chileboy

I've been using the Pandora Enform app last few weeks and I really like it - blows away SiriusXM, which I rarely use now (and won't renew).

I'm curious as to the lack of ads and commercials, which I receive on my phone and Roku box at home. Does Lexus have some special deal with Pandora (which will likely lapse now that Enform is free)? Or did they just not yet figure out how to push ads to the display (actually, that wouldn't explain the lack of spoken commercials - maybe I haven't listened for a long-enough stretch yet)?

jrlxr7

Shhhh......not too loud!! Seriously, I have been listening to Pandora through Enform for over a month and not a single commercial. I view this as an added and unexpected bonus to a great automobile.

chileboy

Yeah, right?

Agreed! Glad your experience is the same. I'll just enjoy it and hope for the best going forward.

Thanks!

wasjr

I know there was a previous thread on this (but I don't think there was a definitive answer), but do you have a feel for how much of your wireless data plan Pandora is utilizing?

atoyota

Until today I would have agreed that the Pandora over Enform is completely add free, however I did see something strange today. I rarely run the app in the display (where you can see the album art, like or unlike or pause or advance to the next song) I just listen to Pandora and use the same info display as radio stations and satellite.

Today I had the app open for an extended period. I never heard any voice commercials, but a song seemed to end abruptly and the next song started. I looked over and noticed the album art showed a picture of a box of an inkjet cartridge for a Canon Pixma Pro photo printer - not the art for the album of the song that was playing (I do own one and bought cartridges a few months ago).

As long as there are no voice commercials I don't really care. But I have seen a "commercial" in the album art.

coach1

I was told it is a bad idea unless you have unlimited data time on your phone/plan. I definitely hate the dance you have to go through with Sirius every year for decent rate. The only station I use in classical and hits....I'm noticing commercial like talk about their programing. I could buy an Ipod for the price of a subscription.

Mike728

It uses very little data for me, but I guess if you're in your car for several hours a day it could add up. As far as the iPod goes, just get a flash drive. Much cheaper and no battery to worry about. All you're going to miss is the album art.

LexBob2

I've noticed that too on Sirius. Also more in the way of "personality" type DJ banter and less music.

jollick

That is one of the reasons I did not renew, if I am paying for music I want music, not some DJ talking to me. I converted all of my CDs to mp3,l put them on a USB flash drive and do not hear a song repeated for weeks. I do however like the traffic info so I will renew the traffic and weather when the time comes.

Arty101

Same here. Quality of Sirius is no better than FM, and sometimes worst due to spotty reception. If I wanted to hear DJ talk, I just listen to FM.

chileboy

I do have unlimited data, so it's not a concern for me - I know I had read though that Pandora is very data-friendly.

I can track data usage by app on my phone - when I get the chance, I will stream Pandora for a given length of time - say, 1 hour - and report my findings back here.

Sucks about the first advert sighting! But honestly, if it gets to be an issue. I'd rather become a paid Pandora subscriber then Sirius. Besides the increasing DJ-jabber and mediocre quality, I've noticed I will hear the same tracks if I listen for any length of time. I could understand that if I was listening to Top 40, but I listen mostly to Classic Jazz. I think I've yet to hear a repeat on Pandora (or maybe I just don't notice as much as I would hearing the latest Katy Perry song for the 900th time).

I also have an iPod Classic (latest Gen. 7) and that works pretty well, although there are some annoyances. For instance,when you first plug it in, it immediately starts playing the first song (alphabetically) on the iPod, so you hear the same one at startup every time. Plus, it won't let you Browse or Skip at first - if you try, it will say "Accessing Data from iPod, please wait" and you can't do anything for 20-30 seconds - I found you have to wait for the album art to appear before you can do anything.

Worse, periodically it will lock up my iPod, and I have to dig it out of the console and do a hard reset - which resets the playlist back to that same first song.

I never had any of those sorts of issues with my old Parrot system I had installed in my old 2002 ES300.

- Mark

atoyota

I agree about the small amount of data usage with Pandora. I just got my bill from last month, the first full month I used Pandora regularly. My total data was only 640Mb and I listen to Pandora in the car approximately 7-9 hours a week including weekends.

wasjr

Not to hijack the thread, but as an fyi for those with unlimited data, my son tried to upgrade his iPhone and Verizon said he had to change plans (he declined) away from his unlimited data. Likewise a friend on AT&T did upgrade and was told the only way he could upgrade and not lose unlimited data would be to buy the phone at full retail with no plan subsidy.

txes

That's BS on the AT&T wireless info.

I went from a iPhone 4S to a Galaxy S4. Kept my unlimited data plan. Paid $199.00 for the phone.

I then changed voice plans and upped my minutes of use and was able to keep my unlimited data plan.

Need to be persistent.

John

wasjr

My friend with AT&T upgraded to one of the new iPhones. I believe the carrier's subsidy is larger for an iPhone and maybe the type of phone was the issue.