XM vs SIRIUS

[MamaPink]

Anyone have any experience with these?? I'm looking to get one for my car... any thoughts as to which one is better or which specific system is the best?

I need one... these long car rides are getting to be boring.

[questcequecest?]

flip a coin!

[phishtaper]

which is better? coke or pepsi? the difference between XM and Sirius is a matter of personal taste really. my guess is that most people go with one or the other depending on what type of professional sport they most enjoy listening to. XM has MLB, Nascar and some NHL. Sirius has NBA, NFL and some NHL. i've had sirius for almost a year, and got it primarily for howard stern. XM has oprah.

both provide over 100 channels of various types of commercial-free() music. talk stations do have limited commercials (presumably for pee breaks). go to their websites and check out their channel listings, and popular artists played. i like sirius for its various rock format channels, including JamOn (dead, sci, moe, phish, etc.); FirstWave (80's new wave); LeftofCenter (college indie) as well as 3 different jazz channels. XM is supposed to have a similar set of channels. the two complaints I have heard are that the new wave station on XM is better, and the rock variety on sirius is better.

technologically and price-wise, both are pretty well the same. each has 3 sat's (XM stationary; Sirius in geo-synch figure-8 orbit) as well as land transmitters for large cities. each has pathetic customer service in Canada (so consider getting a grey-market subscription via the US - its easy). both provide online listening capabilities, and both have decent selection of units.

in a car you have two choices of set-up. one is a hard wired unit, often put in by the car maker or after market. that unit will work in your car ONLY. so, you pay the $15/mth to listen in your car. the other type is called plug and play and involves a unit that can be taken from your car (docked in a cradle to run) into your house (docked in another cradle to run). we have two PnP's and find they work great. it allows us to always be able to listen at home if the other car is out (also listening) and we pay for 2 subscriptions ($15, plus $6 for 2nd) - but with a PnP, you'd only have to pay for one subscription to be able to listen in car OR at home (but not both). for both XM and Sirius, getting the antenna set up can be a bit of an issue at home sometimes, and may require the purchase of a special outdoor antenna.

I would suggest you go to the two websites and check out what sort of musical selection each offers. that's basically what it will come down to. I prefer Sirius, but i cannot argue with someone who prefers XM.

after you've had it for a month, i guarantee you will never listen to regular fm radio again, and you will surely not miss the 32 minutes of commercials every hour.

[afro poppa]

I have Sirius and can't say enough good things about it. Initially I bought it for the JamOn station, but I listen to soo many of the stations that its not even about that one anymore. However, there are great things on JamOn, like full shows streamed, special guest DJ days (Warren, trey, Schools) and NHL Hockey!! I was driving back from Bonnaroo listening to Game 7 of the Stanley Cup on my Sirius...awsome, can't get any better than that!!

[slavetothegroove]

I have friends who have Sirius, and XM and with hearing feedback from the both of them, Sirius was the winner. I listen to JamOn online constantly, and know that it rocks the boat. I'm not sure if XM's jam station is near as good.

Cheers

Steph

[nattyMatty]

I like sirius.

[Baj]

SIRUS has stern... nough said.

[bouche]

I've got Sirius. Love it, but I need to get it in the CAR!