Pandora Internet Radio Review

I had been listening to my custom station on Slacker (internet) Radio for nearly a year now, but they recently started to play ads in between songs, so of course they had to go. I don't mind visual ads around the player, but if I want commercials I'll listen to old fashioned radio.

My buddy at Nigzich Nutrition and Fitness recommended Pandora internet radio, and I must admit I like it, a lot.

First let me state what I like about Slacker over Pandora, and then I'll rant about Pandora.
Slacker Pros:

• Ban artist feature
• Adjust how many artists are recommended
• The ability to make exclusive stations
• Can add comedians
  

Cons:

• Ads
• Poor variety
  
• Radio times out when left inactive
• Slacker portable is just lame
• Premium features are constantly dangled in front of you, why don't you understand that not wanting to pay for radio doesn't make me cheap!

Now on to Pandora

Pros:

• No audio ads
• Simple intuitive navigation
• Station sharing with friends and messaging (I know it's a marketing ploy, I don't care)
• Approval and disapproval of songs
• Snooze option allows you to disable a song for a month, I really like this feature
• The Human Music Genome Project really does learn what you like and ends up playing some great music as a result
• The ability to purchase songs or albums on iTunes or Amazon
  

Cons:

• Can't ban artists, only songs
• Can't build exclusive stations that ONLY play a limited number of artists
• Also times out after a span of inactivity

I'm very pleased with it, there have been several times where it plays a song and my reaction is, "I LOVE this song, and I totally forgot that it existed!"