Head Units and External Hard Drives

[Tommy Ceez 10+ year member]

Have some success to report

Went to Best Buy and bought one of these

http://www.bestbuy.com/site/olspage.jsp?skuId=8247275&st=imobile+power+inverter&type=product&id=1168045340673

It provides 500mA/5volts through the usb and provides an AC outlet.

Combined with the 500mA from the 6900ub, I was for the first time ever, able to spin the drive on my Maxtor 120gig without a single failure for around 3 hours of playtime, and alot of (on purpose) jumping around the folder structure.

Keep in mind thet I only filled 1 gig for this first step, but its working FLAWLESSLY...about 30 seconds of read time, and the mp3 jumps right in where i turned the car off.

You just need a USB Y cable. (One with one USB for data and a second exclusivly for power), which Maxtor provides right out of the box.

I will update on how it handles more files and folders, but Im cautiously optamistic

 

[isamu 10+ year member]

The thing I am noticing is that these usb heads are mostly geared to thumb/flash drives and ipod. It's too bad as I'd much rather just get a 200gig drive and put all my music in a lossless codec of some type.

I guess until the mainstream moves from CDs and Ipods, that will be the focus. I'd sure like a unit that handled FLAC or some of the other nice codecs so we'd at least have the option of doing lossless, etc.

clone.... I cannot tell you how much I feel your pain, brother. I am in the same boat as many of you guys. I want an HU that can read FLAC or ALAC through an external HD and the fact that none exist is a real bummer.

I have been debating whether to install a CarPC with full blown Windows OS or a standard Head Unit in my Mercedes Benz. I was THIS close to deciding on an HU(probably the Alpine iDA-X001) because of its ease of use.

But after doing more research and especially after reading this thread, I am just ready to give up on head units and will probably go for the full blown CarPC. I have over 800 CDs! And the cumbersomeness of navigating through my entire library, as well as lack of playlist support is the dealbreaker for me. Not to mention how small the screen is compared to a nice 7" touchscreen.

After talking to one of the installers at Phantom Electronics today, I was told that I could get a pc installed in the trunk of my ride without any problems. I'm looking at around $3500-$4500 for the complete overhaul including speakers and amp but you know what? Given the ENORMOUS versatility a software player like WinAmp offers you over a dedicated HU, I'd say the extra bucks is well worth it. And no, I'm not rich...not by a LONGSHOT!

Until these head unit makers get their act together, a pc is the way to go IMHO.

 

[Kfra315 10+ year member]

Well I guess I'll offer my input. I just picked up a Kenwood X890($175) BNIB from ebay last week and I have just been using it with a 1 Gig thumbdrive I got for free from Microcenter. I love the Kenwood and the USB option is probably the smartest thing I could've done since I have so much music. I no longer have to burn CDS and I will more than likely buy a bigger thumb drive soon. I found the thumbdrive to be the most logical and convenient because you can leave it in your car without worrying about someone snatching your entire music collection. You can get them up to 8 gigs I believe right now and I found the navigation on the deck to be really quick and it all can be controlled through the remote. Pretty much operates like an MP3 cd where you can navigate different folders. And the reason why I really dont like to use such a big storage drive is because when you think about it you're really just using all that extra space on the hard drive because it's there. I found when I had an MP3 player with a really big storage capacity I actually ended up having too much outdated music on there because I had the room and didnt need to delete it. Now I've got my flash based Sansa with 6 gigs and it actually forces me to keep my player up to date.

 

[isamu 10+ year member]

the reason why I really dont like to use such a big storage drive is because when you think about it you're really just using all that extra space on the hard drive because it's there. I found when I had an MP3 player with a really big storage capacity I actually ended up having too much outdated music on there because I had the room and didnt need to delete it.

well, that's kinda the point. We like having all that extra storage there. With mp3s, sure, you'd only use a fraction of an HD with say 500gb of storage. But for those of us who want to archive our music in lossless, we need as big an HD as possible. To me, hard drives are a real bargain nowadays. I still remember not long ago when a 60gb hd costs over $300 LOL! To be able to get more than triple that amount for half that price these days is remarkable!

 

[Tommy Ceez 10+ year member]

I am happy to report that it seems with the additional 500mA as mentioned above, the Pio 6900ub will ABSOLUTLY play my 120gig HD.

Up to 20gig so far, and the 20 second initial seek time has not gotten any longer.

Im VERY happy

 

[clone 10+ year member]

I checked with LaCie and the Mobile drives they offer need 500mA of power. From the manual, the Kenwood X891 is stated to supply that level of power and the Pioneer P690UB also states that it supplies 500mA. So theoretically, both of these heads should work fine with the LaCie mobile hard drive.

Anyone else try these HDs with these heads?

Thanks

 

[soloxp 10+ year member]

Ok peeps. For get the hold HU thing. Do what I did 10 months ago.....and buy a 7" or bigger touch screen and a mini computer with a big @ss hard drive. Go and read this.

http://www.mp3car.com/vbulletin. You can do it all from gps,xm,mp3 and dvd.

 

[brad1011a 10+ year member]

Ok peeps. For get the hold HU thing. Do what I did 10 months ago.....and buy a 7" or bigger touch screen and a mini computer with a big @ss hard drive. Go and read this.http://www.mp3car.com/vbulletin. You can do it all from gps,xm,mp3 and dvd.

I agree that 'car-puters' are extremely versatile, but I haven't found a touch-screen yet that is easily detachable (like a HU), or a 'puter that has its own steering wheel controls. Without those features they are useless to me.

 

[brad1011a 10+ year member]

I am happy to report that it seems with the additional 500mA as mentioned above, the Pio 6900ub will ABSOLUTLY play my 120gig HD.
Up to 20gig so far, and the 20 second initial seek time has not gotten any longer.

Im VERY happy

Are you able to use .M3U playlists?

 

[soloxp 10+ year member]

I agree that 'car-puters' are extremely versatile, but I haven't found a touch-screen yet that is easily detachable (like a HU), or a 'puter that has its own steering wheel controls. Without those features they are useless to me.

There is a way to use steering wheel controls. If you like...you can keep your HU and still use the a computer. Build something to cover it up. Or use a laptop like alots of ppl do. I use my laptop for about 2 months.

 

[Fast1one 10+ year member]

Your best bet will usually be an Ipod believe it or not...Im buying one. Its just very convenient and a ton of head units already support the interface. Plus you can take it with you and use it anywhere if you so please. If your simply looking for more space, then an external media player is your best bet.

Media gate has been the best one I have found http://www.airlinktek.com/english/prod_mg25.htm it has its own interface and a remote. Supports various formats including HDTV and 5.1 audio if your into those kind of things. They Usually run about 80 bucks. Add a 7 inch screen and a 120gig hard drive which usually runs at about 100 dollars and your looking at about 300 For the whole setup

you can buy an Ipod for that price and its a lot less work....Plus if I buy it at costco I can take it back whenever the hell I want //content.invisioncic.com/y282845/emoticons/biggrin.gif.d71a5d36fcbab170f2364c9f2e3946cb.gif

 

[Tommy Ceez 10+ year member]

Are you able to use .M3U playlists?

Have not tried yet....but I will report back my findings

 

[Tommy Ceez 10+ year member]

Ok peeps. For get the hold HU thing. Do what I did 10 months ago.....and buy a 7" or bigger touch screen and a mini computer with a big @ss hard drive. Go and read this.http://www.mp3car.com/vbulletin. You can do it all from gps,xm,mp3 and dvd.

FoR rEaLz???!!???!!

BTW, a carputer might be nice in a fantasy land, but in NYC, Im not installing ANYTHING like that in a car.

 

[brad1011a 10+ year member]

FoR rEaLz???!!???!!
BTW, a carputer might be nice in a fantasy land, but in NYC, Im not installing ANYTHING like that in a car.

Tell me about it. I live in Long Beach, CA and I'll never forget when I had to run up to my apartment for a few minutes once, and left the HU in the car (it was a totally removable one - my car was in the apartment building's locked garage), and when I got back to the car the driver door window was smashed and the HU was gone.

A car-puter would be gone even faster, even if I could figure out a detachable screen..

 

[scootinZ 10+ year member]

When I found out that my Blaupunkt doesn't really support playlists I tried 'favorites' folders, but after selecting different content on the same drive it doesn't remember what you were last listening to if you go back to the fav. folder.
Fortunately the Blaupunkt has an SD card slot (2GB max.) that I use for playlists with the hard drive holding the main library. That way when switching back and forth it remembers where you were.

As far as I know Kenwood handles playlists better than the rest. The latest version of their software can assemble 'auto-playlists' based on tempo and volume (besides the manually created playlists).

http://www.kenwoodusa.com/Dealers/Us1/flyers/Kenwood_Car_Excelon_2007.pdf

Pioneer advertises Windows playlist support, but after my experience with the Blaupunkt I would verify that they resume properly after turning the car off/on.

Clarion makes some USB units (one with time alignment), but I don't know much else about them.

Can someone tell me what time alignment is? Learning as I go....

thanks...