OT, NOT political. Finally made a decision

I have been trying to decide on a sattelite radio provider for a couple
years now, but I have been waiting for the prices to drop and trying to
decide which service I would like the best.

The other day we had a Chrysler 300C Hemi come in, and the Sirius service
blew me away. I had been leaning towards ((XM)) because I liked a couple
of the stations.

So, I went to Staples early this AM to see what was on sale or in the
"Bargain Bin", and I saw a display for Delphi XM radios. Hmmm.....

I came home and poked around looking at prices and services. Everything
(Equipment wise) was out of my price range; tried E-Bay, went back to the
web sites.

So, this afternoon I figured I'd go to Staples again and have a look, and
go to Radio Shack and see what they had.

I wound up going to Staples first, and saw an XM display. Here were the
deciding factors:

1. Price. The service is $12.95 a month, and the receiver, a "Roady2", was
$49.95. The only thing I wanted was a Direct Connection, since the FM
Modulators lose signal quality and without the Direct Connection you can't
use it very widely.

2. Service. While looking over the XM displays I saw the 'stations' I
remembered, they have added a few and expanded greatly.

But the REAL deciding factor:

BBC World Service. Now I am not at the whim of the area's NPR stations, or
the AM station 15 miles from my house that broadcasts the BBC all night,
but fades terribly after the sun goes down. I can listen to it any time I
want!

Plus, after buying the $50 receiver, I found, contrary to the Customer
Service person's information, that it DOES indeed have a Direct
Connection, and when you plug in a mini-stereo plug the FM Modulator turns
off. So, with a proper power adapter, I can use it at home or the shop,
too.

Now, the only real puzzler: the thing was made for a car. WHY IN THE WORLD
does it operate on SIX volts? They supply an adapter, but now I can't hard
wire it into the car, and I lose my lighters in all the cars. So, I either
make some sort of adapter (not REAL hard, you just have to lose 1/2 the
voltage) or wire up extra 'outlets' in my cars.

Now, I'm going absolutely nuts. There is SO much music I like there it's
driving me crazy. The "Classic Rock' station doesn't play the Usual Crap
you hear on the broadcast stations, the Alternative stations play some
really great stuff ("Fred", "Ethel", and especially, "Lucy") and there is
such a selection of Jazz it's amazing. Add to that the BBC and I will have
to get a job like I had in days gone by, where I was driving 50 miles one
way to work.

On Sat, 17 Sep 2005 23:27:16 GMT, Hachiroku <Trueno@ae86.gts> wrote:
[color=blue]
>I have been trying to decide on a sattelite radio provider for a couple
>years now, but I have been waiting for the prices to drop and trying to
>decide which service I would like the best.
>
>The other day we had a Chrysler 300C Hemi come in, and the Sirius service
>blew me away. I had been leaning towards ((XM)) because I liked a couple
>of the stations.
>
>So, I went to Staples early this AM to see what was on sale or in the
>"Bargain Bin", and I saw a display for Delphi XM radios. Hmmm.....
>
>I came home and poked around looking at prices and services. Everything
>(Equipment wise) was out of my price range; tried E-Bay, went back to the
>web sites.
>
>So, this afternoon I figured I'd go to Staples again and have a look, and
>go to Radio Shack and see what they had.
>
>I wound up going to Staples first, and saw an XM display. Here were the
>deciding factors:
>
>1. Price. The service is $12.95 a month, and the receiver, a "Roady2", was
>$49.95. The only thing I wanted was a Direct Connection, since the FM
>Modulators lose signal quality and without the Direct Connection you can't
>use it very widely.
>
>2. Service. While looking over the XM displays I saw the 'stations' I
>remembered, they have added a few and expanded greatly.
>
>But the REAL deciding factor:
>
>BBC World Service. Now I am not at the whim of the area's NPR stations, or
>the AM station 15 miles from my house that broadcasts the BBC all night,
>but fades terribly after the sun goes down. I can listen to it any time I
>want!
>
>Plus, after buying the $50 receiver, I found, contrary to the Customer
>Service person's information, that it DOES indeed have a Direct
>Connection, and when you plug in a mini-stereo plug the FM Modulator turns
>off. So, with a proper power adapter, I can use it at home or the shop,
>too.
>
>Now, the only real puzzler: the thing was made for a car. WHY IN THE WORLD
>does it operate on SIX volts? They supply an adapter, but now I can't hard
>wire it into the car, and I lose my lighters in all the cars. So, I either
>make some sort of adapter (not REAL hard, you just have to lose 1/2 the
>voltage) or wire up extra 'outlets' in my cars.
>
>Now, I'm going absolutely nuts. There is SO much music I like there it's
>driving me crazy. The "Classic Rock' station doesn't play the Usual Crap
>you hear on the broadcast stations, the Alternative stations play some
>really great stuff ("Fred", "Ethel", and especially, "Lucy") and there is
>such a selection of Jazz it's amazing. Add to that the BBC and I will have
>to get a job like I had in days gone by, where I was driving 50 miles one
>way to work.[/color]


Ahhhhhhhhhhhhhhh The satisfaction with new toys!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Me I'm looking at the new Canon 5D Digital SLR Camera....LOL

--

Scott in Florida

On Sat, 17 Sep 2005 20:16:32 -0400, Scott in Florida wrote:
[color=blue]
> On Sat, 17 Sep 2005 23:27:16 GMT, Hachiroku <Trueno@ae86.gts> wrote:
>[color=green]
>>I have been trying to decide on a sattelite radio provider for a couple
>>years now, but I have been waiting for the prices to drop and trying to
>>decide which service I would like the best.
>>
>>The other day we had a Chrysler 300C Hemi come in, and the Sirius service
>>blew me away. I had been leaning towards ((XM)) because I liked a couple
>>of the stations.
>>
>>So, I went to Staples early this AM to see what was on sale or in the
>>"Bargain Bin", and I saw a display for Delphi XM radios. Hmmm.....
>>
>>I came home and poked around looking at prices and services. Everything
>>(Equipment wise) was out of my price range; tried E-Bay, went back to the
>>web sites.
>>
>>So, this afternoon I figured I'd go to Staples again and have a look, and
>>go to Radio Shack and see what they had.
>>
>>I wound up going to Staples first, and saw an XM display. Here were the
>>deciding factors:
>>
>>1. Price. The service is $12.95 a month, and the receiver, a "Roady2", was
>>$49.95. The only thing I wanted was a Direct Connection, since the FM
>>Modulators lose signal quality and without the Direct Connection you can't
>>use it very widely.
>>
>>2. Service. While looking over the XM displays I saw the 'stations' I
>>remembered, they have added a few and expanded greatly.
>>
>>But the REAL deciding factor:
>>
>>BBC World Service. Now I am not at the whim of the area's NPR stations, or
>>the AM station 15 miles from my house that broadcasts the BBC all night,
>>but fades terribly after the sun goes down. I can listen to it any time I
>>want!
>>
>>Plus, after buying the $50 receiver, I found, contrary to the Customer
>>Service person's information, that it DOES indeed have a Direct
>>Connection, and when you plug in a mini-stereo plug the FM Modulator turns
>>off. So, with a proper power adapter, I can use it at home or the shop,
>>too.
>>
>>Now, the only real puzzler: the thing was made for a car. WHY IN THE WORLD
>>does it operate on SIX volts? They supply an adapter, but now I can't hard
>>wire it into the car, and I lose my lighters in all the cars. So, I either
>>make some sort of adapter (not REAL hard, you just have to lose 1/2 the
>>voltage) or wire up extra 'outlets' in my cars.
>>
>>Now, I'm going absolutely nuts. There is SO much music I like there it's
>>driving me crazy. The "Classic Rock' station doesn't play the Usual Crap
>>you hear on the broadcast stations, the Alternative stations play some
>>really great stuff ("Fred", "Ethel", and especially, "Lucy") and there is
>>such a selection of Jazz it's amazing. Add to that the BBC and I will have
>>to get a job like I had in days gone by, where I was driving 50 miles one
>>way to work.[/color]
>
>
> Ahhhhhhhhhhhhhhh The satisfaction with new toys!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
>
> Me I'm looking at the new Canon 5D Digital SLR Camera....LOL[/color]


The nw cameras are approaching the level of film cameras, with
interchangable lenses (if you have an older Canon film camera, you will be
able to use your existing lenses, most likely) and as good resolution as
film.

Film is roughly 8 megapixels, and a lot of the newer SLR types are at
leats 6, with some being 8 or 9.

I remember about 10 years ago, a 1 megapixel Canon Camera with a Kodak
digital data back was $10,000!!!!

On Sun, 18 Sep 2005 00:34:37 GMT, Hachiroku <Trueno@ae86.gts> wrote:
[color=blue]
>On Sat, 17 Sep 2005 20:16:32 -0400, Scott in Florida wrote:[/color]
[color=blue][color=green]
>>
>> Ahhhhhhhhhhhhhhh The satisfaction with new toys!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
>>
>> Me I'm looking at the new Canon 5D Digital SLR Camera....LOL[/color]
>
>
>The nw cameras are approaching the level of film cameras, with
>interchangable lenses (if you have an older Canon film camera, you will be
>able to use your existing lenses, most likely) and as good resolution as
>film.
>
>Film is roughly 8 megapixels, and a lot of the newer SLR types are at
>leats 6, with some being 8 or 9.[/color]

The D5 is 12.

You could get a pretty big argument about your statement that 8 is
equivalent to film...LOL

[color=blue]
>
>I remember about 10 years ago, a 1 megapixel Canon Camera with a Kodak
>digital data back was $10,000!!!![/color]

The D5 is 3250.


--

Scott in Florida