Delphi XpressRC SA10315 XM Radio Receiver with Car Kit

First of all let me say I have been a fan of satellite radio since day one. I have been on the Sirius side of the fence. My contract came up and I looked into the mirge which is the " Delphi XpressRC SA10315" XM Radio guts, Plus a Sirius Sportser Motherboard into a all-in-one unit. I am writing this review, Because I have the radio and there is darn near NO information about it on the market. You have your Sirius Fans and your XM fans, and now that both services offer the same programing, except for a handful of premium channels. This radio is in a effect the forgotten child. It's purpose in life is to meet the requirements set forth by the FCC, when the two company's became one.. Yea, it got its name from the idea "mirge" remove the "i" and replace with a '!"

First of all, lets look at the quirks. Sirius and XM have different satellite flight paths. XM sits above the equator and Sirius floats back and forth between North and South America. So car antenna placement is important. The Antenna which looks like the old Sirius style huge blocks of plastic. MUST lay flat and at the highest point (roof) of the vehicle.
If you mount it where there is as much as a 5-10 percent angle, you lose one service or the other's maximum signal. YES, in the bigger cities, there are repeaters for both XM and Sirius, to boast the ground level signal. But the FCC and complaints., have cause the company to tone them down power wise and antenna pattern wise. thus keep your antenna flat level with the ground and use the satellites above the USA.

As I said you have both services XM and Sirius in one box. Of course they are going to charge you extra. MAKE SURE you get the all-in-one Sirius XM package. Do Not let the sales rep, sell you a lifetime subscription  to Sirius Plus the best of XM or the other way around. IT IS NOT THE SAME.  There is NO lifetime subscription rate for both services together. it's $19.99 a month or buy 2 years worth at $400 ( a $100 a month payments then your done) and you end up with a free couple of months.  This price is the ONLY way to get all the sports, as Sirius carries some and XM has some. Neither service carries everything. That being said you do have the same channel on both sides "70's  mix" on Sirius and XM. its the same program feed, BUT I think the Sirius side has more bandwidth for better sounding music.. XM music channels sounds flat to my ears.

Lets talk hardware. This radio is the same as the mentioned XpressRC XM radio. So use those extras, and save the surge charge, because they call it a M!rge extra. Example the M!rage table radio is $149.00 bucks and it's AC only. the Xpress portable "XM Sound System" is batteries and AC powered, uses a XM antenna, but seems to work fine with the Sirius side. That system cost $119.00 and there is no counter AC/DC unit for the Mirge radio at the moment. Since not a lot of people are buying these units. I don't see a lot of new hardware coming on the market. Again this is a XpressRC XM radio with a Sirius radio motherboard inside the same case. Use the cheaper hardware.

Ok, So lets look at the radio and features. The "Sat" button above the 9 key is how you switch between Sirius and XM. Each side you can save 10 favorite channels. Which is NOT enough for people like myself. However I have learnt to memorize the channels and can punch 100 for Howard Stern and not waste a favorite button. You have the option to split the screen, which allows you to listen to one channel, while seeing artist, song, etc on the other channels. If you split screen you 10 favorite channels, it works pretty good. If you select all and scan, by the time you flick through all the news/ traffic channels, you have missed full songs on the music channels. You CAN save 20 artist or Songs in memory. again its XM or Sirius priority. So you wont be alerted to programming on the other side of the fence.
Same with Stocks and Sports alerts. You can like your TV News Channel, have information rolling across the bottom the of display. I have found it better to page instead of scroll. Page allows you to see the information all at once and then go back to the more important things, like keeping your eyes on the road and not having a accident.
You can pause and reply 60 or so minutes of programming, and the list of songs, are displayed along the side. If you change the channel or switch to the other service, the saved programming is lost and it starts all over.

One other note: Plan on spending a professional install, not only will they mount the antenna right, but they can install a XM FM Direct, which sends the radio signal directly into your car radio. Again the days of the older radios sending a signal, that could be hear 3 car lengths away are gone. The built in FM transmitter is lame at best. Spend the extra bucks and enjoy a clean sounding program.

Lets sum this up. First of all - If you want everything on Sirius and XM, this is the only way to do it. It costs $19.99 a month and there is NO lifetime subscription. I live on the road and spend a lot more than $20 a month on hotel and food. I love the fact I can listen to both, as I have favorites on both sides of the fence. I also enjoy ALL sports from baseball, football, Golf, NASCAR, Basketball, etc. if its on the radio I can hear (that includes Big 10 college and some minor teams as well) The step up is compact, and simple. Not alot of wires, as I guess you could buy 2 radios a Sirius and XM and install both, switching back and forth. But this is Cheaper and Easier. I like the 60 minute pause button. I use it alot. I also like the fact, that even tho there is 2 radio motherboards inside, the radio doesn't over heat (go figure) The way the radio comes on and off the bracket is solid and should give good service. After paying all this money for both services, why not spend a few more and listen inside, outside and on a DC battery boombox (see above)

Sadly I have more bad than good comments. Not enough favorite buttons. 20 favorites, that's it and how many channels total on both sides. The Display is very tiny for older people (like me) Nice colors and you see a lot of the album covers the songs came from, but it is a too busy display. I don't like the fact there is NO lifetime subscription option its a constant debt and no break even pay off. I can see they are not going to make a all-in-one portable that can be carried about. In fact I think once they sell off, this run on hardware. They may stop production, as it's not a money maker for the company. So Buy now.. (Could that be why there is so little information out there? ) What you don't know won't hurt their profits..

Bottom Line if you can afford the $20 bucks a month and want everything Satillite radio offers. This IS the way to go.