Satellite Radio Question

[dcpsoguy]

I want to buy my father satellite radio for Christmas for his car. He has remarked at it, and I thought it would be a good idea to do so. I have a few questions about it:

#1) Whats the best provider for satellite radio? My dad likes to listen to music, I believe he likes Howard Stern(although that wouldn't be a deal breaker for either side), and he likes to listen to some sports(the local team)

#2) We won't be replacing the radio in his car. It has to be done some other way. I have seen it being done through a cassette. Or other ways? Whats the cheaper way? Whats the more effecient way? He has a Pontiac Vibe, FYI.

#3) I really don't want to go over 140 bucks for everything, but if thats not possible, then thats fine. I'm kind of clueless on the whole subject so I wish to hear your suggestions.

Thanks,

Ryan

 

[Mr N8]

The add-on units are nice. Most of them have a built in FM tuner, so you don't need the cassette adapter. You would have to run power and antenna to get it to work, though.

Most of the add-on units won't cost you more than $140. Make sure you are getting the complete package, though. XM'x Roady and Roady 2 are nice, and you don't have to buy a "car kit." Most Sirius tuners need an additional car kit.

 

[aircooled]

For XM, the delphi SkyFi or Roady are great units, easy to add to existing system.


as far as programming, both XM and Sirius have there high points, but it will basically boil down to your (his) preference. either one will have great music, talk and news, but specifics like Stern or Opie and Anthony are going to be proprietary...

 

[dsfunk]

sirius has the nfl

 

[aircooled]

XM has MLB, NASCAR, ACC, PAC10 and BigTen

 

[jlarsson]

You can get the Roady2 for about $130, which includes everything you need to use in a car. It used to have an offer for a free home kit but i'm not sure that still exists. The SkyFi2 is a nicer unit, however it will cost you $100 plus the cost of the car or home kit which i believe is $60 (i could be wrong about the cost). I have the Roady2 and enjoy XM radio quite a bit, makes my long drives bearable.

I can't compare the two services since i've only have experience with XM.

For most units you can use a FM modulator, or if your car supports it, you could hook it up using an auxilary input. I believe the Pontiac Vibe has one (my mother has the same car). Hooking it up using the auxilary input would sound better than FM modulation or through the cassette player.

 

[Codewiz]

Ummm if he likes Howard Stern, he will ONLY be able to listen to him on Sirius in another 1.5 years.

 

[Kishan]

Sirius Sportster for $119 with car kit. Almost all of the sat radio units have a built in wireless fm modulator, including the sportster. Sportster has the best boombox IMHO since the boombox has an AUX in, so you could connect a MP3 player for more than enough music. Sirius is 12.95 a month and activation is 15 I think.

 

[Jack Ryan]

~

 

[Stifko]

Do both have commercials ?

 

[wedi42]

xm has no commercials on the music channels.
some of the talk channels have ads, because other provide the programming, like cnn or espn.

 

[hevnsnt]

Seriously Go to each site and look at their programming, decide which one he would like better and go with that one.

They are pretty much the same (other than programming)

 

[Lvis]

I have the sirius service, and like it very much. I'm less impressed with the audiovox unit I bought though. I had to deal with some bugs with it, maybe it was the best buy guy that caused them, I dunno.

 

[aircooled]

Also, I get better reception from XM in my particular region. I have had loaner cars with sirius and found that it loses signal more frequently than my XM. My XM only loses signal in a concrete block car wash or garage, the factory installed sirius would occasionally loose signal on a country road with thick trees next to the highway..

 

[imported_digitalelegance]

What sports does he like? XM has the MLB and PAC-10, and Sirius has NFL, NBA, and NHL (if they ever play) and play by play from 25? college teams...Any of the Sirius or XM radios can be played through a tape adapter or FM modulator. The Sirius units have an FM transmitter built in, the XM units come with a tape adapter.

If the latest and greatest equipment doesn't matter, see if you can get in on the free Sirius radio deal in my sig. When you pay for a year, you get the radio and car kit for free. Saves you $150. And no, I don't get a commission or anything, so lay off.

Check out http://www.xm411.com or http://www.xmfan.com or http://www.siriusbackstage.com for more info. All of those are really good fansites for the respective services.

 

[imported_digitalelegance]

Originally posted by: Stifko
Do both have commercials ?

Neither have commericals on the music channels, but both have 'em on the talk channels.