VR6 0 Posted December 29, 2002 I'm looking at some MP3 players and quite fancy this one and was hoping for people's input on hard-drive MP3 players in general and also what is also available for the money. The price with an 80 gig HDD is £399 I think. Whaddya reckon? http://www.dension.com/index.dw?oldal=0&nyelv_id=2 http://www.dension.com/index.dw?oldal=2&nyelv_id=2 http://www.in-carmp3.com/index.php Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Jim 2 Posted December 29, 2002 Should you come to sell your Pioneer unit, give me a shout.. I might have someone interested in it :) The stereo sounds like excellent value btw... almost.. too good? Read any reviews of that unit yet? Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Chris_ 0 Posted December 29, 2002 Just so you know, £400 built me an 800mhz PC with 512mb RAM, 80gb HDD and DVD drive. For that money I also got myself a 6.5" colour LCD which I will mount upfront and also a minature keyboard/cursor control. Now I can play MP3's, DVD's and take all my Nintendo/Sega emulators with me! :) For an extra £100 I will be adding GPS too. The best bit is that the PC is tiny and 12v powered. It fits under the seat and at the moment is setup on my desktop for internet use (using it at the mo) More info is at: http://www.mini-itx.com Worth a thought. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
VR6 0 Posted December 29, 2002 not got round to reading any independent reviews yet - will have a look shortly. Won't be selling the pioneer head if i get this because the mp3 unit basically takes the place of a changer....so you need a head unit to run it/for radio/cd's etc Still think it's pretty good for the dosh seeing as though you could get every piece of music you own on there!! Only thing that worries me a bit is how easy it is to navigate/manipulate the menu's for tracks/grouping of music. Depends if you can group tracks by CD album/artist/genre separately. I would have thought that if it's using the same files system as the pc (FAT32 i think) then you should be able to create your own navigation systems??? Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Jim 2 Posted December 29, 2002 Just so you know, £400 built me an 800mhz PC with 512mb RAM, 80gb HDD and DVD drive. For that money I also got myself a 6.5" colour LCD which I will mount upfront and also a minature keyboard/cursor control. Now I can play MP3's, DVD's and take all my Nintendo/Sega emulators with me! :) For an extra £100 I will be adding GPS too. The best bit is that the PC is tiny and 12v powered. It fits under the seat and at the moment is setup on my desktop for internet use (using it at the mo) More info is at: http://www.mini-itx.com Worth a thought. I have to ask.. I wanted to do this for my car a while ago, but thought it was waaay too much of a challenge. How do you shut it down after you turn the car off? Do you actually have to shut it down like as if you were using it on a desktop, or do you have some other way of shutting it down when the ignition is off? Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
VR6 0 Posted December 29, 2002 chris sounds like a very good system! Don't think it's the kind of thing I would like/be able to take on. I could probably build myself a desktop pc but that's about as far as my knowledge goes! Want to build me one? :lol: I don't think I would need GPS either as the Isle of Man isn't all that big.......if I ever got lost I'd just stick my head out of the sunroof and look for where I was going!! :lol: Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Chris_ 0 Posted December 29, 2002 The way the motherboard is, the power button does not actually turn the power on & off, it sends signals to the mobo telling it to boot up and shutdown. So I have an external button, mounted in the dash - when I want to shut down I just hit the button and XP will close everything and shut down automatically. If I forget, I have the PC go into hibernation after 30 mins. I must admit though, this setup is not in a car at the minute. I built it with the intention of it going in my Mini. I built the system, installed it 95%, then broke my foot and fell out of love with the Mini during my time in plaster. The Mini is now for sale and a Corrado is due at the end of the month. It will all go in there. :mrgreen: Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Jim 2 Posted December 29, 2002 It sounds really cool... Have to get a few pictures once its installed :D Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Chris_ 0 Posted December 29, 2002 VR6 - It's not that complicated. I have never built a PC before. If you get your head round it first and plan things like where it's going to go and how you're going to control it (a laptop touch pad or touch screen overlay are planned for mine) then it's quite easy. Read the forum on mp3car.com and also search the talkaudio.co.uk forum for 'motherboard' and it should become fairly clear. There are posts from me on TalkAudio on how I have done mine. -- C. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
VR6 0 Posted December 29, 2002 Ok cheers Chris - I will have a look. Could be a nice project.....*rubs hands* :) Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
VR6 0 Posted December 29, 2002 :oops: getting slightly daunted at the idea now lol! I think if I put it into perspective, I have the following options: buy ready built MP3 hard-drive player......no work required by me other than install and it will hold everything I have.........£400 build own system.......as above plus dvd (which I probably won't be all that bothered about as I should be driving and I have no kids!) plus GPS (which I don't need) plus it's a lot cooler system to boast about 8) plus I get the hassle of putting system together and a harder job on the install........£400 Think the only realistic option is the buy-it-system. I would be interested to see how your system works when you have it installed though chris. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
GazzaG60 0 Posted January 23, 2003 I have a Aiwa cdc-mp3 head unit. got it 2 yrs ago good. not as fast as our kids JVC though HDD mp3 players. I m a tad sceptical. A std hdd rotates at either 5400 or 7200rpm. It has to be at either vertical or horizontal positioning. The vibrations from racing or just driving on our roads will not do the drive any good. I know some car hdd mp3 players are available and may be designed for the purpose. std drives are not. I work in IT and have had a few DOAs due to transit knocks. Why does our comms room floor have to be solid antivibration-so it doesnt kill hdds. also small laptop style drives are quite expensive you need to plug to a pc to load data to them-which probly comes from cds buy a mp3 cd player. cds are bout 20p each. 10 albums.......... Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Joe M 0 Posted January 23, 2003 My brother has one of these, http://www.espotting.dealtime.co.uk/dt- ... 20/GS.html Portable hd with built in mp3 player, I used to just plug it straight into the cd in jack on the front of my old stereo and it was excellent. Can also just stick it in your pocket with headphones when u leave the car. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
GazzaG60 0 Posted January 23, 2003 the other issue is control. a std car stereo is designed so as to be usable on the move at your fingertips. I thought about a creative jukebox but how do you fit one so that its secure and easily operable. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Campaign 0 Posted January 25, 2003 VR6 - It's not that complicated. I have never built a PC before. If you get your head round it first and plan things like where it's going to go and how you're going to control it (a laptop touch pad or touch screen overlay are planned for mine) then it's quite easy. Let us know how you get on.... If I were you though, I'd start by building a standard PC first, as these things spring up their own little unexpected problems.... :roll: Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
