Does anyone know if any companies have or will develop a headunit in which you can plug in a mini-USB key? If there isn't, there should be. just think about it. They are less expensive than mp3 players, you don't need any special hardware to transfer files to them, they hold more than a blank CD, takes less time than burning a CD, they're making Floppy and Zip disks a thing of the past, and they're becoming more and more popular everyday. Seriously folks, put a USB port on the front of the headunit and have the player treat it exactly like our stock units treat MP3 CDs... Anyone else on here have a 512MB or 1-gig USB key they trade music with and would love to be able to pop in their car? They've got USB ports all over computers, computer monitors and keyboards (apple) as well as PS2 and XBOX, the technology cant be too difficult.
(sorry if this is a re-post but i've never seen anything about the concept)

 

im sure one day some company will do it
they sell carputer so i dont see why not

ipods or kenwood music kegs or the like for now

 

If memory serves getting a 1gig USB flash drive would cost about the same as a flash based MP3 player(given that is alot cheaper then iPod-class hard drive players) A blank CD holds 700megs(cost less then 1 dollar) and unless you bought a 1 gig USB flash drive(costs 60+ dollars). Also transferring a 1 gigabyte of files and burning a 700meg CD would take roughly the same about of time, give or take 5-10 seconds.

It's a good concept don't get me wrong but it's not as cost effective and benefitial as you thought. Still usefull though.

 

It might come to pass (if it hasn't already in Japan) but
CDs are super cheap!!

 

I've thought of that, too. I would buy it right now if they made them. I like to listen to just a couple of songs at a time, and I think its quicker to drag a couple of mp3s onto a usb drive than to open up your cd burning program and find a cd, and wait for the program to do its thing

 

USB2.0 transfers at 380mbps. Unless you have one blazing fast CD burner, it's still going to be quicker.

My advice to the thread starter is to go grab an iPod.

 

Thanks, I actually have 2. A Shuffle and an iPod Photo. I was just thinking plugging in the 1 gig USB Flash drive on my keychain would be a lot easier, not to mention less expensive, than all the iPod options on the market today, unless im driving a BMW, which im not.

 

Audiobahn has a few headunit thats have a USB port on the front of the head unit.

http://audiobahninc.com/products/200...headUnits.html

 

i just recently went to magnolia hi-fi here on the west-coast and saw some decks by sony that accept memory stick.. close....but too proprietary for me still

+ it's much more time saving to burn an mp3 cd

~tesh

 

My buddy and I have been recently discussing this. I have a 20 gig hard drive plugged into a portable external case (total cost about $80) that I use to store individual songs on and to move from computer to computer. The 1 gig key chain is great and the key chain vs blank disc is a discussion that can go on forever. But...what about a 20 gig hard drive, about the size of a plane ticket, that holds about 4000 songs? Its because of that I am looking into a head unit with a USB port, also.

 

good find denny....

 

i like that idea, since i only use USB 1GB flash drive for all my work & such. its so much easier fo me to carry around with all that info.on it, not only that but, i washed my clothe with the flash drive in the laundry , and it still works!

 

Actually, i was basing that on how long it took me to transfer 5 gig on my old iPod. Firewire is said to be a bit faster then USB2.0 in real world applications. It would take about 10 minutes to transfer 5 gigs. So a 2 minute transfer would be. I don't have the fastest CD burner in the world but it sure as hell doesn't take more then 2-3 minutes to burn a CD.

 

A mini usb that holds more than a CD runs about $100(more for a quality one). I do agree that they should have them though. The technology is not difficult, but you would most likely want to have the unit store it on onboard memory to speed up access times. It would be a simple design, and I have actually started looking into building an adaptor that would work via the RCA inputs. The circuit design shouldn't be that tough

 

the idea seems cool but why dont you guys just get dvd in dash and burn all your mp3s to dvd and boom you got all the songs you could ever listen to on a road trip...i think a usb key stickin out of my deck would just look weird

 

yea and what if someone accidentally hit the thing while its plugged in?

 

USB drives are nice for several reasons:

1. fast With USB 2.0 you can record a gig in the time needed to put a CD-R in the drive.
2. easy - just drag and drop files
3. portable - it's rugged and not susceptable to scratches, etc.
4. editable - change it as often as you like.

 

Just put a harddrive in the headunit, a bluetooth connector in the HU and your garage. Sync it with your PC music collection. DONE.

While they're at it, please build in TIVO-like capabilities to replay and time-shift, add in Sirius and we're set.

 

yea but, its audiobahn...ive never ever ever seen anyone with an audiobahn HU, ever

 

i guess the guy whos tryin to get a usb HU will be the 1st