OT: XM Radio

[Mr_Vindictive]

For Christmas, along with a bunch of crap, I received a XM Satellite Radio reciever for my car.  It's not a high end one, just one that plugs into the cigarette lighter in your car.  It has a built in FM transmitter, so you just tune your radio to the frequency specified by the XM radio and you've got satellite music.

I was pretty surprised when I opened up the box.  I've read a LOT about satellite radio, but I never made the plunge myself.  I don't much care for the cost of it (13.00 a month), but I figured that I might as well go ahead and give it a try.  I started the service Wed and I have to say:

"Hello, my name is Skaboi, and I love XM Radio."

I never really saw the purpose in paying for radio.  Now, I understand completely why people pay for this service.....I'm hooked.

At first, I cycled through the stations, not expecting to find anything of my liking.  I hit up the news stations first and listened to a bit of NPR before going a bit further into the service.  I eventually hit the Rock category and that's what my receiver has stayed.

The first channel that I hit under the Rock category was "XM Fungus".  It's a terrible name for a radio station, but I gave it a listen since it was playing Superman by Goldfinger.  That song ended, and next up was a song by The Dropkick Murphys.  After that was a song by The Lawerence Arms, then The Vandals, then The Specials.

I knew at that point, I had found my own personal heaven.

I'm a huge fan of ska and punk, and that is what this station is dedicated to.  I couldn't believe that there was actually such a channel.  I ended up listening to it for a few hours, as I had it plugged in at our house.

Eventually, I found some other good stations.  One is "XM Unsigned" which plays a lot of indie/unsigned music, and I've had a blast with it as well.  Then there is "XM Squizz" which plays Disturbed, Skindrid, Limp Bizkit, etc.  And, if I want to go a bit harder, there is "XM Boneyard" which plays a lot of 80s metal.

Overall, I'm quite happy with the service, and I highly recommend it to everyone.  I wish it was cheaper, but for me it's worth the money.  I'm actually considering buying real XM receivers to replace the FM radios in mine and my wife's cars.

[Georgie Boy]

I have DirecTV which has XM programming for it's music selection.  I really enjoy it as well.  Glad you found the $13.00 per month to be worthwhile.

[Mr_Vindictive]

Georgie Boy,

Yeah, I use DirectTV as well, but some of my favorite stations aren't available through that service.  I like having it for free at home, but Fungus is not an option through DirectTV.

[Amanda]

I have Dish Network, and they have Sirius.  I LOVE it.  I'm considering getting it in my car.  Faction and Left of Center are both good.  They have a whole Elvis station, Bruce Springsteen, and lots of bluegrass.  

XM is probably nearly identical, I suppose?

[sinkwater]

I was thinking of getting XM for stuff like Opie & Anthony and The Phil Hendrie Show, do they still have those shows? Their music channels sound awesome too. I really want to get it, but I might wait another year or so. I can't decide which one is better, XM or Sirius.