In Car Hard Disk based MP3 players
 

ok, so this has been asked a million times already but I last asked about 2 years ago when i bought my Scooby and couldnt find a sensible solution, ie being able to have the power and features of a top end brand like Alpine or Pioneer and the functionality of something like a dension dmp3 or DH100.

I'm buying a new car soon and so the ICE question comes up for me yet again, so with great excitement I search the web to see whats happened in the last 2 years of ICE development and to my horror find that NOTHING has moved on!!!

There is still a choice of MP3/CD/TUNER vs entry level dension units, I thought after all this time this would be where the market would grow yet I find myself thinking up solutions such as IPod and linkups and a million and one gadgets in my boot and dashboard to solve a problem which should already have been sold. :(

Anyone looked further than me and found anything remotely simple to achieve? I'm considering just getting a DH100 and sticking it in the new car and putting up with only being able to adjust the volume and a few other levels :( I've had enough of swapping 700Mb CDRW's around every day!

There MUST be a way of having 10-120Gb of MP3 storage in a car which doesnt involve a standalone unit controlled through aux in or involving having extra controls on your dash board.

Anyone?

It seems if I want both features and MP3's that i'll have to get a nice head unit and run dmp3 from the boot with teh satellite display into the aux!

Previously I ran a top-spec Alpine with a second Gen 20GB Ipod through the Alpine Ipod connect-me-up thingy

That worked a treat. Especially on long journeys. Could also create your own "driving albums" or "anti-road-rage" tunes for coming home for work.

Get a decent holder for the pod, wire it up nice and tuck it all out the way and it looks spot on. No more CDs flapping around the car!

I have bought a 4th Gen Ipod this week and intend to do the same thing again when I can afford to ditch the standard Subaru h/u in my UK300.

There is a proper Alpine-Ipod Connect me up thingy?

I take it you stick the Alpine on Aux and set volume then just choose stuff from the ipod menu?

My new car has double din, i was thinking of getting alpine or something equally as nice in the top slot and putting the satellite dmp3 controller underneath it in the dash, and then hiding the actual hard disk in the boot. and hoping i can somehow hide the DMP3 face on the dash when the car is left.

UHF,

If you have a MBUS Alpine HU then this is the thing to go for.

http://www.ghc.co.uk/icelink/

There is an iLink version coming out supposedly in September.

In the mean time I bought a cable to connect my iPod to the aux out and that works a treat. The only thing is you have to change the tracks by looking at the iPod.

These new 'icelink' products from Dension however allow you to change the track from the headunit, as well as displaying all track information etc. You can then hide the iPod away in the glovebox, the control unit from dension will even charge you iPod too(the iLink does, don't know about the MBUS one!)

Also, if I were you, I'd pick up a cheap 3rd gen 40GB iPod. There are people working on cracking Apples file system, it's only a metter of time before someone comes up with a guide to sticking a huge HD in there!

Right now i'm in the nice position of getting a brand new car in a few weeks so I'll be able to choose any combination, I just want to get it right, right now i'm wondering what i'll lose by just getting the Dension DH100 and sticking a 60gb+ 2.5" disk in it.

The Alpines and Pioneers are nice and all that but i've got an Alpine 9815 right now in my scooby and all i do i chuck in a CD and alter the volume, i dont touch anything else! So as long as the radio and outputs are all there i may as well just get the DH100.

My only concern is that it only has 2 pre-outs and they're probably only 2v (it doesnt specify what voltage they are so its a fair assumption they're 2v).

But I do like the idea of the IPOD and running it with a high end head unit so i get all the usual creature comforts but its having it in a cradle on the dash which would bug me, constantly taking it out to hide it as well as the head unit, i dunno, why isnt there an Alpine or Pioneer which will take a boot mount hard disk!!! The Kenwood thing is way too expensive :(

might be of interest to you later...

We're working on 'Cyberdrive' - a 5" dashboard mounted touchscreen tft running our proprietry software on a micro pc in the boot / underseat/glovebox.

Mp3, Satnav, DVD, DAB, Ipod link up, rear view camera. plus multiple screen and amp outs all included.

Have the prototype going into our car next week all being well

Neil
Scoobyworld.co.uk

Where do I sign up? ;)

What sort of retail you looking at on that?

Also why the need to hook up to an IPod if its running from a PC?

I've had dreams of building that all myself which i'm more than capable of doing but never really had the time :(

Seriously interested though, any more details?

I've been searching some more and the slickest solution out there seems to be the Kenwood Keg thing (a phatnoise hard drive system branded to Kenwood).

UHF, obviously I cant give too much away at this stage, however his is a product we've been seriously researching for the past 18 months.

In the USA they have a similar product at www.drivesoft.net however there is nothing in the UK yet, that offers these features and functionality.

We're working in conjunction with a local custom audio retailer in getting it into the cars and out to dealers. RRP yet to be set, all depends on how the prototype performs. Software interface is being written in house.

The Ipod link up will allow you to upload and download to / from an Ipod or any other MP3 player via a link in the dashboard. All MP3's will be stored on a 120gb Hardrive.

It will be sold under our ESP Automotive.com brand and should have it out to market by Xmas.

regards

Neil

Not even a rough idea on price to know whether this is something which is going to be worth the wait? If its going to cost over £500 then its too much, less than that and its worth considering more and more the cheaper it is behind that.

Appreciated that the screens, and other hardware will come to quite a lot even at cost and obviously you'll want to recoup your development costs.

Want a Skoda Fabia VRS demo car ;)

The best one I ever found when researching this was an American system which hooked in to your wireless network to stream audio whilst parked up. Sounds great- transfer music to your car whilst its on the drive, even listen to last nights radio on the way to work the following morning.

I cant for the life of me remember who's system it was but I did post on here at the time.

Cheers

Dave

Dave,

Where did you spot that yank system (wireless)?

Sony: MEX-1HD - CD/MP3 PLAYER , but its a lot more than £500

Just fitted a Kenwood Keg and Kenwood MP3 Head unit which cost a total of £430.

Maybe this will work with the std unit, given some kenwood changers do?

Apple iPod Car Installation Kit for Kenwood Headunits<FONT face=ARIAL size=-1>



Play high quality Apple iPod audio through your existing car entertainment system’s CD changer port. Finally you can discard cassette adaptors, cigarette lighter chargers and FM transmitters and start enjoying enjoy direct line-in audio quality with charging and iPod control from your existing car entertainment system.



When used with compatible vehicle entertainment systems, it powers the Apple iPod on and off as you enter/exit CD changer mode on your car's entertainment system. FF/RW/search/seek are passed to the Apple iPod too – this is really great for cars with steering wheel entertainment controls.



Connect an original or mini Apple iPod to your Kenwood head unit with this complete installation kit. Includes Apple iPod car holder.



Please ensure that your Headunit has the CD Changer control option before purchasing.



You cannot use a CD Changer in conjunction with this product unless coupled with a Kenwood KCA-S210A CD Changer Switching Box (see below).

fecking hell 999.99

I cant believe Sony havent capitalised on there memory sticks and produced a cheaper version that just read the 512 mb sticks.

Or even somone making a compact flash reader combined with a cd player

the latest version of the ice-link can be used with a cradle, or a cable. you specifiy which when u order. so you could run the cable into the glove box, center console, etc.