I have been trying to decide on a sattelite radio provider for a couple years now, but I have been waiting for the prices to drop and trying to decide which service I would like the best.
The other day we had a Chrysler 300C Hemi come in, and the Sirius service blew me away. I had been leaning towards ((XM)) because I liked a couple of the stations.
So, I went to Staples early this AM to see what was on sale or in the "Bargain Bin", and I saw a display for Delphi XM radios. Hmmm.....
I came home and poked around looking at prices and services. Everything (Equipment wise) was out of my price range; tried E-Bay, went back to the web sites.
So, this afternoon I figured I'd go to Staples again and have a look, and go to Radio Shack and see what they had.
I wound up going to Staples first, and saw an XM display. Here were the deciding factors:
- Price. The service is .95 a month, and the receiver, a "Roady2", was .95. The only thing I wanted was a Direct Connection, since the FM Modulators lose signal quality and without the Direct Connection you can't use it very widely.
- Service. While looking over the XM displays I saw the 'stations' I remembered, they have added a few and expanded greatly.
But the REAL deciding factor:
BBC World Service. Now I am not at the whim of the area's NPR stations, or the AM station 15 miles from my house that broadcasts the BBC all night, but fades terribly after the sun goes down. I can listen to it any time I want!
Plus, after buying the $50 receiver, I found, contrary to the Customer Service person's information, that it DOES indeed have a Direct Connection, and when you plug in a mini-stereo plug the FM Modulator turns off. So, with a proper power adapter, I can use it at home or the shop, too.
Now, the only real puzzler: the thing was made for a car. WHY IN THE WORLD does it operate on SIX volts? They supply an adapter, but now I can't hard wire it into the car, and I lose my lighters in all the cars. So, I either make some sort of adapter (not REAL hard, you just have to lose 1/2 the voltage) or wire up extra 'outlets' in my cars.
Now, I'm going absolutely nuts. There is SO much music I like there it's driving me crazy. The "Classic Rock' station doesn't play the Usual Crap you hear on the broadcast stations, the Alternative stations play some really great stuff ("Fred", "Ethel", and especially, "Lucy") and there is such a selection of Jazz it's amazing. Add to that the BBC and I will have to get a job like I had in days gone by, where I was driving 50 miles one way to work.