Anyone have Sirius XM satellite radio for their cars/homes?

[Lani]

On the road trip portion of our recent vacation, we went ahead and upgraded our car category so that we could get satellite radio. Between putting in a lot of miles (and periodically losing the station you're listening to because you've driven out of range) and driving into the boonies (where you can't get reception for regular radio anywhere), we thought we'd splurge.

We really enjoyed the radio and are glad we upgraded, but we've never considered getting it for our own car or home.

Does anyone have this for their home or car use? How much does this typically run you? Are you happy you got it?

A friend of ours actually got satellite radio specifically to listen to Howard Stern when we left regular radio, but we have no such radio personalities we feel driven to follow. Typically, we just listen to NPR when we're puttering around town, and periodically, the local news station for their frequent traffic updates.

[keb]

I like it. Just got XM in my own car this summer. Just converted my trial to the select plan. I listen to the Grateful Dead station for the most part. On road trips in the summer I can listen to the Phillies and Yankees games. Believe it or not, the PGA Tour station is actually pretty entertaining if you're a golf fan. I also scan the comedy stations when I'm bored. Anytime Kathleen Madigan is on I practically have to pull over because the tears rolling down my face obscure my view of the road.

[rabergnc]

I have had satellite on a couple of occasions. I subscribed to Sirius for about 1.5 years and it was OK but not completely compelling. Got a new used car that came with a free 3 month subscription to XM radio - I found I did not listen to it very much - listened to podcasts more - and did not renew it when the free subscription ended. Interestingly, just about 1 month ago, I got another letter from XM radio saying that my complimentary subscription was running - and it is but I still don't listen very much. That said, it is nice to have it available when our local public radio gets into begging mode - once I pledge, I don;t want to hear them ask every few minutes and satellite radio offers a marvelous escape.

[jeffmac]

I drive long distance a lot ( 6-8 hours at a time ) and I have Sirius. Sound quality is not as good as or could be but I love not hunting for stations. I listen to sports, the Sinatra channel, jazz and comedy. My only complaint with the NPR channels is that they don't seem to have morning edition and ATC.

[Jenne]

I had Sirius for a few years, but then they got rid of my favorite World Music channel (replacing it with 24-7 Rolling Stones, gag) and downsized the Spanish music channels to two. I figured it was heading in the same direction as over the air radio (20-song playlists, commercials, DJs who talk too much, and nothing new or interesting EVER.) So I gave it up and don't miss it.

If there were a feminist comedy channel, I might rethink it, but I'm not interested in 20 channels of Larry the Cable Guy.

Satellite radio could have been so awesome for niche listeners like me, but they decided to go in the direction of pleasing the most people as possible while doing as little work as possible.

[KarlJ]

I have Sirius, and typical of anything you subscribe to (magazines, cable TV, etc.) you will find that it runs hot and cold. Some months the programming is a dud, or you'll get three issues of nothing articles. Then you get a winner for a while. It's just another choice I have available... not necessarily any better. But I have had it for about six years or so... my rates are grandfathered (pre- Stern and pre- XM) so it's a bargain.

[Lani]

Wow, thanks for all your feedback! I think for now, we won't get it for ourselves, but keep it in mind when we want to rent a car for a long road trip like we did.

We did have some getting used to... we were so excited that we kept getting a signal up in the hinterlands of Acadia National Park in Maine, but discovered that all of its wonderful foliage (read: tall trees) kept breaking up the satellite line-of-sight! Something you don't normally have to worry about with regular radio.

No one mentioned price -- I'm assuming it's something like $20 a month or so? I guess it would be worth it if you were a traveling salesman or a trucker and always driving everywhere.

[rabergnc]

There are a couple of tiers ranging from $12.95/month to about $17/month. If you are willing to subscribe for a year or more, it works out to be cheaper as they extend the subscription by up to 5 or 6 months.

[MaggieScratch]

It came with my car, and I subscribed when the trial period (6 months) was up. I really enjoy it. I listen most to Radio Margaritaville (Jimmy Buffet and similar music), First Wave (they describe it as "classic alternative"--it's New Wave and other alternative stuff from the 80s), and BBC World News. I'm thinking about upgrading to have it on my Android phone as well. At work I would probably listen a lot to the talkie stations, like the book station (they play partial audiobooks) and the old-time radio station, which has radio plays from the early days of radio. I love that stuff.

[Katy]

like the book station (they play partial audiobooks) and the old-time radio station, which has radio plays from the early days of radio. I love that stuff.

I wasn't convinced I needed an XM radio until this statement...This sounds AMAZING!

[Badger]

I wasn't convinced I needed an XM radio until this statement...This sounds AMAZING!

It is sort of awesome that you are on the receiving end of forum-driven consumeristic persuasion for once.

Bwah-ha-haaah!

[Katy]

HA! I've been convinced to buy quite a few things thanks to the Forum! Everyone just has such great ideas!

[TXGirl]

We have it in both of our cars. I love Sirius!! I don't even remember the last time I listened to the local radio stations. My fav channels are Hair Nation(the big hair bands like Guns n Roses, Whitesnake, etc), and the 70s, 80s, 90s music channels.

[Lani]

My fav channels are Hair Nation(the big hair bands like Guns n Roses, Whitesnake, etc)

Gotta love that name! lol.

I didn't know about the audiobooks, either! for long road trips that sounds like an awesome option!

[Scattered]

I've had both XM and Sirius, depending on what came with the car I owned at the time. Right now, it's Sirius. I go through phases of which channels I listen to the most. I've been doing a 4-hour round-trip every other week for the last week or so, and find the talk and comedy channels pretty good for keeping me awake on the ride back, which feels so much longer thanks to being on my feet and making nice with clients for several hours! Sometimes I hit the book or old radio channel for a real change of pace too, they can be fun if. I do get frustrated on occasion with the commercials on this supposedly commercial-free media supplier, but it's still way less than you get on over the air radio. Sometimes I feel like I'm wasting money on this, so I don't sign up after the free trial runs out on a new car, then I get tired or regular radio repeats and commercials and too lazy to keep swapping CDs and always forgetting my iPod at home or the office and I sign up again. Plus, if I only ever listened to my own CDs and iPod, I'd rarely learn about new music. So I keep going back to satellite radio. I signed up for a longer-term, 2 years pre-paid, if I remember right, so have a little lower monthly rate, about $15, I think.