I've been sort of grappling with the decision over whether or not to continue the XM subscription once the 90 days is finished, and this morning helped clinch my decision to let it go.
A few things have been annoying me about it, anyway.
1. The nearest weather station is about 15 miles away, which ordinarily wouldn't make any difference - but it's at the beach and I'm inland. It's 73 and sunny here when it's 62 and drizzling there. Half the time, the weather service says "unavailable" when I try to access it. I don't live in areas prone to hailstorms, tornadoes, hurricanes, flash flooding or much of anything else that the early warning system could benefit me by having.
2. With 2,750 of MY favorite songs loaded in the HDD, and thousands more available via the iPod doc, I see very little value in having to sit through songs that I don't particularly care for on XM in order to catch the occasional "forgotten gem" that I may have overlooked. It's very rare when I do.
3. When I use XM, more often than not it's to listen to TV cable news, which I can live without. Besides, the audio quality is horrendous. Worse than AM.
4. When XM and Sirius launched, it was with the promise of no DJ's, commercial interruptions, etc. Just like the cable industry promised "no commercials" when it was being introduced (anybody remember that?). The big sell was "sure, it costs me $10 a month, but at least I don't have to sit through commercials!" Of course, once the cable industry began to catch traction, the commercials that we paid to avoid, resurfaced. More than ever.
5. I work from home and rarely have to venture into traffic congestion, so the traffic feature is useless to me; plus I've been reading here how generally innacurate it can be.
This morning was the final straw. After listening to a dull announcer with no personality on one XM music channel droning on about something I had no interest in, I went to "Sunny CM" channel 24 or whatever. After the song ended, I was hit with a commercial for debt consolidation, followed by a commercial for "Skin Zinc" (zit medication). Both commercials had very poor quality production values and fake "testimonials". In short, XM's excuse for DJ's and commercials are at a much lower quality level than terrestrial radio, which itself is in a dismal state compared to before deregulation and Clear Channel killed the goose. Sometimes, XM reminds me of a simulated broadcasting school radio station. No thanks.
I went back to my HDD halfway through the second commercial on the XM station - and I won't be going back. I'm letting my subscription expire. It's going to take some real marketing effort for XM to convince me that I should pay money for this pap. Even $10 a month is too much. I'd have to think long and hard over whether even $5 would be worth it to me. As far as I'm concerned, once the commercial interruptions started, all bets are off.
all valid points. if you don't travel cross country or near major metro areas very much there is not much to gain with xm.
I have quite a few cds but I'll never have anywhere near the tracks they have on willies place (ch.13) for example.
remember zwinback is $77/year which is what $6.50 a month.
rg
I doubt I'll even bother to activate mine when I get it. If it was Sirius (and I could get the CBC) then maybe, but I can't see much reason to bother with XM.
BTW, I don't think you can just "let it expire". I recall reading on the Vette forums where you will be automatically renewed for another year if you don't actively call them and tell them to cancel. Not sure if that's still happening though.
Your XM subscription will expire after 3 months. They call numerous times before it expires to entice you into renewing. I also did not renew becasue the benefit of having six additional radio stations (the number of XM channels that I actually listened to) was not worth the price. I have an endless amount of music on my iPod and found myself listening to it more than XM. XM really didn't offer much and paying a fee to listen to commercials is ridiculious. I can do that for free on FM. I also prefer local DJs who have something relevant to say about my local area.
You have some valid points, but in my CTS the sound quality of XM is far superior to AM. For instance a local station broadcasts ESPN radio as does XM. The XM broadcast blows the AM out of the water in terms of voice quality.
The weather is pretty useless. If it had radar images to overlay on the nav screen, then I would be interested.
Basically, I have the XM subscription for road trips and just because I like having the option. I go iPod, AM, FM, XM. I don't really use the HDD disc drive cause I got a 160gb iPod that I just leave docked.
Get ready for XM to call you A LOT. I decided that I would never answer an XM call. I looked up the 1 800 number online, saw that it was XM, and didn't answer when they called. They literally called me EVERY SIGNLE day for 3 weeks trying to get me to renew. Not to mention the mailings that I KEEP getting about the $77 deal. I finally called them and told them to take me off their mail list, call list, promotion list, and every other list they have. I just like the local radio and my iPod so much more than XM.
BTW, I didn't have to cancel, I just let the trial run out.
When XM started it did so with limited commercials for $10 per month.
In order to compete with Sirius it ditched its commercials about a year later.
However, complications in a contract they had with Clear Channel forced
them to put commercials back on a few of their stations. It is my understanding
that this is a limited contract and that XM should be completely commercial free
sooner or later.
Of course, there are such things as "promotional" commercials that run on
both satellite services (aren't these commercials?!) and yes, there are DJs that
lack personality.
Why do I keep XM? It keeps me on top of all the new music. I am into adult
contemporary and I like to hear all the latest songs that are available. My
favorite channel is Flight 26. I then write down my favorites, download the
music and add it to my iPod.
As far as sound quality is concerned, it had been an uphill battle with XM to
improve it. I was part of a group that wrote letters to XM management pleading
with them to bring XM back to its glory days. When the service first launched
the sound was almost indistinguishable from CD. Yes, it was THAT GOOD! However,
with limited bandwidth and the addition of more channels, that quality quickly
deteriorated.
Living in Hawaii neither were available but when I got back to the mainland I quickly got Sirius in my Lincoln. Everytime I listned to XM in the Cadi I missed my Sirius more and more. I hate XMs layout, its DJs, its talk options and its comedy (or lack thereof) channels.
I wish the merger would just go through so I could access Sirius with my factory equipment.
Why do I keep XM? It keeps me on top of all the new music. I am into adult
contemporary and I like to hear all the latest songs that are available. My
favorite channel is Flight 26. I then write down my favorites, download the
music and add it to my iPod.
My reasons exactly (after 2 weeks of ownership). Flight 26 and ESPN (140) for morning sports talk.
