Woot XM alert

[Hustle]

What Wicked said.

Unless your mp3 player has the BBC World Service, Instant Traffic & Weather* and every MLB game.

* - I find our local all-news terrestrial station to be more up-to-date and better quality, giving me the sole reason for any free radio whatsoever.

 

[BYH]

I never understood pay radio. Gotta be the stupidest thing on the planet. Does not even compare to listening to my Mp3 player in the car.

Do you like sports? Then you'd like pay radio. You can get MLB, NHL, PGA, Indy Car and an assortment of college sports on XM. Sirius has the NFL, NBA, NASCAR, Wimbledon and the NCAA basketball tourney.

Do you like the spontaneity (man I butchered that) of radio? Yeah, it'd be great to hear Night Ranger if I had my iPod hooked up in my car (if I had an iPod, that is). But it wouldn't surprise me, because I'd have like nine Night Ranger albums at my disposal there.

I can understand not wanting to scan the dial on terrestrial radio, when you've got two stations you can stomach and the odds of hearing something good in between the commercials are 100:1. But with XM, I like the fun of scanning the dial, KNOWING I'll find something good and the excitement of finding an old favorite song or an old favorite band just randomly playing, as opposed to knowing I'll eventually hear it on my iPod. I also like being able to pick up any damn baseball game I want at any time of the night.

Satellite radio is the single greatest thing ever.

 

[Write-brained]

I can see the sports stuff, though I'd save my money and spend it on the Directv NFL package instead of radio ... now that's ****ing awesome ... I wouldn't pay to hear baseball on the radio and wouldn't listen to Nascar even if it was free.

 

[BYH]

...and wouldn't listen to Nascar even if it was free.

Well at least we agree on something.

 

[wickedwritah]

You can't watch the Sunday package if you aren't in front of your TV. For those on the road, Sirius/XM is almost a must-buy now.

 

[Write-brained]

You can't watch the Sunday package if you aren't in front of your TV. For those on the road, Sirius/XM is almost a must-buy now.

Man, on NFL Sundays I'm on my couch watching the games, even if it sometimes means playing Barbies while doing so with my daughter. I don't work in sports, so I'm usually off.

 

[imjustagirl2]

But with XM, I like the fun of scanning the dial, KNOWING I'll find something good and the excitement of finding an old favorite song or an old favorite band just randomly playing

And here is where you and I differ.

In the probably two years I had XM, I heard probably 4 songs on it that I couldn't hear on terrestrial radio that I liked. 99.8 percent of the music on XM was stuff I'd never heard of and didn't like.

I went to listening to the 80s station (which still played a bunch of crap I didn't know) and the comedy stations. Then I realized I was paying $13 a month to listen to comedy.



For whoever talked about driving through bad areas and getting Jesus or mariachi...for roughly 5 hours of my 8-hour drive home to see the folks, the XM didn't even work. So there.

 

[Angola!]

So, if I buy this thing, how does it work in my house? I just plug it into the stereo I already own?
Also, can I listen to MLB games with it in my office or does it only work in my car and in my house? I won't buy it if I can't listen to the craptastic Yankees in the office.

 

[BYH]

So, if I buy this thing, how does it work in my house? I just plug it into the stereo I already own?
Also, can I listen to MLB games with it in my office or does it only work in my car and in my house? I won't buy it if I can't listen to the craptastic Yankees in the office.

You can listen to the music stations on your computer. To listen to the CRAPTASTIC Yankees at work--or anywhere outside the car, for that matter--you would need an XM boom box or some other kind of portable XM device. You just stick the radio in the docking station. I've had a lousy experience with the boom box, I cannot seem to get the antennae to ever work. But I've heard good experiences about their walkman-like devices.

If Moddy's here in the morning, I'm sure he'll check in. He's even more into XM than most of us here.

 

[BYH]

But with XM, I like the fun of scanning the dial, KNOWING I'll find something good and the excitement of finding an old favorite song or an old favorite band just randomly playing

And here is where you and I differ.

In the probably two years I had XM, I heard probably 4 songs on it that I couldn't hear on terrestrial radio that I liked. 99.8 percent of the music on XM was stuff I'd never heard of and didn't like.

I went to listening to the 80s station (which still played a bunch of crap I didn't know) and the comedy stations. Then I realized I was paying $13 a month to listen to comedy.



For whoever talked about driving through bad areas and getting Jesus or mariachi...for roughly 5 hours of my 8-hour drive home to see the folks, the XM didn't even work. So there.

I just do not get that at all. If you haven't heard 99.8 pct of the stuff on XM, I seriously have to wonder: Did you spend the first three decades of your life listening to the same mix tape? Outside of the Boneyard, which often plays songs by hard rock bands I either never liked or never heard of back in the '80s and '90s, I rarely if ever hear a song I've never heard before on my other favorite stations ('80s, Big Tracks, '90s).

As for the lousy reception, I've had extended difficulties with XM exactly once...when I was driving into a massive thunderstorm last summer. I've been to some real bum**** areas, such as my parents house in CT and a few places in way upstate NY, and I've never had any problem other than the occassional brief outage that lasts less than a minute. There's also a couple dead spots in the area around my house, including one highway on ramp where I lose the signal for about three seconds. Sure, losing the signal isn't fun, but it beats having to scan the dial every two hours to find a new station that doesn't suck donkey balls.

 

[Angola!]

And tonight's Woot, which is still going on, is selling a boom box along with the receiver (and car kit). All that's left is a subscription.

So, I could hook the boombox up to my computer and listen to the craptastic Yankees at work, or would I need to get a portable radio and transfer it to the radio through the FM thingy and listen with headphones to the craptastic Yankees?

 

[WazzuGrad00]

Your computer would have to be near a window with southern exposure for the antenna. You'd probably be better off buying the mlb.com radio subscription.

 

[WazzuGrad00]

I've got one of these things I'd be willing to give away. PM me if you're interested. Everything's in working order, I just like Sirius better.

 

[Angola!]

I've got one of these things I'd be willing to give away. PM me if you're interested. Everything's in working order, I just like Sirius better.

I'd buy it. And you are right, I am probably better off listening to CDs and buying the MLB.com radio package.

 

[WazzuGrad00]

I've got one of these things I'd be willing to give away. PM me if you're interested. Everything's in working order, I just like Sirius better.

Oh, now you tell us. ;D

Sorry. I didn't bother to look at Woot until just before I posted that. I figured they were selling newer technology.

 

[Cadet]

As for the lousy reception, I've had extended difficulties with XM exactly once...when I was driving into a massive thunderstorm last summer. I've been to some real bum**** areas, such as my parents house in CT and a few places in way upstate NY, and I've never had any problem other than the occassional brief outage that lasts less than a minute.

I'd like to bring a little Western bias into this debate.

There is no such thing as middle-of-nowhere on the East Coast. Really now. Those states are so ****ing small and so densely packed, do you ever really leave civilization for more than five minutes? Is there any stretch of road where, if you were to get stranded, there is a good chance you will not see another vehicle for 6-12 hours? Hell, is there any stretch of road where you couldn't walk to a farmhouse/small town/telephone in 15 minutes?

What I want to know is, does satellite radio work when you really are in the middle of ****ing nowhere, such as West Texas or Wyoming?

 

[Lone_Star_Speed]

I recently bought a new receiver for my "home theater" and if I buy some special XM antenna (and subscribe to XM) I can tune in XM through the receiver. That wasn't a selling point to me by any means...it was just something extra. Then I looked into XM and decided that I don't need it. I'll stick with Sirius.

 

[2muchcoffeeman]

I never understood pay radio. Gotta be the stupidest thing on the planet. Does not even compare to listening to my Mp3 player in the car.

Not true.

Sure, your mp3 player has all the music you like that you already own,with no commercials. Satellite radio has that ... and lots of music you like and don't own, with no commercials ... and lots of music you don't know you like yet, with no commercials ... and comprehensive coverage of sports ... and comprehensive coverage of global news .... and 24-hour traffic ... and so on and so on.

 

[Moderator1]

I have a boom box at home. I have one at work. I take out the receiver and take it with me to work (listening to it in the car on the way). Long as you have a window for the antenna, you can use it at work. At least I do.

I may buy this because the price is so good and have a boom box upstairs, too.

I only pay one subscription because I use the same receiver for all three.

 

[Moderator1]

No you would not. You'd pay 20 bucks and have someone install the thing that holds the receiver and the antenna. Then you'd use the cassette thing to listen through your radio. That's what I use and it sounds fine. I have an older car, too.