Too bad, the only two options I wish my 8 had that it doesnt are XM and a darn memory seat.

 

The satellite radio option available for the '05 Mazdas is Sirius, not XM.

 

Sorry bout that.

 

When Mz decided to get in bed with Sirius on the Speed Protoge I really think it was gonna be a "one and done" deal. After all the Kenwood set-up in that car still required you to purchase the receiver and other equipment.

It has taken 2 full years to get the radio manufacturer to equip the factory head units with a SAT set-up that is truly plug and play.

What I'm curious about is when you have a head unit problem with a 04 model will they replace it with the 05?

 

It is my understanding that the firmware needs to be 9.67 and all 04 have up to 9.55 so they would either have to replace the unit (probably what a dealer would do) or upgrade the firmware. Search the forum for info on HU upgrading.

 

What differences are there btw sirius or xm? Is either one better?

 

Would be nice... Dont let many anyone drive it for this reason.. Very picky when it comes to my seat setup :D

 

Try a google search for more information. But basically, it boils down to programming choices and equipment. I'm an XM subscriber and fan myself. Sirius' stations are all "commercial-free" (though they run quite a few promos for other stations). XM's music stations are commercial-free, their talk stations run a few commercials. Sirius is $12.95/month, XM is $9.99/month. XM has arguably more choices of equipment, and in my opinion the equipment available for XM seems more "polished" compared to Sirius equipment, which to my eyes all has a "prototype" look to it. Not only that, but XM seems to always be a step ahead of Sirius in equipment -- XM had a portable "boombox" solution months before Sirius did, and XM just announced a walkman-type receiver -- Sirius has nothing of the sort.

As far as programming is concerned, besides roughly equivalent music offerings, Sirius has Howard Stern (starting in 2005); XM has Major League Baseball.

Here are a couple of comparison links:
http://radio.about.com/library/blsatellitechart.htm
http://radio.about.com/cs/satelliter...ksatellite.htm

XM is partnered with General Motors (Chevy, Pontiac, Buick, Cadillac, Saturn, GMC, Isuzu, Saab) Honda (Acura), Nissan (Infiniti), Toyota (Scion), and Audi for factory "satellite-ready" head units. Sirius is partnered with Audi, Aston-Martin, BMW (Mini), DaimlerChrysler (Chrysler, Dodge, Jeep, Mercedes-Benz), Ford (Jaguar, Land Rover, Lincoln), Infiniti (Nissan), and of course Mazda.

I think Nissan/Infiniti are unique in that they offer either XM or Sirius receivers built by Clarion that connect to their head units. I wish more manufacturers offered this kind of option.

 

Sirius also gets you the NFL and NHL (when it plays).

 

Check out this thread at Rosenthal Mazda, he says its a receiver and antenna that is compatible with the 04's, and are on sale.


https://www.rx8club.com/rosenthal-mazda-68/sirius-satellite-radio-43144/

 

My wife, who has XM told me yesterday that she likes SIRIUS better. She's still pissed because XM does not have the option where one can dial in from their computer and get the streams. Not only that she emailed them posing the question as to why they do not offer that option. All she got was an automated email response telling her thay would contact her in 24 hours. That was 6 months ago!!! She uses my SIRIUS subscription everyday @ her office. I guess she's had plenty of time to compare the two (SIRIUS @ work vs XM to and from work in the car).

 

XM does have internet streaming of their music.

Trevor

 

Yeah, it's a new service they just started up. I believe it's an extra $3.99 per month or something like that.

 

Well they have lousy customer service then, because she's been waiting 6+ months or so for a response from them. It's funny because I read that bullsh*t email that they send every Monday, (keeping up with what competition is doing) and not one has ever made reference to the new option nor the $3.99 additional charge for the service. I've contacted SIRIUS about some things that XM was doing in the past, wondering if thsy would adopt those strategies and I not only received the automated response email but also a follow-up from someone within 24 hours. I'll let her know about the new feature though.

 

If you want XM on your PC, search Google for XM PCR.
Some Canadian engineer also wrote a program to save satellite radio songs as MP3s with names, tags and all.