My car has an auxiliary input jack so I'm thinking I should get an mp3 player tomorrow along with any necessary adapters/cables. I have 5gb of music, and would like to be able to carry at least 50% more as I'm sure my collection will increase. I have never bought a nice mp3 player though so I'm a bit hesitant to make the choice myself.

I don't really care if it has video/picture playback since it's primarily for the car (although it's nice to have it available for other purposes also).

1) What model should I get?
2) What else will I need to plug it into the auxiliary jack and power connection?

Upon a bit of research the first hit was this:

SanDisk® 8GB Sansa® Fuze™ (Silver)

Am I on the right track? I assume if I shop around a bit I can beat Radioshack.

YPang

United States4024 Posts

July 31 2008 03:23 GMT

Make sure you put soulja boy's songs on there...

Jibba

United States22883 Posts

July 31 2008 03:32 GMT

The Sanzas are pretty damn good (and easy) but given it's so small, won't it be difficult to handle while you're actually driving?

micronesia

United States24745 Posts

July 31 2008 03:34 GMT

On July 31 2008 12:32 Jibba wrote:
The Sanzas are pretty damn good (and easy) but given it's so small, won't it be difficult to handle while you're actually driving?

I plan to set it up before I start driving... it should be in a tray and not accessed during transit. I can use the audio controls on the steering wheel / dashboard I believe.

Jibba

United States22883 Posts

July 31 2008 03:38 GMT

Ah, then you're all set. Aside from the capacity, the Sanza's are very nice. It should be recognized as an external HD and then when you boot up the player, it'll auto organize the files you put on.

mahnini

United States6862 Posts

July 31 2008 03:55 GMT

the ipod is the greatest mp3 player in the entire earth bar none if you disagree im going to call the police and you will be sent to jail

micronesia

United States24745 Posts

July 31 2008 04:01 GMT

On July 31 2008 12:55 mahnini wrote:
the ipod is the greatest mp3 player in the entire earth bar none if you disagree im going to call the police and you will be sent to jail

Why? (I'm not sure if you are serious or sarcastic, so please explain why in either case)

sillyboy_tomato

United States157 Posts

July 31 2008 04:08 GMT

Well a budget would be nice to help us out helping you choose one.

I personally liked the Microsoft Zune and Sony. A 4GB zune cost about $129.99 and a Sony 4GB is around $100. What sony offers which i really like is a customizable equalizer. Most other brands only have presets. About prices/discounts/bargains, just keep an eye on sales. Bestbuy usually gives sales on non-ipod mp3 players

micronesia

United States24745 Posts

July 31 2008 04:11 GMT

On July 31 2008 13:08 sillyboy_tomato wrote:
Well a budget would be nice to help us out helping you choose one.

I personally liked the Microsoft Zune and Sony. A 4GB zune cost about $129.99 and a Sony 4GB is around $100. What sony offers which i really like is a customizable equalizer. Most other brands only have presets. About prices/discounts/bargains, just keep an eye on sales. Bestbuy usually gives sales on non-ipod mp3 players

Between 80 and 180 dollars would be a nice guess. As I said in the OP, 4 gigs would be a little to small for what I'm looking for.

Jibba

United States22883 Posts

July 31 2008 04:14 GMT

#10

The 8GB Zune is $150 on Amazon. I haven't used their SSD stuff, but I have a Zune 80 and I'd pick Sansa's external harddrive method over syncing any day of the week.

decafchicken

United States20083 Posts

July 31 2008 04:44 GMT

#11

http://us.creative.com/products/product.asp?category=213&subcategory=214&product=17810

Get that. I was just going to recommend creative because i love my zvm, then i saw the x-fi and it looks pretty gg

XCetron

5226 Posts

July 31 2008 06:13 GMT

#12

i got a refurbished zune 30gb for $80 lolol. Its pretty good. Does your car have USB input? USB is better since itd recharge your mp3 players as it plays, unlike aux. Some can even forward or skipsong or w/e

thunk

United States6233 Posts

July 31 2008 06:28 GMT

#13

On July 31 2008 13:01 micronesia wrote:

Show nested quote +

Why? (I'm not sure if you are serious or sarcastic, so please explain why in either case)

iPods are obviously THE Perennial MP3 player, best selling yadayada. But since the high point of its dominance a lot of lesser known Digital device companies have caught up and have made comparable and significantly cheaper (iPods definitely don't really fit into your $80-$160 price range...I think you can get like a 4 GB player for $150 maybe...) but if you're starting your music collection (like my music collection is organized through Itunes and there's no way I'm changing it at this point so I'm pretty much set on getting iPods for the rest of my life...) you can probably get a pretty good deal on an non-Apple DAP.

Kupon3ss

時の回廊10066 Posts

July 31 2008 07:21 GMT

#14

This
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16855625006
Great little player, since u said that 4 gigs isn't enough that's one of the best and cheapest 8 gig mp3s out there

decafchicken

United States20083 Posts

July 31 2008 07:23 GMT

#15

On July 31 2008 13:01 micronesia wrote:

Show nested quote +

Why? (I'm not sure if you are serious or sarcastic, so please explain why in either case)

he's being sarcastic

(i hope. if he's not im going to have to murder him after i blind him with my bright lights and pass him with my unnecessarily loud car)

SpiritoftheTunA

United States20903 Posts

July 31 2008 07:27 GMT

#16

usb interfaces for cars are uusally expensive options

seriously, its in the hundreds, just get a ghetto power shit for 30 bucks accessory yo

so yeah stick with your aux input, you can get a sturdy cable for liek 5 bucks from radioshack

and uh... get a refurbished ipod if you can, i personally like it for its beast reliability, beast battery life, and beast hd space)

(i've had 2 ipods, 2 zens. zens were reliable as diarrhea. can't comment on sansa, samsung ones, zunes or anything though)

johnmaster

125 Posts

July 31 2008 08:46 GMT

#17

http://www.digitalwise.com.my/fm_modulator_section.htm

get the car fm modulator its cheap , only cost less than usd10.00 . i got one,, to use it save mp3s into a usb pendrive and then plug it into your fm modulator then plug it into your car cigaratte lighter slot, and set the fm channel u want,, eg. 88.0 and then u tune your car radio to 88.0 and u can receive the mp3s .comes with remote control too .

more details here and pictures.
http://www.kongtechnology.com/2007/08/25/i-can-play-thousands-of-mp3-songs-with-my-mp3-fm-modulator/

FakeSteve[TPR]

Valhalla18444 Posts

July 31 2008 11:03 GMT

#18

or you can just get any mp3 player that suits your criteria from a brand you trust (my samsung works flawlessly, and i had a creative zen micro that was a godsend until it fell into a sewer drain [creative shit is really hit or miss, you either have so many problems its unusable, or you never ever ever have a problem])

if your car has a basic mp3 hookup in the console or whatever, make sure you pick up a 1/8inch stereo cable of whatever length (exactly like headphones, must be stereo don't get mono), male on both ends obv. you can get one for like five dolla. players don't come with this cable and you'll be pissed if you have to go all the way back to the store

FakeSteve[TPR]

Valhalla18444 Posts

July 31 2008 11:07 GMT

#19

oh and i dunno what you know about this sorta stuff but if the jerkoff behind the counter tries to sell you some bullshit name-brand high-quality cable for like fifty bucks tell him to go fuck himself

high quality cables CAN make a difference, but you'll never notice it in a car stereo, especially since all the wiring used inside your car's stereo is basic budget stuff in the first place. you can't shit on a dime and call it a dollar, so to speak

epidion

United States316 Posts

July 31 2008 17:03 GMT

#20

Don't get a radio transmitter. The quality is noticeably worse when you transmit sound to the radio. If your car already has an auxiliary input, just get a cheap cord.