iPod, ShmiPod - I like my ({< XM >})

I've been thinking this over for some time - iPod or XM, iPod or XM. I finally had enough of the Classic Rock FM station playing Led Zeppelin once an hour, and more when they 'Get The Led Out', and had to make a move. XM won out. Delphi has some refurb MyFi portable XM receivers on eBay for $125, and XM has a $50 rebate going, so I got the MyFi for $75 plus shipping. It comes with everything for personal listening, home hookup, and car hookup. At that rate, even with the monthly charge, it would take about 3 or 4 years before the XM costs more than the iPod with car and home hookups, and I don't have to take all the time to rip CD's, pay for iTunes, or fuss with synching up the iPod. And even with the large capacity of the iPod, sooner or later you'll know what is coming next.

So I'm sure there are folks for which the iPod is the best thing, but XM works for me.

I'd like to hear from some other XM users out there, and maybe even an iPod devotee or two. Sirius users should chime in, too. Are there any hot tips, pitfalls, cool options, whatever.

Have Fun,

I was an early adoptee of XM. I've had an original Delphi unit in my truck since 2003. I've never been a big buyer of CD's, but at $10 (now $13) a month, that's only one CD a month and the recurring charge is paid for.

Our local radio station list is primarily "Urban/Rap", "Country", "Adult Easy Listening" and classic (Led Zep) rock (with a smattering of Christian and Public Broadcasting stations). I'm a big fan of contemporary jazz, with an occasional dose of Bluegrass. My wife has a Roady2 in her truck and both of our teenagers have Roady2's on lay-a-way for Christmas gifts.

I also have an Ipod Shuffle, but primarily to listen to at work without being tethered to my laptop, or when I'm mowing the lawn, etc.

My car came with XM radio and when my three month trial period ended I renewed for three years. I don't think I'll renew when that period is over, though. I'm just not very impressed with XM. A couple months ago I picked up an iPod Photo. I love it and use it more often than I really expected to. If I had it to do over again, I wouldn't go for the Photo model, though. I wish I would have gone with the 20Gb model and saved $100.

So far, I only have it set up in my office. Fortunately, it has a Southern exposure, so I get 3 bars from the satellite no matter how I set the antenna. I tried it once in the car with the 'wearable' antenna and headphones, but I won't keep that up. I may give it a try on the way home today with the FM transmitter, but I would really rather have it direct wired through the car audio system, and a permanent car antenna.

I've been skipping through the channels - Deep Tracks, Bluesville, Bluegrass Junction, and the decade channels.

A friend of mine has XM, and he says there is one comedy channel that he can't tune in while driving or he has to pull over. I'll get there soon.

This should keep me occupied for a while. By the time I've explored all of the channels, I may even regain my enthusiasm for Led Zeppelin.

Have Fun,

We had it installed in our truck prior to our last cross-country trip. The installer made an unfortunate choice of antenna location, and we had signal about half the time. Once I convinced them to move it onto the roof, the reception has been perfect.

As to the programming, I still play CDs. I like to listen to what I want, when I want it. The real benefit is the 24-hour availability of cable news, NASCAR, and a couple other things that aren't found on broadcast radio.

I have a 60-gig iPod Photo that's semi-permanently mounted to a Bose docking station. It sits next to the computer in my office, and is loaded up with a very eclectic mix of music that probably appeals only to me. I rarely walk around 'plugged in.' I think it looks a little strange for someone my age.

A guy I used to work with went to work for XM (they are in DC), and I saw his 'employee' hookup. This was 4 years ago or so, and at that time you needed the head unit, the antenna, and some sort of 'black box', and the antenna and black box were in the trunk. Technology marches on, and there seems to be no more black box, but Delphi is very specific about the antenna being on the outside of the vehicle. I don't have an issue with that, but I don't want a wire going across the roof and into the car through the edge of a window or door. But I can't seem to find any 'permanent' car antennas on the XMRADIO or Delphi Web sites. I haven't had much chance to look elsewhere yet.

My 2002 Pontiac Montana was advertised as 'XM Ready', but I don't know what that means. I'm hoping I can find a way to direct wire it to avoid going through an FM station.

My tastes are pretty wide ranging - I like Sinatra to Sheryl Crow, and Classical to The Clash, and I enjoy some pretty off-the-wall stuff like Jamie Brockett, Frank Zappa, Savoy Brown, and The White Stripes. But ever since the only way to make your own was to cut cassettes from your vinyl I have seen that as taking too much time. I take CDs (or used to) when I travel out of the local listening area, but even that became a little boring when I knew what was coming next.

The final straw was going to a friend's house to help him assemble a Backyard Buddy garage lift. He has a custom-built PC with enough hard drive to hold all his music, and he fired up a playlist. It was great, but by the end of the day we were on the third time through it, and I knew what song was coming next. He could have put on a different playlist, but we were busy all day and I wouldn't have wanted to stop just to change the music. But that's just me - YMMV.

Have Fun,

I mounted my antenna near the trailing edge of the roof of my SUV (Xterra) and ran the wire down through the hatch hinge, under the rubber hatch gasket and then up inside the trim panel along the back edge of the headliner.

From there, the wire is tucked down (out of sight) along the top edge of all of the trim pieces around the windows and door frames, then down the A-pillar, under the dash and across to the center, where it comes back out and makes the short trip to the dock on the center console.

Even though my wife's Roady2 has a built-in FM Modulator (I had to buy a car kit and FM Mod separately for my original unit), we quickly invested another $25 for the Roady external FM Modulator and wired it up inside the center stack. The internal FM Mod in the Roady2 unit is fairly weak, so we were getting broadcast station bleedover in some urban areas when we traveled.

XM Comedy 150 baby!

its all i use it for. cant find a good music station for the life of me.. Ill keep my CD player for that.. Incidently, both my roadies will be getting sold soon as i plan to switch to Serius so i can still hear Howard... god wish he went to XM instead of Opey and Anthony!
-zacker-

That's the channel I listen to about 85% of the time. It pisses me off though that they run ads on that channel. If I'm paying for the service it should be ad free! And, to make matters worse, it's always crap that I report as spam when I receive it in email! It's a good thing my car stereo can also play MP3's. I go there when the ads come on.

yeah the ads are terrible and I hate it when they advertise thiier own channels... WTF? Im already listening to XM i dont need to hear ads for it!! And Wendy Freezen could go die for all I care and if Bob wants to quit work and start his own business, then I say go for it, just dont charge me $9.99 per month to hear about it!
lol
-zacker-