I’ve joined the XM nation
May 18, 2008A few months ago I rented a car for a quick trip to Atlanta, and it happened to have XM. I hadn’t rented it for that reason, it was just coincidence. I was so impressed with XM that I decided, if I could find a good portable XM receiver for cheap I would consider joining up.
A couple weeks ago Woot had a refurb Pioneer Inno for just $70. It arrived yesterday from FedEx, which was a little surprising. In that I would think Saturday delivery is an additional cost, why Woot went to that expense is the surprising part.
I called XM last night and used the instructions somebody had posted on Woot’s forums to get a great $77 deal for the first year’s subscription. One thing that was funny is you could tell the lady at the call center was reading off a script. When we had finished the call she told me to leave the car parked outside for at least 20 minutes so that the XM radio could complete the registration process. Even though I had just told her, in response to an earlier question, that I did not have a car-based XM but one of these portable XM’s. And that I would be using it primarily at my desk in the office.
Rather than leave it sitting in my car for 20 minutes, I took it for a walk to the grocery store. About half-way to the grocery store it had completed the process and channels started showing up on the little UI. I do wish the UI was closer to an iPod, which I find more intuitive. But it’s not too bad.
The unit came with a base station, which I’ve connected to my stereo at home. My car stereo has an optional kit that lets you connect thru a standard headphone stereo jack, I might try to find one of those kits so that I can also use the unit in the car.
I really like this thing so far. My current favorite channels are the 80’s, and the BBC World Service.