I am no expert on the matter, but I can share my experience with it.
I recently purchased Sirius (the XM alternative) radio for my friend's
car (Nissan Altima with factory stereo). I went to both Best Buy and
Circuit City to look at the different units. Both places offered 2
units for both Sirius and XM. The prices ranged from $80 to $130, and
they could be installed in about an hour (no appointment was
necessary) for approximately $40. I was also required to buy a car
adapter which around $50. All said and done I paid about $230 which
included installation and a 2 or 3 year service plan.
I chose the more expensive Sportster because it was the most popular
one. The XM equivalent of the Sportster is the Delphi SKYFi (the one
in all the XM commercials) or or SKYFi2. The reason I chose the most
popular one is that components (home docking stations, etc.) for them
are easier to find.
The way XM/Sirius works with factory stereos in cars is it transmits a
signal on one of 8 different FM frequencies, so you don't actually
have to wire anything into your stereo. The difficulty in
installation comes from hooking up the power source and mounting the
docking station.
In terms of XM accounts, you can go to www.xmradio.com and register
your new player there or call 1-800-XM-RADIO. Both the website and
that number will allow you to add your XM player to your existing
account. It will cost $6.99 per radio to add it onto your existing
plan (according to the website).
Sorry I can't offer much more than this, but I hope this helps at least a little. |