Use memory card for tunes?

[Dreman]

I was walking past the car stereos at WalMart the other day, and happened to notice that one of the stereos had an extra slot in the face. When I checked closer, it turned out to be a slot for a memory card. I popped the SD card out of my PDA, stuck it in the slot, and it started playing the MP3's I had on the card! It also had a USB slot for a jump drive, but I didn't have any songs on the one I had with me.



As I thought about it later, I realized that I really liked the idea of playing MP3's straight from a card without a player of any kind in the middle. I currently use my PDA with a cassette adapter to play MP3's off of the card. SD cards are SMALL, and I could sure fit a lot of music in a very small space!



I say all this because I'd like to get a head unit with this capability, but the unit at WalMart was their house brand for $80. While I like the price, I'm concerned that it will turn out to be a cheap stereo that doesn't last long. Are there any other head units out there that have this capability that are decent quality?

 

[Frank Marano]

crutchfield.com is a good place to start to look. THere are many brands that have this SD card capability now. It is going to become the norm soon.

 

[Dreman]

I checked Crutchfield, and they have two Blaupunkt units that accept SD cards. However, one is not in stock and "ship date uncertain", and the other is a little more than I wanted to pay. I did like the usb input jack, though. Apparently you can attach an external hard drive for thousands of songs at your beck and calll. I'll keep an eye out to see if the other one shows up in stock.



Are there any others out there?



Wow, I sure am hard to please!:lol:

 

[Gavin Allan]

My wife bought a new MotoRazr cell phone that has a memory card slot for tune storage for ipod-like playback through the headphones.

 

[Derrick Townsend]

I have the JVC double din tv that takes sd memory cards. I will never burn anouther cd again. I just bought a 1gb memory card and filled it up. Its so much easier to click and drag files on it when you want to add stuff. There is a pic of it in my library. I think it was like $500

 

[Tom Schindler]

I am looking for a headunit that not only has a front mounted USB slot, but also HD radio.



I am very excited about HD radio. Extra programming for free.





Tom

 

[Dre L]

I'm looking for a new HU myself. I'm considering the Eclipse CD5100 which has USB, but I'm torn because JVC has a $200 unit with HD radio built in... and I think it has a USB slot.



Unfortunately I'm an audiophile and am shooting for overall sound quality rather than just FM sound quality.



At least Crutchfield let's you try for 30 days and return if not satisfied. I just bounced back an HU because it was defective, unfortunately I had bought the last one, so they couldn't replace it with the same... back to shopping for another one.



Oh, and I would rather have USB than SD... Jumpdrives are cheaper and cheaper for this purpose, and you could get a 2GB for $20 these days. Plus if you have any USB enabled device (Like an mp3 player) it can be played from the usb slot.



I'm wondering what an external usb hard drive plugged into the back of my stereo would be like.

 

[Dreman]

I have broken the connectors off in USB sockets on laptops. Having one on the face of a head unit makes me worry that a big bump when a jump drive is plugged in and hanging off the connection might cause the connection to break. SD cards fit completely inside, and are supported by the card slot. If I wind up with only a USB connection on the face of the head unit, I will probably find a cable that reaches from there to a good lay-down area for the jump drive to sit while driving.

 

[Thomas Rogers]

Yes, Dreman, SD cards are a better idea than USB.

 

[Dre L]

In case it helps anyone, no pressure to use this, $20 is $20. You get $20, I get a $20 credit, we all save.



Only 2 per month can use this code, so jump on it. You must be a new customer at Crutchfield. $20 off an order of $200 or more.



p205h-tkrse-gjusz



FYI, many headunits have the USB on the back with a cable that you run to the front.