CD's, Ipod, and alternatives...

[Reese]

Just got back from a four day ski trip in the CA Delta. The area had really bad FM radio reception...but a friend had brought thier handly little Ipod and wallah...instant music.

I like the idea of not having to take a briefcase of CD's with me everywhere I go...I know Ipod...what other alternatives are out there.

What are you guys using???

[sho305]

My brother has a laptop full of mp3s, and he burns them on CD. Then plays in the car as you can fit lots on them on one CD. Not sure you can get a portable for mp3s. He hooks the laptop to a stereo and plays it too.

[wierdkid]

they are actually quite plentiful. I got one 2 years ago for about$50 thats still running ggod and my friend has a nicer one he got a year ago that was $100. and the great thing is theyll play regular cds as well so any cds you have can be played in it.

[Rickracer]

So if you have a unit capable of playing MP3s, thats a lot of music. :cool:

[Reese]

Okay, I found out you can easily convert CD's to MP3's using inexpensive or even free software so that seems okay with me.

My only concern is when you record 160 songs on one CD how do you keep track of the tracks...burn them alphabetically?. What I liked about the Ipod is you can sort by song titles, artists, jazz, rock, metal and play them in what ever order you choose.

[sho305]

Don't the players show the file name? On my PC I can name them all and have directories for each CD, but never checked a little mp3 player and how it works. I just been burning custom plain CDs to use and change them when needed for mobile use.

[mendo]

I have a Rio hard disc player that holds around 350 CD's worth of music. It is 20gb and I have around 1900 songs on it right now and it is about half full. I also have an attachment that plugs into the headphone jack that transmits on FM so wherever I am I can play my music into any FM radio. It is real nice for playing the same music on more than one boat. All boats tune to the same FM radio station and all listen to the same great music.

Also has songlists that I can edit from my laptop and play selected tracks. Even in random order if I want.

[mystery dad]

Not sure if anyone is still checking this thread, but I've found the best results with exactly what he's saying. Additionally, if you have a custom sound system you can plug right into your pre-amp or equalizer or amplifier and bypass the headunit with a $6 Y-adapter (headphone to stereo RCA) from any Radio Shack/Best Buy/etc. My portable jukebox is an Archos AV340 which can also play movies on its 4" screen and can be plugged into any video display, thus eliminating the need for a DVD player in the cabin (for those of us who haven't completely gutted it).

Cheers,
MD

[sho305]

That sounds like a real nice setup.:cool: