my 2 cents (for skeptics)

mikeinsanmarcos · 07-12-2002, 01:43 PM

Well, I used a carputer with a 4x20 LCD and a keypad with lortys plugin for a while and about a month ago I bought an Alpine 7995 MP3 playing CD player.... Here are my thoughts between the two strickly on playing mp3's in your car for anyone with thought of doing the same!

The carputer has a much better display of information and you can change what is displayed to suit your tastes, it is much easier to control using the keypad because you can go directly to a song by number, it can hold infinately many more songs and it is just plain fun to build... Now for the negative... Boot times suck, sound quality was never what the alpine is, doesnt look as nice and it seemed like everytime I would go on a trip over 30 minutes, it would crash and I would not be able to fix it untill I could get home and hook it up to a monitor (this would be moot if I had a lcd screen)...

The Alpine looks killer with its blue display and motorized angle adjustment, it sounds GREAT, music is instant if the cd is already in the player (and really fast if a new one inserted) and it doesnt crash... Now for the negative... MP3 navigation is HORRIBLE, it has a search function but is only lets you spin the knob as the titles change and it is really slow), display is small (1 x 12 or something) so you have to wait for it to scroll to see the title & artist...

I thought I would have liked the alpine for mp3 playback better but I have came to the conclusion that carputer is the only way to go!

ShinkunoNamida · 07-12-2002, 01:49 PM

Our brother is returned to us!!! He has tasted the lips of temptation and turned her away!

Welcome back to the light my friend.

cenwesi · 07-12-2002, 02:55 PM

hahahhaa....didnt i warn u about this move

Welcome back brother

mikeinsanmarcos · 07-12-2002, 02:58 PM

He He... Actually, I never really left as I have been working on as SBC system for my van this whole time! But thanks anyway :-)

mikeinsanmarcos · 07-12-2002, 02:58 PM

Anyone want to buy a cheap 7995? J/K

And Yes, you did try and warn me about this but I thought I knew better! "

Yay, though I walk through the valley of the MP3 playing decks, I will fear them all"

I guess once I get things the way I want them in my van, I will start working on my greatest creation yet!

I plan on walking in Charles's footsteps and build up a single din, slim/slot dvd system with the wafer (or maybe the new via board), anda 2x20 alpha LCD & USB on the front... Then I plan on getting one of those 7" widescreen VGA LCD's for the visor or glovebox... Oh the possibilities!!!!

ShinkunoNamida · 07-12-2002, 03:09 PM

As soon as I bother to order up the pots i need to wire my lcds I'll have a single din player ready to roll

Having a car with 3 dins right there makes everything so tempting.. But I am going to try to make something a little more universal.. then I'll probably sell it and make a new one when i'm done

eugenen · 07-12-2002, 09:22 PM

About 1/2 of the people I tell my ideas to say "wow cool" the other half say" just buy a new HU that plays mp3's". But I plan on having mine do more than just mp3's (yea I know big plans even though I don't have it done yet). I'm going to integrate a usb hub into my keyboard/display. Should be able to plug in my digicam and preview the pics. PLus I plan on using it as my pda wireless server.

mikeinsanmarcos · 07-12-2002, 10:48 PM

Yah, but the whole point of the thread is that even if you were only going to JUST play mp3's, it still sucks using a commercially available MP3 playing CD player! When those people say that, just let them know that they are stupid and hit them in the head with a hammer!

cenwesi · 07-13-2002, 09:00 AM

lol.....exactl the point. Y put a PC into the car only to have it play just mp3. I will rather buy one of those head units that plays just mp3 than to have a pc in the car that only plays mp3.

orangewhip · 07-13-2002, 07:05 PM

Well, after having my carputer system stolen out of my vehicle a couple weeks ago, I think I might be taking the money I get from insurance and going the way of a MP3 Head Unit.

I know SOME people are against it, but in the end, I think I will actually use it more, my system I had with a 5.6 inch LCD and bookpc with DVD etc..etc.. was too much hassle sometimes. Not to mention that it was a pain to have to pull the stuff in and out, in and out, everytime I went home. (The day it got stolen was the FIRST time I hadn't taken the unit out for the night, I just got home after a LONG road trip and was too tired, and BOOM! It's gone) MP3 Head unit, is...CLICK....and the face plate is out.

I don't know...I will at least be getting a HU with audio inputs so I can still have the option on bringing in a computer audio if need be. Also the unit I am looking at has built in DVD controls and the guy at the audio shop said it would be easy to hack into the plug on the back to control a computer with the DVD controls. So I may go that route for now. Buy the MP3 head unit, and maybe in time, build up a carputer again.