My 99 Chevy van just has an AM/FM Radio and a tape player. I would like something that gives me more options. I was thinking about getting a CD player, but I don't see any vacant slot, so I'm wondering if I would have to replace the whole audio system presently installed.

 

I'm intrigued with the idea of satellite radio, and wondering if anyone has any experience with one. I've read that there are models that you can take out of the car to the house, or even a personal model. I like a wide variety of music, I hate commercials, and I frequently drive almost 400 miles a weekend. On the road trips I have a hard time finding stations I like.

 

Does anyone have one of these gadgets? Do you like it? Do you think it's worth the cost and the monthly fee?

With as much driving as you do, I would say it would be worth it. My friend and I took a ride to northern Michigan and the only radio we listened to was XM satellite and we loved it.

 

You just need to go to a car audio shop and they will show you what they offer. The big thing now is the XM satellite and MP3 players. If they need to remove your in-dash system, they have fillers and what not to make your dash look good. Basically, they can do anything you want. You can even get monitors and a dvd player for your vehicle.

 

I think you should expect to pay $179 at least for a base line system that will play XM and MP3. Good luck.

the cheap and cheerfull way to do it is to buy a device that looks just like an ordinary cassete tape, the only difference is that it has a wire coming from the case that then plugs into the earphone socket on your CD player (or whatever), the audio from the CD gets converted to a small magnetic field inside this cassete and tricks the tape head into thinking it`s playing a tape.

you use the volume control on your radio/cassete as normal

 

edit: here is such a device: http://salestores1.com/soncpa9cdtoc.html

I think XM is a great choice, the only problem is that you have to pay a monthly subscription fee.