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Satellite Radio Systems Compared
The NYT has a review/comparison of XM radio and Sirius, the two systems of digital satellite radio. Not everyone wants to pay for radio, but I guess if you spend enough time listening to it, maybe it's worthwhile.
Yeah, I'd buy that for $10. Hmm... FP?
This sig no verb.
Delphi, the major maker of XM receivers has announced that they are moving all product design and engineering offshore because workers in the USA are paid too much.
You may want to take that into account when picking a system.
My folks just built a log home in an area where you can not get any cellular signal. You can barely pickup the nearest radio stations, and that's only if you hold your nose just right. TV via antenna is next to impossible thanks to our hills that surround the home. Satelitte isn't just used by radio aficionados. Real folks like you and I sometimes need it.
They sound the same to me, and have the same selection of stations. This is largely due to the fact I own neither.
The bottom line, for those needing a quick answer, is Sirius is superior in sound quality, features(free streaming from their website!), and channel quality(better music, no commercials, better talk). XM has a few more channels that make very little difference to the end result (read on).
After careful review of both systems, Sirius came out the winnner, as I have said. The channels are laid out well, lack commercials, sound great, and are streamed on the internet. The only disadvantage of Sirius was its oft-sited lack of Nascar, which they seem to be trying to remedy. Also, XM has an extra comedy channel (it's boring, and features older, censored comedy), and a few more "experimental" music channels which most will find totally useless. Surfing XM for music is often like surfing the regular (terrestrial) radio in a large city-you get nothing but frustration. It's no wonder XM doesn't stream live on the net so that you can try before you buy. Also, XM's channel layout was unfriendly, in my opinion.
The greatest and most dizzying drawback in comparing the two, however, are the staggeringly stupid and annoying XM commercials. Not necessarily the corporate commercials that come from outside companies (which are annoying in an expected way), but the ridiculous and loud in-house XM stuff that makes you have to turn down your radio really quick when you've had it up loud-especially with the windows open (yes, they are that embarrassing). This, and the better performance of Sirius, was the deciding factor in my cancelling XM.
XM, however, holds their own and can satisfy a customer with some decent music and a fair selection of Talk. If not for Sirius, I would have kept XM, I think; probably because it IS nice to listen to the same station no matter where you go. Yet, as is the way of competition, Sirius has offered everything good that XM does and DONE IT RIGHT. Sirius outshines in the talk category, with a variety of Right and Left-wing shows, all of the useful talk channels XM has, and NPR, PRI, and a well laid-out channel plan.
XM does a bit better in the design of their customer care website. Sirius also has a customer care website, but it is not as robust (less detail). However, XM doesn't have streaming audio on its website-apparently we all have to pay XM $6.99 extra in additon to buying another $200 receiver for the house. In addition to the crappy commercials, this is probably where the corporate influence of XM being part-owned by ClearChannel and GM shows. (Clearchannel is responsible for the reason regular radio is so terrible).
One other interesting tidbit is that I was able to receive both services with an antenna hidden below the rear-deck of my car-made possible probably because it has a large rear-window at a steep angle. Sound quality was the same wherever the antenna was placed-inside or outside-of course. I understand that there was a professional review of XM vs. Sirius and that XM was said to have better sound, but the superiority of Sirius was glaring in my test. I say A-B it at a store with XM, if you can, on the same system. Do a channel comparison, too-I'm sure you'll see that what I've written is the case.
Good luck, and, for my two cents, I would support Sirius unless XM does an about-face. XM may be cheaper by a few bucks, but trust me: you get what you pay for.
Is there censorship???
That's the one thing that bugs me more than anything else about an AM / FM radio. When I listen to songs, I'm tired of the FCC regulating stations, and butchering songs I would otherwise appreciate into beeps, buzzes, silent space, and otherwise crap FX.
Maybe I'm the only one, but I couldn't care less about having a radio station that I could bring with me across the country. I'm more concerned about
a) Having a radio station not play the same thing 20x a day and
b) Having them NOT butcher the song.
Of course, I've been to all the places, Best Buy, etc and ask them. They don't know. I don't have any friends with this device.
So for now, it's a no go. Not until I know that it's uncensored, and always will be that way.
/^[A-Z0-9._%+-]+@[A-Z0-9.-]+\.[A-Z]{2,4}$/i
Would be a nice list. That way I can avoid any company that does not produce its stuff in Sweden, or other parts of Europe. Don't want my money to fatten up American workers when European ones can get it instead.
The idea goes both ways...
Trust the Computer. The Computer is your friend.
"And a voice was screaming: 'Holy Jesus! What are these goddamn animals?'" - HST
I listen to Sirius everyday at work for about 4-8 hours a day. Now that I have it, I would say that I would have to quit my job if I ever could not listen to it for some reason. I fly aerial surveying missions, and it can get very boring up there with nothing to do. Now I have a way to have entertainment anywhere in the country, even in the middle of the desert at 12000 feet!!
I have 100 channels to chose from, and have yet to get bored of the 5 or 6 I listen to regularly. I personally think Sirius is much better than XM, mainly for these "streams" as they call them: 2 NPRs, PRI and JamOn. There defiantly is a reason to pay for radio!
Outsourcing is not as pronounced because American companies have greater flexibility due to less regulation of employment practices. It has nothing to do with salary compensation.
If you look at the total compensation for employees in America and Europe, you won't find much difference as the higher American salaries are balanced by the higher outlays European companies make to finance the larger benefits and government taxes.
As I've indicated, outsourcing from Europe to America is marginal at best. So don't worry, your IT jobs will be going to India. At least this way you can feel better about yourself.
-- You see, there would be these conclusions that you could jump to
As both of my favorite entertainment acronyms that begin with "N" are on Sirius (namely, NPR and NFL), I'm all about Sirius. My car stereo is due for an update, and Sirius compatibility is topping then list.
I live in a part of the world where I can't tune in the insanely ecclectic interviews and call-in panels on The Connection, or Click and Clack's "Car Talk." I can burn CD's for music, but not for NPR or NFL game play-by-plays. (I heard the Patriots make their goal-line stand on a staticky, faint AM station. I was honking my horn like a madman.)
XM has some really corporate news stuff (read: fluff), and some right-wing talk radio masturbation festivals, but Sirius has that =and= NPR. (Liberal-leaning hosts and commentators, usually, but a stringently centrist editorial policy. PRI and Pacifica are public radio left-wingnuts, but NPR makes damn sure all sides of a story are given their say.)
SoupIsGood Food
From one of my old University buddies: Ars Technica: Satellite Radio Review
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