Just got a new car and it came XM equipped, so we're currently in our free trial period. My wife really likes it and wants to keep it. But I've had some co-workers tell me that the music selection gets pretty repetitive after a while and doesn't change that often. Can anybody with the service comment on that?

Also I noticed they have a "one time payment" option for $550 that lasts as long as you own your car. Anybody know if that will be cut off by this "SiriusXM 2.0" stuff I've read about?

Thanks.

I've been an XM subscriber since the day they started in Canada. There is repetition, but how much probably depends on the stations you listen to. I listen to Deep Tracks most of the time, and while the playlist is deeper, there still is a playlist, and a lot of the same artists / songs are played every day.

The Loft seems to have a more varied and less repetitive selection, or at least it appears that way when I'm tuned in.

It's really going to depend how many hours a day you listen. If you listen two hours a day, it's unlikely you will hear any repetition. Also depend on the channel. A channel like 20 on 20 would be prone to more repetition. If you also listen to a variety of channels, you will be unlikely to hear repetition unless you're hitting the same genres.

XM's playlists were much deeper years ago.

I agree with the above comments. When XM was alone, there were songs that were played that haven't played since the merge. Line 1st Wave, it used to be Fred and it would play much better new wave songs. Now, it is always the same songs over and over again. Would I get rid of XM? No but I did complain and got it for 80$ for this year.

Compared to what is available in Freddy Beach, I couldn't let XM be out of my daily routine.

Again, it all depends on your choice of music.

Being in an advantageous Western time zone for MLB and NHL with a 40 minute commute each way, I feel I get value in my ~$100/ year.
I also will listen to the 4 comedy channels when I can't find a song in my favourites.
Also for long drives to BC to visit relatives, it is really nice to get some radio coverage. Of course if there is a mountain on the south side, reception will cut out for a few seconds.

My suggestion is to sign up for just 1 year as you never know if:
1) you car gets written off in an accident
2) you sell the vehicle
3) you find you miss commercial radio and find the music too repetitive.

I used to have sirius xm, I am loving tunein fm, free on your phone,
just plug that into your aux port,
works on all phones including BBerry
way more selection from around the world, sound quality is pretty good mp3 format 128kbs in stereo, and best of all its free.
but yeah you need a data plan or else I guess it would cost bandwidth.
I use it everywhere skiing, driving and at home. at home it doesnt use phone data cause its going through wifi.
think when you use it on the go it can use up to 100 mb in 1 hour, somthing like that, but it does not hit my cap for data and I use it a lot
this must be hurting sat subscriptions I think.
this is the future, no need for an Ipod, or Sat Radio all on your phone

Interesting, thanks for the feedback guys. Totally agree with you Dan about the radio around here. Used to live within range of Toronto radio, so it's pathetic to what I'm used to!

That's a neat idea chillonhill, but it's pretty hard on bandwidth. I only have a 1GB/month data plan so it'd chew through it in no time. CBC Music has the same problem.

When I started using it it said can use up to 100mbs per hour
but I guess it must be less, I have a 2 Gig data plan, dont browse or watch videos on phone, Use it a lot, have not hit my cap yet,
for me it works well, as the 2 Gig plan is 20.00 per month extra with videotron. in the city it will switch onto wifi if there is a hotspot.
I am going to check closely this next billing period to see how many hours I get and try and reach the cap. when I get to 500 mb my provider sends a email so I know I wont go over, luckily.
Was paying 18.75 per month sirius (bad deal) So for 20 bucks I can bring it into any vehicle. Sound quality is very good.
And I did find there music very repititous, kept hear a lot of the same songs over 3 years on various stations,
Anyhow it seems to be the right thing for me, and could not be happier.

with companies now doing away with unlimited data plans streaming radio over 3G/4G is not a good option unless you can afford a very high phone bill. streaming radio on your phone uses tons of data so if you are on a 500MB-1GB data plan streaming radio will use that data up very quickly.

100 megabits or 100 megabytes? If the latter, you'll hit a 1 gig cap in about 10 hours. That barely covers a week's worth of commuting for many people.

it really depends on if they just listen to music or talk radio and for how long. also depending on how far they have to travel and if they listen to it in other places besides a vehicle. if i was using a phone to listen to a talk show thats is say 3-6 hours long i would listen to it in the car and then when i get to where i am going will continue listening to it when walking to an office or somthing with headphones. thats one of the advantages about using a cell network to listen to radio it doesn't have to be stuck in a car or in a home dock in order for you to use it

I just figured out something yesterday, was at a major ski center, it was going through their wifi service, all over the mountain.
so anyway good for that, does not use my bytes, anyways around the house its amazing, works outside through my wifi, same thing when I was waiting at the ford dealer, going through their free wifi service.

I have had XM for 4 years now. I listen mostly at work and do like it. Yes there is repetition but if you move around the channels (which to me is why I have it) you don't hear the same thing as often. I agree with options like Slacker radio ect for free it is getting harder to keep "paying" for XM. This year I was able to get a year for $10/month including online which is my limit. More expensive than this and I will walk away.