[Rob Hood]

OK, I'm up for renewal on my XM subscription, and I've got free Sirius in my VW Jetta for a few more days. Since sampling the Sirius for the last couple of months, I do like their music selection (classic rock and country stations primarily) better than XM. Both carry the same newstalk stations I listen to as well. I do like XM's traffic coverage better than Sirius' for the Phoenix area, however, although IMO neither does a better job of traffic coverage than the local AM/FM stations. Sirius has NASCAR, but since I'm no longer making 7-hour road trips, that's not necessarily a high priority for me. My XM is portable between my truck and Z, but the Jetta is integral to the OE radio and I would rather be portable (which I know I can get with Sirius as well).

So, who has which one and likes/dislikes? Is it a tomay-to/tomah-to issue? Less filling? Tastes great?

[Rob Hood]

My Sirius is factory-installed in the VW with an external antenna. I just chalk up the signal interruption to PFM, and probably same for the XM.

My XM antennas are mounted inside the car on the dash, and rarely drop signal, which is why I get so frustrated when coming/going from the house. I've been in lengthy tunnels and never lost signal...

I don't mind carrying the radio unit from car to car, no big deal to me. By the time you add in cell phones, keys, wallet...

Interestingly enough, I took a rental car from LA to Phoenix and put my XM boombox in the back seat, and just set the antenna on the dash. Never dropped signal.

I'm probably going to stay with XM since the other two cars are already set up for it and it's less hassle to add one bracket vs changing three cars to Sirius radio brackets and antennas.

I'm actually curious as to whether or not XM and Sirius will combine into one satellite radio system. IIRC I've seen some recent articles discussing that possibility/rumor.