XM Radios

GTCHAS · September 30, 2003

Can anyone give me some feedback on the Delfi XM unit with car kit ?

greyghost03 · October 1, 2003

I am in the process of looking for the best deal on this unit right now! Buddy of mine has it in his truck and it is awesome. I liked it so much, I am buying it myself.

BTW - If you don't have a cassette player in your truck or you want a cleaner install that also supplies power to the unit (instead of the cigarette plug) you will need the FM modulator too.

ridnlow · October 1, 2003

Yea, at work we sell XM and Sirius... If your radio is Satelitte ready, you can probably get out cheaper. All you will need is tuner and antenna. If it is not then you will need to get the delphi unit with the car kit antenna and fm mod. I would seriously suggest that you check into Sirius also. We used to listen to XM at work and now we listen to Sirius and it is so much better. They are also having a major push right now because they are behind and XM and you can get killer deals.

AZ-Z71 · October 1, 2003

Here is what you will need:

1. Delphi portable XM unit

2. Car kit (comes with cigarette lighter plug, antenna, and cassete adaptor)

3. FM Modulator kit (comes with the fm modulator) This is for the clean install and if you don't have cassette you will need this.

4. Two patch antenna wires. One to take the back of the radio antenna to the XM Modulator, one to connect the XM modulator to the trucks antenna (radio antenna). Gm uses the small style antenna plugs and the modulator uses the larger style ones so you definatelly need two parck wire to go from one size to the other and then back.

Total set up is about $200. I think it was $99 for the Delphi Unit, $45 for the one kit, $35 for the other and about $20 for the two antenna wire adaptors. Best Buy had all the parts I needed and picked them up at one time. I installed it my self, took about 1.5 hours, although .5 hour spent trying to find a good location to mount the unit. The rest was very easy. For the on the roof antenna, I opened the third brake light and ran the cable through there to the roof.

Once complete, there is a number you can call or a web site, sign up for service, pay the 9.99, leave the unit on for (I think - it is all in the book or web site) 2 hours to receive the initial signal and BAM - your in business.

Just got an e-mail from XM Radio, the new Delphi Unit is now 40% smaller than the previous unit, it uses a mirco sized antenna which is smaller than previous and the back light color is now selectable in 7 new colors. The unit now comes with the car kit which you used to have to buy seperately and the new cost is $119.00. You will still need to buy the xm modulator seperately. Seems like a great deal. I may have to switch out my old unit to this new one.

braveheart98 · October 3, 2003

I got the Delphi unit in my 2000 Chevy. I really like it. I was thinking about the Sirius. But I picked the XM for the fact it's offered in vehicles right from the factory. I fiqured with the support of the auto industry XM will have a better chance of being around longer. I didn't want to buy a system a down the road not have any programing for it. Stranger things have happened. I remember back in the late 70's early 80's when I bought a Sony Betamax. I fiqured it would be the way to go. Smaller size tapes than the VHS and it was backed by Sony. Fiqured it was the wave of the future. Well I got a few Betamax's sitting in the closet now. Didn't want to make the same mistake again.

ridnlow · October 3, 2003

XM is only offered in GM Vehicles and VW. Sirius is Ford and some other manufacturers i believe. Both of them are standard in vehicles, so that is no reason why one is better than the other. If you sit down and listen to Sirius and XM then you will see which is better