Head unit with a SD slot.

[Ranger SVO]

That looks like such a diabolically slick idea...

I've been looking at a Sony CDX-GT820IP deck that has
a rear cable for an iPod, that enclosure and an 80Gig-120Gig
Hard drive has gotta be cheaper than an iPod of similar size.

What do you do with that much storage?

Simply store your mp3's at a lower compression rate.

OR really splurge... get a 400Gig drive and store your
favorite 600 CDs with no compression at all... Full size cdda files

AD

Or you can do what I do, use a portable HD. I use an 80GB Western Digital Passport Portable HD. Works perfectly on the Pioneer HU in my car

 

[Wicked_Sludge]

That looks like such a diabolically slick idea...
OR really splurge... get a 400Gig drive and store your
favorite 600 CDs with no compression at all... AD

the only problem i see with that is that my 7 gigs already takes a good 15 seconds to load after i start the car....the more music you add the longer it'll take. on top of that, i had to format the drive in FAT to get the HU to play nicely and it'd take you a month of sundays to format 400 gigs in FAT.

i cant imagine ever filling up 40 gig (plus i already had the drive and enclosure laying about)...so it works for me. the other advantage to this setup is i plan on making a mount in both vehicles so i can easily transfer the drive to whichever one i'll be driving.

 

[AllanD]

"Load" what's it loading
and more importantly what's it loading TO?

IT should only actually "load" the directory information.
and that is more a factor of how convoluted and "layered"
you make your directories.

It's likely that differences between "Romeo" and "Jolliet" could
cause time differences in "loading"

And waiting 15seconds? it takes longer to get a freshly inserted CD to play.
and only about twice as long as it takes my Sirius radio to "wake up"

To be honest I could fit my entire music collection (except my unconverted vinyl)
onto twenty-odd CD-Rs as 160kBit/Sec fles and simply having a head unit that'll play mp3-CD's would make my life easier.

Considering what an mp3 compatible CD changer costs and the fact that
a Sony CDX-757mx costs only about $125NIB and uses the XA-250 disc
magazines I already have, I'm thinking it would be cheaper to spend the
$11 on the part I need to fix my Sony CDX-M610 head unit and get a
newer disc changer.

It has the additional benefit of being cheaper.

Now if sony would make a head unit that would play a DVD-R filled
with mp3 files... Everything I have (inluding my onconverted vinyl)
would EASILY fit on ten discs.

AD

 

[Wicked_Sludge]

not sure what it loads. i know layering a lot of folders on top of each other will slow things down (and make navigation more difficult) so i keep limit myself to 1 folder deep.

i did add another 5 gigs of music just last night and it didnt seem to take any longer to load today...so maybe the number of songs doesnt effect it.

but your obviously not grasping the depth of my laziness. ive had MP3 compatible head units since i bought my very first deck for my '85 s-10. it was fun for a while, but even so i was carrying around a huge CD case which was awkward to access and dangerous to mess with while driving. my USB compatible deck was barely more than a cheapo MP3 deck...but i guess not everyone has an old laptop harddrive or external drive laying aboot.

 

[AllanD]

I was mistaken before... my entire music collection
(not counting my dusty vinyl) is ~15gb as 169kBit/sec .mp3's

That means it'll easily fit on SIX DVD-R's with room to spare.
OR (allowing for the necissary waste space) 25 CD-R's

but if I only loaded the albums I actually listen to I can cut that by 20-25%
or FOUR DVD-R's or <20 CD-Rs

I don't know about you but that sounds more like a CD wallet than a "huge case"
Though I could see needing an entire steno pad to list the artist, album and song
titles you could fit on 20 CD-Rs

I can't imagine how much music you could have that you'd fill
a "huge CD case".. certainly not with mp3/CD-Rs

And BTW I've found a deck that will play mp3/DVD-R discs
the Sony MEX-DV2000.

It will even play the "two layer" DVD-R's, DVD-RW's and
even (if you have any) SACDs.

But then again it'll also play DVD's if you have a monitor
to hook up to the back of it....

And they sell for under $200 on ebay

What bothers me is something that will eventually come...
a car stereo head unit that'll play mp3's burned to a BlueRay-ROM disc

think of it, 47Gig's of non-volitile memory...

Yeah, I know they are expensive now but wait a year...

 

[BuckyB]

Not a thing wrong with that $80 Wal*Mart unit. It just lacks prestige.