Phatnoise

Ipods. Usable at home, also. Cheaper, better software. I looked both the remote cd deck, and the PN, and bought an Ipod. More versatile, and less money. At the original price, the Phatnoise was way overpriced. At $119.00, it's a pretty good deal. 20 gigs'll store a lot of music...Bill

How usable, if at all, are the PN boxes with other head units? At that price they might be useful in a crappy old jeep of mine...

I'm inclined to follow your thinking on the better versatility angle of the ipod. But considering the ipod itself is going to be (at least) $199 and then you have to add another (at least) $150 for some sort of interface box it's hard to argue against the economics of the PN box (at that price).

That and if the PN plays WM9 encoded audio then it'd be a lot more efficient at storage.

Interface box? You can use anything from an FM broadcaster {$19.00}, to a cassette adapter, if you've got a deck. The best quality {and cheapest} is if your deck has an input for an external CD player, get a cable and put it in thru there. Less then $10.00. For me, the coolest thing is the utility of the IPod. Goes inside, plugs into my home stereo. Off to work, into my drum studio, etc. It's even gone along in my tankbag for long moto trips. OTOH, if your a Windows user, and you can get it hooked up to your Jeep's stereo, $119.00's a screaming deal. Try The BusDepot. If it doesn't work, you could probably pick up a VW OEM deck that's been pulled for an upgrade pretty cheaply{free}........Bill D.

ipods do not have better software for the car. Nothing I've seen can beat the eyes-on-the-road interface of the phatbox.

I don't think it has anything to do with Ipods. Check PhatNoise website, all the other PBs (BMW, Infiniti, etc.) are still the same price. The reason for the drop is probably due to the new models of Jettas. I assume a new PB for the new models will be out soon.

Yes, if your HU has a connection, you could connect the Ipod that way or use a FM adapter for truely crappy sound, but if you want to actually control the Ipod, you have to spend around $150 and you still don't get the elegant solution that the Phatbox delivers.

Personally, I have no need for a MP3 player to be portable; the only time I listen to music is at home or in the car or at work. I would much rather use my stereo and listen to CDs at home, in the car I have the Phatbox, and at work my PC is synced the Phatbox so I have access to the same music.

-- James "Nothing is ever what it seems but everything is exactly what it is."

- Dr. B. Banzai

Actually, the Ipod kits for factory radios are $200 (just checked the BestBuy prices) and I noticed that you can only access your first 5 playlists.

Where can you buy one for $119?

If you search this forum, you'll find several references.

However, here's a place with one for $109 (plus shipping)

-- James "Nothing is ever what it seems but everything is exactly what it is."

- Dr. B. Banzai

Some head units (alpine and pioneer models) have the ability to delve deeper into playlists beyond just imitating 6-disc changers. Not that they're without their own sets of issues. Some CD-text capable head units can (supposedly) also show the current track info.

Being able to wander around in playlists on an ipod is both a blessing and a curse. Sure, it's cool to jump from one set of tunes to another but not if you end up rear-ending the car ahead of you. I'd *really* prefer to have better scroll functionality on some sort of 'stalk remote' that could be put up near the turn signals. Trying to use the scroll wheel while driving is NOT an ideal interface. And most of the existing (all?) ipod remotes do not facilitate scrolling very well.

And as an aside, it sucks you can't jump from listening to a track by a given artist over to other tracks by the artist. That is, when listening to a playlist that contains a number of different artists it's be handy to be able to jump out of that list and over to just a list by that artists.

-Bill Kearney

If all one wants is aux input AND their head unit can be convinced to enable the input then it's certainly possible.

However, in the context of this conversation thread, being Phatnoise related, it's sort of pointless to bring up FM transmitters or aux inputs, isn't it?

It's versatitily is handy.

Yes, thus my question as to how "vw specific" the PN boxes are. I could certainly yank out the existing head unit and put in some crappy old VW Gamma V but that'd be a step backwards. If, however, the PN boxes have some greater capability, possibly via cabling, other firmware or the like, then you're dead-right, it's a heck of a deal.

At this point in time, however, the Cabrio needs to use an ipod. We've each got our own and tend to swap the car between us. She never drives my raggedy-ass old Cherokee so putting a PN in it might be worth entertaining.

Any ideas on where hacking info can be found for the vw-intended PN boxes?

-Bill Kearney

The price drop is limited to VW PBs, so that shoots the "IPod" theory down, I guess.

I have heard that the new VWs have 6 disc in-dash CD with MP3 capability, so it is likely VW will discontinue PB and this is a clearance sale.

The price drop is limited to VW PBs, so that shoots the "IPod" theory down, I guess.

I have heard that the new VWs have 6 disc in-dash CD with MP3 capability, so it is likely VW will discontinue PB and this is a clearance sale.

"Don Mac Phee" emitted :

Does anybody know of Phatnoise boxes available in the UK??

I have a standard fit Sony in my Golf Mk3 (Sony XR-6559) which the previous owner said was ready for hookup to a CD changer unit - I want to buy one of those (or a Phatnoise). I don't have the manual and I don't see a connector anywhere obvious in the boot. Should the wires already be present? How do I go about this? TIA