Need a car mp3 cd player

[steve threlfall]

Right, i want a cdmp3 player for my new car.

I have seen a jvc in Halfords but its £100. I just want something cheap and cheerful with a removable face plate or something for security. It doesnt have to have a folder skip but it needs to be mp3 compatible.

I have hard Lidl do them occasionally for £50 but my local one doesnt have any at the moment. Has anyone seen any cheap? im not sure where to look online really.

[autopilot]

Have you got an MP3 player?

[Workaholic]

Have you got an MP3 player?

If you have a portable (CD) MP3 player and a audio cassette player in the car, you could use one of these:

http://www.maplin.co.uk/Module.aspx?...e=14&doy=21m10
http://www.maplin.co.uk/Module.aspx?...e=14&doy=21m10
http://cpc.farnell.com/jsp/endecaSea...=CS11937&N=411

[jon bda]

My mate had one of the £50 jobs from Aldi and it was absolutely hateful. Spend a little more and get a half decent brand name one...

[autopilot]

If you have a portable (CD) MP3 player and a audio cassette player in the car, you could use one of these:

http://www.maplin.co.uk/Module.aspx?...e=14&doy=21m10
http://www.maplin.co.uk/Module.aspx?...e=14&doy=21m10
http://cpc.farnell.com/jsp/endecaSea...=CS11937&N=411

Thats what i was sort of getting at. Or get a CD player with a line in. Or get an FM transmiter and tune your radio into it. I don't really see the point of CD MP3 players in cars. Seems a bit of a backwards way of doing things i think. They are usually rubish anyway.

[Workaholic]

Or maybe play MP3s from your MP3 enabled phone (you do have one right?) and use this:
http://www.maplin.co.uk/Module.aspx?...6068&doy=21m10

after you've hacked/flashed the unit so it uses the bluetooth feature not just for phone calling features....


Otherwise use this and a SD card or the line in connection.....
http://www.maplin.co.uk/Module.aspx?...6448&doy=21m10

[Howard]

Thats what i was sort of getting at. Or get a CD player with a line in. Or get an FM transmiter and tune your radio into it. I don't really see the point of CD MP3 players in cars. Seems a bit of a backwards way of doing things i think. They are usually rubish anyway.

I disagree completely. How is it a "backwards" way of doing things? It plays MP3s, like most modern electronic items do

FM transmitters are crap.
Tape adaptors are even worse.

Line-in for an MP3 player is a good idea, and is what I originally intended to do with mine. However you'll soon get tired of taking your MP3 player in and out of the car all the time.

I find it very easy to just burn music I currently listen to, to CDRWs as MP3s and play them in my car. I have a CD wallet with about 5 in. If I wanna change what I listen to I either swap the CD or erase one and burn new stuff onto it.

They're not "crap" either. Not if you buy a decent head unit. The Pioneer ones are quite cheap IIRC


Edit: I'm actually gonna suggest what the OP asked for, too


http://caraudiosecurity.com/shop/pro...s_id/3361.html

http://caraudiosecurity.com/shop/pro...s_id/3401.html

Or if you're feeling wealthy:

http://caraudiosecurity.com/shop/pro...s_id/3385.html

[Shad]

If I still had speakers in my car I'd buy the one with the SD slot - most options in one package imo.

I've had a Sony and Blaupunkt MP3 CD head unit, both were great and did exactly what they said on the tin. It did get a little annoying though having to burn a whole new CD when I got bored of an album. The ultimate solution is either an SD card big enough for all your choons, or a HDD based system

[autopilot]

I disagree completely. How is it a "backwards" way of doing things? It plays MP3s, like most modern electronic items do

FM transmitters are crap.
Tape adaptors are even worse.

Line-in for an MP3 player is a good idea, and is what I originally intended to do with mine. However you'll soon get tired of taking your MP3 player in and out of the car all the time.

When i say it's backwards, i mean that it's a backwards way of playing MP3's. MP3 has opened up a whole new world of music storage and playback, such as rewritable flash media and hard drives. It might be a forward step for CD's but a backwards step for MP3. Burning new CD's all the time and still having to change the CD's (albeit less often) can be a bit of a chore. 700mb write once CD's V's 20-60 HDD? Shall we agree we are both right?

FM transmitters are surprising good mate. Don't write them off until you have heard a good one with a good radio and good MP3 player that is set up well, i.e. using an MP3 player with a proper line out, not the headphone socket. Also, most people will be quite surprised how well a good tape player can sound using a good head unit (far far better than the best clean tape could ever sound), and again using a proper line out. But yes, you do get a slight hiss at quiet moments and between tracks, although if the heads are clean its minimal and it's not noticable over the music. Using a proper line out rather than the headphone socket makes a massive difference in sound quality and bass levels etc. They also allow you to easily take it with you into someone else's car.

Of course if you subscribe to my (possibly slightly fuzzy) logic of MP3 CD's being a little backwards, FM and TAPE are even more backwards, but they as massively more cheaper and convenient than buying a whole new good MP3 CD car stereo and they work work your existing equipment. Also have to consider what speakers you have in the car. Are they high end? Most cars factory/generic speakers will sound just fine.

But yes, if you have an MP3 player then line-in is the best idea by far. Is far less hassle to take your Mp3 player (that's what portable MP3's are for) with you than burning and changing CD's all the time. Just don't leave it in the car!

SD slot's are quite funky too, but considering the cost of buying SD cards compared to 10p throw-away CD's. I personally would much rather have an MP3 CD player than one with an SD slot. One that played multi-gig microdrive flash card's might be good, but i don't think you can get them and that would incredibly expensive too.

I was just trying to offer some alternatives. Of course if you still want to go for a CD MP3 player, Howards got some good suggestion there.

Either way, we have never had so much choice in music playback. What ever you go for, enjoy

[steve threlfall]

I have an ipod but the battery life is nearly 5 minutes and i cant be bothered with carrying it around with me (its a brick, 3rd gen)

I have an mp3 hifi so my cd collection is all on cd-r (192k+ mp3's) etc. So getting an mp3 cd player would mean i could transfer my collection easily to and from the car. I have loads of cd's with multiple albums and such so i definateoly wouldnt be burning any more cd's than i would have anyway. (I wouldnt want to leave me genuine retail albums in the car in case they got nicked but with cd media being so cheap i can afford to have to backup copies of my albums )

I have seen the fm transmitters (mate has one for his ipod and its awful )

The suggestions are much appreciated guys but an mp3 cd player is definately the best option for me- im sure of what i want its just finding one i can afford after having paid my tax this month

[QUOTE= jon bda]My mate had one of the £50 jobs from Aldi and it was absolutely hateful. Spend a little more and get a half decent brand name one...[QUOTE] I did see a very jvc one is argos weeks ago for £70 but it was a bank holiday offer that has yet to return.

The speakers in the car are decent so i want to get a head unit to do my music justice. That Pioneer looks fantastic Howard, what have you got in your car?

[Workaholic]

SD slot's are quite funky too, but considering the cost of buying SD cards compared to 10p throw-away CD's. I personally would much rather have an MP3 CD player than one with an SD slot. One that played multi-gig microdrive flash card's might be good, but i don't think you can get them and that would incredibly expensive too.

I have a HiMD minidisc player (1GB disc for only £4.99 new or <£2 ebay!) and the quality of the disc is good. E.g. supposedly ubreakable due to usual tear and wear and water damages.
Also whilst playing I hear nothing from the player, except the music unless the unmistakable whirring of the cd disc signning.

[Howard]

That Pioneer looks fantastic Howard, what have you got in your car?

http://www.pioneer-rus.ru/products.html?id=5504 One of these

Sorry about the Russian, it's the only Pioneer site that would load

[steve threlfall]

http://www.pioneer-rus.ru/products.html?id=5504 One of these

Sorry about the Russian, it's the only Pioneer site that would load

Wouldnt that play my music in Russian

I'l have to keep my eyes peeled for a good bargain

[luap.h]

I got this one from PixMania http://www.pixmania.co.uk/uk/uk/9139...car-radio.html

I can't fault it, yet

[steve threlfall]

I got this one from PixMania http://www.pixmania.co.uk/uk/uk/9139...car-radio.html

I can't fault it, yet

That looks very nice

Thing is... i want to get a branded one (ie decent quality audio ) but i dont think there will be a mega difference in playback between a £70-80 unit and one that cost a fair bit more... definately not through my speakers anyway. So... where should i look for a low priced headunit online... £80 or less ideally. I could wait if its really worth the extra cash i suppose. Or would i be better looking in halfords, maplin etc?

[luap.h]

http://www.pixmania.co.uk/uk/uk/89/x...criteresn.html