"Ian" wrote in message
...

Thing is, I'm thinking seriously about going in for a digital radio, since
hearing a Business World programme about it on the BBC World Service
recently.
(This would be used in the home, not as a car radio.)

Now, is there a Best Buy?
As I'm no longer able to see a damn thing, I'd ideally be looking
for a receiver that doesn't require you to look at a display panel
to get information on what mode or channel or whatever you're
currently in or on, as most good radios now seem to.

Almost all the XM and SIrius tuners are not well suited to the
vision-impaired.

There is an exception. For just $70 including antenna, you can get an XM
tuner - complete - that plugs intio the serial port on your PC. The audio
comes out a 1/8-th inch stereo jack as on most XM / Serius tuners. I don't
know if anyone has written the PC side for the vision-impaired. Send an
e-mail to XM and see what they say.

I call them tuners since no XM or Sirius box includes audio amplifier and
speakers. There is a docking station with amplifier and speakers for the
Delphi XM tuner, but that tuner isn't well suited to the visually impaired
IMO.

2. Are the channels offered really as great as the speakers on the
BBC WS program claimed? They were, after all, working for digital
broadcasters, and perhaps less than objective!

I have stopped listening to AM/FM radio since I got XM about 18 months ago.
The exception is the local news and weather station.

3. In your opinion, will the promised advertisements-free policy
last only until a large enough audience has been built up?

No one can predict.

While XM has ads on some channels, they limit the number. There are no ads
on the niche musical channels I like. That includes the older "decades"
channels, the classical channels, and some country channels and many others.
Of course the BBC World Service channel has no ads. Most of the rest of the
talk channels have ads on both XM and Sirius.

At the present time, I don't consider the ads vs no-ads to be a significant
difference between Sirius and XM. There aren't many ads on XM and they are
only on the channels that might attract advertisers - not the niche channels
that are the real strength of sat radio.

You can listen to 3-hour loops of most of the musical channels on XM from
their site www.xmradio.com. Recognize that you are listening to Internet
streaming audio, not the same quality they give off-the-air. You can listen
to Sirius (1) if you have a highspeed internet connection and (2) if you
fill out an info form and register.

Any other questions?

Bob C.