I won't pretend to be technologically savvy on this issue. I almost
had to be dragged kicking and screaming to CDs a few years back.
However I purchased a somewhat inexpensive stereo for my boat last
year that had an MP3 player connection (or for that matter any device
that had a headphone mini-jack output such as - to date myself- a
walkman tape or cd player). I then broke down and bought a cheapie 2
gb mp3 player this year and loaded it down with some 600 songs (yeah,
not the highest quality level but let's face it I am playing it on a
damn runabout boat not a $500,000 yahct). I think it is great! I
mostly just play it so it randomnly plays whatever is stored but find
it easy to pick artists or albums to play. Playlists are a bit more of
a pain to setup and I just haven't done any. No skip, no bounce, no
fading. I even like that the little mp3 player is attached to the
stereo by a wire and becomes a wired "remote" (my stereo doesn't have
its own remote). Gave the original cheapie to my daughter and bought
another cheapie (just a little less cheapie) that has the ability to
use the microSD memory cards in addition to the built-in 2 GB. I
haven't tried that, but it makes sense to me to put the cards in the
mp3 player, not the stereo as I see the mp3 player being something
that can be taken from one stereo player to another as I become more
techie with it (yeah, I said I wasn't very techie with these things so
stop your damned laughing). Anyhow I can see how I can connect this
player to my home stereo if I want, can plug it into a cheap extra set
of powered computer speakers out in the shop for an instant shop
stereo, will eventually be able to plug it into the car, etc. so I
would want the memory card capability in the player, not in what is
essentially just the amp and speaker system that your stereo is going
to become.

Dave Hall
\
On Mon, 10 Sep 2007 09:15:30 -0700, Chuck Gould
wrote:

Each time I resolved to replace the stereo system on my boat this
year, it would start working properly again and the task would drop
several notches on the priority list. Saturday, it gave up the ghost-
wouldn't turn on until about 50 attempts had been mae pressing the
switch, and even then the digital display was kaput. Only about 14
years' service from that unit- I guess they just don't make them like
they used to. :-)

Speaking of not making them like they used to.........

Holy Smackaroons

Used to think I knew a few things about car stereo (my stereo mounts
in the cabin where it's pretty protected- and I don't need/won't buy
"marine" version). Looking at the specs for potential replacements, I
can see where the industry has evolved substantially in the last 14
years while my technical awareness has not. It's like learning a new
language.

Questions for the more techinally hip:

1. Anybody got "HD" FM radio? Would you rate the difference in sound
quality as indistinguishable, marginal, or substantial?

2. Anybody using "memory cards" for music storage? Actually sounds
like a better approach than hooking up an external iPod, at least at
first blush. (We've got an entire galley drawer filled with CD's,
etc....would be nice to free up that space and store the music data on
something much smaller). So:

3. What are the pros and cons of memory cards, mp3 CD's, CD changers,
separate iPod's etc? There's a real smorgasbord og choices now
available.

4. Any general advice on this subject?