# Why XM over Sirius?



## Guest (Nov 12, 2003)

Here is my situation: 

I want satellite radio in my truck. I don't care about bringing it in my house, because I want an XM/Sirius ready Reciever in my Dash instead of the 'head unit'. (forgive me if i using the wrong terminalogy) Advantages as i see them....

XM:
Cost
More music choices
3 comedy stations (Sirius i think has one)
Alpine Receivers 

Sirius:
More talk choices - i listen to more talk than music.
No commericials
more progressive radio (sorry, no conservative here)


Sirius or XM? Which should i do?


Has anyone listened to Sirius Right or Sirius Left to see is they are worth it?


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## ibglowin (Sep 10, 2002)

Trust me once you have satellite radio in your car, you won't want to leave it there. We listen more to XM on the weekends at home then all week in the car. XM has more receiver options than Sirius. The Skyfi is perfect for home/car if you have the room in the car for it. The Commander is perfect for the car where space is an issue. Yes, Sirius is all commercial free and has more talk variety channels but it is also $3.00 more per month. Sirius is also lagging WAY behind in subscriber numbers and has had to raise cash to stay afloat once already. Unless there is one channel on Sirius you absolutely can't live without, go XM.


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## alv (Aug 13, 2002)

Never had sirius but it seems like XM should have all one needs for $3 less per month. I second ibglowin in that soon after I got XM for the car, I got it for home.


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## DVDDAD (Dec 21, 2002)

Hey if you're going to pay for your radio service, why would you also want to listen to commercials? Sirius offers an annual payment, which lowers the cost and, if you add a second receiver (you'll get addicted and want to eventually) it's only $6.95/month for the 2nd receiver. If you want Progressive music check out streams 20 Octane & 21 Alt Nation. Sirius left & right are okay, but I'm not into talk so I'm not a good one to ask. No commercials makes your listening experience so much better. Just my 2 cents.


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## ibglowin (Sep 10, 2002)

Not all channels on XM have commercials. Many are commercial free just like Sirius. The ones with commercials are very limited in nature, i.e. one 30 second commercial and then back to music. The commercials are also for things like OnStar or JC Penny. Not for melt away fat loss diet pills or other trash. XM also offers discounts for annual payments and second receivers. $9.99 is the price point make/brake more most people including myself.


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## Neutron (Oct 2, 2003)

DVDDAD said:


> Hey if you're going to pay for your radio service, why would you also want to listen to commercials? Sirius offers an annual payment, which lowers the cost and, if you add a second receiver (you'll get addicted and want to eventually) it's only $6.95/month for the 2nd receiver. If you want Progressive music check out streams 20 Octane & 21 Alt Nation. Sirius left & right are okay, but I'm not into talk so I'm not a good one to ask. No commercials makes your listening experience so much better. Just my 2 cents.


I believe XM also has a $6.95/month for every additional receiver.


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## BobMurdoch (Apr 24, 2002)

XM has Cinemagic (movie scores with audio clips of great scenes in between... not just instrumentsl.... they recently had a Kill Bill block where they went from Santa Esmerelda (old Disco song) to Zamfir) and UPop, (think Top 40 around the world).

The commercials are there but they are WAY less than FM. And there are dozens of channels that DON'T have commercials, so you can always jump to them when one comes up if it bothers you. They have loads of talk channels (the newsies, plus Extreme XL ... think the Morning Zoo type deals, and Old Time Radio where you can listen to the old Shadow shows if you want.)

I'd have a tough time picking Sirius, when they can't get the subscriber numbers up. XM is running away with it and already has about a 80% market share between the two if not more. I can't see Sirius surviving more than another year or two unless change comes quick to close the gap.


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## bigrock (Nov 14, 2003)

Sirius also has an exclusive with NHL and NBA to broadcast all the games. You can also save with the free tuner deal if you buy a Kenwood Head unit and antenna. http://www.sirius.com/servlet/Conte...us/CachedPage&c=FlexContent&cid=1059717176417

I have had Sirius for over a year and you can not beat never a commercial. I listen to Sirius Left and enjoy it. http://www.sirius.com/servlet/Conte...us/CachedPage&c=ChannelAsset&cid=996089496790


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## BobMurdoch (Apr 24, 2002)

Yeah, but Sirius's receivers are buggy! And..and... their PVRs stink, and...and... the owner is a crook!

Sorry, wrong forum. Which way to the D* vs. E* flame wars?


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## ibglowin (Sep 10, 2002)

BobMurdoch said:


> Yeah, but Sirius's receivers are buggy! And..and... their PVRs stink, and...and... the owner is a crook!
> 
> Sorry, wrong forum. Which way to the D* vs. E* flame wars?


Ha! Good one. 
:lol:

And the answer these days is just about any other thread is a flame war of some type!


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## FTA Michael (Jul 21, 2002)

I picked XM mainly because I thought it's more likely that they'll still be in business a couple of years from now. Sirius looks stronger than it did then, but XM sure seems to be in better financial shape.

Special X carries Dr. Demento, sets of (amusingly awful) cover songs, and other fun weird stuff. I'm disappointed with the sports coverage. The smooth jazz channel has no commercials, as do many other non-mainstream channels. If you want today's hits, you'll have to put up with one whole minute of commercials (usually two 30-second spots) every three songs or so. Oh yes, XM has a second receiver discount too.

If somebody installed Sirius in my second car for free, I'd probably subscribe, but I don't regret choosing XM.


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## Steve Mehs (Mar 21, 2002)

Sirius was never a real consideration for me. In terms of satellite radio, XM was all that is being talked about and without knowing much about Sirius I bought a SkyFi. Even a few months later, take a look at Best Buys circular from this past Sunday. Page 12 has a half page ad for XM but not one mention of Sirius. 

The commercials don't really bother me, and for $3 less a month I can tolerate a few Slim Jim and OnStar commercials. On thing I'm really starting to like is DJs speaking their mind with out having to censor them selves and callers calling in and not hearing a bunch of beeps. XM does have three comedy channels I thought I'd enjoy, but XM Comedy is the only one I really like. Laugh USA is more family comedy which I don't find funny, Extreme XM is okay, but having some loyalty to the shock jocks on FM here Extreme falls short. But I find myself cracking up while listening to XM Comedy all the time.

I was thinking of getting Sirius to compare it to XM, but after doing a little research, for now I’ll stick with just XM. I don’t like how Sirius programs Hard Attack. To me metal is an art and I prefer XM’s breakdown of metal between LM, Bone Yard and to an extent, Squizz. Whereas with Hard Attack there is a mix of everything from AC/DC to Pissing Razors. I prefer to have separate channels for underground and classic and current commercial metal, but that’s just the way I like things and I understand some people like the mix, but I don’t.

Overall I’m satisfied with XM and the Delphi SkyFi receiver. With either satellite radio provider you can’t go wrong, just choose the one that fits you best.


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## RichW (Mar 29, 2002)

I got an XMPCR unit for Christmas. (It was on my wish list)

I hooked it up to my laptop and got immediate gratification. I couldn't find anything for Sirius that was equivalent to the XMPCR at around 50 bucks. I am getting the signal from a land-based repeater with wonderful quality.

Plus XM has old time radio and audiobook content.


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## BobMurdoch (Apr 24, 2002)

I like XM for Cinemagic and UPop.

Although Sirius getting NFL simulcasts hurts.

We'll see if they survive first though. The price they paid for it comes out to $1000 per subscriber that they have now. That cash burn rate just accelerated and they won't be able to really market that advantage for another 6-7 months.


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## RAD (Aug 5, 2002)

I choose Sirius because of NO commercials on their music channels. Yes, I know that XM doesn't have them on all the music channels, but I looked at their web site and the stations that I would most likely listen too had the commercials. Also, why the commercials are limited now I believe that in the customer agreement it states that they can go up to 6 minutes of commercials per hour. For me, paying the extra $3.00 per month was worth it. 

A side benefit for me was that you can listen to the music channels via the internet, so I listen to them at work. You can listen to them, in 20 minute chunks if you're a non subscriber to you can see what the mix sounds like to you.


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