Cheap but very nice!

Introduction

I am a former Sirius satellite radio subscriber who spent a lot of money on equipment only to be very disappointed that they played the same songs over and over and over again. With that said, I liked the general concept - so this spring I decided to try XM.

I purchased an XPressEZ, but it was DOA (bad screen), so I exchanged it up a unit for this little guy. It works very nicely.

Setup

Obviously, if you are an average person, the idea of setting up something like this might be frightening. Fortunately they call these "plug and play" units, and in my case it was very easy since my car had an auxiliary input. Fish antenna wire from magnetic antenna to the front of my car, plug docking station into cigarette lighter and aux input, go... That was it! It includes an FM modulator but I do not recommend using those, they never work great. I'd only go with a setup like this if you have or can add an aux input... but that's unrelated to the device. Very simple setup.

Ease of use

This receiver features a very well designed scroll wheel navigation with channel guide including a view of what's on now on it's VERY nice screen. Excellent. A remote control is included that works extremely well. I rarely use it though as mine is located in a place it's easy to reach normally. Very nice. Easy to put on the optional home docking station - no problems it all!

Reception

This unit's radio reception and sensitivity is probably similar to any other XM unit. I have not been able to directly compare, of course, but it seems pretty good. It is not as good as Sirius because Sirius runs their satellites in a highly elliptical orbit that leaves one satellite straight over Canada at all times. XM uses a standard geostationary orbit in the Clarke belt over the equator. The benefit is XM's satellites stay in the same place relative to earth (so if you can get a signal to a home kit through a window you will ALWAYS get signal in that spot). The disadvantage is that in the northern United States - like I'm in - the "look angle" is very low. Just over 30 degrees where I am located - any building to the south will block the signal as will mountains or heavy trees. This is compared to the Sirius signal which almost never gets blocked.

Because there are two satellites for redundancy, this isn't as bad as it sounds - but it does cut out, and there are long stretches of mountainous highway where you are just north of a tall mountain and it doesn't work. But in 98% of daily driving, the reception is just fine. Big cities have repeaters to prevent the effects of tall buildings...

Sound Quality

Sound quality is VERY good. For satellite radio... remember, it's compressed - not CD quality. It sounds similar to clean FM radio - which is what the source on the satellite sounds like. This receiver does not appear to hurt sound reproduction at all!

Durability

Mediocre. I expect it to last about a year. Which at the price, and with the rapid change in technology (with the XM/Sirius merger who knows if I'll even still want the service in a year!) I think is totally okay. Maybe even longer, who knows... If you left it in one place, I'd definitely expect it to last longer!

XM Programming

While I am reviewing the receiver, I will quickly note that XM's programming - at least in Christian and Kids music (all that gets played in my car) - is MUCH better than Sirius. Both the Christian and Kids stations at Sirius are basically music loops. XM has real radio stations that are really good! If Sirius kills them, there will go my subscription!

Conclusion

This small, cheap, easy-to-install unit will get you listening to XM in no time at a very reasonable price. I don't even subscribe to pay TV, but I consider this to be worth it! I think you'll like it and it's cheap enough to try and get rid of if you don't...