Anyone got tips/suggestions about satellite radio ?

[TheCowsCameHome]

I know next to nothing about satellite radio or subscribing to it. I do know I'm sick and tired of the standard AM/FM radio programming (Boston and South Shore/Cape Cod area, anyway).

I see you need a subscription service, plus a receiving unit of some sort for the home. (I have no need for anything in the car, at least not at this point) I presume the existing radios in the home would not be compatible with this service.

I prefer not to talk to a rep until I'm closer to signing on and understand it further, because they rapid-fire their product and try to steer you to lucrative (for them) packages.

Any preliminary tips or ideas that might make the whole process more understandable would be appreciated.

LL08

[REP]

1. I have XM

My car came with sat radio but you can buy units you can use in your house, car or both. Once you subscribe, you can listen wherever your unit is (and with XM, I can also listen on my computer and TV). I'm very happy with the service.

I forget how much it is offhand, but I do know there is a term discount (6 or 12 months vs month-to-month) and a multi-receiver discount (both my husband and I have XM radios in our cars). It's not super expensive, and to me, not having to listen to commercials or fundraisers is SO worth it. Plus the playlists on the stations I listen to the most are pretty darn good.

There's XM and Sirius - check their websites for pricing details.

[NJmaverick]

2. There are two, but there is a good chance they could merge in the near future

Sirius has the NFL and Howard Stern and XM has MLB. As for the music offerings I don't think it's much difference. I believe both have computer access as well, so you can listen on a computer at work (at least that is the case with Sirius, which is the one I have).

[Shakespeare]

3. The merger was approved a couple of weeks ago.

http://www.fool.com/investing/general/2008/07/29/xm-is-dead-long-live-sirius-xm.aspx

I have Sirius, and love it. Hoping I can now get MLB, which will make my happiness complete! :D

[NJmaverick]

5. It never did make sense to force people to choose between

football and baseball. My only fear is a lack of competition will make them fat and lazy. We could see worse service for higher rates.

[REP]

6. Make more sense to offer subs without either

Neither of us could give a flying fuck at a rolling doughnut about NFL or MLB and would rather not even have it (don't know which one XM carries and don't care).

[LiberalHeart]

4. Back when I signed up with Sirius, they had a lifetime subscription.

I paid $500 for it (it isn't your lifetime, though; it's the lifetime of your equipment). I signed up to get Air America, but then right afterward AA moved to XM and my subscription was useless to me. I gave the equipment and subscription to my doctor. He uses it for his waiting room. At least someone got some good out of the $750 (including the cost of equipment) I wasted.

[carlyhippy]

7. I listen to sirius every day

I think they have a small radio receiver with a docking station that you can take in your car then take in the house and hook it up to the receiver. I too was tired of radio stations am/fm in the area, I really like it so far. It has alot of stations, but what I am noticing is they play nearly the same songs from one day to the next on the different songs, but they are good ones, so that's ok with me.

[doc03]

8. I have XM and like it pretty much, one thing I live in an area

with a lot of narrow hollows and lots of side roads where the trees actually meet in the middle of the road blocking off the satellite, it's just about useless on those roads. Works fine on the 4 lane roads, I listen to AA alot.

[Orsino]

9. XM is great.

Adding radios to your subscription can be done for a few extra dollars per month.