Re: XM Radio
 

XM is much better these days than back then. Sirius is actually the struggling company. XM just added 10 new channels. Plus you get XM online with your subscription. Opie and Anthony are included as well. With Stern going over to Sirius, they are going to be having some issues. Stern is getting sued by CBS (his former employer) because of the way he exitted. To the tune of 500 million dollars. The same amount Sirius is paying him. They put all their nuts into one basket with him and he's not delivering. Back in the day he was worth listening to. Now he just sucks. O&A are the way to go now. Their material is 100 times better. XM has Nascar (I know roundy round racing), NHL, MLB, etc. Plus Xm is the only one of the 2 that has a portable device that you can listen to the programming live rather than having to record it then play it back. They are leagues ahead of Sirius as far as the technology goes.

Re: XM Radio
 

Well I ended up getting Sirius. WE'll see how it goes. If it sucks bad then I'll prolly end up just selling it and getting XM.

Re: XM Radio
 

What type of contract did you have to sign?

Re: XM Radio
 

No contract. I signed up for the year plan though to save money. But if I cancel before then, I get reimbursed.

Re: XM Radio
 

That's the same way XM is. I am on the every 3 month plan.

Re: XM Radio
 

So far so good. Those of you with the portable units that attach to the windshield, what do you guys do with the antenna? Mine is just kinda shoved behind the unit, and I know that isn't ideal, but I don't want it just swinging around the dash everytime I take a turn.

Re: XM Radio
 

In case you question a change: http://www.radiosatellite.org/

Very strong comparison of the 2 in their current forms. Sirius has a better satelitte situation currently than XM's 2 made by Boeing. This is comparable only to the area they cover though. Since Boeing's allows coverage in more dense area's (Canada and Alaska) and Sirius does not. Probably not relevent here.

Re: XM Radio
 

I wouldn't put a huge amount of faith in everything listed on that site. There are partners that are missing, channels that are wrong and a few other flaws.

Re: XM Radio (or Sirius)
 

Bringing this one back up. More so to chat about current receivers.

I have 2 options with the 6. Spend around $600 to have the mazda equipment installed to make my factory system a full working Sat radio ready unit. No additional antenna, everything is hooked up under the dash, and the wires are run under the carpet with everything else. Just like it would of came if we would of opted for it as a factory option.

Or I can spend under $250 for a receiver to be installed on the side of my current radio, and have a portable reciever to use as well. I'm leaning to this direction just for the cost aspect alone.

But I am not sure what receiver I would go with. We are thinking about the Starmate 4 but the downfall is how do all these compare when we talk about sound quality? I've been told by one best buy intalled that going with the factory setup will result in 50x better qaulity of sound and if cost isn't an issue he'd suggest that over anything they would sell.

But at Circut City i was advised it wouldn't even be noticeable and it's all personal choice on what type of unit you want to work with.

Re: XM Radio (or Sirius)
 

Personally I would go the factory route so its all integrated as one unit. If for no other reason than just having a much cleaner install. I would assume your steering wheel controls would be able to adjust the sat stations.

Re: XM Radio (or Sirius)
 

Yeah, I would maintain all options. The upside to havign a portable unit is the abililty to bring it inside or anywhere else I may want to listen to it.

Re: XM Radio (or Sirius)
 

Do you ever actually listen to the radio inside your house? I know I wouldn't, but Brandon's does come in useful when throwing BBQ's over at his place.

Re: XM Radio (or Sirius)
 

I'm not sure how much I would use it in the house.

Re: XM Radio (or Sirius)
 

Ok, I have been a Sirius customer for the better part of 3 years now and have never had a problem, I drive for a living so I have the portable unit the Sirius X-act but you get 2 antennas one for the Flashy whip and one for the other vechile your choice and you bury the wire under the head liner and for the Eclipse or Talon owners go out the top of the back hatch and magitize it to the roof the only problem I've encountered was the 94 tunnel, no one will ever get reception in their so here is the Break down...

1 Siruis portable unit $40.00 to $130.00 "different units different options"
2 One antenna comes with unit $35.00 for another
3 Options for billing Monthly $12.00 or do what I did and buy a Yearly subscription $150.00 "no fuss with the monthly"
4 Enjoy and drive Listening to over 165 channels

Hope this helps have nothing against XM but I think Sirius is better.

Re: XM Radio (or Sirius)
 

Everybody has their own opinions. I personally go with XM because they are consistantly coming up with better technology with better options. I also stay away from Sirius because of Stern.

No matter which one you get, you get online access to most of the channels with your subscription, so using your portable in the house has become a thing of the past. Just run your computer throught your stereo system and you get the same thing without having to put up a house antenna.

If you have a jack on your car stereo that you can hook up your Ipod to, you can hook your portable directly into that and get perfect sound quality. The subpar quality that you experience from portable units is usually because of having to use that units FM transmitter. I personally like the portables because I have mine set up for the car and the bike. In your case, I'd go with factory install for options and cleanliest.

Re: XM Radio (or Sirius)
 

Here's a link to a similar setup, except I'd put the portable unit on in place of where this guy put his I Pod.

http://forum.mazda6club.com/index.ph...7095&hl=sirius

In the end, I'm just nto sure WTF I want to do. It's a $400 differance in price, and that does play a big part.

Thanks for the input though guys.

Re: XM Radio (or Sirius)
 

Re: XM Radio (or Sirius)
 

Anybody want to buy a slightly used Inno portable XM receiver/recorder (had it since Thanksgiving) and all it's accessories for cheap? The stupid thing flakes out after being in the car docking station for more then 2-3 hours. It's like it over heats and then it acts like you're pushing random buttons on the remote. Not cool when I really only use it for long trips.

I can't really justify the cost of XM radio any more.

Re: XM Radio (or Sirius)
 

I have Sirius also. And I have the X-ACT receiver too. Just like you said, with the portable units, you do lose a little sound quality since your counting on the FM Modulator to send the signal from the receiver to your car stereo. But I didn't want a permanent install because I want to be able to swap it from the galant to the talon whenever i want, and to be able to bring it with when I travel. I love it. Sometimes if the frequency your using is a frequency that comes in a little through the air waves, you can hear some interference. But I just deal with it.

Also like Chris said, it comes in handy since it's portable, if I ever want to bring it into the house for a party, and play it through the home stereo. You can just sign on to their site, and listen to it through the site in your house, but my computer isn't hooked up to my home stereo so that doesn't really work out well for me. Once I get a real nice daily driver, I'll get a permanently installed one in it. And if you don't care about swapping it from one car to another, or bringing it inside, I'd get it permanently installed, becaues it'll sound better, and just look cleaner overall.

Re: XM Radio (or Sirius)
 

I had that same problem with the frequency that comes through all I did was disconnect the ant from back of my deck.