The Imperfect Community

MedeaNJ · Posted: Tue Apr 18, 2006 1:43 pm Post subject: XM Radio

I have not told DH yet, but I got an XM Roady XT.

My way of thinking is that if I am going to be stuck home with no cable and lousy/nil analog radio reception, I need human noise.

Anyone else have satellite (sp) radio. Do you like it? Any cons I should be worried about?

Jessica · Posted: Tue Apr 18, 2006 5:03 pm Post subject:

I don't have satellite radio, but I think I would love it! They're supposed to have great political talk shows and music stations with genres. I've been listening to yahoo music, which is pretty cool and similiar in that they have genres, but no talk radio.

Now, do you have to have a special receiver for that? Do you mind if I ask how much it costs?

MedeaNJ · Posted: Wed Apr 19, 2006 8:28 am Post subject:

The receiver that I purchased is originally intented for a car and is as no frills as it comes. No tivo-like pause and play, no recording shows that I might like to listen to at a later time, etc. Retail costs for the receiver ranges from $50 - 90 depending on where you go. It's the extras that can sneak up on you. A house accessory for my model will be about $50, extra car accessory if you want to take your receiver with you to use in another car will cost about $40.

With the subcription you can also tap into their website and listen to your favorite channels there.

Admittedly I am fed up on getting a sporadic signal at best when I try to listen to Air America from NYC, the Philadelphia affiliate you pratically have to be in Center City to get anything. So that is my main reason for wanting to get the system. However I found other channels that pique my interest, such as old time radio/drama, movie soundtracks, 80's music, folk music, FIFA coverage (Thought DH would like that being the soccer freak that he is), and American Standards. They even have some French-speaking channels (not that I am fluent, still trying to pick up a little of the language here and there), that gear toward our Canadian friends.

I brought up the subject and of course he said that even though he was considering getting XM did not mean to go out and get it. His arguement was that he wanted to try to get the FM antenna on the roof of our house. That was nearly a year ago. Supposedly on Friday he will put this on the top of his list. Maybe when we find out that the signal is iffy at best he might cave in.

Oh, I might add that XM gives a free pass for a couple of days to check out the channels to see if you want to commit to the subscription. I will try to nail DH over a weekend to try the free service to see if it is worth it. That might be the deciding factor in changing his mind, I think.

The saga continues.