The Future Of Radio Is in Safe Hands With Sirius!
Written: Oct 03 '05
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INTRO
I have been interested in satellite radio for sometime now. Over the weekend i decided to go ahead and take the plunge after i found a read good deal on a Sirius receiver at target. The XACT XTR 7 was on clearance for $39.99 an offer i could not refuse, finally i had entered the world of commercial free radio! The channel lineup on the back of the box looked impressive. I did not have an XM line up handy to compare but i had heard nothing but good things about Sirius, so i felt pretty sure this was the one for me!
SETUP AND INSTALLATION
Installation of your new equipment will vary greatly depending on what system you choose to buy, however the setup and activation of the Sirius service will be the same no matter what system you buy. The best thing to do first is to get your new equipment set up and ready to go. The XACT XTR is a car ready kit, so i ran all the cables and got the unit powered up as per the instructions. It asks you to tune to channel 184 which is the Sirius preview channel, once you have done that you are ready to activate your service.
The best way to activate your service is via the internet. This way you will be able to view and read about all of the various plans that they have available. There is also a toll free number that you can call to activate your service. If you choose to activate your service online there is a one time activation fee of $10, if you choose to activate over the phone the fee is $15, so it is a little cheaper to do this online!
There is really a service plan for everyone. You can pay a one time fee of $499.99 this will get you a lifetime subscription to Sirius Radio, never again will you have to pay another bill. You can also choose to pay annually. 1 and 2 year programs are available and they are $142.25 + 1 month free for the 1 year deal and $271.95 + 3 months free for the 2 year plan. I was not in the right situation to purchase these plans so i decided to look at their quarterly and monthly plans.
I think the best way to go with this service is to choose either a quarterly or monthly plan, but then that’s just my opinion, that way if you choose that you want to switch to XM for example you will not waste extra money on the Sirius service. If you choose to get a quarterly plan you will pay $38.85 which is a pretty good deal, if you decide to go the monthly route you will pay $12.95 a month, i personally think that this is a good deal and the best route to take until you are sure that Sirius is the radio provider for you.
When you have decided on the plan you want, the website will guide you through the activation process. The website is very easy to use and i really recommend you activate your service online if you can. The website asks for general information from you i.e. name, address phone number etc. It will also ask you for the SID/ESN number from your receiver, I had a little difficulty finding this number so I called the help desk for Sirius and the customer service is wonderful. Even though my problem was not with Sirius itself, they done everything they could to help me find this number, they were very quick and courteous! . Once you have entered all of your information, and have confirmed everything you are good to go and you can start enjoying your new radio service.
SO MANY MUSIC CHOICES
Sirius Radio has 120 commercial free radio station to choose from! There really is something for everyone here! In terms of music there are an incredible 65 channels of commercial free music! Just about every Genre is represented here. Top 40 hits, light pop, love songs, easy listening, 50's, 60's, 70's and 80's, 90's and now, not to mention Classical, Jazz, Rock, Rap, Hip Hop, Heavy Metal, Country, Blues and Reggae. There are even stations on here that are dedicated to EMINEM, and one that is dedicated ELVIS. Have kids in the car? Then just tune it to RADIO DISNEY so you can keep them entertained too! One of the greatest things about satellite radio is that it is 100% commercial free! I am so tired with regular radio, you get to listen to 2 songs then 7 minutes of commercial! This is not the case with Sirius. There are some DJ’s on the channels but they only ever talk about songs that have just been played or the song that is about to played, and even when they do cut in it is just for a few moments! There are many music stations on the Sirius network something for everyone guaranteed!
SPORTS RADIO AT IT'S FINEST
Then you get to the sports channels. XM radio only has the license for baseball, Sirius has the licenses for the NBA, NFL, NHL, English Premiership Soccer and most collegiate football and basketball games. There are 8 channels set aside for sports and they include, ESPN Radio and ESPN NEWS. There is also a Sirius NFL station and a sports talk channel called Sports Action. All are absolutely excellent. There are also 15 channels set aside for sports play by play coverage. If you are a sports fan this will be like a small slice of heaven for you.
NEWS AND WEATHER AT YOUR FINGER TIPS
If you like to keep up to date with the news and weather, then you will love the 14 channels that are dedicated to keeping you informed. You will find channels like CNBC, BLOOMBERG, CNN, BBC WORLD SERVICE, THE FOX NEWS CHANNEL, THE WEATHER CHANNEL, C-SPAN and more, you will be spoilt for choice. The Traffic and weather channel is a great service. Every 4 minutes it will update and will give detailed reports for the biggest and busiest cities in the country. This includes, New York and Philly, Atlanta and Boston, Baltimore and Washington, Los Angeles and San Diego, Chicago/St.louis, Detroit/Pittsburgh, Dallas/Houston, San Francisco/Seattle, Orlando/Tampa, and Miami/Ft Lauderdale. This service will be invaluable to you if you do a lot of traveling like myself.
TALK AND ENTERTAINMENT
The last area is the Talk And Entertainment channels. If you love talk radio you will love these channels. They range from RADIO DISNEY to THE DISCOVERY CHANNEL from COURT TV to MAXIM RADIO for the guys. Then of course you have channels that are for the phone in radio fans SIRIUS TALK CENTRAL being my personal favorite. Apart from the talk stations you also have the entertainment channels like, E! ENTERTAINMENT RADIO, CRACKED UP COMEDY and many more that will keep you entertained for hours! There is also a SIRIUS EN ESPANOL that has a few channels set aside for the Spanish speaking among us, the choices just go on and on. All this and i still have not mentioned that Howard Stern the legendary talk show host will be coming to Sirius in the beginning of 2006! Sirius have promised one of the most controversial radio shows ever! I cannot wait for that!
The reception of Sirius Radio itself is wonderful. I always get full signal strength wherever i go! Every now and then just for a split second, reception is interrupted while the receiver updates itself, but it is barely noticeable. One other great feature that I have not mentioned yet, is that when you subscribe to the Sirius Network you also get to tune into all the Sirius Channels online as well! Even when you are at home surfing the net you can listen to 120 channels of music, sports and talk radio! Awesome!
Yes XM has a few more channels than Sirius does but there are so many channels on Sirius I honestly cannot see the need for anymore! I had my doubts about Satellite Radio but I have been so impressed with Sirius I don't just don't know how I lived without it before!! Highly Recommended!
Recommended:
Yes
What product did you purchase or try to purchase? Sirius Satellite Radio
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Epinions.com ID:
brett_day
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Member: Brett Day
Location: Oklahoma City, OK, USA
Reviews written: 79
Trusted by: 25 members
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