Looking for a simple MP3 player with a few requirements ...

[electron]

Is there an MP3 player out there, which meets the following requirements?

• turns on/off when the car turns on/off (using cig adapter power source I guess)
• supports resuming playback once power has been reapplied
• supports playing files from a USB stick/drive (easier/cheaper to upgrade if I want more storage)
• simple player controls would be great, not looking for anything with a touch screen or other fancy options, I just want to be able to push the button without having to look at it.
• affordable!

The plan is to put this in the car, I have a headphone jack style input interface, so audio output is not a real concern.

What solutions can you guys think of?

 

[jokah]

hey dan

this may be out of range, etc, but i have an older 4g ipod with a mopar ipod kit for my durango. it will turn on and off, resume playback, etc. To install I had to route some wires and put in the stereo harness in the back of the system.

Headphone jacks for this will not unless you use a vehicle kit grabbing sound from the bottom.

However to use my cars nav keys, skipping tracks, etc, I like the kit.

Downside for me is i have 10000 items on my ipod, so lots of artists. To much to effectively manage my ipod. I usually unplug, put to artist i like, then play all. Or put on a playlist, etc. However this is mopar, which usually sucks on the electronics front. Other manufacturers may have more brains.

Ipods have the most aftermarket support, I would consider a used one.

 

[electron]

iPods require the use of iTunes, correct? I don't want to have to install bulky software in order to just move files to the drive. I basically want the USB feature some cars come equipped with now, where you plug in a memory stick, and it plays what's on the stick. I have a 6CD changer in my car, which supports mp3 files, but I spend a lot of time in the car, so I go through those discs fairly quick.

 

[roussell]

iPods require the use of iTunes, correct?

Nope, plenty of alternatives out there - for simply copying to/from the iPod check out SharePod. It's free and very lightweight.

Terry

 

[WayneW]

iPods require the use of iTunes, correct?

Nope, plenty of alternatives out there - for simply copying to/from the iPod check out SharePod. It's free and very lightweight.

IIRC, you cannot copy files directly to an iPod, but things like WinAmp can load an iPod. Maybe you can copy to an iPod and I am confusing it with the NuVo M3 server.

 

[roussell]

iPods require the use of iTunes, correct?

Nope, plenty of alternatives out there - for simply copying to/from the iPod check out SharePod. It's free and very lightweight.

IIRC, you cannot copy files directly to an iPod, but things like WinAmp can load an iPod. Maybe you can copy to an iPod and I am confusing it with the NuVo M3 server.

Nope, you can copy just fine - you can either place the iPod in "disk mode" and use it just like a thumb drive, or you can use something like Sharepod to transfer music to/from it with out ever needing iTunes. I found Sharepod when I was out of the country and needed a thumbdrive to transfer some important documents to another computer, but the iPod was full of music and had no room for anything else. I used Sharepod to copy my MP3s to my work laptop and then had enough space to transfer the docs to the iPod. Later I moved my music back to the iPod and it was if it had never left.

Also, FWIW the Linux world has several iTunes-like players that interface with iPods. The point being - yes - there are alternatives, bunches of 'em.

Terry

 

[pete_c]

I use my HTC phone aux out to the aux in port in my car. A while back before AUX ports existed in cars bought this device that looked like a cassette but it was an MP3 player. I think it was called a Digiset or something like that. You could FF, Skip songs etc. You could see the title with the small remote for it if it wasn't in the cassette player.

I have a Blaupunkt mini MP3 player which emulates a changer. It appears to have been made to fit in the glove compartment. Its about 3X4" in size. Basically it just has audio in/out and data in/out. The only thing though that it uses is CF cards which works for me. Its about 5-8 years old (never used it though) and you might be able to find one cheap though as I don't think Blaupunkt sold many of them. I am currently trying to figure out how to connect it to my setup using the IBUS. Today I have an MP3 compatible CD player, Sirius and a CarPC for music. I bought the MP3 changer for my vehicle. The concern with the changer is that it mounts in the center console taking space up. If I don't get the Blaupunkt mini MP3 player setup might just run a USB cable to a USB dongle for additional music playing from the CarPC.

 

[jokah]

yes, other options to itunes. Personally, i like itunes and its library/playlist mgmt. And 100 megs or so is pretty small, imo.

 

[electron]

I just want to use Windows Explorer to copy the files to a thumb drive/flash memory card, makes it easier to automate. Thanks for the responses so far.