Stock MP3 player?

[wtom]

Besides the MSRP price for this thing, why wouldn\'t you get the MP3 player?

My arguments;

- rather burn one CD as opposed to tens of CDs, piling them up in the car somewhere, possibly getting warped by the heat in the summer
- don\'t have to always eject and reinsert new CD to listen to different albums, keep longer life on the ejection mechanism
- it can read CD-RWs so can always write and rewrite specific songs
- the LCD displays the text so why not use it more for that purpose (it\'s big enough!) :)

Any negatives on having the MP3 player installed?

[bluntman]

Originally posted by wtom


Besides the MSRP price for this thing, why wouldn\'t you get the MP3 player?

My arguments;

- rather burn one CD as opposed to tens of CDs, piling them up in the car somewhere, possibly getting warped by the heat in the summer
- don\'t have to always eject and reinsert new CD to listen to different albums, keep longer life on the ejection mechanism
- it can read CD-RWs so can always write and rewrite specific songs
- the LCD displays the text so why not use it more for that purpose (it\'s big enough!) :)

Any negatives on having the MP3 player installed?

Add the fact that the MP3 player will display CD-TEXT encoded CDs while the stock CD player cannot.

The only argument I have against the MP3 player is its price, over $600 installed is a bit much, my 20G 3G iPod was cheaper! Other than that, I had to have the MP3 player option in my car!

[wtom]

Originally posted by bluntman

Add the fact that the MP3 player will display CD-TEXT encoded CDs while the stock CD player cannot.

The only argument I have against the MP3 player is its price, over $600 installed is a bit much, my 20G 3G iPod was cheaper! Other than that, I had to have the MP3 player option in my car!

The MP3 player will display CD-TEXT while regular CD player cannot? That is very odd...

Yes the price is just like that of all other options. I\'m hoping to get it thrown in free of charge or for lowest possible price. :)

[Xenon]

I was really considering the MP3 player... but $600 is way way way too much. I would perfer to get a tape deck and get my own mp3 player and hook it up.

[bluntman]

Originally posted by Xenon


I was really considering the MP3 player... but $600 is way way way too much. I would perfer to get a tape deck and get my own mp3 player and hook it up.

No need for a lousy tape deck, remember what zdrei wrote.

[TM3]

If $600 is too much, why not just get an ipod with the FM module.. then you can have like 20 GB of music and it\'s more versatile!!!

[bluntman]

Originally posted by TM3


If $600 is too much, why not just get an ipod with the FM module.. then you can have like 20 GB of music and it\'s more versatile!!!

FM transmitters (iTrip, etc) suck.

FM modulators sound much, much better but need an ON/OFF switch installed in order to be able to use the radio...too much hassle. I used to have my iPod connected to my previous vehicle\'s aftermarket stereo. I barely used, I only connected it because I was going on a roadtrip to New York City (8 hours), after that trip I never used it. Due to the iPod\'s screen size you\'ll never be able to use it while driving.

Zdrei\'s mod, and similarly the tape adapter mod (in the RX-8 forums) was nice, but didn\'t like the fact that you had to make a CD with \"fake tracks\" or mod a old tape to fool the tape deck...not \"clean\" enough.

For me, the only option is to wait for DenisonUSA to make one of the I.C.E. adapters that will work with the Mazda3/Ford HUs.

[Xenon]

I\'ll jsut brin Audio Cds... I don\'t mind.

Besides, I have mixing software, that I can DJ with. I can make my own custom mixes. Beats individual MP3s and premixed CDs anyday :p

[Soulcrusher]

Funny story is that I originally did NOT want the Mazda3 because of the dash. You see, the one thing I had to have was an mp3 player - which at that time, I had assumed would be an aftermarket deck. So I looked at a few other car manufacturers. But luckily I didn\'t like any of them either. When I found out that the mp3 player was available as an accessory, that decided it for me :D

The mp3 player is great. Since the panel needs to be compatible with all their available units (ie. 6-CD unit), there are buttons to move forward or move back to the next disc. Mazda still used these buttons for the mp3 player, but instead of discs, it\'s used to move forward or move back to the next folder. Thus you can create a CD with multiple folders and treat each folder like a separate audio CD.

Another thing that I loved about the mp3 player is that there is no evidence of an upgraded audio system. Thus, those punks who break into cars to steal audio equipment will leave my car alone!!! (Unless they want to steal my whole car, which means I\'m even more shit-out-of-luck lolz).

[wtom]

Originally posted by Soulcrusher

The mp3 player is great. Since the panel needs to be compatible with all their available units (ie. 6-CD unit), there are buttons to move forward or move back to the next disc. Mazda still used these buttons for the mp3 player, but instead of discs, it\'s used to move forward or move back to the next folder. Thus you can create a CD with multiple folders and treat each folder like a separate audio CD.

Another thing that I loved about the mp3 player is that there is no evidence of an upgraded audio system. Thus, those punks who break into cars to steal audio equipment will leave my car alone!!! (Unless they want to steal my whole car, which means I\'m even more shit-out-of-luck lolz).

I read about the folder = CD thing on the Mazda 3 MP3 deck... that pretty much shot my \"want\" meter up to 99% from 10% seeing as the MSRP was almost $600 for the darn thing.

I think I will get... but if they don\'t have Sport GT in Blue or Gray with A/C, 5-MT, Moonroof, and MP3 on the lot... I\'ll be SOL... :(

[Xenon]

well... I can almost guarantee that it will be a really hard search for a Sport GT in Winning Blue. Every dealer I\'ve talked to that has them on the lot... they\'re already sold.

Gray will be much easier.

[Soulcrusher]

At least the mp3 player won\'t be a factor in how fast you can get your car. I got mine from a broker and he was the one who called three different Mazda dealerships and got me the best price and the quickest delivery. Silver wasn\'t my first choice (actually my third lolz), but I\'m actually quite happy that I ended up with this colour.

I got my car in just over a week. When the car arrived at the dealership, the mp3 player was not installed. The dealership had to install it themselves. Also, since this is an accessory and not an upgrade, I still have the original CD player along with the panel. So, if my mp3 player ever breaks down, I can just put the stock CD player back in.

[Soulcrusher]

Oh, by the way, if you want to save money on the mp3 unit, you should order it from the US, have it shipped to someone you know in the US and who is planning to come up soon. Or if you happen to be visiting someone there, you can have it shipped there.

For example, I\'ve previously ordered an iRiver 256MB mp3 player from ebay and had it shipped to my cousin\'s house in NY. I\'ve also ordered on 2 separate occasions cakes of DVD-R media. In all these instances, I ordered prior to my cousin coming up here to visit. I might be going down to NY later this summer. If there\'s anything I want to purchase (eg. Winter floor mats), I\'ll order them and have them shipped to NY.

Anyway, you might consider paying $287 from Mazdastuff.com for the unit. Even if S&H came out to $20, with a conversion rate of 1.35, you would still end up paying only $414.45 CAD. Since Mazdastuff.com is located in Texas, if you ship it to any other state there should be no sales tax.

MP3 Player/Panel 2004 Mazda 3 (http://www.mazdastuff.com/product.cfm?ProductID=1637)

BTW, there should be install instructions. If not, I would think that someone on this forum would be able to help out with the install ... it shouldn\'t be that hard to do.

Your other option is to tell your dealer that you can get it for about $400 CAD and if he can match or beat it, then you\'ll purchase it from them.

[wtom]

Whoa that\'s still expensive from the Mazda Stuff website! But I guess it can be taken as insurance in the perspective that it looks 99% like the stock CD panel and thus thieves will not bother to B&E into your car and try to steal the thing.

I will definitely have to talk to the dealership I end up buying from to get them to \"shop around\" to try and find the closest match to the car/options I\'m looking for. It\'ll still be a wait... :( :( :(

[Xenon]

I jsut got a DVD Burner... would be nice to find a DVD MP3 player for our cars.... now I know I\'m dreaming...

[bluntman]

Which burner did you get? I have an LG GSA-4040 4x triple format burner that I\'ve enjoyed for almost a year now. I was thinking of buying their new GSA-4120 dual layered triple format burner. What\'s funny is that the new burner is about $50 cheaper than my current burner was to buy last year! Gotta love progress.

[Xenon]

I got an LG GSA-4081B Super Multi Drive.

All the specs are here: link (http://www.futureshop.ca/catalog/proddetail.asp?sku_id=0665000FS10038075&catid=1047 5&logon=&langid=EN&dept=18&WLBS=fsweb14)

I only paied $139.99 for it though. I got it at an independent retailer.

[bluntman]

Originally posted by Xenon


I got an LG GSA-4081B Super Multi Drive.

All the specs are here: link (http://www.futureshop.ca/catalog/proddetail.asp?sku_id=0665000FS10038075&catid=1047 5&logon=&langid=EN&dept=18&WLBS=fsweb14)

I only paied $139.99 for it though. I got it at an independent retailer.

Ouch. I think you paid too much.

[Xenon]

Why you say that? $199.99 in Future Shop, $169.99 at Best Buy... $49.99 For installation at both places...

I got mine for $114.00 + Tax and including intallation. Comes to $131.10 (not $139.99 oops).

I think that\'s reasonable for an DVD burner that burns at 8x....

How much did you pay?

[bluntman]

Last year I paid $200 (from Futureshop) for my 4x writer. Right now the 4081 can be found for as low as $89 (Fans PC). It\'s replacement the 4082 for $97 (Canada Computers) and the dual layered burner, the 4120 for $149 (Infonec).

The differnce between the 4081 and the 4082, which was release a couple of months later, is that the 4081 would burn +R discs at a maximum of 8x while only burning -R discs at only 4x. The 4082 would burn both at 8x. The 4120 will burn +R discs at 12x and -R discs at 8x.

[Xenon]

Mine does both + and - discs... write and rewrite. It burns DVDs at 8x... hence the price difference.

I still don\'t think my DVD Writer was a bad price.

[Soulcrusher]

I\'ve always bought my stuff from either Canada Computers or ICCT up on Warden and 14th. There\'s a lot of cheap stuff around, especially when you go to those Chinese stores. As for what bluntman was saying, the 4081 is a replacement for the 4082 and does both + and - also. The speed for + is the same, but the speed for - is twice as fast (8x DVD-R and 4x DVD-RW).

I\'d be interested in the dual layer burner, but the media\'s way too expensive. Anyway, the software that transcodes a movie to fit onto a single layer disc does it so well that you can\'t really tell the difference. And it helps that the price of a DVD-R is now under a buck per disc.

If the price of the dual layer media comes down to under $5.00 a piece, then that would probably be the right time to buy a dual layer burner. Otherwise, buying it now is pointless when one year down the road, you\'ll be able to buy a faster writer for a cheaper price.

Anyway, here\'s a link to Canada Computers (http://www.canadacomputers.com/cdrom.html#dvd). Always visit this site (or another one that\'s similar ... I like this one though because the website is nice to browse) to get a general idea of prices before you go to Future Shop or Best Buy. Personally, I don\'t even think about buying computer parts at these 2 stores anymore. Haven\'t for well over 2 years now. :D

[Xenon]

It\'s a shame the MP3 Player doesn\'t read MP3 DVDs :p

[Snipes]

In my previous car I had a Blaupunkt MP3 player and for the first 2 months it was great but sooner then later the novelty wore off. I had a CD with 170 songs on it but after a while it just doesn\'t cut it. I just recently bought my Mazda 3 and it comes with the CD player and that is good enough. I then sold my old MP3 deck for 3 bills. If anything it\'s cheaper to buy a nice aftermarket MP3 deck and install it. Installation is simple and you\'ll save a lot of money. You should be able to get an MP3 deck now a days for $300.

[bluntman]

But when you add an aftermarket deck you\'ll loose the LCD display on the dash (which includes your clock) as well as the steering wheel controls. The clock may not be a big deal for some, but steering wheel controls may be. Of course you can buy an \"adapter\" that will transfer the steering wheel controls onto the new HU, but that\'s just an added cost to the aftermarket HU. I won\'t even get into the (IMHO) ugly void left around an aftermarket HU due to the shear size difference between the factory HU and an aftermarket HU.

[///M]

am I the only one that has the factory MD deck in my car?

[bluntman]

What\'s a \"minidisc\"? :D

[Xenon]

are you being serious? or joking?

in case you are not... go to http://www.sonystyle.ca. they are basically the leader in MD stuff.

[bluntman]

Joking, hence the smiley.

[Xenon]

Thank god.... I would have been seriously shocked if you weren\'t.

[bluntman]

Seriously though, Minidisc is such a niche market, why even bother.

[Xenon]

They don\'t stand a chance vs. MP3s

Especially since DVD MP3 readers are now hitting the auto market (New Subaru Outback, Mazda3, various aftermarket decks)

[///M]

I\'ve been using MDs for over 5 years - most of my music is on MD hence that was the choice for me.

Besides...it\'s unique - hardly anybody has an MD deck in their car. ;)

[Xenon]

One question... do you really need a new face plate if you get the stock MP3 player? Why can\'t you just swap out the reader drive?

[bluntman]

Originally posted by Xenon


One question... do you really need a new face plate if you get the stock MP3 player? Why can\'t you just swap out the reader drive?

You can still use the regular faceplate, the only difference is that the MP3 player\'s face plate has \"MP3\" silkscreened on a tiny blank to the left of the CD slot.

[Xenon]

Originally posted by bluntman



Originally posted by Xenon


One question... do you really need a new face plate if you get the stock MP3 player? Why can\'t you just swap out the reader drive?

You can still use the regular faceplate, the only difference is that the MP3 player\'s face plate has \"MP3\" silkscreened on a tiny blank to the left of the CD slot.

I might skip buying that part then... I donno if it\'s worth the $24