i-river units for car?

x in the city

hi folks

i got the usual rds radio cassette fare and am thinking of getting a i river h320 unit and a rf radio transmitter to send sound to the speakers via the fm radio

i can get all this for about 400yo yo from the states

anyone got this 20 gig iriver? it looks the dogs boll*** to be honest.

im not sure of cd based mp3s, too much fiddling around imo

Rew

Friend has the IRiver and its very nice. If you have a cassette unit just het a 3.5mm jack to cassette adapter (no more the €10) and dont bother with the FM unit.

x in the city

komplett have the h320 at a pretty resonable price. i have 11 gig of mp3s waiting for long road trips.

might get one of these soon.......

i already got a 3.5mm to tape yoke. not ideal but sufficent. the fm receiver looks handy, no wires, but maybe the tape would have better quality sound.

krinpit

x in the city wrote:

the fm receiver looks handy, no wires, but maybe the tape would have better quality sound.

I find that the FM Trasmitter system I use (Belkin) is very prone to interference. Plus you have to keep it supplied with batteries, which is a pain.

Rew

Which FM unit have you? I have a Tunecast II ordered but I got a cigaret lighter power unit with it.

x in the city

? is it not powered by the ciggie lighter? if its prone to interference forget it.

i need to get the thermostat put on my e36, hope thats gonna fix the non functioning heaters.....

kaiphas

The FM modulators are pretty crap (too much interference esp in Dublin). The cassette adapter (if you've a cassette player on your car stereo is the job). Alternatively get it hard wired to the stereo (Scan Sounds in Phibsboro did mine for me).

Rew

Some plug in some dont. I got one that does both so that I could take it out of the car and use it. As of interference as far as I can tell it depends on your car, your radio and where in the country you are, not to mention the FM unit. Tape unit is better quality AFAIK.

Rew

kaiphas wrote:

The FM modulators are pretty crap (too much interference esp in Dublin). The cassette adapter (if you've a cassette player on your car stereo is the job). Alternatively get it hard wired to the stereo (Scan Sounds in Phibsboro did mine for me).

How much?

cormie

I use a tape with my H-140. I wouldn't be happy having to replace fm transmitter batteries and interference would highly annoy me! At least with the tape you can be sure you will have good sound throughout the journey.

The wire issue:
Well I got a little mobile phone holder in some cheapo shop, cost €5 or so, clicks into airvent. Never has come loose or anything, does the job great, I have it right beside my cassette player with the wire of the tape wrapped around it once or twice which only leaves enough slack to pick it up and put it in the headphone jack of the H-140.

You could probably find the H-3XX cheaper elsewhere. Try www.mx2.co.uk maybe. And reconsider if you would like the 20 or 40GB model. For the small extra price, you are getting twice the storage. and since the H3XX can play videos, you may find you need the extra storage.

There is a €70 difference between the 20 and 40GB version, since your spending so much on a product in the first place, it would probably be wise to spend the extra bit for twice the storage. My brother was convinced he only needed the 20g, that is was more than enough. I told him to get the 40 numerous times with him disagreeing. I ended up convincing him and he is very glad now.

The price difference of 20 and 40GB models of the H1XX is only about €27!!!! who in their right mind would get the 20GB with that difference!?

go to www.misticriver.net for the best place to discuss iRiver

Rew

Got my Tunecast II today. €35 delivered from the US (sent ont he 6th arived today, 10th). Works perfectly. Somthing I noticed, if you turn up the volume on your car stereo you can hear interference (because its being amplified by the stereo) but if you turn it back down and turn up the vol on the mp3 player it sounds perfect. Keep that in mind if anyone has one or is getting one.

The EBay seller was "Wind130" if anyone is looking for one. He is pulling a bit of a scam where he lists the units below cost then hikes up the postage but TBH it all works out a a little but more then it would cost if you were buying it in a shop over there.

He marked the package as a gift, the value as €7 and the contents as an Mini FM Radio. So no taxes due

rubadub

wind130 is a brilliant seller. Just got a set of E3C headphones from her (it is a woman AFAIK), posted last wednesday got them this morning, I got 2 H120's from her too all arrived in 3 working days. She will refund you if you get charged duty and have seen comments confirming this from buyers.

I saw the postage thing explained on another ebay page, when an item is sold on ebay the seller must pay ebay a % of the sold price. So if you charge $399 post and $1 for the item you pay very little to ebay on your % of $1.
I have found wind130 to be the cheapest for a lot of things even when you take post into account (all the US sellers charge huge post rates). My Iriver was €100 less than here at the time. My headphones were less than 1/2 the price they are in the UK.

I'd go for a tape device before a transmitter. Even if you can get perfect reception it is only FM quality. My mate is having a go at wiring it direct to the DNC for the cd player.

Rew

Your better off buying an adapter for the stero then a custom wireing job...

http://www.installer.com/aux/

kaiphas

About € 170. Well worth the initial outlay though, once the hardware purchased should only cost about €40 to re-wire to any other car I may get in the future. The quality is excellent. I know it's possible to get the bits & bods on-line and connect it up yourself but I took the lazy option and am well pleased with the outcome!

Rew wrote:

How much?

Rew

kaiphas wrote:

About € 170. Well worth the initial outlay though, once the hardware purchased should only cost about €40 to re-wire to any other car I may get in the future. The quality is excellent. I know it's possible to get the bits & bods on-line and connect it up yourself but I took the lazy option and am well pleased with the outcome!

What did you end up with, a 3.5mm jack in to your MP3 player?

kaiphas

Yep, a 3.5mm jack plug in the drivers armrest.

Rew wrote:

What did you end up with, a 3.5mm jack in to your MP3 player?