Who has Sirius?

[TuxedoPk]

Well I've decided to get myself a Sirius radio for Christmas this year. (Ok, I'll confess it's primary use is to listen to Howard Stern.)

Trying to decide which radio to purchase- I'll be using it both at home and in the truck. The S50 looked cool with its IPOD like features. Anyone have suggestions on which models they like or comments on Sirius's programming in general?

Q. Does anyone know if you can receive satellite reception while on commercial airplanes?

[SMLDONZI]

Tuxedo, I got Sirius about 3 months ago--primarily for Stern also. I love the various music programming so much that its worth it without Stern. I have the Sportster and am very happy with it. My brother and a couple other friends have the Sportster too and all have zero complaints. Enjoy!

[txtaz]

Well I've decided to get myself a Sirius radio for Christmas this year. (Ok, I'll confess it's primary use is to listen to Howard Stern.)

Rich, You controversial??? Come on....
We have Sirrus in the house and love it. Turn on some Jazz, make a fire and cook dinner. Sure makes the misses happy.
Da Taz

[synack]

I've got three of them. Two hardwired in my cars and a third (A Sportster IR) for the Donzi. The music selection is great as are the talk channels.

The sportster IR is nice because it has a 45 minute TiVo-like capability. You can pause the playback and resumer again within 45 minutes. They make hardwire kits and boomboxes so you have some versatility when you move the unit from the car.

The S50 is nice, but has no live sat capability.

Check out the following link for tons of Sirius info and unit reviews: http://www.siriusbackstage.com/

[Sam]

No Sirrus here.................XM, oh well. Did you by chance here they rerun they played today with David Brener and Sam Kinison (Spelling ?). My god I all most wet my pants.

[TuxedoPk]

No Sirrus here.................XM, oh well. Did you by chance here they rerun they played today with David Brener and Sam Kinison (Spelling ?). My god I all most wet my pants.


I love Brenner's OLD material and you can't beat playing Kinison singing Wild Thing full blast after a bad breakup!

[TuxedoPk]

Based on everyone's input I'm going with the Sportster. Is the replay model worth the difference between the $29 vs. $99 price tag (after rebates)?

Was planning on buying at Radio Shack unless someone knows of a place with better prices.

Since I'll be primarily using this at home, is the boombox or home kit the better way to go? I'm now really looking forward to using this for some Christmas music this weekend.

[synack]

I use the Sportster IR almost exclusively for music in the 22ZX and in rental cars. It's rare that I've ever used the pause feature.

If all you listen to is music, then the replay buffer probably isn't something you will use often. However, if you listen to the news/tv/sports channels, then the replay is worth it. For example, you can pause a game while you get pulled over by the coast guard and then resume the game when they let you go! :biggrin: Excluding the buffer feature, I still think that the Sportster IR is a nicer unit than the older Sportster.

If you have a nice home stereo, the home kit would be better than the boombox since it'll sound much nicer through the home system's speakers than the tiny boombox speakers. The boombox is really more for portability... i.e. the garage, picnics, beach, camping, fishing, etc.

[TuxedoPk]

I'll be listening to Christmas on FM tonight :(

-Went out today to Circuit city- They are sold out of every model of Sirius radio.

-Radio Shack is sold out of the Sirius radios at every store across the country!

-Best Buy told me that they are sold out of all Sirius radios in the entire North East.

At first I thought that Sirius would never be able to afford Howard's contract, now I'm beginning to think that they got him cheap at $100million/year.

Bought the boombox today (useless without the radio), just in case I decided I wanted it as today was the last day for the rebate. Good chance I'll be returning it next week though.

I'm thinking I'll primarily be using the radio in the bedroom in the mornings to listen to Howard when I'm waking up. I might just move my small CD player into the bedroom and use the home kit. The decent sound system isn't where I'll be wanting to listen and for my purpose, sound quality isn't that important.

In any case, thanks for the advice and I'll be happy as long as I have it in time for the first show.

[synack]

I saw some at Costco today....

[Lenny]

:eek: :eek: :eek:

http://edition.cnn.com/2006/BUSINESS/01/05/stern.stock.ap/index.html

[TuxedoPk]

If anyone has a home unit can you make me a tape of the first day's show. I still can't locate any radios in NY/NJ.

I agree, unreal.

[RedDog]

Tux - you may want to reconsider the Sirius service. They just replaced FoxNews channel with CNN (achhhhhh!)

[synack]

I just noticed this last night. Shoulda seen it coming after they relabeled FoxNews with News several weeks ago. It's now CNN Headline News.

Just did some digging into this...

"Now, after six months of failed talks, the deal to carry Fox News Channel itself is set to expire Jan. 1, just as Sirius is hoping to move radios with the help of Howard Stern hype.

The situation has become so dire that Sirius topper Mel Karmazin walked across West 48th Street from Sirius' headquarters to News Corp. HQ to meet with Fox topper Roger Ailes in person.

"It's causing them a great deal of grief at a time when they are trying to sell radios for Christmas," Fox Radio senior VP Kevin Magee said.

Fox has become one of the more popular offerings on pay radio, and Ailes is said to want a carriage fee that reflects that popularity. Fox also wants a deal with Sirius to include carriage of Fox News Talk, a channel with Bill O'Reilly, Neil Cavuto, Snow, Colmes and others, as well as news updates from Fox News Radio.

XM Satellite Radio inked a deal to carry both six months ago, and as if to tout their corporate harmony, the two have been taking out joint ads in the trades, as well as the New York Times, the Wall Street Journal and the New York Daily News.

"Thinking of buying a satellite radio for Christmas?" an ad read. "XM is the only satellite radio provider committed to carrying Fox News Channel in '06."

But Karmazin said he's wary of paying a big license fee to Fox for content that's not exclusive.

"If we can do a deal at a price that makes good sense for us, we'd love to do it, and if we can't, then we have other news offerings that we will provide the listeners," Karmazin told anchor Bill Griffeth on CNBC's "Power Lunch" last week.

But by not inking Fox, he's giving competitor XM a de facto satellite exclusive on Fox content for the price of a non-exclusive deal -- a stumble for a cagey media vet like Karmazin. "

[Lenny]

Richard, you might want to try one of these and see if they are going to carry the first show...

Albany - WQBK 103.5
Buffalo - WBUF 92.9
New York - WXRK 92.3
Rochester - WZNE 94.1
Syracuse - WAQX 95.7

[TuxedoPk]

Lenny- The only station I can receive is 92.3, WXRK- that's where I've been listening to Howard for the past 10+ years.

Because of the content public radio wouldn't be able to broadcast his shows anyway. He should be particularly raw this first week.

Fox not being carried on Sirius won't have any impact on me. If I want Fox content I've got it on cable. While I do ocassionally watch Fox's programming to stay informed of one side's slant, I don't see XM having the content and Sirius not as a major issue.

IMHO, Fox doesn't sell satellite subscriptions, Howard and certain sports broadcasting do.

[Lenny]

I thought I saw (heard) on CNN this morning that some NON Sirius Stations were going to pick up the first show? Google it somehow.

[hardcrab]

I've had XM for over 2 years now, i couldn't be more satisfied with the quality of service and programing. I've never had a chance to compare programing with Sirius; i would guess it's similar.
i can honestly say i haven't listened to broadcast radio since.
as far as Howierd Stearn goes, same 'ol, same 'ol............ I hear Bob Dylan will be hosting an XM program, boy, talk about a contrast in food for thought.

[TuxedoPk]

I've got Sirius!

Well I couldn't find a Sirius Sportster Replay anywhere thru today but Radio Shack got in a couple of Sirius One SV1 car radios. Not what I was looking for but I figured I'll at least be able to hear Howard this week and return the unit within 30 days and purchase the Sportster Replay when it becomes available during the month.

The SV1 is supposed to be only a car unit but since I don't want to sit in my driveway for 4 hours every morning I figured out a simple way to get it to work in the house.

The SV1 only has a 12v cigarette adapter for power. I have this plugged into a 120v-12v adapter in the bedroom. The antenna is sitting on the window sill plugged and plugged into the SV1 and broadcasting over FM to a stereo in the room. Not that I intend to do much surfing, but it even has a remote.

Not the most glamorous solution but it works for the time being.


*Lenny I failed with my 'Googling' of the first show. If anyone has seen this please post me the link.. I'd be interested in reading it.