mStation or Rio Car - Where can I buy one...
03 February 2002, 10:28 PM
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Well except for ptholt 
the going rate for Mstations seems to be about £200... I've been following the auctions and missed a couple at that price. I've noticed in the US the Rio Car seems more popular - is it as good? It has space for 2 Laptop hard disks (one supplied), so good expansion potential, especially I have a spare 20 gb laptop HD anyway
The question is, are there any Rio's/Mstations in the UK at sensible prices (and that will accept returns on DOA!), and where can I buy?
Failing that should I import a Rio Car from the US?
Advice appreciated...
Jon
the going rate for Mstations seems to be about £200... I've been following the auctions and missed a couple at that price. I've noticed in the US the Rio Car seems more popular - is it as good? It has space for 2 Laptop hard disks (one supplied), so good expansion potential, especially I have a spare 20 gb laptop HD anyway The question is, are there any Rio's/Mstations in the UK at sensible prices (and that will accept returns on DOA!), and where can I buy?
Failing that should I import a Rio Car from the US?
Advice appreciated...
Jon
04 February 2002, 09:15 AM
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Jon
Most of the mStations doing the rounds in the UK at ~£200 are bankrupt stock version 1 units (i.e. different docking bay/wired remote connector, different front panel, no USB). Of this stock, some of it's nicely new & boxed, other stuff looks like ex-display, returns, etc. There seems to be a German source selling on eBay UK @ the mo. Of course, it's highly unlikely that any trader of used/bankrupt gear's ever going to offer DOA replacement, but you can always ask.
w.r.t. RIO car/empeg be *very* careful. Sonicblue are down to their last 500 units of the empeg in various HD sizes. Going rate is $199 + shipping + VAT for the smallest capacity model. I believe that someone's going after a job lot of 200 of the 500. The thing is, THERE ARE NO TUNER OPTION MODULES LEFT!!! Check out the prices that the tuner is going for on eBay - $200-$300!!! As much as the h/u. Great as the unit is, I think that it's dead in the water without the tuner.
Slightly O/T: there are a couple of far-eastern OEM manufacturers that I'm in contact with that have developed devices similar to the mStation and the empeg (i.e. boot-mounted jukebox with FM modulator/RCAs and a H/U jukebox). I feel that the market for both the mStation and the empeg has been tainted by a) the bankrupt stock, v1 vs. v2, etc., and b) list price vs. street price. I think that this type of unit will sell in limited quantity at £200-£300 if there's good aftermarket support, but that at £500+, there's very little market. I'm interested to know people's views as I'm toying with the idea of distributing one or both of these units.
Cheers
Lee.
[Edited by 12LEE - 2/4/2002 9:15:45 AM]
[Edited by 12LEE - 2/4/2002 9:16:22 AM]
Most of the mStations doing the rounds in the UK at ~£200 are bankrupt stock version 1 units (i.e. different docking bay/wired remote connector, different front panel, no USB). Of this stock, some of it's nicely new & boxed, other stuff looks like ex-display, returns, etc. There seems to be a German source selling on eBay UK @ the mo. Of course, it's highly unlikely that any trader of used/bankrupt gear's ever going to offer DOA replacement, but you can always ask.
w.r.t. RIO car/empeg be *very* careful. Sonicblue are down to their last 500 units of the empeg in various HD sizes. Going rate is $199 + shipping + VAT for the smallest capacity model. I believe that someone's going after a job lot of 200 of the 500. The thing is, THERE ARE NO TUNER OPTION MODULES LEFT!!! Check out the prices that the tuner is going for on eBay - $200-$300!!! As much as the h/u. Great as the unit is, I think that it's dead in the water without the tuner.
Slightly O/T: there are a couple of far-eastern OEM manufacturers that I'm in contact with that have developed devices similar to the mStation and the empeg (i.e. boot-mounted jukebox with FM modulator/RCAs and a H/U jukebox). I feel that the market for both the mStation and the empeg has been tainted by a) the bankrupt stock, v1 vs. v2, etc., and b) list price vs. street price. I think that this type of unit will sell in limited quantity at £200-£300 if there's good aftermarket support, but that at £500+, there's very little market. I'm interested to know people's views as I'm toying with the idea of distributing one or both of these units.
Cheers
Lee.
[Edited by 12LEE - 2/4/2002 9:15:45 AM]
[Edited by 12LEE - 2/4/2002 9:16:22 AM]
04 February 2002, 11:01 AM
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Lee, I personally think that these things need to be around £200. The Mstation was too expensive, as was Empeg. But Empeg is an absolutely superb piece of design and truly is, IMHO, a masterpiece. It's basically a fully embedded computer running Linux in a tiny space. I'm very impressed with it, and the quality of the unit. Sorely tempted to buy myself one...
04 February 2002, 11:08 AM
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I agree Chiark - I think that £200's the limit. I believe that Sony, Alpine, etc., are launching their own HD based things this year but I bet that they're going to cost a fortune. It'll be interesting to see what happens to the Phatbox as a result.
I too think that the empeg's superb and would love one, but not without the tuner (or the right coloured front panel!). I'd hate to kludge it by having another h/u just acting as a tuner.
ssiamerica (makers of the neo car/mstation) previewed a H/U about a year ago that was basically an empeg *with* a single slot CD as well. Now that would be great, but I don't think that they intend going ahead with it :-(
Cheers
Lee.
I too think that the empeg's superb and would love one, but not without the tuner (or the right coloured front panel!). I'd hate to kludge it by having another h/u just acting as a tuner.
ssiamerica (makers of the neo car/mstation) previewed a H/U about a year ago that was basically an empeg *with* a single slot CD as well. Now that would be great, but I don't think that they intend going ahead with it :-(
Cheers
Lee.
04 February 2002, 05:36 PM
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Is there a big difference in sound quality between MP3 and the traditional CD?
If there isn't then surely MP3 jukeboxes in cars must be the future, as you can do away with CD changers (which skip), copy your whole CD collection onto MP3 and listen to all of it in your car. But, it needs to be in a unit which is DIN size, includes an amplifier and tuner so that all you need to add is the speakers and if it had a slot for a single CD all the better. For the future why not include sat nav, a Gatso detector and alarm in modular form.
If there isn't then surely MP3 jukeboxes in cars must be the future, as you can do away with CD changers (which skip), copy your whole CD collection onto MP3 and listen to all of it in your car. But, it needs to be in a unit which is DIN size, includes an amplifier and tuner so that all you need to add is the speakers and if it had a slot for a single CD all the better. For the future why not include sat nav, a Gatso detector and alarm in modular form.
05 February 2002, 09:13 AM
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There is quite a difference, yes. (My opinion has changed over the last few months). MP3 is OK, better than radio, but not as good as minidisc and a league apart from CD. On the move it's cool though 
05 February 2002, 12:22 PM
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BTW, you can pick up the RIO car (or Empeg) from CarPlayer.com. Never used 'em, but they claim to have stock.
Nick.
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