Need some Sirius Advice

Beef Avenger

So I think I'm going to delve into the world of satellite radio for my car to help out with my commuting everyday. I was wondering if there's any sort of info or tips I should know beforehand, or if I should just head to the store and grab whatever looks prettiest. I had a brief glimpse in a store and guess I may go for the Starmate 4, but that's based pretty much on the fact that the Starmate 3 is fugly, I have no clue what the differences between them are.

So, can anyone contribute some of their knowledge about satellite radio?

snarks

One thing I'd consider is how are you going to install the radio in the car? Are you going to have wherever you buy the radio do a professional installation, or are you just going to mount a kit to the dashboard and use the built-in FM transmitter on the unit? I don't know about the Starmate 3, but the Starmate 4 reportedly has a fairly weak FM transmitter since the FCC made XM and Sirius tone down the FM signal strength a year or so ago. This'll probably lead to a weak, static-y sound. If you don't want to pay for a direct installation or another FM transmitter and your car has a tape player, most kits come with a tape adapter, which solves this problem as well. Other than that, it's just a matter of mounting an antenna on the roof of your car and you should be good to go.

kathos

Awesome title. Very witty.
















I have nothing to add.

Creepy

I know dick about Sirius but I had Xm for a few years. There were XM forums where you could find great info, especially on installations people had done as well as reviews for the various radio models.

I haven't read any of these but if they're anything like the XM forums you'll find what you're looking for.

http://www.google.com/search?hl=en&q=sirius+forums&btnG=Google+Search