I'm Sirius! This is the best satellite radio provider!
Written: Oct 15 '04 (Updated Aug 01 '06)
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For those of you who have been living in a box, Sirius satellite radio is the only XM competitor. Lemme tell you, these people are awesome! At their base price of $12.95 a month (or $142.45 per year, which ends up cheaper than the monthly plan in the long run), you get access to every single one of their 65+ commercial-free music channels, and 100+ channels worth of talk & entertainment, news, & sports. There are no "special" channels that require an additional subscription, no fancy "upgrade" packages. Your payment for the service entitles you to listen to ANY channel Sirius currently offers (and they keep adding new channels all the time!), on either a piece of Sirius hardware (in your home, automobile, RV, or even your boat!), OR on the internet. That's right, for NO ADDITIONAL CHARGE, your Sirius subscription entitles you to listen to any of the commercial-free music channels right from your computer.
I could go into further detail, but thus far I have no told you anything you can't get from their website (located at www.sirius.com).
What you want to know, then, is how good is the service?
Well, admittedly, a LOT of your experience will be directly related to the unit you pick. I know several people who've had poor experiences with Sirius, not because of the company, but simply because the radio they purchased did not fit their needs.
The website:
Sirius' website absolutely amazes me everytime I go there. You do need a flash plugin in order to view it, but it's well worth it if you need to install the plugin. As I've mentioned, you can listen to any of the commercial-free music channels through the website. I do this on a daily basis, and have never noticed any issues with the transmission, aside from when my own network has had congestion --- and that of course was through no fault of their own. Occasionally (once in the past several months), a particular channel may lose the ability to stream for a few days, but their technical people are really on the ball about trying to get things back up and running as soon as possible! The site also has a list of EVERY SINGLE RADIO currently on the market that is compatible with Sirius satellite radio, allowing you to do your homework before even having to leave your home to purchase your radio. With all the different radios available, I have no doubt that there's one out there for ANYBODY'S needs.
Activation:
OK, after purchasing a lovely Sirius satellite radio, it of course needs to be installed. The actual install process varies with the type of unit you purchase, but most locations will install it for you -- but that's stuff about the retailer, not the actual Sirius service.
ANYWAY, once it's installed, you have two options for activation. You can either choose to go on their website and input your information, and only $10 (for the activation fee) plus the cost of your subscription, you'd be up in running in approximately 15minutes or less!
However, if you don't have a computer, are unsure of your information, or simply want to talk to somebody, you can call their customer service agents at 1-888-539-SIRIUS (that's 7474.. yes.. that means the "US" in the phone # isn't necessary.. but what fun would 1-888-538-SIRI be? See? It's all about marketing.. please don't complain to the agents on the phone about that.. they didn't come up with the marketing ideas!). The customer care center is open 24hours a day, 7days a week, and is located in the United States. Although they won't disclose exactly where they are located due to security reasons, I've spoken to more than one agent with a New York accent. Sirius' corporate offices are located in New York City, so putting two and two together I'd venture to guess that they keep the customer service close to home. ^_^
When you call the customer service line, you are greeting by your typical touch-tone menu system, which makes sure you get to an agent specifically trained to deal with your reason for calling. I've never had any technical problems with my unit (a Blaupunkt SR04 Plug & Play, which I'll review as soon as it appears in the database, I swear!!!!), but I can tell you that the people who process the activations are top-notch. I was only on hold for a moment, and during that time, instead of listening to boring hold music, I was listening to a Sirius radio station piped right into my phone! (So, knowing me, I could have been on hold for hours and not noticed.. rofl). The agent I spoke with was very friendly, and informed me of everything I needed to know in order to get my radio working, giving me tips on antenna location, as well as basic radio operation.
The actual radio service:
To be honest, as to the service itself, I only listen to the commercial-free music channels, so I don't really know much about any of the Talk & Entertainment, News, Traffic & Weather, or Sports channels. I know that Sirius is the only satellite radio provider of NFL, NPR, and soon.. Howard Stern, but those aren't things I care about, so I suggest going to the website for anymore info on THAT.
As for the music channels I listen to, although there aren't commercials, there are DJs (aren't there always). However, there's no obnoxious radio shows nobody cares about. Whenever a DJ speaks, it's to tell you something about an artist you just heard, or about to hear. You can get concert & album release information, and sometimes just little insights into the songs themselves (especially on Sirius 8 - Big 80's.. I love that channel!). All of their DJs are well-known people in the industry, and you can just tell that these folks know what they're doing -- Sirius knows how to pick 'em!!
I have never lost my radio signal, ever. They told me that I could drive from NY to LA without ever losing the signal, and well I haven't had any cross-country trips with my radio yet, but I can say that for my normal day-to-day usage, I haven't had any problems with it whatsoever. Of course, I don't live near any bridges or underpasses either, although I was warned ahead of time that I might lose signal momentarily if I were to do so.
All in all, I highly recommend Sirius as a service. Heck, for $12.95 a month, it's almost worth it just to have unlimited access to the music channels! If you do choose to get it, however, please take the time to find a radio that'll fit your needs, because purchasing hardware that doesn't do what you want it to is the only thing I could think of that would deter you from loving these folks as much as I do.
Heck, if nothing else, do it for the dog. Mongo is cute. ^_
Recommended:
Yes
What product did you purchase or try to purchase? Blaupunkt SR04 / Streaming Player
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Epinions.com ID:
spazure
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Member: Spazure Silicon
Location: Fort Worth
Reviews written: 27
Trusted by: 31 members
About Me:
No more snow, w00t!
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