Hi All, been lurking for a couple of days. I have found this site to be the most informative with regard to Canadian satellite radio.

My partner has offered to buy me a reciever for the holiday season, and I can't decide; she has no preference. I'd like to poll the posters here given my particular circumstances:

- My options are Sirius Starmate or XM RoadyXT. Same price.

- I live in a small city without tall buildings, don't think reception will be a problem for either one.

- I want one solely for car use.

- Neither Sirius' lack of activation fee nor XM's lower subscription fee is a factor.

- I love sports and talk. My favourite is MLB, which I know is strictly an XM thing, though it appears that they are not offering the play-by-play. Other than MLB, the selection of sportstalk on Sirius is much broader. Love NCAA foots and hoops. Hockey is not a factor, don't like it.

- Eclectic music tastes covering all genres, but with little to no interest in indy (I know, I feel guilty about that).

- Left-leaning talk preference, though I do like to hear how the other half lives.

- The Roady looks like a better reciever, but I'm unsure about the programming.

Thoughts? Advice?

Without going into too much detail with long posts, I would like to see those who have purchased or own one or the other service to indicate in a few words, the one or two features that they think makes their service of choice the better one.

For those contemplating a purchase, what service do you see as being more adequate for your purpose and why?

I recommend reading several threads including the stickied thread on reception issues as well as earlier lengthy threads discussing the XM vs. Sirius question.

Without going into too much detail with long posts, I would like to see those who have purchased or own one or the other service to indicate in a few words, the one or two features that they think makes their service of choice the better one.

For those contemplating a purchase, what service do you see as being more adequate for your purpose and why?

For me it was a no-brainer. Must have CBC , end of story, so Sirius it is.:p

buy it at Candian tire or walmart..... you can return it easy. to try out.... 30$ is not bad to see....
I bought a sirius and a xm(xm was 4 days ago)...... knowing I was gonna return 1... 30bucks was just wasted to find out... as I liked the sirius content BETTER... O&A was the only thing I listened too.those guys are crrrrrrrazy.. on sirius the content on my view is better.. BUT the XM did sound better(a bit) brought back the XM today and got my 127$ back that I paid for the roady... got to love Cnd tire....so frigging easy to return... also when I tried canceled XM after 4 days.... I told them that I just didnt like it and they tried to keep me by giving me 2 free months lol I told them that I just liked sirius content better,,,, the lady said thanks and I was on my way.....

For me it was a no-brainer. Must have CBC , end of story, so Sirius it is.:p
I don't understand the CBC argument. CBC is probalby the most widely available radio service in Canada. Why would I need it on my satellite system?

I'm probably missing someting, but both in the car and at home I can get CBC no problem.

It would seem that for anyone with kids, the obvious choice would be Sirius. XM shows only one kids' channel that being XM Kids. Sirius has five including Disney Kids which is likely a big plus for those road trips.

I went with the Roady. The only Sirius units available were the Sirius One and Starmate... both looked kinda cheap, though I'm nitpicking. In terms of content, I did up a little chart for myself yesterday; there were 26 music channels on XM that I could see myself listening to, and 25 on Sirius. There were ten non-music channels on Sirius, nine on XM. Upon further review, though, I realized that I was counting CBC and ESPN as plusses of Sirius, both of which I can get on FM (the local talk station here goes to ESPN on evenings and weekends), and CBC is always available. This swung the count into XM's favour. So the content and receiver both favoured XM. Plus, if XM Canada ever picked up the MLB play-by-play, and I had Sirius, I would switch.

I'm happy with my decision.

Only on a message board about Satellite Radio could I ask this question with a straight face: How do I mount a Roady in my car?

I don't understand the CBC argument. CBC is probalby the most widely available radio service in Canada. Why would I need it on my satellite system?

I'm probably missing someting, but both in the car and at home I can get CBC no problem.

hey Brewmaser, good point, but only if you are an urbanite and you're near the local CBC AM/FM transmitter. Ever driven through the mountains in B.C.? You're lucky to find ANYTHING to listen to. I can hardly wait for my next trip down the Coquihalla with satellite.

Plus, Radio 3, CBC All News, and Premiere Plus... these are not available off-air that I know of.:( As taxpayers, we own it... might as well listen to it, eh?

I'm with Sirius now, but I have a buddy with XM and we've compared..

I like older music (Benny Goodman, Frank Sinatra, Perry Como etc).. XM plays a *lot* more of this than Sirus.. (Sirus did play this type of music, but they recently dropped two channels for more modern stuff.... ( Dance, Rap, Rock) etc.. If you look at the decade channels, XM has a 40's channel.. Sirius doesn't.. XM's 50's channel plays old standards from the early 50's, but the Sirius equivalent channel only plays late 50's and early 60's music. XM is a clear winner if you like old music.

I have also envied XM because they broadcast NASCAR races. (But that will be coming over to Sirus in a couple of years)..

I like the old radio shows.. (The Shadow, Sam Spade, Gunsmoke etc) Sirius only has one old time radio channel while XM has TWO..

Sirius and XM used to be tied when it came to old music content, but XM now clearly has more of their channels dedicated to this.. I'm just not into all the modern stuff Sirus seems fixed on.. I may switch when my 1 year Sirius subscription runs out next summer....

hey Brewmaser, good point, but only if you are an urbanite and you're near the local CBC AM/FM transmitter. Ever driven through the mountains in B.C.? You're lucky to find ANYTHING to listen to. I can hardly wait for my next trip down the Coquihalla with satellite.

Plus, Radio 3, CBC All News, and Premiere Plus... these are not available off-air that I know of.:( As taxpayers, we own it... might as well listen to it, eh?

All good points. Not relevant to everybody but they will definately matter to some.

On this topic,

As a canadian, can someone who owns one of these units comment on the NHL coverage and play by play and how much of it is on either system. I got XM as a gift and want to make sure that I am getting the best NHL coverage.

Thanks,

Pinky

Got the XM RoadyXT for Christmas. Easy to use and I was amazed at the audio quality. Installed the car kit and bought the home kit. For me the selling point was baseball and Fox News. Don't care about any Canadian content. Only hope XM will broadcast live baseball games next spring but my hunch is they will.

Sirius for content purposes. BB1, CBC3, Underground Garage. Also, it seems the Sirius music stations are more likely to have announcers.

I went XM,

The reasons / things I like:

1) XM2GO equipment - 5 hrs of recording
2) Better stereo seperation, from what others have said.
3) XM works well at home that has some southern exposure.
4) less anoying DJs
5) less repeats

Things I am envious of Sirius are:

1) CBC Radio 1 and CBC Radio 3 - The CDN content looks better or more though out
2) Higher satellitte look angle
3) Better logo
4) it doesn't have Fox News
5) more alternative music

On this topic,

As a canadian, can someone who owns one of these units comment on the NHL coverage and play by play and how much of it is on either system. I got XM as a gift and want to make sure that I am getting the best NHL coverage.

Thanks,

Pinky

XM has signed a 10 year ($100 million)exclusive agreement with the NHL. effective 2007. I am with Sirius for content however may look to switching in 07.

Dave

so can you get any NHL on Sirus?
and until XM gets it in 2007 - can you hear NHL now
They both seem to advertise they have it...

so can you get any NHL on Sirus?
and until XM gets it in 2007 - can you hear NHL now
They both seem to advertise they have it...

They both have NHL coverage now (not all games).

In 2007 it will be XM only

hey Brewmaser, good point, but only if you are an urbanite and you're near the local CBC AM/FM transmitter. Ever driven through the mountains in B.C.? You're lucky to find ANYTHING to listen to. I can hardly wait for my next trip down the Coquihalla with satellite.


Yep, just love driving through the BC mountains, especially from Lake Louise on through Golden, but what makes you certain that a satellite signal will penetrate those peaks ? Do you know for sure or just have your fingers crossed ?

Haven't lost signal anywhere on the Coq with my Sirius unit, except for the bear tunnel :P

But I think for mountain driving that's when it's very wise to make sure your antenna is actually mounted on your roof not just inside on your dash.

It takes an extra 5 minutes to mount it outside nicely, but i've seen a bunch of people who just got units having them on their dash.