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Satellite radio is old tech. Repetitive and not worth the money. Pandora is so much better by letting you avoid stuff you don't want to hear. Been using it for years and I'm still finding stuff all the time that I forgot existed. Set up different stations for whatever mood you're in.
WE have had Sirius satellite radio for several years and like it
radio also gets FM/AM reception so we can change to local broadcasts if we want to check the weather
we get a family plan that covers our two cars--my husband used to have radio service in his office but stopped that when he retired...
it is great when you travel because you don't have to worry about losing reception in more rural areas and you can listen to what you want...
I must admit that some of the stations are not that great--play lot of same songs over and over but maybe we are just not that adventurous...
I had to use rental car in Fl where our second home is--and was really hard to get a decent local FM station--resorted to the classical channel vs most of pop/country music ones...
too much talkie-talkie from the djs---
during the day most of the Sirius/XM programming is fairly dj-free...
at night seems like some channels are worse than others...
there used to be channel for film soundtracks which I loved but they cancelled that...
Wow. I'm so grateful for all of the responses. Reps all around.
It seems like it would be smart to pay for a radio that would support satellite and bluetooth. I priced radios with GPS and they're crazy expensive. So it makes more sense to either buy a separate GPS unit, or use my Iphone with a GPS app.
I have Verizon on my dumb phone, but I don't currently pay for a data plan. Although Verizon has the best coverage where I live, there are still areas without reception. So, I think it makes more sense to pay for satellite radio, and have a radio with bluetooth that can play audio books via bluetooth or via auxiliary input on the radio, rather than stream music and books. And if I understand it correctly, with the bluetooth, I can play books on my iphone through the car radio without needing any data plan.
I will go to the audio stereo business this week that is the closest option (30 miles away) and see what they can offer me. But, at least I think I have an understanding of what's available now, thanks to you all.
We got satellite radio free for one year with the purchase of our Jeep Wrangler. I did enjoy it, but I didn't feel it was worth the money to continue the subscription after the original trial period.
We have had GPS navigation/radio/satellite units in 4 of last cars we bought...09 Toyota Camry I am still driving...two Chevy Tahoes...including a 2015 my husband uses and a Buick Enclave SUV we bought 2013 and traded in on new Tahoe...
In fact the built in GPS has limitations which a separate GPS might avoid...
We find the new Tahoe's system is confusing, time-consuming and when traveling we often resort to spot checks on our IPhones... ( I-Exit and Waze are great apps)...
We really liked the Enclaves's GPS--more intuitive and seemed faster to do what we wanted.
The Tahoe's setup is difficult to save a new address/location among other problems...
The lighting for display goes to night time mode if the car is facing away from the sun...makes it difficult to read display and we haven't found way to overcome it....
We have used a separate GPS for rental cars...depending on the model they can be great--
And are easier to update if you can just plug into a computer to update maps...
A car's built in system is more difficult and more expensive to update...
Usually the backup camera screen and the nav screen are same --
In this new top line Tahoe, the backup camera is worthless in the rain because it is not shielded...rain and humidity cloud the view all the time...VERY frustrating and not something we expected since neither the older Tahoe we owned or the Enclave had that problem... and how many times are you test driving a car in the rain...we bought in summer and not rain cloud in sight...
really bad design....
Last edited by loves2read; 11-30-2015 at 06:55 AM..
PS
if you are going to after market place for purchase/install you want to be sure to see jobs they have done
the interior of many cars dashes are so full already of what comes with the car that getting a larger unit/more complex and the antenna which might have to be a different model could require some craftsmanship...
Suggest you go to forum for your make/model of car --maybe even the AUTO forum on CD--and explain what you intend to do...
there could be someone with knowledge of what models might work or not work...
check with BBB in your area as well or maybe something like Angie's List--
I would be rather cautious about who did the install...and make sure you call references and ask to actually see the job done...
I like the Sirius XM, but I don't drive enough to justify the cost. My son drives about 10 hours a day, so it is worth it for him to pay the fee.
We have very different tastes in music, but we both like Blues, so that's what is on the radio when we are in the car together. In my area, at least, Blues is not something that you can get on regular over the air radio.
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