My XM experience...

[Dallas4u]

So, I book a "Premium" rental from Avis for my business trip this week, which happens to be a boaty Buick LeSabre Custom (he... custom means fake wood on the dash). The best part of this... the Premium and Luxury models come with XM radio. This is my first experience with XM or any satellite radio, so I give it a shot.

Here's what I gotta say... I WILL HAVE THIS IN MY VX ASAP! I absolutely LOVE XM! I already have a Pioneer HU that will accept an XM signal, I just have to get the FM modulator which is no problem. I have driven from El Paso, TX to Albuquerque, NM, and (of course) had a signal the whole way. I am so used to traveling between facilities and losing an FM or AM signal for hours. This is so awesome it is beyond words. The alternative rock stations are great, and I hear things that I haven't heard in forever, or have NEVER heard, and I love it! I love all of the options available!

Sorry for the rant. Those who are into music, or into gadgets, will love it. Those that don't care much for techy stuff or don't listen to music much won't care one way or another about it. I wish everyone could just try it out once!!

[Heraclid]

I totally agree! I've had mine since Christmas but have yet to get it properly installed (still have the wires showing and all). I will probably get a new head unit that works with it like you have or get the XM Commander unit for the truck and leave the Delphi set-up for home use. I want a really neat and clean factory look. But it is really nice. Joe_Black kinda got me into the whole satellite radio thing, and he has Sirius and loves it. His dig against XM has been that it was not truly 100% commercial free - but as of February 1, ALL XM channels now are, plus they added 16 channels! Even when I'm listening to a CD, I have it on one of my favorite channels so I can glance down from time to time and switch to XM if I see anything interesting, which happens a lot - good programming. :-)

[VehiX]

Go for it, XM is friggin awsome!!! Best mod I have done so far to my VX. It's even commercial free now too!

Feel free to contact me if you have any questions

You can see NO wires at all with the antenna or the XM unit itself with the way I installed mine.

[Joe_Black]

BAH! SIRIUS ROCKS BABY! LOL! Either is better than FM!

[AlaskaVX]

Arggggggggg! One reason not to live in Alaska. I have a head unit that is XM ready but we can't get it up here!!!

[gruven]

Yeah Joe_Black is responsible for my Christmas addition too.

Didn't know that XM was going commercial free so went with SIRIUS- heard that they won the NFL contract if that matters to anybody.... I felt much better knowing they (both companies) had secured funding for several years out (six I believe).

SIRIUS & my iPod = changed life!!


-gruven

[Dallas4u]

Satellite radio will be a part of my life VERY soon!!!

[Heraclid]

I've got what is apparently a new micro-antenna that came with mine, and I have it hidden beneath the rear wing with no reception issues whatsoever.

The Delphi unit does look kinda cool in my Astral VX- I have it in the same place VehiX does, but it's not attached permanently or anything. Still figuring out how I want it integrated. I wish the factory dash trim was closer to the exterior silver color - that would be sharp.

[WyrreJ]

One of them gives you free streaming internet access to all their stations as part of your subscription. I think that it is Sirius, but I (obviously) haven't subscribed to either yet.

[Joe_Black]

SIRIUS has the access to all the music channels over the Internet. They're also going to be offering video channels for in-vehicle streaming video this year. AlaskaVX, you may want to look at SIRIUS as they're expanding into Canada this year and have more satellites than XM does, not to mention they all work too. Heraclid, I picked up the Audivox portable receiver similar to the Delphi unit while driving the IronMan back and think we may need to compare notes on placement. I also dis-assembled one of the micro antennas and think it'll fit INSIDE the rear wing, with cable routing all internal and hidden. I'll leave the big antenna on the Dragon's hood insert for now, looks too much like a phaser emitter!;eekg;

[Heraclid]

Sirius does seem to be the pathfinder here, then XM follows their lead to remain competitive. XM probably has a lot more subscribers, just because they have a robust marketing campaign. Video streaming is cool if you don't try to watch it while the wheels are spinning. Neat but not sure I'd use it much.

Joe, inside the wing would be awesome, but could it actually could work that way, through the plastic? If I cover it with my hand, get under the right tree or an overpass, it can drop out, so I'm just not sure how that would work. Maybe I'm missing something here? Like the way you think, though!

What would be nice is one antenna that picks up satellite/AM/FM all at once, that is as small as the stock antenna's base, and attaches in the same place, the same way. :-) Oh, and maybe some fake machine gun barrels in the front cladding holes. Better yet, in the back, with a cranky anti-tailgating sign.

[Joe_Black]

SIRIUS had their satellites in the sky one year before XM, but spent a lot of time getting their money side stuff lined up for what they knew would be a long hard road to profitability. XM was first to market for almost a full year before SIRIUS. I was sooo close to getting XM before I found out about SIRIUS, and the commercial-free format and NPR presence sold me. If I was going to pay for it I certainly wasn't paying for commercials! Now XM is going commercial free... hmmm. In any case, XM has fewer satellites with poorer coverage and one is already dying. There's plenty of room for a duopoly in this market though, so I think both will ultimately profit offering two diverse products to an ever media-hungry public.

On the antenna, the cover is plastic so it would stand to reason common weather-resistant plastics would freely pass the signal. Simplistic reasoning yes, but by removing the third brake light and just sliding the antenna into the cavity (if there is one) a simple test can be made. The Audiovox unit has a signal strenth indicator which would be good for the test to see just how good the passivity is. Until the mini-antennas came along I was looking at the OEM antennas from Mercedes and BMW which incorporate not only a SIRIUS antenna (sorry XM folk) but AM/FM as well. The Mercedes antenna looks pretty funky and can be seen on the ML320, and the BMW antenna is the shark-fin looking thing. Both are about $140 from the dealer and would replace our existing antenna utilizing the same mounting hole and cable routing. Ah, the possibilities...

[ThirtyftFL]

I'v had XM for a year now and love it. My VX at the dealership and I think I miss the XM more than the VX. Well not really, but it is close. Even if you don't do any traveling it is a good investment.

[Heraclid]

XM is a bit misleading (or was) about the commercials. They touted being commercial free, and a lot of their channels were, but not all. Now they are though. I got XM as a gift but may have gone that way on my own just because it seemed like it was just a lot more out there - everyone sells it, etc. Actually it wasn't until I was in the car stereo shop asking about FM modulators for my new XM system that I saw anything about Sirius for myself.

Sorry Joe, but NPR? But I forgive ya. LOL

That would be really cool if it works in the wing.

[Dallas4u]

I have to say, if it wasn't for the fact that my head unit is XM compatible and not SIRIUS, I would have gotten whatever I could have found the best deal on.

Plus, it just so happens my rental has XM, and it just sounds awesome! I can't wait to hear it through my new system.