Thank you for being a valued part of the CNET community. As of December 1, 2020, the forums are in read-only format. In early 2021, CNET Forums will no longer be available. We are grateful for the participation and advice you have provided to one another over the years.

Thanks,

CNET Support

General discussion

Looking for Car MP3 player

Jun 17, 2007 8:27PM PDT

Hello,
My car has a MP3 slot available. I was wondering if I just buy a regular MP3 player if it would work with the car, or would I also have to buy an FM transmitter too? Any suggestions, comments or any new models coming out welcome.

Discussion is locked

- Collapse -
Too vague.
Jun 17, 2007 9:33PM PDT

If you had shared a few details such as make and model maybe someone owns that one and could share a solution. Tell a little more.

Bob

- Collapse -
What do you mean by an "mp3 player slot"?
Jun 18, 2007 2:31PM PDT

Do you mean you have an aux input? If that's the case, you can just buy a regular mp3 player and get a cable (you can get it at your local Radio Shack or similar store) - one end connects to the aux input on the stereo and the other end connects to the headphone jack on the player. You won't need an fm transmitter.

If you're looking for an mp3 player, what are you looking for in a player?

Hard drive or flash memory? How much music do you have and do you want to carry it all with you? If you need something with more than 8GB capacity you may want to go with a hard drive player. Flash players currently top out at 8GB but some players allow you to add capacity by adding a microsd card or something like that.

Another consideration that may steer you in one direction or another is physical size. Do you want something small and light or are you willing to sacrifice that to have more capacity? What do you plan on doing with it when you're not listening to it in your car? Do you want to work out with it? Go running? That may steer you toward a flash player? Do you want an fm tuner that will allow you to listen to the radio? If so, that rules out iPods (unless you want to add the optional $49 radio remote).

Do you want to have a player with a lot of accessories available. iPods have the biggest marketshare, so you'll find plenty of accessories. Some other popular brands are Creative, Sandisk, iRiver, Cowan, and Archos but you'll find less accessories for these.

Oh, I guess another important consideration is how much are you willing to spend.

Give us an idea of what you're looking for so we can help you out.

- Collapse -
RE:Looking for Car MP3 player
Jun 18, 2007 2:55PM PDT

I bought MP3 player for my car based on the reviews and thought it would work very well without any interference with the other FM stations being broadcast.
The product works fine and the sound output is good. I would recommend this playerthis player to anyone who wants a nice car MP3 player at this price, i think it?s good price. But I would suggest that check all the FM frequencies available on the product with the local FM station frequencies and match at least one or two channels without any interference or crossover.

- Collapse -
too limited in what it could do
Jun 18, 2007 3:38PM PDT

It doesn't look like you can use it outside the car. It has a limited range of stations to broadcast to. But it is cheap.

FM transmitters are hit and miss. What may work well for one person may not for another.

I'd stick to finding the right mp3 player that you can use anywhere, then find the right fm tranmitter if there is one to be found. I have an iPod and the DLO transpod, while pricey, works great. But like I said before, they are hit and miss.

- Collapse -
You need buy a car mp3 player.
Jun 30, 2009 6:00PM PDT

you only need buy a CAr mp3 player