Does anyone have any experiences with XM Satellite radio, either at home or in their vehicles? I was thinking of asking for this for Xmas.
I found this review:
http://www.arstechnica.com/reviews/02q2/xmradio/xm-radio-1.html
And of course there’s some stuff on epinions.com. The homepage is here:
Where you can also sample a lot of the channels.
What with MP3’s I’m not interested. But, being in Milwaukee means I’m deprived of interesting talk radio. Does XM offer interesting talk radio? When you get older all you want is good talk radio in the car. This (and Oldies or Classic Rock) is the main reason why kids hate their parents.
When you get older all you want is good talk radio in the car.
You do? Just how old are you? I’m 30 and I listen to current rock music and older stuff too. My kids seem to enjoy it. When will I hit the magical age of talk radio or oldies only? I want to know when I should kill myself first. :)
–Dave
I’m 31. So you’ve got a year left.
Okay, okay, it might be more of a “Milwaukee radio really stinks” thing too. Bad Milwaukee talk radio beats bad Milwaukee music radio. Unless you like the five songs the Classic Rock station plays again and again. The only modern stations play either R&B or modern-“alternative”-metal.
I’m spoiled. I grew up near LA and went to school near SF. Terrific radio out there.
I’m 34 and generally I listen to talk pretty much all the time or CDs if there isn’t anything interesting on. In the morning it is Imus or Elliot in the morning, at lunch it is Tony Kornheiser, and in the evening it is Sports Talk 980. I don’t remember when I stopped listening to music on the radio but it was probably around 30ish. So your time is coming Long, just be prepared. ;)
– Xaroc
We have no decent radio stations on Birmingham. Every rock station comes and goes due to poor ad sales. The last one was replaced by an all 80’s station. Yeech! The one Alt-Rock station is all new punk and Matchbox 20. Short of running my CD’s over and over at work, I am reduced to talk radio. I like Glenn Beck. Right leanings, but a lot of non-PC, borderline offensive bits and conversations.
I would have XM in a second if it was not for the cost. I do not need another monthly bill. And, yes there is a talk radio station on XM, but I cannot speak to the quality.
Yep, I am 33 and mine started 1 or 2 years ago.
XM has a number of talk stations according to this:
http://www.xmradio.com/programming/neighborhood.jsp?hood=talk_and_variety
and this:
http://www.xmradio.com/programming/full_channel_listing.jsp?sort=number
I can vouch for how funny Phil Hendrie is (Buzz XM). I know Glen Beck is on one of our local stations but I haven’t heard him.
– Xaroc
Definitely an acquired taste. Many monologues are miserable, but some of his fake callers and comedy bits, both live and recorded, are hilarious, high quality and very well produced. He has an ultra-PC guy call in from People for the Ethical Treatment of People or PETP. He has a lisp and pronounces it pet-ptha. I would explain more, but it would lose much in the translation. I had the time to have him grow on me as the radio runs all day at my desk. :)
Our talk radio station in Sactown was more or less blasted when Opie and Anthony went off the air. So now they still play Howard in the mornings and then it’s 80s hair rock all day! GMicek is always blasting the Whitesnake and Tesla, so you see how difficult it can be. :D
Oh for the love of God, NO!!! I bet it’s the acoustic remake of ‘Signs’ at morning, noon, and night.
Some of that music may, I repeat may, have been good at the time. It is time to move on. Let it go.
Re: Whitesnake
Ok this post, much like every tequila shot I’ve ever done, is probably ill-advised, but my friends and I have had a running thing about making lists of our top 100 songs. A while ago I put up a website to track them all and provide some statistics about them. The site is at http://triste.ro/top100. Since it was just for friends, you need to login to create a list and there’s no public registration page. Until I change that, if anyone wants to put up a list, just email me at [email protected] or send me a message on this board and I’ll set you up.
The only rules are that you can only have 5 songs by any one artist, and you have to include even the embarassing songs that you loved in 7th grade because it reminds you of the first time you kissed a girl.
I can already tell that my list is going to ruin any credibility I might have had on this board. :)
Unlikely.
Yeah, it was the only FM station. Now people have to go to the zillions of AM talk stations. Better than nothing.
And I’ll have you know that I turn it when they put Tesla on. However, I do crank it when they put on Ratt, Quiet Riot, and Poison, hehe.
Ok, enough of this digression. Dagnabbit!
I’m so old in the head that when I say “talk radio” I’m most definitely not talking about shock jocks and heavy metal morning people. I’m talking about AM transmissions.
On long drives talk radio, sports or books on tape can really help make the drive seem shorter than just listening to music.
After that I have a CD player that can play MP3s off of cds. A couple of cds and you have 50 hours of music. If you can afford XM, you could afford the $40s the cd player and adapter cost me. I just don’t see the point of XM radio.
Chet
Personally I don’t enjoy downloading MP3s, it’s such a pain sometimes so I gave up a while ago. And sometimes I want to listen to music that I don’t already own. I listen to some of the XM stations while surfing the web and they’re pretty good, especially if you just want to listen to some random stuff that you don’t have a clue about.
The only thing with XM and Sirius that really bothers me is the monthly subscription fee. Well, I guess that’s one of two things – the monthly subscription fee and the fact that you need to buy it for each and every XM radio you purchase…
I have a similar set of qualms about Tivo/ReplayTV (I just don’t need another monthly bill!), but at least with Tivo/ReplayTV you can pay a single lump sum (equal to approx. 2 yrs. subscription) that’s good for the life of the device. With XM, I’d pay an extra $100 or so for the lifetime subscription, but otherwise… Not interested.
ASJunk
After that I have a CD player that can play MP3s off of cds. A couple of cds and you have 50 hours of music. If you can afford XM, you could afford the $40s the cd player and adapter cost me. I just don’t see the point of XM radio.
I’m planning on going with an in dash CD player that can play MP3s when I replace the CD player recently stolen out of my car. I’m pretty excited about the idea of being able to put all the albums from one band on a single CD. I can have all my Radiohead on one disc, all my Weezer on one, all my Elliott Smith and Quasi and REM, etc. I already don’t keep originals CDs in the car, and this will cut down on the number I’ll need. All I need now is to save up $250!
Has anyone on this board put an MP3 jukebox into their car?
I’ve been jerry rigging it using my Archos jukebox and a tape adapter, but I’m thinking that I might want to put a laptop or other computer into the car and use it as a jukebox (hide it under a seat or something).
Anyone have any experience with this?
ASJunk
I haven’t bothered really keeping tabs on XM, but it seems like its window of opportunity passed with the development of car stereos that can play MP3s off of CDs. A buddy of mine has one in his car, and it works great. It’s amazing how much music you can cram onto one disc.