If this topic has already been discussed I apologize, but I couldn't find a thread about it. I recently moved down to St. Louis to be with my aging parents and can't stand the thought of not being able to stay on top of the Chicago baseball season come spring, especially surrounded by idiot Cardinal fans. I found out that XM carries MLB games allowing me to be able to listen to Cubs and Sox games. I was wondering if anyone has XM and what your level of satifaction is with it (reception, programming, etc.). My basic goal is to listen to it at work (typical office cubical type of gig), so if you have any recommendations as far as what equipment would be best for my situation I would really appreciate any advise you have as I am pretty uninformed in this area.

XM is great. In the chicago area(and the suburbs) they actually have ground repeaters(similar to cell phone towers) so the reception is even better. I use it in the car all the time and maybe have one time a month where it skips for a few seconds.

The thing to keep in mind is that if you are using the satellite in the sky that you need to have line of sight. You can't just put the antennae in your living room and expect perfect results. They sell signal extenders but in St. Louis they probably also have signal repeaters on the ground.

I don't think I could go without satellite radio any more and if you want MLB then XM is the right choice for you.

If I were you I would check out http://www.xmfan.com as that site is much more useful than anyone here would be on this topic.

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You do not talk to me like that! I work too hard to deal with this stuff! I work too hard! I'm an important member of the CSFMB! I drive a Dodge Stratus!

As opposed to all those satellites along the Kennedy or something?

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Hey I heard this morning that a spy satellite lost power or something and is heading for the earth.......should arrive sometime in early March, so maybe we will be talking about the satellite in your backyard.

Something like that will most likely burn up re-entering the Earth's atmosphere, if it even makes it that far.

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When you have an xm account, you can listen to xm on the web. You can't get the baseball games and other 'premium' channels, but you can get all XM Music channels and some of the other stuff. If you are trying to listen with your receiver and an antenna, you will need to have the antenna facing south and usually needs to be right in the window.

In general, I like my XM and it has changed my rides to work by letting me hear Steve Czaban vs. Mike and Mike or North.

St. Loius sucks... sorry to hear that....

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SideshowBob311: "Sadly enough, I think we're the "intelligent" portion of the sports radio fanbase".
"I make fun of whoever sucks, including me"- Harry 11/30/07

Well, it was a poor word usage, but xm actually does have terrestrial repeaters of satellite radio around the Chicago area that give a much stronger signal so you actually get "satellite" radio through ground repeaters.

It actually makes a big difference as I never have issues in the Chicago area but some times I will get a momentary skip in the song when out in the middle of nowhere.

I know you were just giving me a hard time but there may actually be some along the Kennedy.

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You do not talk to me like that! I work too hard to deal with this stuff! I work too hard! I'm an important member of the CSFMB! I drive a Dodge Stratus!

what is this mythical "St. Loius" you speak of???

I've been a subscriber to XM since late 2005 and am very happy with the service. Reception in my car is outstanding-very few instances of service outages. The variety of music is impressive so whatever genre you prefer, I think you'll find a station/stations that you will enjoy. All music stations are commercial free-very refreshing considering the current state of "free" radio. In addition, having access to all baseball games (home team radio team) is outstanding-XM also has an all baseball talk station which is informative.

I've rented cars with Sirius and found the XM music channels (Rock) play a wider variety compared to Sirius. Sirius has Howard Stern but with the merger talk, there is a chance that subscribers could have access to Sirius programming in the coming year.

As an earlier poster noted, with a subscription to XM you will be able to listen to most music stations online. For the non-online version, you need a clear view of the Southern sky so if you are in an office building, you will need to hope a window with a Southern exposure is close by.

I'm really happy with my subscription-I think once people try it, you won't want to return to 42 minutes of music where you here the same songs over and over and over.....

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"Phineas J. Whoopie, you're the greatest"
Tennessee Tuxedo

Is there a walkman size XM (or Sirius) device that works in a downtown office ?

If so, any recommendations ?

In addition, do any of these devices come with AM/FM ?

Sirius makes a walkman type device called the Stilletto. It works with wi fi. If you are in an office or airport (with wi-fi) it will work. You also can purchase a car adapter to bring the radio into your car. The Stiletto also allows you to record and replay content (think radio version on TIVO)

I prefer Sirius for the following reasons:

1. Howard Stern
2. NFL (all games with local announcers)
3. Scotty Ferrell (think Howard Stern meets sports radio)
4. Playboy Radio

XM has the XM2Go. You can record up to 5 hours and play it back like a DVR. It doesn't have AM/FM Capabilties. It does come with a goofy pair of headphones that have an antenna in them to use but again, you need a clear view of the south sky.

The Pioneer Inno is a much better version of that. You can record individual songs or shows. I had the MyFi but replaced it with this when my MyFi died. It's nice because you can also put about 25 hours worth of normal mp3's similar to an ipod on it so if I like a song, I can record it and if it's not playing on XM, I can put it on from a cd or you can buy it through napster.

It doesn't have am/fm radio either.

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You do not talk to me like that! I work too hard to deal with this stuff! I work too hard! I'm an important member of the CSFMB! I drive a Dodge Stratus!

I went ahead and got XM in my car and absolutely love it. My usually routine at work was to stream music, sports, mlb play by play, etc. but my company has systematically blocked (via firewall) all access to those websites. So, right now I am thinking about getting the XM Inno which is essentially an MP3 that plays live XM? Do any of you have it and have you used it in an office building? I've heard it gets better reception with a special XM manufactured set of headphones. Any advise?