Re: [ARSCLIST] MP3 player for public

[Dismuke <dismukemail@xxxxxxxxx>]

--- dnjchi@xxxxxxx wrote:

> Speaking of MP3 players, is one made to be used in
> the dash of automobiles?
>  
> Don Chichester 
>  


I don't recall the brand name but I remember seeing it
Wal-mart.  It was one of the least expensive car audio
players they offered.  I belive it cost something like
$76.  Anyhow, it had the standard AM/FM and CD
features most such radios have.  But it was also able
to play mp3 CDs - a feature which has been available
on some models for a few years now.  Howeer, it also
had a line input for things such as ipods or other mp3
players or even portable cassette players in the event
one still has a need to listen to a cassette while
driving.  On top of that, it has a slot where one
could insert a memory card and play audio from that -
and if my recollection is correct, it could read more
than one type of memory. 

I thought the feature for the memory card was a very
good idea.  The problem with listening to an ipod or
other mp3 player in the car is one has to keep up with
it when one is not in the car or lock it away
somewhere in the car so that it does not become
stolen.  That's not always an easy thing to do here in
Texas in the summer when the inside of a car parked in
the sun can easily reach 160 degrees F.  The other
nice thing about it is that with a memory card one can
pick and program selections using the car radio
buttons and not the ipod/mp3 player buttons which is
very handy in a car.  The price of memory cards keeps
falling - I picked up a 1 gig SD memory card the other
day for $14.  And using a card reader to add and
delete content on the memory card is just as simple,
if not more so, than doing the same with an ipod.  For
someone who listens to music ONLY in the car and on
one's computer and has no need for portability
elsewhere, an actual ipod/mp3 player might not even be
necessary. 

As for the small FM transmitters for getting mp3
players to broadcast through car radios - my own luck
with them has not been good.  Here in the Fort
Worth/Dallas area there simply aren't any empty
frequencies on the FM dial.  The best one can find is
a weak frequency from a so-called "rimshot" station in
an outlying area.  Those frequencies can be found and
the portable transmitters are usually enough to
overpower them - though sometimes you have to position
the transmitter just right.   But the problem is if
one drives 10 or so miles down the road, that
frequency may no longer be clear.  So the problem for
commuters such as myself who drives 35 miles each way
to and from work is one is constantly having to search
for another frequency with a weak station - not a
really desirable task to do while driving.   My guess
is they would work better in smaller radio markets and
rural areas or if one did most of one's traveling
within a relatively confined area.