Pandora Radio on the Bike?

[markgoodrich]

I'm sure I'm very late to the Pandora party, but I just learned about it last night. It appears the only way to listen to it on the bike would be through a smartphone, which might be enough to push me over the edge into getting one.

 

However, if there's another way, I'd love to learn about it.

 

IF one must use a smartphone which supports Pandora, my main question is, how long will the phone's battery last while listening to Pandora? I'd be running it through the Autocom. The main disadvantage, besides another gizmo, is that my phone would now be hooked up to the Autocom....

 

TIA for advice on this. I'm completely hooked.

[OoPEZoO]

The other downfall to think about is that it will only work in places where your smart phone can get a good quality data signal. This works fine around urban areas, but it can get real spotty once you get out into the countryside. This goes for all carriers. Just because you have a cell phone signal doesn't mean you can get a data connection fast enough to handle something like Pandora.

 

 

[johnlt]

I guess I'm just getting old. I have no idea what the hell you are talking abouty!!!

[skinny_tom (aka boney)]

I guess I'm just getting old. I have no idea what the hell you are talking abouty!!!

 

Streaming music data across a network or phone signal...

 

 

 

I use Pandora and another streaming radio station application on my phone at home, using the home network (I also listen to the Baseball games this way). It works pretty well, and I've had good luck around town, but as soon as I start moving among the different cell towers, it's not so good. It could be the cell provider though- AT&T isn't the best network.

[tobyzusa]

Mark, Pandora is great, but not suited for the application you are describing. Pandora fritzes out if it loses signal for even a short period of time. Even if you increase the buffer size to the largest setting, what you are describing will be hit or miss. Sorry to be the bearer of bad news.

[Rphoto]

I've tried Pandora through my car radio here in rural Ohio (through my Verizon Blackberry) and it works very nicely. Have had no problems with it losing the signal. Of course it you find an area where Verizon's signal is weak/non-existent it won't work. For me it replaces the need for XM. I would give it a try -- nothing to lose.

[jjg3]

Have you considered Slacker? After listening to Slacker for a while I got a Slacker G2 radio and subscribe to Slacker plus. As soon as my Sirius subscription runs out no more satellite.

[XTrooper]

I subscribe to Slacker Radio during the riding season. Slacker Plus allows you to cache/download your favorite stations onto your smartphone so you don't need to stream them. With the stations cached, you don't need any wireless data connection to listen to your favorite tunes.

[markgoodrich]

Thanks for the replies, here's a follow-on question: is there a (simple) way to RECORD Pandora stations, say, to an ipod or similar device?

 

I'll check Slacker out.

[LeftCoastMan]

Thanks for the replies, here's a follow-on question: is there a (simple) way to RECORD Pandora stations, say, to an ipod or similar device?

 

I'll check Slacker out.

 

There are ways to record Pandora on your computer as MP3 files. Then you need to transfer it to an iPod or smartphone. But that really defeats the usefulness of Pandora. You may as well create a song list on iTunes.

 

Remember, if you get this to work on your smartphone, you have to pay for a data plan. By the end of summer, all the major US cell phone providers are going to move to capped data plans, so Pandora, which can suck a lot of data bandwidth, may not be your best move.

 

If you're really opposed to a smartphone (and there are good reasons to be), why don't you consider an Sirius/XM radio? Lots cheaper in price to get one, and the subscription is going to be a lot less than a data plan on a smartphone. I know some people complain about Sirius/XM, but there are literally 100 different music stations. There's one that plays Grateful Dead 24/7 (makes me want to pull over and hit a bong). You can get baseball, hockey, football, basketball. College stuff. Traffic conditions. And it works everywhere, except if you're in a deep canyon that blocks the line of sight to a satellite.

 

Just opening up your choices.

[nealopp]

PandoraJam is a Mac app that lets you record pandora. You just run it on your computer (overnight, all day, all week...) and it dumps the songs into an itunes playlist. I haven't tried it myself, but a buddy likes it.

[LeftCoastMan]

PandoraJam is a Mac app that lets you record pandora. You just run it on your computer (overnight, all day, all week...) and it dumps the songs into an itunes playlist. I haven't tried it myself, but a buddy likes it.

 

I still don't get why anyone would do this. I guess I like my own music lists.