Books, Movies, Music & Entertainment - XM Radio

Hey Guys,

I dont know if this is a little OT, but I am looking into getting a portable XM radio thing for listing to on my bike...any reccomendations on which one to get? I am not looking to spend to much money though. Any advice is welcome :D

Thanks,
Jake

I've been thinking about this too....however, I hear that you have to wear the antenna to get good reception. Does anybody have pix of the antenna? I have visions in my head of a big wire stalk with an orange flag on it!!!!

I have XM in both my cars and love it. I paid 1 yr. up front and it costed me around $185..............I love the channel options and such. As far as the portable versions...........I have no experience with them.

I have a XM in my car also. It's great for my baseball information needs. A friend of mine has a Delphi XM MyFi and loves it. I'm waiting for them to get smaller so I can take it on my bike.

I have XM via DirecTV and I hate it. I dislike the DJs, the music, and most of all the crappy sound quality. I used to listen to DTV's Music Choice a lot, but I find myself listening to FM again, talk about annoying DJs.

I've got the XM Tao, and am mildly disappointed with it. The built-in antenna doesn't pick up a clear signal anywhere where I live(Wash. DC). It also doesn't broadcast wirelessly over FM clearly due to interference from other stations. I had to install a FM direct modulator to use it in my car. I think they make headphones with an antenna built in which may work better, but I haven't tried them.

My mother loves her XM2GO player, it's the chunky looking handheld. The satellite feed is fickle and seems to work best when it's sitting still in the position it likes best. The sound quality is as good as standard radio. The music selection is very good if you like specific genres. Howard Stern is overrated. She's yet to use it while driving (Thank goodness!!) so it's unknown how the satellite feed is while moving.

It's fun but maybe not worth the monthly fees.

Whether you go XM or Sirius (I'm a Sirius subscriber myself), if you want to go portable you only have 2 options - a portable unit w/ antenna that you can mount with a clear view of the sky, or a recording unit like the Sirius S50, which will record up to 50 hours of content while docked.

I've heard mixed reviews of the former and almost universally bad reviews of the S50 (poor user interface).

Howard Stern is overrated? In what way? 10 million+ listeners is overrated?

I have heard nothing but bad things about the XM portable units.

Sirius is working on a portable unit but doesn't want it to suck like the XM one.

Sirius is on the up and up, by the way. Get Sirius.

I have a XM MyFi and it is awesome. It is a little bulky, but ut gets the job. I have never had any problems with the built antenna, I always seem to get reception. You also have the capability to record something like 30 hours of music. You can also hook it up to speakers at home and you instantly have XM for your house(with the purchase of the home kit).

I got an xm2go model at xmas. Really nice. I mean REALLY nice. It comes with everything you need to mount in a car or in your home plus you can use it as a portable without plugging into external power.

Here is the my FAVORITE feature. It transmits it signal to any FM radio in your home. So, now you can listen to all your XM stations on your expensive stereo system as well. My home kit is plugged in my upstairs computer room but I can turn on any FM radio downstairs and tune it in.

The built in antenna doesn't work that well but there is a terrific aftermarket accessory antenna you can buy for it that totally eliminates the poor reception. Its called ClipIt. (See pics below.) Google 'clipit' to find the vendor.

To ride w/radio, just plug in the ClipIt antenna, attach the other onto your jersey, insert your earbuds and stick the radio in your jersey pocket and you're on your way listening to uninterrupted satellite radio!

Other features I like. It'll record for about 5 hours for later playback, it'll alert you when any artist you select is playing a tune on any station, it has a wakeup timer, it has a sleep timer and if you are an active investor it lets you set up stock symbols to watch.

http://i1.tinypic.com/nfjtd2.jpg http://i1.tinypic.com/nfjtqs.jpg

Here is the my FAVORITE feature. It transmits it signal to any FM radio in your home.
even the cheapest units do that.

Like Rickko - I got the Delphi MyFi - XM2Go. I love the unit - we've used in in the car and with our stero system (not through FM modulation, but through a cable). No issues with reception, but I've never taken it out on the bike. We don't listen to a ton of stations, but the ones we do are excellent - I love it.

Check out the new XM portables - either Pioneer's Inno or Samsung's Helix. Both are rather impressive.