inexpensive MP3 player for your truck

[shifty]

http://www.jr.com/JRProductPage.process?Product=4058121

I bought one from www.woot.com the other day for $45. it comes with an accessory kit that includes an FM mofulator - you plug it into the cigarette lighter of your car and it transmits the MP3 music to your stereo over FM frequencies so your radio can pick it up. call JR and make sure the modulator is included in this kit before you order.

this is a steal for the price, it's a quality name brand and seems to work well, i've dorked around with it a little bit at home - there is a slot on the back side for an SD memory card so you can expand the storage space to as many gigs as you can find in an SD card (i don't see any limitation at their site listed).

i'm ordering a 2GB SD card so i can fill the MP3 player with 2GB + 256MB of MP3's, which is probably a couple dozen CD's worth of music at high quality encoding, which should last me for a good long road trip . i'm paying $70 for a quality 2GB SD card ...you can pay $50 for a decent name brand 2GB one...a 1Gb SD card can be had for $30 at your local office/computer store. you defeinitely have some options here.

i'm not sure if i'll just wire the MP3 player directly into an amp/pre-amp or if i'm going to actually continue using the FM modulator this came with and keep my old pioneer stereo ... maybe hack the insides of the radio to add a daughter board for low-level out, if possible?.

Just tossing this out there for anyone who might be interested. want MP3 capability in your car or truck for less than $50 and only have an FM radio? Don't want to hack your dash? this is an alternative.

Remember - the quality of the sound of this device will only be as good as the sound you'll get off the FM radio of your vehicle unless you have an input jack on the front of your stereo or some way to do a low-level in.

if anyone has questions about this, let me know, i'll be happy to answer what i can since i know a little more about this stuff than most.

[CochinoFilipino]

Pretty cool. How are the batteries holding up so far when uploading music to the player?

[shifty]

it takes a single AAA battery. i haven't been able to wear it out yet. it says you can get up to 20 hours battery life.