nice car headunit

[9tinyfingaz]

well.....i cant get the radio to recognize the hdd. im actually on hold with the company trying to figure it out. it was weird b/c i set my radio stations something happen. like a power shortage and lost everything. the wires are all correct, taped, zip tyed and gently placed behind the dash so well see. if i cant get the hdd to work im turning it in. its the only reason i got it. as far as a portable device i would definetly go with iriver or creative. ipod is cool and what not but not as friendly. I have had experience with all of the players so if you have questions ask away.

[nfpgasmask]

Cool, thanks.

Basically, I desire a portable device that:

a) has a sizable capacity (30+ GIG)
b) supports MP3 format
c) does not require software (like I-TUNES) or has software that can easily be hacked or worked around
d) does not force me to use some digital copyright authentication or something

Basically, aside from the ultra-trendiness of the I-POD (which turns me off), I want a device that does not need some stupid software like I-TUNES.

I want to be able to plug in the device, have it pop-up in My Computer (as if it was just another hard drive) and let me dump MP3s onto it.

Does the Creative 30 GIG device support this kind of activity? I could care less about video/picture viewing.

Thanks - Bart

well.....i cant get the radio to recognize the hdd. im actually on hold with the company trying to figure it out. it was weird b/c i set my radio stations something happen. like a power shortage and lost everything. the wires are all correct, taped, zip tyed and gently placed behind the dash so well see. if i cant get the hdd to work im turning it in. its the only reason i got it. as far as a portable device i would definetly go with iriver or creative. ipod is cool and what not but not as friendly. I have had experience with all of the players so if you have questions ask away.

[Ruflyf]

Bart,

I have a Archos AV-420 and I love it. It does all you mentioned, although mine only has a 20g drive. All the way up to 80g is available though. Plugs into my comp via usb, has a base (with remote) I keep hooked up to my home system so I can record tv/movies/dvds etc. which I usually watch later at work. All in all I love it.

[9tinyfingaz]

the creative does support drag and drop as does iriver and archos. Archos is the BEST if you want to watch video. Especially if you use Clone DVD mobile on the pc. Size wise the archos gmini 400 or 420 camcorder is the best. I just figured out my radio is defective it wont read any usb drive be it 256mb or 50 gb partitioned 5 times. so i contacted them and they are picking this one up and give me a new one. well see what happens. good thing i only drive 8-10 miles a day i really wont miss the music that much.

[nfpgasmask]

Cool, I will check into both of these. Video and pictures are not important however, like I said. I would really just like a clean interface, easy nav, no BS software and a good, long lasting battery.

Thanks!

Bart

the creative does support drag and drop as does iriver and archos. Archos is the BEST if you want to watch video. Especially if you use Clone DVD mobile on the pc. Size wise the archos gmini 400 or 420 camcorder is the best. I just figured out my radio is defective it wont read any usb drive be it 256mb or 50 gb partitioned 5 times. so i contacted them and they are picking this one up and give me a new one. well see what happens. good thing i only drive 8-10 miles a day i really wont miss the music that much.

[WyrreJ]

Check out Rockbox - alternative firmware for a handful of players. Pretty slick and free I am about to pick up an iAudio/Cowon unit specifically because rockbox has been ported to it.

http://www.rockbox.org/

[9tinyfingaz]

i like that rockbox stuff. very nice. the iaudio is nice as well. but realize the x5 is only 15fps. the a2 is a much nicer unit. and the maxian compusa is carrying and the mustek compusa carries online. but the x5 is a good size

[WyrreJ]

Rockbox doesn't do video anyway, and I'm not interested in a portable video player until one has an HDMI out and can do mpeg4 AVC at HD resolutions. So far only the ipod will do AVC, and that's only at less-than-dvd res. It took them about 8 years to get the hardware mostly right for good-quality audio, it will probably take a couple more for decent video.