SD & USB Car Stereo MP3 Player
One thing that I have yet to find is a good solid car stereo solution. My problem was always that you have to turn the MP3 player one and off every time you get in or out of the car. Then if you forget to turn it off you have a dead battery in your player. There are some solutions but they require you to hack a bunch of mounting brackets and adapters together creating a window display for thieves.
This looks like the solution. A simple USB and SD slot in a DIN sized head unit. While it is just a first step, it looks like navigation and display could be improved. Until then I will be using my trusty old cassette adapter to my numerous devices.
[Dr Gadget via Engadget]
Comments
Ptam on January 5, 2006 9:30 AM
I have a SD & USB car stereo (same one as pictured) and I have to say it is superb. Not only does it play from pen drive and flash card, it plays cd, mp3 cd and from your mp3 player (if it has usb connection). The navigation is easier than on my mp3 player (iriver ifp 899) and will play music from mixed data sources, so when I want to listen on my way home from work I just plug in my pen drive and dont have to worry about it trying to play my text documents (something that used to confuse one of my previous mp3 players). Easy to fit (well I managed it..) and overall a great car stereo.
Josh on May 15, 2006 4:43 PM
what one is this?
Jack on May 17, 2006 9:48 AM
This is the kind of technology I'm looking for in a car stereo, almost. Give it GigaMP3 and we're in business.
keith on May 21, 2006 4:19 PM
A 1 gig thumb drive and a huge library on your home PC and you are too good to go!! drag n drop beats burning anyday! now where can i find the damn thing!?
md jamal hossain on May 25, 2006 2:26 AM
want to but pendrive+mp3 in one .
bob on May 30, 2006 10:38 PM
try crutchfield they have some THey also have JVC, clarion, and kenwood with USBs
Jehans on June 14, 2006 6:17 AM
why does'nt creative zen micro work in my car stereo with usb input? is there anything i can do to fix thgis problem
evan on June 29, 2006 10:53 PM
same problem with the creative zen touch . . not working
Brad Eleven on July 15, 2006 2:16 PM
I have the XOVision CDx7MP3, with USB + SD input. The CD totally sucks: the whole unit crashes when the player isn't happy with some MP3 file on the disc. I tried different media, different encoding quality, &c, then realized that the same track would work sometimes, and sometimes crash. By "crash", I mean that all of the presets are blown.
The SD & USB interfaces are much better. The unit doesn't crash when it can't handle a file--it does delay sometimes (more often w/SD card), but eventually goes to the next file.
This is a low-end unit, though, and mostly disco'd. Still at Outpost.com and some Fry's storefronts.
Oh, the USB input is only for thumb drives, no iPod or other device types work. There's no mini-stereo jack input, either.
Tom on September 7, 2006 4:12 PM
the boss 630u has a usb and sd slot as well but is a P.O.S. first the cd player went in the first month and then the usb and sd slot followed suite, boss's return policy is crap to.
DON'T BUY BOSS
Quintin on November 10, 2006 3:20 AM
do you guys do any reviews that give away any information at all??? For instance: does the USB port provide power so i can charge my PDA while playing music from it?
zealious on December 7, 2006 12:26 AM
KENWOOD Is the way to go here.
MARTiN on December 7, 2006 1:34 PM
Which stereo is on the picture at the top?! =)
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Matt Heydon on January 30, 2007 5:42 PM
I bought a Roadmaster (www.roadmasterusa.com) with SD and USB inputs. It's cheap at under $100. I had trouble finding these features on higher end (more expensive) head units and don't know why that is. This seems to be the way to go in my opinion because of it's extreme convienience using a flash drive and it doesn't skip regardless of the pothole hmmmm I wonder why. Give then a look.
I might add that my SD reader in it failed in the first 6 months, but Roadmaster replaced it no questions asked. So customer service ranks high.
Matt
billbobagns on July 19, 2007 11:12 AM
Exactly same here. My roadmaster is labeled "CR3". I loved it at first, then the SD stopped and they sent me a new one. However, the new one has troubles of it's own. I find it unreliable on USB, SD and CD. If it doesnt like a file, it crashes.
Do the more expensive units work better and more reliable? Someone said something good about a Kenwood. Can someone give Kenwood a good write up here?
Mike S on September 29, 2007 4:34 AM
With the USB inputs on these players, can you plug USB external hard drives into them? I dont see how it would be any different than reading from a pen drive, as its just reading directories again.
igounfazed on December 23, 2007 4:27 PM
I purchased an Insignia NS-C5111 a while ago now. I have put the same unit in two different cars and I must say that I absolutely love the unit. Plays all my files (WMA and MP3) without hick-ups. The song position memory always works, and I have yet to have any problems with it; either technical or OE (Operator Error).
The sad thing that I now find is: I like the unit so much that I would like to purchase another one (I have two cars after all) and they are now discontinued.
I had a USB-SD Soundstorm prior to owning the Insignia, and the Soundstorm did not work correctly or usually had some sort of problem. It had no song position memory, and the random song play on the Soundstorm was always the same positions (ie: every time you start the random feature, it randomly did the same songs in the same order. 100 songs would be: Tracks: 17, 59, 30, 25, etc. Hit random again and the tracks would be: 17, 59, 30, 25, etc.). Thanks for the great RANDOM feature there Soundstorm.
I like the unit so much. That if I can't find another Insignia, maybe on eBay or something, I am going to be very sad. I will try the suggested Roadmaster units though.
If anyone knows why most high end manufacturers don't produce more memory enabled units. Please do tell. I don't really think that anyone would argue that listening to a scratch free MP3 is not better than listening a CD.
Subterfuge on January 31, 2008 3:19 PM
Stay away from Roadmaster. Last I knew, the entire product line was incapable of resuming the audio file from where you were when you shut off the car. In other words, you spend the first 10 minutes of ever car trip trying to find where you were in the audio book you're trying to get through.
The insignia w/ USB & SD is a great stereo and sadly, was discontinued.
Cwolf on March 23, 2008 1:33 PM
I had a Roadmaster (Virture Reality) VR3 car audio. Just as you guy say it. The SD / USB stop working after 2 months with "error 13" display. Had to return and got refund. Still shopping for replacement. Wondering whether it's so high tech included memory card / USB in car audio and there is not much to choose and price are up to 150~200
Cwolf on March 23, 2008 1:34 PM
I had a Roadmaster (Virture Reality) VR3 car audio. Just as you guy say it. The SD / USB stop working after 2 months with "error 13" display. Had to return and got refund. Still shopping for replacement. Wondering whether it's so high tech included memory card / USB in car audio and there is not much to choose and price are up to 150~200
RobC on April 22, 2008 1:08 AM
I have the one in the picture, Its by H&B, cost about £60 from Novatec and is loud and clear. It has served me well for 2 yrs, the only fault is with the buttons sometimes they behave strangely. I am surprised that the big brands haven't caught on to the SD format as it is very neat and convenient.
I would not buy a non SD head unit, It is my chosen format for general handy data storage for Cameras, Computers and now Car audio.