Which is better?

[Lonewolfblue]

Been looking at getting satellite radio for my new car, but was wondering which is better? XM or Sirius? Anyone have experience with either or both? I've been leaning towards XM, but would like other input first before making any decisions.

 

[bs6749]

I have XM in my car (it's free for now) and I think it is pretty good. I have little experience with Sirius but didn't XM partner with Sirius a while back? I thought I heard something like that was in the works. May be worth checking into. Maybe prices will change...who knows for sure.

 

[fishfreek]

I use XM but I am likly to cancel now as I dont listen much anymore. I would say look at the offerings and see which fits your tastes better. Some have exclusive sports contracts so NBA is on one and MBL is on another for example.

In addition you may want to hold off as there is a proposal awaiting SEC approval for XM and Sirius to merge into one company. Since either company's radios dont work with the other it might pay to wait and see what kind of radio products come out or are announced after a merger. Both companies say their radios will continue to work but I have to think that at some point one of the satallites will go dark as the costs to maintain two signals would more expensive.

 

[Lonewolfblue]

This is interesting....

http://money.cnn.com/2007/02/19/news/companies/xm_sirius/index.htm

"Given the government's history of opposing monopolies in all forms, NAB would be shocked if federal regulators permitted a merger of XM and Sirius," the trade group said in a statement. "It bears mentioning that regulators summarily rejected a similar monopoly merger of the nation's only two satellite television companies - DirecTV and DISH Network - just a few years back."

 

[severum mama]

They're merging, so I'm not sure that it matters much at this point which one you choose. I have subscribed to Sirius for a couple of yrs. now, and I'm really impressed. I went with Sirius because XM doesn't offer a station for jam bands like Sirius does, and if I'm not mistaken, Sirius also has more jazz stations. That's great for me, but maybe not for everyone.

I know that Sirius has a free 3-day trial (internet radio), and maybe XM does too. Perhaps you could check out the trial and that would help you choose?

 

[Devilishturtles]

I have XM radio and I really like it. Sirius has more rock/alt and country stations, which is mostly what I listen to. XM has a lot of nice features like talk, sports, weather, international channels.

Overall, I like XM and don't want to complain about it, but if I had to chose my own over again, I'd choose Sirius.

 

[Lonewolfblue]

My preference is soft rock, electronica, and pop mostly. Absolutely hate country, lol. And don't care about talk or sports. Music only.

As for Sirius, I do know what it's like because they have it on Dish Network. And I really like a couple of the stations on it, like the Smooth Electronica. I may end up going with Sirius, but my preference has been going with XM. But not sure yet. Will see what other responses I get. Thanks for all the input.

 

[An t-iasg]

I have Sirius and I love it. I like the rock/alt channels a lot. I only have it on infrequently because we can't attach the antenna outside on our condo. (but we'll be moving soon to our new house!!!!!!!) I can only turn it on if it's warm enough to put the antenna on the deck and leave the sliding door open a little crack. Since it's on infrequently, (it hasn't been all that warm yet!) I have been listening to my two or three favorite channels and not really seeing what else is out there. So maybe my opinion doesn't count, lol. I got Sirius over XM because Sirius had all the NFL games and I like some out-of-town teams also.

I was in a store that had XM on. Whatever channel that was, I liked. The tie-breaker for me was the NFL on Sirius.

If you have Sirius on Dish Network already, then why not pick XM for your car? Get the shortest subscription they offer and when it expires, you'll have a good idea of what you like about the two services.

You'll have to go to Best Buy and get a current channel listing brochure for each service. You can listen there too. You can log on to each website too. I'm not sure if you can listen to samples there or not. I can listen to Sirius online since we do have a subscription already.

I wonder what it will be like when XM and Sirius merge. Both companies have said that if they are not allowed to merge, then they may go out of business.

 

[Lonewolfblue]

For the Dish Network, it's only a few of the stations. Not all 170 channels, or however many it is. Since there's channels I like, I may just do the Sirius.

As for the merger, doubt it will go through, and I thing the stronger of the 2 will remain if one goes out of business, as the subscribers will have to go somewhere, either the one that remains or not have Satellite Radio. I'm thinking it will turn out like Dish and DirecTV.