I have never heard of such a thing. But it seems like it would be a good idea. Think about it: no CDs to burn, easily rewritable (unlike a CD-RW, where you must completely erase and rewrite), no need to interface the head unit with a PC (which would be required with an internal hard drive type unit with no card slot), all MP3 controls on the deck (as opposed to a player), no need to buy a separate MP3 player, and no outboard components and wires strung about required to play MP3s. But does such a thing exist? And yes, I know Alpine has a deck that controls an iPod. But this (1) requires the purchase of the outrageously overpriced iPod, and (2) still requires you to have an outboard component (namely the iPod) dangling about with a cable to connect it.

 

never heard it run off of flashed memory, but there are ones that run of removeable hard drives tho.

 

Actually, Eclipse makes a head unit that plays compressed files from a Memory Stick. But this head unit has several disadvantages. First of all, Memory Sticks cost alot more per unit memory than SD cards. Also, this head unit only plays files encoded in some proprietary format. So you would have to convert your MP3/WMA files - quite cumbersome if you have alot of files. And finally, it only plays at 112kbps - fairly low quality.

 

It's a cool idea -

 

http://www.pioneerelectronics.....html



Don't know if this is what your looking for but,it has a 10gb hd too play files.

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by Skip01 &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">http://www.pioneerelectronics.....html



Don't know if this is what your looking for but,it has a 10gb hd too play files. </TD></TR></TABLE>

First off, look at the price. Why would I spend $2100 on an audio component when I can spend it on my motor? After all, when it comes to putting a smile on my face, tunes fall far short of a fast car. And if you can get an RCA Lyra that plays SD cards for $80, I just don't see why it should cost alot of money to incorporate this technology into a head unit. Secondly, it takes Memory Sticks (and not SD cards). Memory Sticks are expensive. Not to mention that I already have SD cards, while Memory Sticks are something I would have to buy.

 

The whole "no outboard components" screws you.

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by StorminMatt &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">First off, look at the price. Why would I spend $2100 on an audio component when I can spend it on my motor? After all, when it comes to putting a smile on my face, tunes fall far short of a fast car. And if you can get an RCA Lyra that plays SD cards for $80, I just don't see why it should cost alot of money to incorporate this technology into a head unit. Secondly, it takes Memory Sticks (and not SD cards). Memory Sticks are expensive. Not to mention that I already have SD cards, while Memory Sticks are something I would have to buy.</TD></TR></TABLE>

Well why would you make a thread and not state you had a price range.Do your own shopping?

 

i don't know if it could play the MP3's off of the memory stick or not, but the Sony MEX-HD1 or whatever it was with the 10GB hard drive in it for under a grand had a memory stick spot, along with a.. crap... iLink or USB port (I can't remmeber now) and a few other ports on it I can't recall. Last I saw the unit was hanging around $800 or so

 

I agree with the price vs. bang for buck comparison. I bought a 512MB SD card for my RCA Lyra (which I use for working out) for $60. It's a Toshiba card and I got it that cheap because Office Max was able to substitute it for a cheap brand.

So that $60 card will hold less than a CDR. My question to you is: why not burn high-rate MP3s on a CD or get a DVD head and burn them onto DVD instead. Your cost/MB of storage is far less, albeit somewhat permanent if you wanted to change tracks.

I've tried my Lyra plugged into an RF modulator that I use in my work truck (which has a Sirius receiver) and wasn't impressed. The output on the Lyra is very weak and would only be suitable for a line-input on a head unit I think. It was only built to drive headphones, so I'm not complaining.

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by PupaScoopa &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">I've tried my Lyra plugged into an RF modulator that I use in my work truck (which has a Sirius receiver) and wasn't impressed. The output on the Lyra is very weak and would only be suitable for a line-input on a head unit I think. It was only built to drive headphones, so I'm not complaining.</TD></TR></TABLE>

Let's face it. RF modulators SUCK! The best connection you will get with an RCA Lyra is into an AUX input. Honestly, this is not bad at all. But you still have the thing dangling around. And you have to worry about batteries. But you still have that nice, click-and-drag convenience if your computer that has an SD card slot. You also don't have to worry about interfacing the unit with a computer or having to install/use software to put songs on the player, as would be mandatory with any hard drive based player (and some such software is not exactly user friendly). As for SD cards, you can actually find a 1GB card for around $60 - after rebates, though.

 

the new 2005 jvc's have it, also panasonic has a unit that does this...

 

Screw it - unless you are driving a Bentley they don’t have one for you. Your best bet is to get a iPod, changer, or hard drive.