XMRadio vs Sirius the Satellite Radio Wars

Posted:
in General Discussion edited January 2014
I am interested in Satellit Radio and what it offers so far but it is really early and like all multi format battles it looks like this one may not be settled for a while.



XMRadio currently has the marketing buzz and products and service up and running. Their monthly prices is $9.95 and they have 30 commercial free programs. The bad part is ..not enough(IMO) XM ready receivers and high cost. Even if you purchase a new car deck that is ready..be prepared for fork out another $250+ for the outboard tuner and another $100 for the Shark Fin Antenna. OUCH $400 initial outlay for the right to pay $120 a year for decent radio??? Pretty steep.



Sirius Radio seems to be slightly different. They are not up yet which doesn't bode well for them and their monthly charge is $12.95 however they offer all commercial free music channels. From the website I cannot confirm whether an outboard tuner is require. If it is not required then that is a $250.00 savings over XMradio right there. I assume their antenna will be priced the same at $100.



Is anyone else considering one of these services? Honestly..if I'm going to pay for Satellite Radio...I need to have access at home as well. XMRadio users must pay $9.95 per XMRadio device I don't know Sirius's policy yet. Sony does have a XMradio unit that can hook into a car Tape Deck via the horrid Cassette Adapter and be used at home as well. They are on the right track. I don't think enough users can justify 10-13 dollars a month for something that just works in their car...I mean commutes suck and all but we are in our cars for for relatively short amounts of time. Anyone have an opinion or any other facts?

Comments

  • Reply 1 of 7
    If only I had more money... Commercial radio in my city sucks.
  • Reply 2 of 7
    hmurchisonhmurchison Posts: 12,419member
    [quote]Originally posted by RyanTheGreat:

    <strong>If only I had more money... Commercial radio in my city sucks.</strong><hr></blockquote>





    Ryan...it couldn't be much worse than Seattle. Just today I experienced two different Seattle radio stations playing a pair of identical songs seperated by 45 seconds or so. That is



    Station A plays song 1 and then I switch to Station B which starts song 1 45 seconds later. Station A then moves to song 2 and low and behold Station B plays that very song 45 minutes later. If this isn't the pathetic signs of narrow playlists then I don't know what.
  • Reply 3 of 7
    XM Radio sounds cool but these days I balk at paying for "services". They can go ahead and play ads if means I don't have to pay a monthly.
  • Reply 4 of 7
    I heard with XM radio each channel costs bills to get. or is it all covered in a monthly rate. personally I WOULD be interested in the hip-hop and electronic selections...but I am into more alternative electronic and rap stuffis so I don't know if it would be right for me. I'll be fine with a 10-disc changer and my dual 10 inch woofer
  • Reply 5 of 7
    hmurchisonhmurchison Posts: 12,419member
    [quote]Originally posted by Wrong Robot:

    <strong>I heard with XM radio each channel costs bills to get. or is it all covered in a monthly rate. personally I WOULD be interested in the hip-hop and electronic selections...but I am into more alternative electronic and rap stuffis so I don't know if it would be right for me. I'll be fine with a 10-disc changer and my dual 10 inch woofer </strong><hr></blockquote>



    XMradio has a pretty good line up. They have everything from 6 stations of Country, Urban and Jazz each. They have a comedy station. Music from India and Africa. 60's 70's 80's 90's Top 20 and of course news and sports. I will get it but I'm not paying $400 for my car and I want some sort of ability to utilize my service at home and in the car..the current portable Sony unit is not cutting it for me. I like that you can hit a button and get the name and song title. I get tired of Radio DJ's assuming that we know whats playing.
  • Reply 6 of 7
    tmptmp Posts: 601member
    Unless you really, really feel you need it, I would wait. Like you said, Sirius is not up yet, and early sales of XM are not strong. It's a hit with interstate truckers, and it is getting a big push from GM, but their business model depends upon average consumers like you and me paying $10 a month forever to pay for radio at the same time that a lot of us are balking at paying $16 for CD's. I would really hate to lay out $500 bucks for technology that was over in a year.
  • Reply 7 of 7
    [quote]Originally posted by hmurchison:

    <strong>

    Ryan...it couldn't be much worse than Seattle. Just today I experienced two different Seattle radio stations playing a pair of identical songs seperated by 45 seconds or so. That is

    </strong><hr></blockquote>



    I disagree... In my town there is only one true modern rock station, and it is full of standard Limp Bizkit bull***.
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