Help me decide - SiriusXM

[oldwhatshername]

I like variety and a little surprise. XM/Sirius give me that while keeping close to a genre I'm in the mood for. CDs can't do that.

[OakLeaf]

I've heard that you can negotiate a price down to next to nothing, if you're so inclined.

I'm an iPod gal (with playlists), but it depends on your habits and how often you listen, I suppose - and what your preferred format is for learning about new music. We've got gobs of CDs and several more gobs of digital music, so there's plenty of "surprise," songs we're hearing for the first time and songs we haven't heard in a couple of years. Playlists give you genre + variety.

I'm more likely to learn about an artist or song by reading about him/her/it/them, actually - if the description appeals to me then I'll listen to a clip online, and if I like it, I'll buy it ... whereupon it goes into the playlist of music I haven't heard in the past six months, and eventually it'll come up when I'm least expecting it. To me, radio (even internet radio) has a much higher tedium-to-enjoyment ratio.

[bluebug32]

The DH and I have had XM for several years. I think it was a lot better before the merger, but it's still better than commercial radio. I will use my iPhone for podcasts or to stream pandora or play mp3s, but it is nice to keep up with new music and listen to NPR on the XM. I have a portable player that hooks into my car, but also can be used inside and hooked up to a stereo.

[goldfinch]

In Minnesota and Wisconsin I will listen to public radio. There are a lot of good stations. In the south the radio goes off. I listen to podcasts on my iPod all the time. You can get many for free off of iTunes. I listen to several public radio shows, my favorite is This American Life. I also listen to a lot of stand alone podcasts. I have a backlog of about 200 podcasts which I probably will never get through. In one car I have to use an adapter to play the iPod through the radio. The newer car has a plug in.