sirius or xm ?

[~mikey b]

My wife wants satellite radio. Any preferences?
We won't really listen to sports or talk radio. Maybe some BBC football and NPR, BBC news, etc. Mostly for the music.

[Caucasian Asian]

I have Sirius, I like Sirius. I find myself listening to talk radio and sports more than music. I only wish Sirius had hockey this year. No hockey makes me upset

edit: upcoming merger by the end of the year, you may want to hold off until that happens and see where the chips lay.

[Bluebird]

Yeah, I would wait if you can to see what the merger brings. If not, I am a fan of sirius. Between football, ESPN radio and the Grateful Dead Channel I have everything I need.

[Rontele]

I've had both. I like the music stations on XM.

[Tye 1on]

I've got both, XM and Sirius in the house, another Sirius in the truck. NPR is way better on Sirius, but XM has more PRI. Music's a wash to my ear, overall. Sirius has way better bluegrass, and has Radio Margaritaville, playing buffett's shows live real time. You can stream that free as well tho. XM has hockey and MLB.

You'll likely be pretty satisfied with either. One consideration is the vehicle mount. You will want to be able to toss it in the car for road trips. I have a spare XM car kit i toss in a work car when i have work trips, just toss the antenna on the dash, works fine 98% of the time. I got the second S receiver for free, and added less than $100/year.

It will be interesting to see where the merger leads, but I don't see much advantage waiting til then.

[eastvailhucker]

i'd go with Sirius.

one word BUBBA

Full Trucker Effect!

[Flexon Phil]

I've had both. I like the music stations on XM.

I have had both too and I think the music on Sirius in better. Less repetition.

[oZzmith]

We won't really listen to sports or talk radio. Maybe some BBC football and NPR, BBC news, etc. Mostly for the music.

There's your mistake right there.

Music variety on Sirius for the summer I had it was a joke. The oldies stations do a good job but anything that is somewhat modern loops like a bitch. I knew every work to every song on the Alt, Rock, and the like stations. Granted I was working in the patch and spending upwards of 50 hours a week in the truck (base bitch = no tape deck) but that doesn't change the fact that that shit is one big loop. It was better than silence however, NE Wyoming just doesn't have much on the airwaves.

Maybe XM does a better job but I Siriusly doubt it.

I will give it the nod for providing entertaining Talk radio. I hate that stuff but
my driller was just such an entertaining guy (read: married by 18 kids by 20) that something had to drown him out. The sports radio is alright too, although I find the college coverage lacking but maybe that had to do more with the season. My advice is look to an iPod or similar music player and a subscription to iTunes. I HATE APPLE! but their selection on iTunes is absolutely first rate.

Maybe I am just hater, one of my best friends from highschool has had Sirius since he moved to college and absolutely loves it. He gets off on mainstream music and talk radio, however.

While I am on the subject I figure I need to throw this out there: Playboy Radio?! WTF?!

[TeleHoar]

I like to listen to professional wrestling on the Sirius Radio.

[Jax]

XM fan here for almost 6 years now. You can get a pretty good deal on product right now, and I was told prices per month will be going down to $6.99 for current customers once the merger begins Jan.1. As it is, we have 4 radios, and 3 of them we already pay 6.99 anyway...Plus we'll be able to pick and choose channels from both sirius and XM so it seems. Personally, I think the music channels are better on XM- all of the stations I've listened to I've never heard the same song play more than once a day. But, I don't listen to top 20 so maybe they play the same songs over and over there? We'll see! Love hockey and MLB payed off this season since I was on the road so much. Don't listen to talk shows, but the comedy channel keeps me awake for those long trips. I've talked with many sirius fans too, and get the same response, that they love the selection. Either way, it doesn't make a difference at this point if it's really true you'll be able to pick and choose channels.

http://www.reuters.com/article/techn...7?pageNumber=1

[Caucasian Asian]

Playboy Radio is a waste of time. Like Playboy for the blind.

[Tye 1on]

NE Wyoming just doesn't have much on the airwaves.

understatement of the decade.

[supermodel159]

DO NOT GET XM!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

[Tye 1on]

DO NOT GET XM!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

because................?

[StoneCold]

I used to have XM and thought it was pretty good. I switched to Sirius for the NFL. You can find whatever kind of music you like on either one. Same with talk, many options.

The two are almost the same. I'll stay with Sirius simply for the NFL.

[Lonnie]

If music if the reason, go with XM. I've had both and I'm a sirius customer now. But that's for the sports (Nascar.) Howard is good, but his show gets old when everyone starts to argue about some personal history that happened 5-10+ years ago. I too thought XM had a deeper music catalog.

Sirius does have the Playboy channel, FWIW.

Playboy Radio is a waste of time. Like Playboy for the blind.

Exactly. My imagination works fine already, thank you.

XM also has some really nifty tuners out there right now that are better than the competing siruis offerings.

http://www.xmradio.com/xpressrc/index.xmc

[supermodel159]

because................?

To make a long story short I had signed up with them in 2005 with a one year contract. After that year was up I called and cancelled my subscription. 3 weeks ago I got a call from the XM people saying I owed over $300 in service and late fees from 2006 to current.

Their product is alright, the "commercial free music" is bullshit though, they have commercials.

Dealing with the actual company has been the biggest pain in the ass ever!

Trust me...dont get XM

[skideeppow]

I have had both and stayed with Sirius, love howard, faction and everything about it.
Saw 50 cent at the sirius studio a month ago and then got the tour of howards studio. It was pretty sick.
XM blows

[Griz]

I have also used both and ended up with Sirius. Although, I am interested to see what happens with the merger channel-wise. My pops is a big XM fan and for one reason only - old timey country on "Willie's Place." If that's your style, go XM.

[GordonShumway]

..And that Sirus, for Howard Stern alone. I can't believe this thread made it this far without the Stern channels being mentioned! But then, I'm a big Howard fan. I've heard that if the merger happens they would ensure that existing radios would still work with the new channels, so whatever you choose, the merger shouldn't hold you back.

[Jax]

Their product is alright, the "commercial free music" is bullshit though, they have commercials. Dealing with the actual company has been the biggest pain in the ass ever! Trust me...dont get XM

I have not had a single glitch with payments. They silently deduct it from my bank account every month. I've never been overcharge or had a disruption in service. The last two radios I bought from them only cost me 6 bucks apiece, all I had to do was pay for 3 months in advance.

No problems with them whatsoever.

None of XM's 69 or so music channels have commercials. They are 100% commercial free. If they did, I wouldn't have got sat. radio to begin with. If they ever do play commercials on the music channels, then I'm out. Defeats the purpose.

Only the news/sports/talk/entertainment channels have commercials (like 60 or so non-music channels).

[fonixmunkee]

'Nother vote for XM, and have been an XM user for years (along with the 'rents, girlfriend, and three guys from work, all who I got on board the XM bandwagon).

Love the specials, love the public radio, and have had ZERO problems with billing and customer service.

[Tye 1on]

Either way, it doesn't make a difference at this point if it's really true you'll be able to pick and choose channels.

http://www.reuters.com/article/techn...7?pageNumber=1

It'll be interesting if it goes thru. My read on that article was that you might be able to pick certain 'bundles' of channels. I can't see that they'll have 2 70's channels, 2 bluegrass, 2 NPR, etc. I'd guess you might be able to buy the 'music' and 'news' package, and not the 'NHL' package, etc. Some choice, but not like being able to pick and choose between the best channels they each offer.

For the record, I had a shitshow exchange with Sirius customer service once. Facking idiot. Suffice it to say to not expect the best service, except when they are signing you up. Imho they both blow the doors off terrestrial radio, except KMTN of course...

[~mikey b]

Howard Stern sucks.

[skier666]

Sirius 99.5% of the time I'm listening to one to Howard 100 or Howard 101, other than that its Radio 1 UK (channel 11)...if Howard leaves, I'd cancel, but then I would get my live traffic updates on my nav through Sirius Nav Traffic.