HU with HDD

[Leroy]

I was just drooling over the Maserati Gran Turismo and I found something that intrigued me:

The stereo has a built in 20gb hard drive, so that you can record your cd's and then not have to carry them around with you.

What a brilliant idea... like a driving ipod.

I know a standard HU with ipod connection would be far cheaper... but ive not seen one HU that actually takes full advantage of the ipod interface.

So my logic is that a stereo that can manage its own files would be more effective... and eliminate the need for wires and a space to put said ipod.

This may be a long shot.... but has anyone got/used something similar?

Or something that allows you to transfer music files to you car via USB??

[selyaT]

Yeah dude I think there are a few aftermarket HU's that have memory now. The other thing you could look into is a carputer, but it's much more complicated and space-consuming

[Leroy]

Haha... no carputer for me.

I am curious strictly for HU with decent memory...and simple interface.

I would hate to get a HU that had to be operated like the iRivers... by opening up a windows explorer style file tree (shudder)

[selyaT]

You can also get HU's with a direct USB port in the front of them... But then you would want to have a dedicated thumb drive for music only I guess.

[Brad!]

Just installed a JVC unit.

Can plug in USB or SD. USB is on a cable, so its easy enough to mount a self powered HDD in (Price down heaps to ~ 250gb ~$200)

The best feature is it can play divx files directly.

This means if you burn plain .avi files on to a normal CD it will play.

Beats having to make a DVD.

[Leroy]

How would the HDD cool itself though??

I'd imagine in a full unit, it would be a small enough HDD that they could fit a small fan in...

But a 250gb separate unit?? Sounds technical...

[yoshi]

for a 20gb drive they would probebly be using a solid state HDD which is faster, cooler, smaller and much more shock resistent

[Leroy]

for a 20gb drive they would probebly be using a solid state HDD which is faster, cooler, smaller and much more shock resistent

You know anyone that makes a unit with integrated 20gb solid state HDD??

I've scanned the webpages of the usual suspects (Alpine, Clarion, Pioneer etc) to no avail...

[Guest]

my eclipse cd4000 + ipod controler is fairley close..

While the head unit does not have a hard disk built in, it is able to take full use of the ipod... displaying playlists, song info, i can browse by artest, album, song, etc as you can on a normal ipod... the only disadvantage it has over a hdd based unit is that it cant rip cds.

[JJCRU23R]

peep this - go to ebay and search this: 190220634630

a couple years back i was considering a HDD head unit for my corolla but i somehow forgot about it after i began researching options for carputers.

theyve been around for a while now, this head unit is an ok example of what you could possibly get.

hope this helps!

[Leroy]

peep this - go to ebay and search this: 190220634630

a couple years back i was considering a HDD head unit for my corolla but i somehow forgot about it after i began researching options for carputers.

theyve been around for a while now, this head unit is an ok example of what you could possibly get.

hope this helps!

DUUUUUUDE!!!

That is pretty much what I'm after.

The only downside to that model is the lack of physical CD support. But thats spot on. I wonder how the interface is, though...

Oh, and it turns out the new Lancer/Evo X is sporting a 30gb audio player - integrated with what Clarkson himself describes as "the most effective" touch screen SatNav he's ever used...

Edited May 11, 2008 by Leroy

[akuma]

i did have one.. pioneer avid hd3 - 30gbs, 20gbs for mapping (aus wide) and 10gigs for storage. best unit i ever had! inbuild gps, the harddrive dvd screen touch screen omg couldnt go wrong!

[Brad!]

i did have one.. pioneer avid hd3 - 30gbs, 20gbs for mapping (aus wide) and 10gigs for storage. best unit i ever had! inbuild gps, the harddrive dvd screen touch screen omg couldnt go wrong!

Tell him the price son, tell him the price

These are ~ 3.5k yer?

[Leroy]

Just installed a JVC unit.

Can plug in USB or SD. USB is on a cable, so its easy enough to mount a self powered HDD in (Price down heaps to ~ 250gb ~$200)

So, your JVC unit is single din then?? Allowing you to mount the HDD underneath??

How well does the interface handle plowing through a million files?? Is there any memory lag??

These are ~ 3.5k yer?

Hahaha... and NO, I am not going to pay that much. I doubt I would pay 500 for a HU.

[akuma]

yep, retail was about $3,500~ but now i think you can bargain it down too $2,900~ depends how good you are!.. If your expecting to pay $500 dont bother with a HDD unless your going carputer styles but you gotta go into full detail with that. You get what you pay, and i can assure you that ebay non branded headunits are very :/, cousin bought a $500 dvd player and it buggered up a few weeks later.

[JJCRU23R]

peep this - go to ebay and search this: 190220634630

a couple years back i was considering a HDD head unit for my corolla but i somehow forgot about it after i began researching options for carputers.

theyve been around for a while now, this head unit is an ok example of what you could possibly get.

hope this helps!

DUUUUUUDE!!!

That is pretty much what I'm after.

The only downside to that model is the lack of physical CD support. But thats spot on. I wonder how the interface is, though...

Oh, and it turns out the new Lancer/Evo X is sporting a 30gb audio player - integrated with what Clarkson himself describes as "the most effective" touch screen SatNav he's ever used...

my head unit has usb which means i can hook up my flash drive... its got dvd/cd but honestly, i only use that for barney and hi-5 to keep the kids happy. all my mp3s/vid.clips are in the flash. that means my music would never skip.. and most of my music is in the form of mp3. i dont see any sense in burning in the head unit... its like twice the work if you ever burn on your pc in the first place.

[akuma]

my head unit has usb which means i can hook up my flash drive... its got dvd/cd but honestly, i only use that for barney and hi-5 to keep the kids happy. all my mp3s/vid.clips are in the flash. that means my music would never skip.. and most of my music is in the form of mp3. i dont see any sense in burning in the head unit... its like twice the work if you ever burn on your pc in the first place.

lies, betcha it was the missus that carried the usb with hi-5 wiggles etc just to keep your nerves down.