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Want a head unit that will read MP3s from a DVDR.

Shawn

Shawn

Lifer
There weren't many options when I looked 3 years ago, and there still aren't today despite the fact that you can get blank DVDs as cheap or cheaper than blank CDs. It seems the only option is to get a headunit that plays DVD video, even though I don't care about video.

It seems the best option I have been able to come up with is the JVC KD-AVX11. Has anyone used this headunit? I would be replacing a Pioneer 6800 so I would be taking a step down in sound quality i'm sure.

edit: another option I'm considering is getting a Pioneer DEH-P600UP or similar with a USB port and get an external hard drive.

edit 2: Ended up getting a DEH-P6000UB. Now looking for a usb hard drive that will work. The head unit can only supply 500mA of power.
 
other options...

get a ipod ( older ones on here are like $100 for 30gb) and get a radio that has ipod out, almost all of the radio have them.

i'm running my 30gb and a alpine unit, radio cost me $200, $30 for cable.

or with the USB port radios you can just run a flash drive.
 
I ended up getting a Pioneer DEH-P6000UP from ebay for $142 shipped. I also just bought this which I will put in the glove box. $220 total for a headunit with 160gb of space. Seemed like a better solution.

Plus I plan to sell my old head unit to recoup most of the cost.
 
Hopefully that hard drive won't draw too much power or it won't work without connecting an additional power source to it. Most headunits only provide a maximum of 500mA, any more and it won't spin up. Because of this I got a 1.8" drive since they use even less power than 2.5" drives.
 
My head unit plays mp3s from a CD.... I have a feeling you will strongly regret it once you try to play a song from a DVD with a head unit. The controls will drive you insane. Just buy an iPod 80gb for $250, or a used one for less. Nothing beats the wheel interface for one handed car operation.
 
Originally posted by: Throckmorton
My head unit plays mp3s from a CD.... I have a feeling you will strongly regret it once you try to play a song from a DVD with a head unit. The controls will drive you insane. Just buy an iPod 80gb for $250, or a used one for less. Nothing beats the wheel interface for one handed car operation.
Click to expand...

Mine works pretty easily. One set of buttons for moving up and down folders, another for moving up and down tracks. No regrets here.

Edit:
It may not be as fancy and easy to find a particular song like an ipod interface, but I don't need to look to navigate 🙂
 
Originally posted by: jtvang125
Hopefully that hard drive won't draw too much power or it won't work without connecting an additional power source to it. Most headunits only provide a maximum of 500mA, any more and it won't spin up. Because of this I got a 1.8" drive since they use even less power than 2.5" drives.
Click to expand...

I canceled my order. What drive do you have?
 
Originally posted by: Demon-Xanth
Originally posted by: Throckmorton
My head unit plays mp3s from a CD.... I have a feeling you will strongly regret it once you try to play a song from a DVD with a head unit. The controls will drive you insane. Just buy an iPod 80gb for $250, or a used one for less. Nothing beats the wheel interface for one handed car operation.
Click to expand...

Mine works pretty easily. One set of buttons for moving up and down folders, another for moving up and down tracks. No regrets here.

Edit:
It may not be as fancy and easy to find a particular song like an ipod interface, but I don't need to look to navigate 🙂
Click to expand...

A DVD is gonna have a lot more songs though.

For me the two main annoyances are the small buttons and the single line display. The harder it is to find the song you want when driving, the more likely you are to crash.
 
Originally posted by: Throckmorton
Originally posted by: Demon-Xanth
Originally posted by: Throckmorton
My head unit plays mp3s from a CD.... I have a feeling you will strongly regret it once you try to play a song from a DVD with a head unit. The controls will drive you insane. Just buy an iPod 80gb for $250, or a used one for less. Nothing beats the wheel interface for one handed car operation.
Click to expand...

Mine works pretty easily. One set of buttons for moving up and down folders, another for moving up and down tracks. No regrets here.

Edit:
It may not be as fancy and easy to find a particular song like an ipod interface, but I don't need to look to navigate 🙂
Click to expand...

A DVD is gonna have a lot more songs though.

For me the two main annoyances are the small buttons and the single line display. The harder it is to find the song you want when driving, the more likely you are to crash.
Click to expand...

I understand that. I have about 1000/disk, keep two disks, and have about 60 folders. Each folder basically contains one CD. So in effect, one set of buttons is forward/back disks, and the other is forward/back tracks.
 
Why would you even want a hard drive reading one? It's probably cheaper to get one with an iPod jack or aux input, and spend the difference on an iPod instead of a hard drive
 
Originally posted by: Shawn
Originally posted by: jtvang125
Hopefully that hard drive won't draw too much power or it won't work without connecting an additional power source to it. Most headunits only provide a maximum of 500mA, any more and it won't spin up. Because of this I got a 1.8" drive since they use even less power than 2.5" drives.
Click to expand...

I canceled my order. What drive do you have?
Click to expand...

Actually mine is a DIY. Bought a oem 1.8" 80gb toshiba drive and slapped it into a portable usb enclosure. Worked on a pioneer and kenwood unit with no problems.
 
Originally posted by: Demon-Xanth
Originally posted by: Throckmorton
Originally posted by: Demon-Xanth
Originally posted by: Throckmorton
My head unit plays mp3s from a CD.... I have a feeling you will strongly regret it once you try to play a song from a DVD with a head unit. The controls will drive you insane. Just buy an iPod 80gb for $250, or a used one for less. Nothing beats the wheel interface for one handed car operation.
Click to expand...

Mine works pretty easily. One set of buttons for moving up and down folders, another for moving up and down tracks. No regrets here.

Edit:
It may not be as fancy and easy to find a particular song like an ipod interface, but I don't need to look to navigate 🙂
Click to expand...

A DVD is gonna have a lot more songs though.

For me the two main annoyances are the small buttons and the single line display. The harder it is to find the song you want when driving, the more likely you are to crash.
Click to expand...

I understand that. I have about 1000/disk, keep two disks, and have about 60 folders. Each folder basically contains one CD. So in effect, one set of buttons is forward/back disks, and the other is forward/back tracks.
Click to expand...

OK, that probably works pretty well.


Still, an iPod is more convenient and changes songs faster.. Especially if it's flash based.

And the reason I keep saying iPod and not "mp3 player" is the navigation wheel on the iPod. The only company with a wheel AFAIK is Sansa, and button based interfaces are too clunky. Well, the up/down slider design is also good, but I don't think anyone makes one like that anymore.
 
I use a 2.5 60gig hard drive with my kenwoods, two cars, without any problems. The only thing it is slow about is reading the drive when you first power it up which takes about 30 or 40 seconds. I just leave it set to random all the time and don't play around with the folders and crap though. I do have to provide extra power just for it too spin up but that was easy enough to do. I just bought a car PSP kit that comes with a cig lighter to USB adapter and my drive has dual USB plugs on one side just incase you do need more power. I hardwired the adapter into one of the cars but haven't gotten around to doing that in the other yet. A 60 gig laptop drive is around $60 now while an I-pod is still pretty damn expensive.
 
I may have come up with a solution. My roommate has a 60gb 5th gen ipod with a cracked screen, broken headphone jack, and dead battery. The hard drive works fine though and if I hooked it up to my head unit I could use the head unit to navigate the library (which is what I wanted to do anyway). Hopefully I can get him to give it to me for close to nothing. People are selling broken ipods on ebay for $50+. What a rip.
 
Damn, my roommate won't sell me his broken ipod. Anyone else have a broken one with a working hard drive?
 
Originally posted by: Throckmorton
Originally posted by: IsLNdbOi
If you still want to go the HDD route, get one of those USB Y cables and then a cigarette lighter plug w/ a USB port. That'll give you extra power for the HDD.

USB Y Cable:
http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISA...Item&item=220253942374

12v to USB adapter:
http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISA...Item&item=250266012997
Click to expand...

I dunno.. Might send power back into the head unit's USB port. Not sure if that's possible.
Click to expand...

Already said its exactly what I do. Works fine and has for 2 years +.
 
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