sirus radio/ xm radio ??

[Slow Ride]

I am considering one or the other, any thoughts on which is the better option? Likes or dislikes of the system you might have?


thanks for your thoughts.

[jwred306]

I have xm radio and I like it, haven't had any trouble with it. My buddy has Sirius and he has not had any trouble either. I think it will come down to what stations you prefer. Sirius has some stations that xm does not.

[DillonWren]

I have sirius and its awsome.

[KGiles37]

That should pretty much settle it

[Big Ed]

There was some talk about them merging, it is still in the works but is being held up on the federal level (last I heard).

Both are solid tech, and both have good and bad radios (they are made 3rd party). The only real difference, as JWRED306 stated, is the station lineup.

I have XM only, but by buddy has both (Sirius came in his new vehicle) he liked the XM better, but that doesn't mean anything to you.

Go online and check out the lineups. I know on XM you can see what they are playing. This should give you an idea if you would like it or not.

Or you could try to play them against each other in a bidding war

[Wicked96SS]

I have both (Sirius in my car, XM in my house), and as far as music wise, they are pretty much identical... technology wise, they sound equally as good. I have to say that I prefer Sirius as I am a Howard Stern fan and NFL fan, and Sirius has both. I am thinking about ditching XM, but to be honest, if you aren't an NFL or Howard fan, I think in my personal opinion, it's a coin toss.

WAIT WHAT AM I SAYING!! BUY SIRIUS!! BUY SEVERAL OF THEM!! ONE FOR EVERYBODY YOU KNOW!!!

(I have stock in Sirius... I know.. Ouch... but, made a boat load of cash when Howard announced he was going over... I am currently riding a small portion of the profits! )

[Brettchuck]

I've got XM on my Zumo and it works great!

[azwiley1]

My 2 cents here, based off when I sold both of them.

Generally they are about the same, both offereing music, talk, sports, entertainement, etc.

Both offer services for roughly the same price.

What I did find though I that I personally preferred Sirius due to time of music (rock n roll) over XM. I also am a NASCAR nut, so Sirius again.

You will not find issues with equipment better or worse, we installed both on boats, cars, trucks and bikes.

They are both VERY easy to install.

I would look at two main factors when recommending one or the other.

1. Which offers the type of "entertainment" (all areas) you really want.
2. Are you going to use it at home, is yes, is your stereo XM/Sirius ready?

[S.D.Willie]

XM is the better choice for me.

1. Opie and Anthony
2. NHL games, 24 hour nhl talk show
3. Great music selection

if you like Howard like wicked96ss, then go for Sirius. If you are a fan of neither then either will be fine. I personally think XM's equipment is ahead of the time as far as the competition goes but thats my 2 cents.

[c_law23]

my brother had xm and i had sirius for a couple years b4 it was stolen out of my car
i really preferred sirius. besides Howard Stern, it has NFL rights, Nascar rights, college football and basketball games, NBA games... plus i liked the receivers better. My brother switched from XM to Sirius.

Both are better then nothing, they are really entertaining...i just prefer sirius.. it's nice to be able to listen to whatever NFL game you want every week...

[Pokey]

Just one more opinion or observation: I too have had XM for 5 years and really enjoy it over land-based radio. The things about NASCAR and NFL (if subjects like these are your buying points) are that XM will carry one of those for a few years and then Sirius will carry it for a few years. Kinda like they are both trying to get customers to come on board.
Yes, they are trying to merge and it has been said that both companies are trying to make it a mutual "good" thing that will not alienate the customers from either company. Right now some jack#$# senator is trying to make them jump some stupid hoops before he will give his "blessing" to the merger. He is obviously being paid handsomely by the big radio-station owners as they are very scared at this moment due to losing customers by the crap-loads due to satellite radio, Ipods and MP3 players.
Sirius and XM both have said that WHEN the merger goes through, your current receivers will still work and they think they will go to more of a "pick and choose" kind of payment choice. Meaning you can pick packages that you want to pay and listen to.
Also....O & A PARTY ROCKS!!!!!

[artz]

just depends what yer priorities are that cha listen to. I like Howard Stern and the playboy channel, so its sirius.....

[JoePhoto]

I have both - Sirius was a Christmas gift from my wife in the form of the Stiletto 2 portable radio. XM came in my new SUV.

I like the Sirius music stations song rotations a little better (rock, metal, 90's alt. rock) but I like XM for the NHL coverage. It seems that you get a DJ about half the time on most stations. Some of the DJ's are just plain stupid and like to talk over songs on some Sirius stations (Cavino on Octane 20 for example) which annoys the hell out of me. A note if you have young ids, both companies have DJ's the like to use excessive profanity (F* this, F* that) because they can. Also most all of the songs are album versions and not edited for FM radio.

Both offer online streaming radio but one thing about Sirius that I absolutely can't live without now is the hi-def online radio. It costs an extra $2 a month but it's absolutely worth it. The streaming radio is CD quality (I believe 128kbps or higher) and there are several free 3rd party applications (namely Stream On and Sirius Tuner Yahoo Widget) that will stream the hi-def radio without interruption for as long as you want. Playing the radio from their website keeps a browser window open and it shuts off after 90 minutes unless you interact with the browser window - so the 3rd party apps are a must IMO. This is important to me because I work in a studio on several computers when I'm not shooting.

You can get a free online preview of both from their websites. I'd do that and see what channels you like. Also most of the online streaming low quality XM music stations are available free through Shoutcast (download Winamp from winamp.com).

Since the merger was approved, I'm anxious to see what happens. I have my favorite stations on both and I hope I'm able to access both on either of my radios when/if they combine actual services.

Hope this helps.