I bought a new truck today, and I am shopping for a satellite radio unit for it. I'd like feedback from those here that have satellite radio as to which unit and service you use. In my searches tonight I have seen references to a merger of XM and Sirius. Have any of y'all heard anything about that or know of a time frame? Also, I am interested in a GPS navigational system. Any feedback on those would be appreciated. I ran across a Garmin GPS unit that also does XM. Are there any other such units out there?
I've had Sirius for about 3.5 years. I don't know how I could live without it now. Once you go satellite, you'll never look back. As for the merger, that's still all up in the air. Right now, the deal is holding the record for the longest time it has ever taken the FCC and SEC to approve such a merger. And the clock is still ticking. Personally, I think Sirius has better programming than XM, overall. But, listen to both and see waht kind of deals you can get on the equipment. You won't be disappointed with either choice.
congrats on the new truck. What kind of truck? Pics? My soon to be mother in law has sirius, my boss has xm. Both seem pretty good, pretty much what shows are you looking for as some are only one one provider and not the other (from what I am told) Navigation, well you kind of hit on it, some have capabilities more than others. I was with a co-worker and he had the magellan (spelling?) The top of the line one with the blue tooth link capability. Portable, long battery life as well as Plug in the wall adapter and car adapter. Thing rocked on all levels! I wish I had the magellan. Hope that helps a tiny bit. Now where are those pics of that truck! HEHEHE good luck with it.
I have Sirius. I liked the selection much better than XM (and I have listened to both). My advice is to go to Radio Shack during a sale and get the absolute cheapest unit you can find. I do not permanently install my unit so that I can move it from vehicle to vehicle. I had one of the more expensive units, and it gave me lots of trouble, and it took up room in the car. I recently (when the expensive unit died) bought a $29 unit during a sale at Radio Shack. Since it is digital, I cannot tell the difference in sound, and I actually find it much easier to use, and it is tiny, and therefore unobstrusive in the cockpit. A couple words of advice. Do not bother trying to use the FM transmitter to listen to it. The best way is an auxiliary direct input line into your car's system. If your car stereo does not have such an input, then the next best way is to use on of those little CD walkman cassette adapters. I can't give any advice on the GPS systems.
I agree that it's better to do the direct input, but the Starmate (built in FM transmitter) works just fine for us. We have to change frequencies occasionally, but it works well enough.
The sound system doesn't have an axillary port. I would have had to upgraded to the Bose system to get that in the Nissan. It's standard on some vehicle systems now to have the jack. The truck is a 2007 Nissan Frontier crew cab with value package. I primarily want the satellite radio for the news/talk programming.
I don't even use the AM/FM radio in my car. I just bought a few CDs that I liked and listen to them. I don't like listening to radio commercials, commentary, and 95% of the crap they pass off as music. So yea, bump satellite radio!
I've been thinking about a portable Sirius unit for my b-day in a few months. Right now, I just carry my Ipod everywhere I go. I have a docking station in my truck, one on the desk in my office and another attached to the Bose system in my living room.
Try www.gpsnow.com for really good prices on Garmin stuff. They have several models that have built in satellite radio. The coolest feature though is you can get live weather radar and traffic overlays on your route display and configure the unit to autoroute you around bad traffic/weather. the downside is you gotta pay an extra subscription fee for it. If I lived in Atlanta I'd buy one in a heartbeat though. I think magellan makes a similar model(s) but I've always preferred the Garmin user interface. I've had 3 of the B/W screen GPS-II,III+, and a V and am looking at the Quest II now. I like to get the ruggedized ones vs. the car only models.
I have had XM since they launched. I have been totally satisfied. I imagine Sirius is similar so I doubt you could go wrong either way. I do agree that the cheap models work just fine. Get the $30 (or less) receiver and you are in business. Don't use the FM transmitter, it sucks. Use the cassette adapter or get it hardwired. One of my coworkers just got a GPS unit (the kind that gives you directions) for his truck. I will have to see what he bought and let you know.
Yup. I've been running down the program lists, and I'm having a tough time deciding. They both have roughly the same talk and music stations. Sirius has the NFL and XM has more college sports.
I looked into both a few months back and decided to spend the money on a new head unit for the car with an aux input and buy a bigger iPod. Now I get all the musics I want without having to subscribe, or lose signal in a tunnel or the mountains. And if I felt like risking getting pulled over (don't think it's illegal, but I don't wanna find out) I'd just set up the laptop in the car and run off my 60+ gigs of iTunes.
Nice Truck !!!! For navigation, get a PND (personal navigation device) that uses Navteq maps. Navteq's maps are more accurate and up to date than those of its competitor,Teleatlas. TomTom uses Teleatlas. Garmin and magellan use Navteq. I have XM and am satisfied. AOL Radio plays some of the channels from XM. I think this link will get you there: http://radaol-prod-web-rr.streamops.aol ... &auth=true
Thanks for the info and the compliment on the truck. I'm starting to lean towards Sirius for the NFL package. I'm starting to hope for the merger so that I can get all of everything. As long as they are hard up for subscribers I'm not worried about a monopoly. They are still competing with free radio enough to keep them honest. Plus, both companies are on shaky ground as it stands. A single company would be on more solid footing.