[BUL2294]

Does anybody know if Visteon is working on such a product? I know they have the MachMP3 (which is available for '02 Mustangs not using a higher-end sound system), but I'd rather have a 6-disc audio-CD-only changer as opposed to single-disc CD with MP3 capability. But, if the best of both worlds exists or is in the works.........

 

[BUL2294]

AFAIK, such a product currently does not exist. Visteon's website doesn't list products in development, so I was wondering if anyone here had an "inside track" to the happenings at Visteon...

For now, the only choices I have for MP3 beyond the Visteon MachMP3 are aftermarket single-DIN radios (that are higher quality and lower cost than what Visteon has) made by Aiwa, Sony, Harmon-Kardon, or Kenwood which I've been told by a yahoo at Best Buy may not work with the Mach 460 hardware without some rewiring. (I don't even know if the MachMP3 would work in that setup).

 

[bullitt196]

I'm investigating the Mach mp3/Mach 460 swap. I would much rather have a single disk mp3/cd player than a 6-disk cd-only player. The Mach mp3 is spendy ($400) but I figure I can offset some of the cost by flea-baying my Mach 460.

 

[bullitbill]

There is one in the works. My buddy works for them.

-Bill

 

[BUL2294]

Well, in all honesty, I do hope they put out a better product than what they currently have. The MachMP3's weak feature set, mixed with the price and competing products available out there, is not worth it IMO.

 

[Micah]

I would LOVE to have this puppy. Way too expensive for me, but it has all of the features I want in an MP3 deck. It's essentially Winamp in a box. It's been going for a lot less on Ebay. Now I just have to find the cash to get it.

 

[BUL2294]

Unless you've got some serious money to blow or are going to connect it to some high end car stereo equipment (the Mach 460 doesn't count), look into the Sony Xplod CDX-MP450X. I've got one in my '94 Cougar and love it. Avoid Aiwa's car MP3 players at all costs.

 

[BudACAD]

BUL2294, what kind of problems have you had with the Aiwa's? Just curious.

Thanks

Bud

>>> Avoid Aiwa's car MP3 players at all costs. <<<

 

[BUL2294]

The quality of Aiwa products in general has deteriorated significantly since the '80s. This holds true for their car MP3 players. About a year ago, I bought an Aiwa CDC-MP3 player for my car. The only (but major) problem I had was that the thing skipped on literally every bump in the road. IMO, skippage like that was unacceptable. At the time, I had the foresight to buy Best Buy's $40 four-year service guarantee. About 4 months later, I returned it for a Sony CDX-MP450X, (which with the service guarantee was put into the car for free) and only had to pay the difference. I spoke with one of the car stereo salespeople there at the time and he told me that the return rate on the Aiwas due to skippage (which was a design defect) was well known to them and he didn't even try to sell them anymore. To this day, I still have and love the Sony.

Basically, you get burned once, you never go back. From what I've been told by some people at Best Buy, Aiwa's CDC-MP32 is not much better than the CDC-MP3.

 

[Blakwing]

A nice fairly low cost alternative? Build it yourself. I used to have the plans around here someplace and I'll see if I can't dig them up again. Basically you build yourself a Linux powered 486 with a 20gig HD that dos nothing but MP3 duty. It mounts pretty much anywhere and has a CAT5 hookup so you can Upload more music to it. It had a Flourescent display that could be mounted anywhere and it would work either through being spliced into the current radio or through a FM modulator.

 

[Micah]

Blakwing, I've thought about that one before, but for some reason having a working hard drive in my car makes me feel kinda icky.
-----------------Scene 1-------------------
Bullitt Meets Eeevil Speed Bump:
*bump* *head crash* *whiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiine*
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Unless you have something rigged to absorb all the shock. Sure, most hard drives should be able to take it, but I'm just paranoid. :wink:

Oh, and you have to wait for the stinkin' thing to boot first instead of instant-on like a good solid-state MP3 deck.

Then again, I could grab my lowly P90 from the closet and do this for the cost of about an hour instead of spending $400+...hmm...

<font size=-1>[ This Message was edited by: Micah on 2002-01-10 18:18 ]</font>

 

[Blakwing]

Actually.. the plans I had called for the use of gel shock mounts for the Hard drive. They're very common in industrial settings and not too expensive either.
There was also an Industrial group that made single board pc's.. That deal with the case and everything came out to be about 2/3 the size of a Computer game box.
The only real concern I ever had with the setup was heat but one of the people I talked to said he allievated that problem by mounting his under the passenger seat on the floor.

 

[BUL2294]

Actually, if you're going to try something like that (how could you wire it to the Mach 460???), consider a used Toshiba Libretto 70-CT, 100-CT, or 110-CT. (You could overclock a 50-CT as the 75MHz processor probably won't cut it). You can find those on eBay. Librettos are full Pentium PCs handhelds about the size of a VHS videotape. IIRC, the 100-CT and 110-CT can use standard 2.5" laptop hard drives, so you can replace them with how much space you want. Stick with a basic operating system like Win95/98 and up the RAM to the max, set the swap file to 0, and it should avoid the hard drive when playing MP3s. But then again, if the HD fails if you buy a new one, you can claim warranty...

 

[Blakwing]

Actually the best OS for this is Linux.. I'm the farthest thing from an open source pusher that you'll get.. However for simple devices.. MP3 players, emulators, simple electronics, Linux is the only way to go. It'll boot faster and run more stable with less overhead.
You could probably go with Windows but I dont know how well it'd interface with the Flourescent displays though. I'll have to dig that stuff up again and look through it.