Cheap mp3 solution for the car

Post by **Patrick** » Tue May 03, 2005 12:55 pm

Just ordered one of these for my car:
http://www.avtechsolutions.com/vfmp3.htm

Total cost:
$65 = $55 + $10 (512 meg usbdrive from radio shack)

Fire up bashpodder to download my favorite podcasts before I leave the
house and listen to them on my way to work.

Update:
This thing works pretty well. No problems so far. You have 8 FM
frequencies to choose from. The unit has volume controls, next & previous
tracks, play & stop buttons. The sound quality is pretty good. This along
with bashpodder is a winning combination!

mrben · Post by **mrben** » Wed May 04, 2005 3:47 am

Personally, I have a headphone-jack-to-tape adaptor (like what people use to attach CD players) and plug my existing mp3 player into my existing tape deck

<edit>just read the product description of this - didn't understand properly at first. _Very_ cool</edit>

DaveQB · Post by **DaveQB** » Thu May 05, 2005 8:49 pm

Very cool indeed. I want one!!

I wonder if they sell them here in Australia.

The Caja Kid · Post by **The Caja Kid** » Fri May 06, 2005 7:06 pm

A similar device is selling as the "MP3 on channel", potentially selling for a little less. These are neat, and likely to cost a little less in a few months I bet...

The Caja Kid · Post by **The Caja Kid** » Sun Jul 17, 2005 2:39 pm

...and now they have these sorts of devices for <$30. Look for the "VR3 MP3 FM Modulator", available from Walmart mail order or Costco brick and mortar.

bosshoff · Post by **bosshoff** » Sun Jul 17, 2005 4:50 pm

has anyone seen one that offers scanning, as in moving through a file?

learnix · Post by **learnix** » Mon Jul 18, 2005 7:20 pm

Now this is freaking cool. I have an ipod shuffle right now so it might work if I partition part of it to be a data drive and put the MP3s on that 1/2

http://www.walmart.com/catalog/product. ... id=3579125

Gomer_X · Post by **Gomer_X** » Tue Jul 19, 2005 9:08 am

That is pretty cool. I wonder if this is available in stores, or just online? I've got a CD player in the car, but with my USB drive I just don't carry CDs anymore.

This would work for me, and it's cheap.

bosshoff · Post by **bosshoff** » Tue Jul 19, 2005 10:19 am

Yeah, but it doesn't allow scanning, and it resets to the first song every time you start up your car again, which is lame. Basically, you get what you pay for.

Guest · Post by **Guest** » Tue Jul 19, 2005 12:41 pm

bosshoff wrote:Yeah, but it doesn't allow scanning, and it resets to the first song every time you start up your car again, which is lame. Basically, you get what you pay for.

I could live with that for the price. After some time it would get old but hopefully buy that time they will have something better out.

Post by **Patrick** » Tue Jul 19, 2005 12:59 pm

The one I picked up goes for $35 now. Pretty good bang for the buck. Now all we need is one that plays ogg files!

Post by **Patrick** » Mon Aug 01, 2005 11:57 am

I've had issues with certain podcasts that record with really high bitrates. The file plays for the first 10-15 minutes and then takes a dump. This has happened with episode 15 of TWIT and occasionally with DSC. The other issue is that these files are pretty huge(79 meg). I know they want to get good quality but eventually you hit the law of dimishing returns. Is the file encoded at 128 kps that much better than the one encoded at 32 kps? Especially when it comes to talk shows.

CptnObvious999 · Post by **CptnObvious999** » Mon Aug 01, 2005 4:01 pm

Patrick wrote:I've had issues with certain podcasts that record with really high bitrates. The file plays for the first 10-15 minutes and then takes a dump. This has happened with episode 15 of TWIT and occasionally with DSC. The other issue is that these files are pretty huge(79 meg). I know they want to get good quality but eventually you hit the law of dimishing returns. Is the file encoded at 128 kps that much better than the one encoded at 32 kps? Especially when it comes to talk shows.

Yeah thats why I get the 32Kbps OGG file