stern. I was actually wondering about the actual radio. Where do I buy one and how much are they? I don't want one installed in his car I would like one that you can carry with you. Is there such a thing? Do you have to plug it in? How does it work? Sorry if this sounds stupid I don't know anything about them.

 

[The Disney Bunch]

What is Avalanche? Is that a type of radio that XM offers?

 

[poohj80]

What is Avalanche? Is that a type of radio that XM offers?

No, the Colorado Avalanche are an NHL hockey team and since the NHL is on XM I receive special XM offer e-mails through the NHL.

 

[magicmommy]

Bought DH Sirius in October for his birthday. He absolutely had to have Howard Stern. We also got the lifetime service IPO the monthly for 500.00. I believe the unit he got was 139.00 or 159.00 then 99.00 for a boombox to put it in when he wanted to use it when he is not using it in the car. The lifetime service also included unlimited internet use.

 

[can'twait]

Thanks for your answers everyone. I know that I want to get Sirius because of Howard Stern. I was actually wondering about the actual radio. Where do I buy one and how much are they? I don't want one installed in his car I would like one that you can carry with you. Is there such a thing? Do you have to plug it in? How does it work? Sorry if this sounds stupid I don't know anything about them.

I have Sirius in the car and a boombox in the house. You can also get a home kit that will work in any radio receiver in your home. The boombox is portable but it uses like 6 D batteries and they will run out in less than a day - it sucks some serious juice! I keep mine plugged into an outlet in my kitchen and I love it. I really love it in the car though, I won't even run a quick errand without it. You can get them from Sirius.com and at Radio Shack. I got mine from Santa last year so I have no clue how much they are.

 

[LisaNJ25]

Thanks for your answers everyone. I know that I want to get Sirius because of Howard Stern. I was actually wondering about the actual radio. Where do I buy one and how much are they? I don't want one installed in his car I would like one that you can carry with you. Is there such a thing? Do you have to plug it in? How does it work? Sorry if this sounds stupid I don't know anything about them.

Mrsboz,

This is the Audiovox receive and car kit from Circuit City. It was free after rebate. He knew about it so I gave it to him early. He just hooked it up this week in his car.

Here is a portable one king of like a "walkman" http://www.circuitcity.com/ssm/SIRI...37962/catOid/-14641/rpem/ccd/productDetail.do
bit its $$

You can take the receiver out of the car ( its the size of a pager) and plug it into a boom box or there is a way to hook it up to your stereo. I havent figured that one out yet lol.

 

[can'twait]

Mrsboz,

This is the Audiovox receive and car kit from Circuit City. It was free after rebate. He knew about it so I gave it to him early. He just hooked it up this week in his car.

Here is a portable one king of like a "walkman" http://www.circuitcity.com/ssm/SIRI...37962/catOid/-14641/rpem/ccd/productDetail.do
bit its $$

You can take the receiver out of the car ( its the size of a pager) and plug it into a boom box or there is a way to hook it up to your stereo. I havent figured that one out yet lol.

Yes, you can take the receiver and put it in the car or the boombox or the home kit that can hook up to any radio reciever. It's the size of a large pager. You only pay for one reciever that can be used in several devices. It's a beautiful thing, really! I absolutely love it and bought Sirius stock, hoping it goes way up between now and January 9th when Howard joins us!