View Full Version : What do you guys think about satellite radio?
Ioman
08-23-2002, 09:04 AM
My first impression of satellite radio was a great one. You could listen to CD quality sound from East to West coast without switching stations.
What I don't like is that you need to buy a satellite ready radio and a seperate receiver box. I will not buy one until they have everything built into the head unit itself. I do not want my car being torn up more than it has to be.
SponGeBoB
08-23-2002, 09:08 AM
Originally posted by Ioman
My first impression of satellite radio was a great one. You could listen to CD quality sound from East to West coast without switching stations.
What I don't like is that you need to buy a satellite ready radio and a seperate receiver box. I will not buy one until they have everything built into the head unit itself. I do not want my car being torn up more than it has to be.
agreed this is why i was hesitant to invest to much money into XM radio yet
flashfire
08-23-2002, 09:09 AM
Personally, its not worth it. XM (satellite) radio is a subscription service. Quite frankly, someone needs to convince me why I need to pay for radio stations when I can flip on ordinary am/fm and get tons of stations ( I know most are clear channel owned drivel) . I just don't want another monthly bill for another service that I don't need and barely have a use for. I would like cheaper mp3 capable car stereo systems.
Ioman
08-23-2002, 09:20 AM
Originally posted by flashfire
Personally, its not worth it. XM (satellite) radio is a subscription service. Quite frankly, someone needs to convince me why I need to pay for radio stations when I can flip on ordinary am/fm and get tons of stations ( I know most are clear channel owned drivel) . I just don't want another monthly bill for another service that I don't need and barely have a use for. I would like cheaper mp3 capable car stereo systems.
You are paying for the stations, the CD sound and either no or very very little commercials (depending on which company you choose, either Sirius or XM Radio). $10/mo to me would be worth it. I just do not want a seperate reciever. If you think about it $10 is like not eating out one night of the week.
martianviking
08-23-2002, 01:54 PM
I agree; $10 is not a lot of money, and if you are in your car a lot then satellite radio would be nice. Assuming, of course, that you don't have an iPod or other large-capacity digital audio player. But, I still think it's going to be hard to convince most people to spend even $10 a month on radio.
Of course I'd want it integrated into the head unit. Now what I'd really like to see is an open standard for on-wheel stereo controls...
Ioman
08-23-2002, 02:09 PM
I also do not think that Satellite radio has been marketd that well at all. People know about XR radio (not a whole lot) but what about Sirius? They are just about as big as XM yet no one knows who they are. I think these satellite companies are relying on the radio manufacturers and car companies to promote their products. Cadillac uses XM, Alpine uses Sirius etc...
I think they are great products and I would hate to see them fail leaving us with the commercial branded radio that is left.
flashfire
08-23-2002, 03:48 PM
Originally, you paid a bit for cable stations because there were little or no commercials. Now, it is the opposite you pay a huge chunk of change and it is mostly commercials. Originally you paid a bit for dial up and web content was mostly ad free, now big portions of my inbox are ads and most webpages are either littered with them or the whole page is nothing but an ad. Give me proof that the same markets conditions won't do the same to the popular XM stations. I know I'm being a bit hypocritical, but we don't charge a monthly fee for content or required very specialized equipment and the discussion is interesting :)
$120 a year..
Ok, say alot of people Go to Sat radio. How manny will remember or have the Standard radios, and KNOW they dont have to pay.
Like cable, how manny people remmember they can STILL get TV channels without cable.
I think I saw that there is a Unit that you can get, that interfaces with your radio.
IronSerif
08-23-2002, 09:16 PM
I prob. wouldn't get sat. radio right now, thats just me. There were some talks about our stores getting demos of XM though, cause I know some of the higher peeps have them and they said we should be getting demos soon...we shall see :rolleyes:
IMHO, satellite radio is a BAD investment. I figure one or probably both companies will go out of business within a year or two.
About the only time I could listen to sattelite radio is in my car. My daily commute is about 30 min. / day. Not worth it, especially if I have to buy new equipments.
Currently, I'm using Streamripper (http://streamripper.sourceforge.net/index.php) to record internet radio, like from DI Radio (http://www.digitallyimported.com/). After about 10 hours or so (overnight), I have enough stuff to listen to for the rest of the week. Best of all, no commercials! Yeah, it helps if you have an MP3 head unit.
Unregistered
08-25-2002, 09:12 PM
Originally posted by ruri
IMHO, satellite radio is a BAD investment. I figure one or probably both companies will go out of business within a year or two.
About the only time I could listen to sattelite radio is in my car. My daily commute is about 30 min. / day. Not worth it, especially if I have to buy new equipments.
Currently, I'm using Streamripper (http://streamripper.sourceforge.net/index.php) to record internet radio, like from DI Radio (http://www.digitallyimported.com/). After about 10 hours or so (overnight), I have enough stuff to listen to for the rest of the week. Best of all, no commercials! Yeah, it helps if you have an MP3 head unit.
This is a tough call. I thought Tivo and Replay TV would be out of the game too. They hit the market fast and with a lot of money and actually stuck around. It is hard to see where satellite radio will be in a year or two. The idea is great, they just need to make the technology more compact.
But Tivo type machine have been around ALONG time.. about 10 years... There down fall THEN was the small hard drives...30 minutes of recording and that was IT.
NOW with harddrives so BIG, you can record 1 weeks worth of stuff and watch it when you are ready..
All those against another monthly bill, I agree.
Satelite radio is a great idea, but most of the units are available only in cars. How about a home unit or a portable unit?
Yes Clear Channel has their hand in the satelite cookie jar and they are a monopolistic greed machine. Fight the power!
I recently moved from Portland, OR to Boston, MA and let me tell you the radio stations out here suck. They have talk radio on FM, every other station is playing early rock, and they all play more commercials and commentary than they do music. I hate the stations in the NE. That's why I like internet radio and CDs.
I could see someone who worked out of their car or even a truck driver benefiting from this, but in Boston there is nowhere to park, the roads demand 4 wheel drive suspensions because they are crap, and it costs a million dollars to insure your vehicle. I think most major metros are like that. I leave the car at home, and play tunes on a cd player.
Sorry XM and Sirius.
llbbl
09-08-2002, 07:20 PM
Originally posted by martianviking
I agree; $10 is not a lot of money, and if you are in your car a lot then satellite radio would be nice. Assuming, of course, that you don't have an iPod or other large-capacity digital audio player. But, I still think it's going to be hard to convince most people to spend even $10 a month on radio.
Of course I'd want it integrated into the head unit. Now what I'd really like to see is an open standard for on-wheel stereo controls...
Off topic .. Where did u get your icon from? Even better yet, What is the icon of? It's pretty kewl !
llbbl
09-08-2002, 07:41 PM
I first heard the rumors about the two different types of satellite radio about two years ago. I thought it was a good idea then and a good idea now. What I like about it is that it isn't run by companies like ClearChannel (http://www.clearchannelsucks.org/) radio and other large corporate national stations.
Satellite radio makes sense for those of us who are too busy to record stuff from the net or transfer our music to disk. It makes even better sense for the people who are against mp3's or choose not to take sides on the issue because of their lack of understanding / interest.
Listen to what ZDNet has to say (http://www.zdnet.com/anchordesk/stories/story/0,10738,2871303,00.html) on the issue.
EVEN IF YOU DON'T want all-bluegrass-all-the-time or the Frank Sinatra festival, the satellite services' programming doesn't overlap nearly as much as commercial radio stations, half of which at any given moment seem to be playing a selection from the same three-song playlist.
I also found a good table that compares the two. You can find it on the xmsatelliteradio.us (http://xmsatelliteradio.us/xmvssirius.htm) site. I was dissapointed to see that one of the partners for XM happens to be none other than Clearchannel. I guess I could live with one company I hate, but how many RIAA supporters can you spot?
SponGeBoB
09-08-2002, 08:38 PM
it looks like a super deformed pic of Ryu from streetfighter although the hair doesn't match
I thought Tivo and Replay TV would be out of the game too.
There are several advantages for owning a PVR. First, you could actually record on them! Second, they augment your current system. You don't need to replace your TV to use them. And third, Clear Channel doesn't ownz them :D
Seriously, satellite radio is a car only thing. Now if they make cheap, boombox type radios for the work cubicles and tuner deck for home use, and charge you the same rate for all three gears, then I might be interested. As it is now, my MP3 head unit along with Streamripper gets me enough free (okay 10cents / CDR) entertainment.
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