On the road, briefly

[chipotle]

So I've been thinking about buying an XM satellite radio for a while now -- over a year, since seeing tugrik's SkyFi. This last week, I saw that the Delphi "Roady 2" model of receiver was on sale (and this model can rebroadcast on FM and thus requires no installation, although I'm 99% sure I'd get improved sound if I got the $60 auxiliary input cable for the car stereo and figured out how to connect it) and that they're running a rebate program for a free home kit if you buy one now. After going over my finances, I came to the inescapable conclusion that I could afford to get one without a significant burden, or even a significant effect on my half-baked financial plan for the year.

So, today I'm going on a road trip to test it. No actual idea when I'll be back. Maybe just in the late evening, maybe ridiculously late. Who knows. Naturally, I'll be wandering off with the laptop.

Back -- soon.

Comments

[tikaani.livejournal.com]

I'm a subscriber to Sirius Satellite Radio (http://www.sirius.com) You can listen to their music stations online for free for 3 days. When I was deciding, I basically looked at all the 2 providers music streams, and saw that I would listen to more of Sirius' streams than XM's and that's how I made my decision. (Sirius had more streams that seemed dedicated to classic/older rock that fit my tastes).

[tikaani.livejournal.com]

Also, you can use a cassette adapter (if your car has one) to get better sound than the FM modulator with less hassle and cost than installing the hardwired modulators.

[chipotle.livejournal.com]

I did listen to Sirius, and the two were really close for me; ultimately the decision for XM had more to do with the receiver than the service -- the Roady 2 is smaller than the smallest Sirius receiver I could find (which counts for a lot in the RSX, which seems engineered specifically to have no good place to mount a non-in-dash unit like that) as well as cheaper, particularly with the free home kit factored in. I'm not much of a classic rock kind of coyote, and XM's "Deep Tracks" and "The Boneyard" stations will probably be more than enough in that department. (And if I insist on revisiting high school/college more directly, there's the inevitable 80s station.)

Sadly, my car does not have a cassette deck, so that input method isn't an option for me -- if I want to avoid the FM input, I need to get the auxiliary input hack.

[tikaani.livejournal.com]

Sirius' problem is the receiver size. They are sort of "one gen" behind XM in that area, but they have been getting smaller. Some people do find the Roady too small in the controls department when they get their hands on it, and it's also designed to be a car only unit, while most of the others transfer from car to home.