Satellite Radio: is it worth it?
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I bought a new car last week and it comes with satellite radio, along with a 3-month trial for Sirius. I have been hearing about satellite radio for long, but never tried it. Is it worth it (it goes at 12.95 CAD a month here)?
I got XM for my car a few years ago, and at first I liked it a lot but now I'm thinking about dropping it in favor of an MP3 player with my own music. The rock stations I listen to seem to have the same narrow playlist as the local terrestrial stations around here, so there's no real advantage there. I liked the comedy channels but the quality has gone down since XM and Sirius merged -- more commercials, obnoxious bumpers and promos, and more unknown comics who aren't that funny. So it just doesn't seem worth it to me, but if I spent more time in my car I might have a different answer.
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I bought a new car last week and it comes with satellite radio, along with a 3-month trial for Sirius. I have been hearing about satellite radio for long, but never tried it. Is it worth it (it goes at 12.95 CAD a month here)?
I seldom have the opportunity to listen to radio long enough to make any kind of spending on it sound like a worthwhile investment. I did have a workmate who only go satellite because she was a hard core Howard Stern fan. Last year I had a radio installed that not only has CD but also has an auxillary miniature jack and a USB port for a memory stick. On an 18 hour drive from Dallas to Orlando and back I listened to the same 4 Gig drive the entire way and still had more to listen to. The aux port allows me to jack in my iPhone and listen to pod casts or use one of the apps for streaming radio to receive hometown news or a host of other cities.
I'm not a programmer but I play one at the office
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Le Centriste wrote:
Is it worth it
Not for me, but I tend to refuse to pay for things that are available free. I either play podcasts, my mp3's or a "book on tape". One nice thing about podcasts is that most of the commercials are removed. A 40 Gig iPod will hold a lot of options & I automatically download new pod casts, so I always have a selection to match my mood.
Melting Away www.deals-house.com www.innovative--concepts.com
The selection of music, sports, etc. available on satellite radio is available no where for free.
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I bought a new car last week and it comes with satellite radio, along with a 3-month trial for Sirius. I have been hearing about satellite radio for long, but never tried it. Is it worth it (it goes at 12.95 CAD a month here)?
What're the main benefits? Crystal clear high def signal? HD radio has the same for free. Entry cost is a one-time fee for the new radio. Starting level is around $100. If you were happy with the old radio stations, you'll get them in nice, noise-free HD without a monthly fee. No commercials? Cable TV ddin't have commercials either when it started. It was a selling point back then. Didn't stay that way. Satellite radio won't either. More channels to choose from? Any you're willing to spend $14/month to listen to while driving? Blanket coverage? How often do you drive out of range of your local stations? I went with the $100 HD car stereo (built-in HD tuner) when my old one died. Also had CD, MP3, USB and AV inputs (all the conveinent features I wanted). That was two years ago. Finnancially, I'm already ahead and just getting farther ahead by the month.
patbob
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Oh dear, I had the unfortunate pleasure of lisening to some of your US radio stations last year whilst driving around florida, cant remember the names as there were so many playing random rock i kept changing channels :-\ You should be able to get BBC Radio 1 from the UK on a time shift which plays a random mix of music with some great shows (depending on time of day), you probably wont understand most of the humor but hey it could be worth a listen ;)
Won't understand the humor? (Wait for it...) Any one see the recent "Family Guy"? The town made marijuana legal, and the news reported that ratings for Doctor Who have shot thru the roof! I'm honestly not sure if it was always there or just since the XM/Sirius merger, but BBC radio is available on XM now.
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The selection of music, sports, etc. available on satellite radio is available no where for free.
Ahh - the key phrase was "not for me". I can get what I want/need for free. The question your comment triggers is; If Sat radio is as compelling as you imply, why were they unable to attract enough customers to sustain two party free market competition business model? They were forced to consolidate the model into a monopoly and even that is not faring well financially. The conclusion I draw is the value offered by Sat radio is not high enough to attract the number of customers needed to pay the expenses. If it does not improve, it will go the way of the Sat phone concept. Both were great ideas, but not good business.
Melting Away www.deals-house.com www.innovative--concepts.com
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I agree here. My car also has a 6-disc CD changer in it and I tend to spend my time listing to them instead. I do occasionally dip into the comedy channel and also listen to the political channel a few times a week. I wish I could do a pay per channel option instead of one price for everything. Oh, and don't let them fool you... there are commercials. If you listen to talk stations, the comedy stations, or anything that is a rebroadcast of a syndicated show, you will have to bear with commercials. They only advertise 'commercial free MUSIC channels'. Does anyone here remember when cable TV had a cost with it and it was OK because you did not have to watch commercials? What happened there? I also don;t really like the fact that it can fade out when you are going between tall buildings, under overpasses, getting cash from an ATM machine that has a cover, etc. My crappy old AM radio used to do that also. I know it is satellite and thus line of sight, but... In the grad scheme of things, unless you are really living down to a very tight budget I like it, but if it costs me any more then I may consider dumping it just like I did for On-star.
I agree whole-heartedly with the wish for the ability to pay by the station instead of having to pay for all of them and only listening to 3 or 4. As to whether those 3 or 4 are worth it, sort of... I've had XM for almost 5 years now, the last time my subscription ran out I paid for 3 years so I could get the better rate. That should be running out soon, and my finances are tight so I probably won't renew. But I have enjoyed it these past several years. I've discovered many bands that I now listen to through some of the stations. So it was kind of worth it to me, but probably not for too much longer.
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I bought a new car last week and it comes with satellite radio, along with a 3-month trial for Sirius. I have been hearing about satellite radio for long, but never tried it. Is it worth it (it goes at 12.95 CAD a month here)?
I totally agree with the comments about the music channels... Not impressive at all. Personally, I like 70's and 80's music (some 90's), and these channels used to be really good. When I heard that XM (which I had had previously) was merging with Sirius (which I switched to a couple of years ago), I assumed the worst and e-mailed Sirius asking them to PLEASE not let the XM people wreck their programming. Well, sure enough, it appears the XM nitwits came in and took over... Now, instead of playing songs that were popular DURING the 70's and 80's, they just play horrible, bubble-gum crap that's FROM the 70's and 80's but popular (???) now... (Anyone with any sense of music at all will understand this distinction.) That said, I do like the talk radio lineup. It's great to get a decent variety of talk radio anytime, anywhere and with a decent signal. If you listen to a lot of talk, satellite may be worth it just for this. In sum, I just returned from a week long vacation to the Bay Area (from Lake Havasu City, AZ) without my satellite radio, and those long drives were rough without it. Trying to listen to talk on AM is torture by comparison... On the other hand, I personally was fine with the music on FM...
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My dad's had a sub for several years, but he's a long haul trucker which makes a regular radio a PITA even in areas that have decent station coverage. OTOH from what I understand his primary motivation originally was that he found NPR's talk to CONSERVATIVE. :wtf: I don't know if he's still using it exclusively for pravda or has branched out to the music channels as well.
Today's lesson is brought to you by the word "niggardly". Remember kids, don't attribute to racism what can be explained by Scandinavian language roots. -- Robert Royall
dan neely wrote:
he found NPR's talk to CONSERVATIVE.
:laugh: I understand what he means...NPR is often liberal, but explicitly so, so it often bends quite a bit to try to present a balanced view of both sides of an argument...one red-flag waving friend of mine finds this offensive, as in her opinion, (the other side) has given up any claim to credibility whatosever. Personally, I find NPR to be TRULY fair and balanced, unlike some networks which have laid claim to that description.
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Haha I see - I have done my fair share of commuting (including 7years on the road as a service engineer) in my time and have got used to being sat in the car on my own listening to the radio, so it is actually a little annoying not having time to listen anymore!
In our area, we have a news station that advertises, "Give us 20 minutes, we'll give you the world." I guess you only get half the world, then :laugh:
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Ahh - the key phrase was "not for me". I can get what I want/need for free. The question your comment triggers is; If Sat radio is as compelling as you imply, why were they unable to attract enough customers to sustain two party free market competition business model? They were forced to consolidate the model into a monopoly and even that is not faring well financially. The conclusion I draw is the value offered by Sat radio is not high enough to attract the number of customers needed to pay the expenses. If it does not improve, it will go the way of the Sat phone concept. Both were great ideas, but not good business.
Melting Away www.deals-house.com www.innovative--concepts.com
Snowman58 wrote:
The conclusion I draw is the value offered by Sat radio is not high enough to attract the number of customers needed to pay the expenses. If it does not improve, it will go the way of the Sat phone concept. Both were great ideas, but not good business.
I think that both sat radio and sat phone have the same problem: you have to have a real need to pay the price asked. If they could hold the price down long enough to allow a large enough base to get addicted, then they'd survive, but the loss leader so far seems to be too high.
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dan neely wrote:
he found NPR's talk to CONSERVATIVE.
:laugh: I understand what he means...NPR is often liberal, but explicitly so, so it often bends quite a bit to try to present a balanced view of both sides of an argument...one red-flag waving friend of mine finds this offensive, as in her opinion, (the other side) has given up any claim to credibility whatosever. Personally, I find NPR to be TRULY fair and balanced, unlike some networks which have laid claim to that description.
cpkilekofp wrote:
Personally, I find NPR to be TRULY fair and balanced, unlike some networks which have laid claim to that description.
Other than at the fig leaf level I disagree; but even if I felt like arguing the point in depth I don't have the time to either write the posts or look up the references I'd want.
Today's lesson is brought to you by the word "niggardly". Remember kids, don't attribute to racism what can be explained by Scandinavian language roots. -- Robert Royall
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I bought a new car last week and it comes with satellite radio, along with a 3-month trial for Sirius. I have been hearing about satellite radio for long, but never tried it. Is it worth it (it goes at 12.95 CAD a month here)?
I'm a cross-country trucker, so it's great for me to be able to get my favorite programming regardless of where I am. Sirius has tons of commercial free music (every kind of music you can think of) and a broad spectrum of news and comment ranging from ultra-liberal to ultra-conservative. Great sports coverage and NPR, too. But!!! How much are you in your car? I spend 10-12 hours a day on the road. Most "civilian" drivers spend 1 or 2 hours a day at most behind the wheel. And, if it's a built-in factory unit, you can't really take it in the house to listen at home (you can listen online, though). For a nominal fee you can get an extra unit and use it at home, but that may or may not be of interest to you. For me, it's worth it. Just depends on whether you'll actually use it enough to justify the price. AB
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I'm a cross-country trucker, so it's great for me to be able to get my favorite programming regardless of where I am. Sirius has tons of commercial free music (every kind of music you can think of) and a broad spectrum of news and comment ranging from ultra-liberal to ultra-conservative. Great sports coverage and NPR, too. But!!! How much are you in your car? I spend 10-12 hours a day on the road. Most "civilian" drivers spend 1 or 2 hours a day at most behind the wheel. And, if it's a built-in factory unit, you can't really take it in the house to listen at home (you can listen online, though). For a nominal fee you can get an extra unit and use it at home, but that may or may not be of interest to you. For me, it's worth it. Just depends on whether you'll actually use it enough to justify the price. AB
Hello Allan, Thanks for the reply. Something confuses me a little: if you are a trucker, what is your interest in a forum attended by developers?
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Hello Allan, Thanks for the reply. Something confuses me a little: if you are a trucker, what is your interest in a forum attended by developers?
Le Centriste wrote:
Thanks for the reply. Something confuses me a little: if you are a trucker, what is your interest in a forum attended by developers?
I've been into coding as a hobby since the days of the TI-99. It's mainly a creative outlet and a way to exercise my brain after staring through the windshield all day. Currently playing with VB.net, and I built and maintain my employer's website (http://www.jestrucking.com). I'm also writing a small line of freeware that'll eventually get posted at my own site for public consumption - bit it'll be awhile before it's all done.