> Talked to a client of mine who just bought a portable MP3 player. It takes
> power from the cigarette lighter and hooks into the car stereo system. He
> says he can get about 10 hours of tunes onto a CD with software and a CD
> burner! Not that I plan to drive anywhere that takes ten hours to get there,
> but it would be nice to cruise without commercials :)
>
> Question is, has anyone used one of these players in their roadster? Any
> testimonials for specific models? I'm not talking bolt in your trunk
> boom-box players, mind you, just the portable types.
Paul,
There are at least three types of MP3 players,
1) Fixed hardware - You download the MP3s from your computer directly to RAM
in the player. To change the play list you have to reconnect (physically) to
your computer.
2) Removable cards - You D/L the MP3s to memory cards which can then be
swapped in and out of your player. You may, or may not, need a separate card
reader attached to your computer.
3) CD Players - There are both in-dash and portable CD players that will
play both music CDs and MP3 CDs. You can rip (convert) any audio files you
can get into your computer into your computer into MP3 form, build a play
list of these files and then burn them to a CD. You need a CD burner of
course. On a (newer) Mac you can use iTunes and Disk Burner or Toast. On a
PC there's Easy CD Creator and a number of other ripping and burning apps.
The nice thing about the (in-dash) third option is that you don't have to
figure out a way to connect another unit to your existing stereo or where to
sit it in the car. AFAIK all of the in-dash units are standard DIN chassis
so you'll have to figure out how/where to stick it in a roadster.
All of the major companies offer these from around $300 up. Very cool
option, IMHO. You lose some fidelity with MP3s, but in any car, particularly
a car like the roadster, you won't hear the difference. I plan on pulling
the Alpine AM/FM/CD out of our van and replacing it with an MP3 capable unit
soon.
A couple of CD burning tips. For music/MP3 CDs use the 650 meg CD-R blanks.
The 700 meg blanks have narrower tracks on them and often won't play in
units designed for music playback. Also burn the CD at the slowest speed you
can put up with, 1X if possible. Yes, it takes longer, but it greatly
reduces the number of frisbees you'll create. Trust me, been there/done
that.
I generally prefer the CD option, but the tiny non disk players are great if
small size is important. In any case I do like the ability to use some sort
of removable media to change "albums". BTW, for the old folks among us,
Toast (and I'm sure something else on the PC) offers the capability to
record LPs into your computer, clean up pops and surface noise to some
extent and then burn them to music or MP3 CD. Very cool.
HTH, Ron
The ACL Group
Arlington, Texas
(817) 572-0873
ronday@home.com
ronnie_day@acd.org
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