| Author | Message | ||
     Gil Stevens (Gil) Senior Member Username: Gil Post Number: 305 Registered: 02-2002 |
can anybody tell me what the difference is between XM Radio and SIRIUS satellite radio? Obviously they are both sat radio, but is one better than the other? Does one offer more in anybodies experience? Any feedback on either of them.. positive or negative? thanks. | ||
| Carter Simcoe (Carter) Senior Member Username: Carter Post Number: 587 Registered: 04-2002 |
my dad got sirius, he says it had more comercial free stations or something. They also give you a password so you can listen to it on streaming audio from your pc, not sure if XM does that to but its pretty cool. | ||
| Tripp Westbrook (Tripp) Member Username: Tripp Post Number: 151 Registered: 08-2002 |
I've had XM for about 6mos now and love it. I almost never listen to local radio anymore. Except for NPR. For some reason, I thought that XM was a little healthier financially. They've also got family plans for multiple vehicles and portables or PC's. | ||
| D. Chapman (1hank1) Senior Member Username: 1hank1 Post Number: 297 Registered: 02-2003 |
XM runs 9.95 a month with a 15.00 connection fee. Sirius runs 13.00 a month and a 5.00 connection fee. XM has 101 channels Sirius has 100 channels Sirius has more "talk Radio" I have Sirius, but I guess XM really has a better deal. I just liked the Kenwood head units that is the main reason I want with Sirius. I would never change to XM because I really like Sirius and have never had a problem with them. When I sighned up with them thay had a deal where if you baught a years worth of service you got a discount rate. It came out to be 9.95 a month just like XM. | ||
| Robert Sublett (Rubisco98) Senior Member Username: Rubisco98 Post Number: 896 Registered: 04-2002 |
I've had XM for about a year now and have loved it. My friend runs a stereo shop so I have heard both. Sirius does have more commercial free radio, but I am hooked on the XM. The comedy channel alone is almost worth the monthly fee. When I signed up I didn't have to pay activation, and got 3 months free, so that worked out to around $90 for the year. We added it to my wife's D2 as well, and have the family plan now which makes hers cheaper.. | ||
| Chris von Czoernig (Chrisvonc) Senior Member Username: Chrisvonc Post Number: 1088 Registered: 07-2002 |
I am loving XM. Sorry I cant comment on Sirius but all the things that we wanted, the Delphi unit provided. Super large display, with station, artist and song all on one easy to read screen, the ability to pop it out of the cradle and into the home base, and the portable boom box which worked out very well camping. Chris von C. | ||
| Gil Stevens (Gil) Senior Member Username: Gil Post Number: 307 Registered: 02-2002 |
Chris.. with the Delphi, do you have to use the cassette interface or can you run it thru an FM Modulator? I think that display is one of the better ones Ive seen. | ||
| Chris von Czoernig (Chrisvonc) Senior Member Username: Chrisvonc Post Number: 1089 Registered: 07-2002 |
I have the FM modulator hook up that plugs directly into the antenna jack. Turn the radio to 89.7 (I think) and your jamming. I just spent 2.5 weeks going across country and never once put a CD in or changed to search for local stations. There are 3 ways to hook it up in cars.The cassete hookup, the FM modulator unit, and the digital input that newer stereos have. Chris von C. | ||
| Gil Stevens (Gil) Senior Member Username: Gil Post Number: 308 Registered: 02-2002 |
cool.. thanks Chris. im leaving at the end of the month to hit all 4 corners.. Acadia to san diego to vancouver to the keys. the notion of listening to nothing but country and christian rock for alot of the driving gives me the heebie jeebies. | ||
| Chris von Czoernig (Chrisvonc) Senior Member Username: Chrisvonc Post Number: 1090 Registered: 07-2002 |
Oh man.. you are prime for Sat radio then. If you get the Delphi, I highly recommend picking up the boom box. Great for hotels, campsites or just simply working in the garage. The delphi unit also comes with remote contol unit. Very handy if you are too lazy to walk over to the unit. Chris von C. | ||
| Andy Thoma (Andythoma) Senior Member Username: Andythoma Post Number: 263 Registered: 01-2003 |
Gil, I don't know about Vancouver but my wife and I drove to Alaska from SLC UT last year and I really wanted XM or Sirus to use for the trip. I found out that, for now, both services only are good for the continental US. Something about the angle of the sat's and lack of ground repeaters to boost signal strength. So if your travels keep you in Canada for a large portion of your trip you might want to check into that. | ||
| Steve Vines (Stevedsii) New Member Username: Stevedsii Post Number: 36 Registered: 05-2002 |
I have XM Radio and love it! I haven't listened to a local station since I got it installed. While XM does have more commercial content, it is so slight that it is not even an issue. And most of the channels are commercial free. One of the biggest differences between XM and Sirius is their subscriber base. Last I heard XM had in excess of 500,000 subscribers versus around 70,000 for Sirius. Being as this is a new technology, I decided to go with the company that has the most likelyhood of surviving. | ||
| Andrew Maier (Newman) New Member Username: Newman Post Number: 21 Registered: 04-2003 |
I was just looking at the XM website...where did you mount your antenna? It seems like the whole "highest point on the vehicle" would place the antenna in jeopardy while driving off-pavement.••••• thoughts? | ||
| Steve Vines (Stevedsii) New Member Username: Stevedsii Post Number: 37 Registered: 05-2002 |
Go to my photo gallery and you will see a pic of where I installed my Terk antenna. I would post a picture of it here, but I can't figure out how? | ||
| Chris von Czoernig (Chrisvonc) Senior Member Username: Chrisvonc Post Number: 1091 Registered: 07-2002 |
I bought the larger antenna and mounted in the back of the D90 since I didnt want the included antenna on the hood.  | ||
| Camille Brown (Discolady) New Member Username: Discolady Post Number: 22 Registered: 02-2003 |
At the NY auto show, both Sirius and XM were in booth's side by side....the Sirius guy led me to believe that they offer better coverage as far as their satelite situation goes (have more sats directly over head, etc.) and almost no down time as they bring various sats in and out of service. The quantity and positioning of the satelites seemed to be their biggest selling point...that and the fact that they offer more commmercial free music than XM. I have neither at the moment...but the rep at the show pretty much had me sold on the Sirius set up....just haven't decided yet. Chris | ||
| Refuse Badminton (Nobadminton) New Member Username: Nobadminton Post Number: 5 Registered: 06-2003 |
I've been thinking of going with Sirius also having Kenwood ready equipment already in the truck, but the one point that bugged me might have been answered. They supposedly are releasing a "take anywhere" unit so you can listen at home, which is a big selling point for me, living with bad reception and not wanting to pay directv/digital cable $40/month for digital commercial free music. They do have less users but growing at a healthy rate. And they are making an IPO looking to get about $125mil in cash for operations. It's still a gamble. | ||
| John Cronin (Jec) Member Username: Jec Post Number: 63 Registered: 02-2003 |
FWIW: The news release for the IPO states that Sirius will be offered as a factory option in future Land Rovers (they already have an agreement to offer them in Fords). We picked Sirius because it offered 3 NPR and PRI channels not available on XM. Performance has been excellent! John | ||
| KJ (Karen) Senior Member Username: Karen Post Number: 130 Registered: 02-2002 |
I don't think you can call the Sirius offering an IPO. I read the site and it sounds as if they are offering an additional 75 million shares, not an IPO. They closed at $2.15 on Friday. Interesting to read up on both companies. They've had similar cash/debt troubles, have seen their values plummet, but both seem to have weathered the storms and seem to be coming back. It's highly speculative, but might be a fun stock to track, if not buy. Karen | ||
| Read (Read) Member Username: Read Post Number: 42 Registered: 11-2002 |
Chrs von C, I've got a question for you. How and where did you mount the cradle unit in your Defender. I was looking at the install kit today and I could only come up with mounting it on the windshield just above the ashtray. Any thoughts? Read | ||
| Chris von Czoernig (Chrisvonc) Senior Member Username: Chrisvonc Post Number: 1092 Registered: 07-2002 |
Read, After placing the thing just about everywhere in the truck we ended up mounting it just right of the fan switch lever, a little bit lower so it only blocks the drivers side vent air flow partially. The mounting kit is not ideal for my tatses so I will most likely redo it with a RAM mount. Running the wiring back to the stereo was not joy either. But, since we were pressed for time, we desided to let the guys in the stereo department do the install. For the $50, it was worth it watching them figure that out. I can take a picture tomorrow of how it is currently installed but here is a picture to give you an idea.  | ||
| Read (Read) Member Username: Read Post Number: 43 Registered: 11-2002 |
Chris von C, I agree the mount could use a little help. Sorry for the dumb follow up question, but what is a RAM mount? Don't bother with with the other picture. The one you posted was quite adequate. Thank you. As for running the wires, tell me about it... when I installed my 2-way radio I thought it would take me around 2 hours. Three day's, a bolt extractor, and one ignition switch later (thanks be to Lucas) it was finally done. It did however, give me the opportunity to clean every single part of my dash assembly Read | ||
| Chris von Czoernig (Chrisvonc) Senior Member Username: Chrisvonc Post Number: 1093 Registered: 07-2002 |
No problem.  RAM mount are mounts for GPS, radio, etc. (www.ram-mount.com) which can be adapted for a number of other uses. Here is one of their many models for example:  Steve over at Freelanderliving.com installed his XM using one of these. They have a good article on how he and another Freelander owner installed theirs. http://www.freelanderliving.com/stories/view.asp?fldID=40 I think I am going to use one and run the RAM mount down to under the front air vent to make the current position more sturdy. Its not too strong mounted to the plastic trim where it is now. Hope that helped a bit. Chris von C. | ||
| Read (Read) Member Username: Read Post Number: 44 Registered: 11-2002 |
Thanks for all the help Chris Read |
