Elvis, Howard, Playboy and Martha for less than $13 a month!
Written: Aug 27 '06
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I’ve had a long relationship with the medium of radio. I’m old enough to remember when AM radio had fantastic stations. As a kid way back when, I attached my little rocket ship crystal radio to metal and enjoyed the best of the British Invasion, Motown and the Baltimore Colts. Well, those days are long gone. The 1970’s saw the rise of FM stereo relegating AM to news, sports and Spanish radio stations. FM did the trick for several decades. However, the line was drawn in the sand back in 2005. All of a sudden, my favorite oldies station “flipped” and turned into an atrocious Hodge podge of disgusting 70’s, 80’s through the current crap they palm off as music.
My patience is finite. I detest endless commercials, and trite so called personalities.
Well folks, for a nominal monthly cost, there is relief from the droll drivel of broadcast radio. The two big satellite radio companies are the gigantic XM franchise and, the we try harder company that features a cute doggy as their logo/mascot. My review deals with Sirius.
Up till last fall when Howard Stern announced his allegiance with Sirius, XM was the “General Motors” of the satellite radio industry. Being an avid Howard Stern listener when he announced he was going with Sirius, my mind was made up. By the way, Howard and company have the freedom to be themselves, uncut and in your face. For you Bush fundamentalists and political correct weenies, Howard Stern on Sirius will cause you to have kittens at the very least.
A side note; until Howard Stern went with Sirius I actually had more experience with XM. My company/employer is the first and so far only airline to feature satellite radio free of charge on every flight. And, we had some sweet discounts through are company Air Tran Airways if we signed up. But, I must have my daily dose of Howard and his psychotic gang of players.
Both XM and Sirius have many different equipment choices at all price points. From basic mini-me models to audio file quality that will set you back several hundred bucks. Money is always an issue for me so, after the long Holiday season finally ended Sirius along with XM had some really economical deals with rebates. I picked a small Sirius receiver made by Sanyo after a $50.00 rebate set me back only $30.00. The first step in getting started with Sirius is to purchase or select your radio/receiver. The kit I selected has hardware included for mounting in your car. I still have this extra hardware but, I exclusively use my Sirius equipment in my apartment. You can purchase Sirius equipment at Radio Shack, Circuit City and several of the other grand retail chains. However, the quickest, easiest and CHEAPEST is to deal directly with Sirius. Go to www.sirius.com or, ring up their toll free number and they will walk you through everything. I must say, I find the web site a bit on the busy and cluttered side. Though I embrace doing things on the Internet this go around I opted to deal with a person via phone. Customer service was courteous, prompt and explained everything I needed to know. My only quibble with customer service was the fact that they got my user name wrong. The agent who assisted me had a thick Spanish accent and thought I said “Cippyjet” instead of the correct username “Zippyjet” when setting up my user name and other information. All it took to rectify the situation was a five minute phone call and then, I was good to go. Customer service informed me it could take up to 10 working days to receive my equipment in the mail. And, this being early January, it was right after the holiday season and then bang the next weekend was another government holiday observing Martin Luther King Day. But, within three days my unit came complete with instructions. Set up was easy taking only 15 minutes. It would have been five but my 18 pound tubby tabby cat had to get in on the action and tried to eat some of the cables and plugs. He thought the antenna indoor outdoor receiver was a toy! Activating is a snap! Plug in everything, aim your antenna and tune to channel 184 and there you have it. The directions show a map of the USA and depending in which part of the country you reside, determines which direction to aim your antenna. I’m on the border of the Northeast and Southeast quadrants (Maryland). So, a bit of fiddling and I got the reception. I extended my antenna cable through a window and secured the receiving unit on a window ledge. Generally reception is good to very good. In Maryland, we get a lot of storms that roll in from the south and west which can interfere briefly with satellite radio reception. This interference lasts maybe 30 seconds or less. Occasionally I’m on one of the flight paths into BWI International Airport and this too can meddle with reception. Considering I live in a low lying area that used to be swamp land; Sirius reception comes in relatively strong. Most users have better conditions than I have and should have as good if not better results.
For $12.95 a month, I can have Elvis, Howard Stern, Playboy Radio and Little Stevens (Steven Van Zandt from the Sopranos) Underground Garage anytime I want them. Quite reasonable. And, I’ll sometimes tune into to Sirius Left (liberal talk radio yes there is such an animal out there), old time radio classics from my parent’s day (The Shadow and other back in the day radio classics). For those listeners with alternative life styles there is a Gay/Lesbian station plus Richard Simmons. For those with a decorating and entertaining fetish there is Martha Stewart 24/7. So, if you want to learn the proper way of throwing a dinner party shindig, or the correct way to perfect a bunt cake at 0400 you can do it if you are a Sirius subscriber.
On Sirius, there is something for everybody. Playboy channel 198 is unique to Sirius. Any subscriber can listen to Playboy radio for NO EXTRA COST. The only thing one has to do is opt in by following an easy activation procedure. That way any red state conservatives do not have to worry about being exposed to Playboy Playmates, sexy stories and sex advice on their radios. In the past, Playboy was a province of XM satellite radio but subscribers had to pony up extra money to listen to it.
It has been over six months and I’m as happy now with Sirius radio as I was when I initially subscribed. My only criticism deals with some of the music channels. The 50’s, 60’s, 70’s and especially the “Soul Classic” stations are sub par in comparison with the rest of Sirius’s offerings. The play list on the 50’s, 60’s and 70’s is the standard boring in my opinion pedestrian fare that used to be on regular broadcast radio. How many times can one hear Blue Monday, Build Me Up Buttercup and I Am Woman without wanting to lose one’s lunch? When I fly on my airline (Air Tran) I really enjoy XM’s Soul Street radio. The XM station features soul goodies from 1955 through 1975. In my opinion this period was R & B/Soul’s golden age. Unfortunately Sirius’s soul station narrow casts a limited selection of tired hits from the 60’s with way too much emphasis on the 70’s and 80’s soul which is way overplayed on any type of radio. If I was Mel Carmizon CEO of Sirius, I’d take a play from XM’s book and totally redo the classic soul channel. I’d lose most of the 70’s and 80’s soul light music!
All in all, Sirius satellite radio rates a solid 4 stars. From my experience and exposure with XM, I’d rate the big boy of satellite radio at least three stars. If Elvis, Playboy, Howard Stern and Martha are not important, you’d probably be happy with XM and their wide menu of station variety. But, for the buck, Sirius has it with their abundance of diverse celebrities and personalities. In addition, Sirius is the place to be for NFL football. Whichever company you go with, once you experience satellite radio you will wonder why you put up with the crap that is broadcast radio. Both Sirius and XM have round the traffic and weather reports for many major cities in the US. In the Baltimore area, round the clock traffic is a lifeline. For a big city, Baltimore is limited on round the clock traffic reporting. Sirius is planning to come out with a new line of tiny IPOD size radio receiving units by this Christmas Chanukah season. Enjoy!
Recommended:
Yes
What product did you purchase or try to purchase? Sirius satellite suscribtion
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Epinions.com ID:
agingpeacock
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Location: Baltimore, Md. USA
Reviews written: 35
Trusted by: 3 members
About Me:
But wait, there’s more! I’ll entertain and inform with my reviews! My promise to you!
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