And I thought my game day haul was a tough one. My sympathies. Is there an airport near Clemson that's not outrageously expensive? Is G'ville/S'burg close enough?

That UNC win was great - Trangese (Big East rep to NCAA selection committee) said it was the reason UNC didn't get a number one seed - the only one of the top 7 or 8 teams that lost to a team not invited to the tourney.

-jk

"as deicated head units are a far better way to go than a "phatbox""
I was hoping the people on this forum were above passing judgment on other systems they haven't tried. And for the most part they have been...until you. I find it funny that you're convinced that any type of unit that is not a replacement headunit is "not better".

____ _ ____ _
xlR

I can think of any number of advantages that a self contained head unit has over a trunk system, most of them UI related. There are also some advantages in the other direction, most of them installation related. I feel qualified to comment as we were the first company to develop both of these genre of product (the latter not having been released to market yet).

A well rounded product line should probably include both variants, and other combinations as well.

Rob

I completely disagree but hey I'm biased. But my experience with bb's and flaming wars prompts me to stop here.
Have a great day everyone!

____ _ ____ _
xlR

Greetings!

So, given this new, in trunk MP3 player that hasn't been released to marketing, you will have a range to cover both genres.

What I am curious about would be the differences between the two, and if features developed for one would work their way into the other product. I personally like the removability and ease of the all-in-one in-dash empeg unit, but I would be curious to hear any details, specifics or comparisons that can be released.

Paul G.
SN# 090000587 (40GB Green)

I'll tell you My reasoning for thinking that the Empeg is better designed by being an all-in-one unit that doens't require a box in the trunk:

I can take it anywhere I want with me, and I do - my music walks up to my house/work/parties with me. I think this is one of Empeg's biggest strenghts - the ability to take it with you.
-mark

...proud to have owned an Empeg since 00287

There could be a trunk mounted system that can also be removed to play in the house.... But unless there is a big remote screen, I think it would suffer with a bad UI....

I think the best solution might be to have the source (empeg) in the trunk and have it interface with a navigation system's big color display.....

32GB (JUST UPGRADED!) Mk. II BLUE
Detroit, MI USA
www.PfeifferBeer.com

I'm sorry,xlr, this is not a flame, but I can't see anything you could disagree with in rob's comment. If it were any less delicately put, he wouldn't be saying anything for either type of product, if you know what I mean.

What he basically said was that there are UI advantages to the empeg, which I don't think you can deny. Chances are that most people don't have the type of head unit displayed on their site, so you're left guessing at which songs are currently playing or coming up, etc. Even with the head unit they show, you'd be hard pressed to claim that they have a better UI.

What he also said was that the phatbox has an advantage in installation. I don't know why you would disagree to this, so I can't really speak any more about it.

However, I reserve total judgement as to which is the better product for the reason you point out (I haven't used it). You can't really complain about the reception the product gets here, though. What more do you expect from a large group of empeg owners on a message board dedicated to their product, regardless of their level of technical expertise? If it makes you feel better, I think the phatbox is a great alternative to the empeg, and I'm sure you had very good reasons for you choice. Nevertheless, I'm gonna have fun with 12GB my in-dash player with full visuals. Sorry.

ps-I may be jumping the gun, but are you associated with phatnoise at all? I wanted to visit their website and typed in www.phatbox.com, which forwarded me to your personal site. what's up with that? just curious...

DiGNAN
Ob-La-Di, Ob-La-Da, etc.

Must be cyber squatting. I thought he was an Alpha tester or something based on previous posts.

That's what I assumed too. He should buy stock!

DiGNAN
Ob-La-Di, Ob-La-Da, etc.

No, he stated earlier that he was an alpha tester. The redirect thing is just odd..

32GB (JUST UPGRADED!) Mk. II BLUE
Detroit, MI USA
www.PfeifferBeer.com

It seems that he might have it registered.
All I can get from a WHOIS is this.
Netcat reports the following DNS error when looking up www.phatbox.com;
DNS fwd/rev mismatch: www.phatbox.com != celery.columbus.rr.com

On his site, http://www.netkev.com/contact.html it lists his email as kev@socal.rr.com.
Find any resemblence between the two domain names?

The real website for fatbox's company is www.phatnoise.com. Perhaps he wishes to make a little money is this gets popular which is why he might be motivated to convince people it's a good product.

Just my opinion...

I used to see his nic in the forums they had on phat site which seems to be no more.

#695 Mk2 BLUE&GRN&PUR 12Gig

I feel qualified to comment as we were the first company to develop both of these genre of product (the latter not having been released to market yet).

That's what I wanted to know when I started this thread! Now that I do know that Sonicblue's new car mp3 player is of the non-head unit, trunk mounted variety, I feel more comfortable buying an empeg/riocar because that's what I want.

[ johnmcd3 - funding for my empeg purchace: 80% complete ]

I wouldn't jump to any conclusions; the trunk unit Rob is referring to was developed a couple of years ago, and that unit didn't go beyond a small production run for an OEM.

We're working on lots of things; as with any technology, progress is inevitable. I'm sure if you wait long enough, more desirable things will appear - but all the time you've been waiting, you could have been enjoying an empeg :)

Hugo

Ah, that sounds like the unit empeg did for Visteon - there was a picture of it on the Visteon web site (actually think I still have a copy somewhere myself). From the outside it looked just like a MK1 with a blanking panel on the front instead of the display, and it pretended to be a CD changer so it could be operated from a standard radio with changer interface.

(list 6284, Mk1 S/N 00299 4GB blue [for sale]. Mk2 S/N 080000094 6GB blue)

Also worth noting when buying any nifty new technology where Moore's Law applies (stuff gets twice as fast every 18 months, or you can pay less for the same stuff, yadda yadda):

There's always something cooler around the corner. Don't get paralyzed by what's coming next. Instead, when you need something, get what's available now. This is how you buy PCs. It's the same way you should by MP3 gear.

It's also worth pointing out that, generally, prices on older-generation tech tend to drop in anticipation of newer tech that's about to come out (and to clear out old inventory). I don't know if SonicBlue intends to follow this general trend or not, but given that RioCar prices have stayed relatively constant, you might read the tea leaves to imply that there isn't a RioCar replacement coming soon.

This, of course, says nothing about any other products they may have in the pipeline.

That UNC win was great - Trangese (Big East rep to NCAA selection committee) said it was the reason UNC didn't get a number one seed - the only one of the top 7 or 8 teams that lost to a team not invited to the tourney.

Yeah I know. Unfortunately I wasn't around to witness it firsthand, as I had pretty much given up on Clemson's wonderful season. One of my buddies called me and told me we had just beat #1 UNC, and I couldn't believe it. We have a tendancy to beat UNC when we aren't supposed to beat them. Same thing happened 2 years ago when we weren't ranked and upset them when they were #4 or so, and we upset them by almost 20 points. I was still at school then and was actually on sportscenter about 6 times because at the end of the game I ended up rushing onto the court (along with everyone else) and I was picking up one of the MVP's of the game, so I ended up being in the picture. My claim to fame, at least for that year ;).

And yeah, GSP is about 30 minutes from Clemson, but finding cheap airfare there is the key. I have 3 airports I can fly from (Dulles, BWI, Reagan) so the chances are pretty good... except that when I visit down there I usually like to bring one of my whitewater kayaks to go play on the Chatooga river... and they are usually bigger than what can be stored under the seat in front of you. ;)

surfing a wave... performing a "stern squirt"... Man, I miss the Chatooga. :)

(O|||||O)

Man, I miss the Chatooga.

But just think about how much you love the metro area traffic....ah crap.

DiGNAN
Ob-La-Di, Ob-La-Da, etc.

Do you ever paddle over at great falls?

Great water in the mountains of NC/SC/GA/TN. Chatooga was great. Nant was always way too cold, but predictable in a drought. How I miss those days. I (very occasionally) get back there for mountain biking. Don't paddle any more, though - I did C-1, and my knees don't forgive the way they used to.

-jk

But my experience with bb's and flaming wars prompts me to stop here.

You're right about BBS'es having a lot of flame wars. Fortunately, this BBS has (so far) managed to avoid flame wars for the most part. I think that if you wanted to list all of the good features of the phatbox here, we would like to see them.

Generally, if anyone ever argues a point on this BBS, it's done calmly and with reason/logic, not with flames.

___________
Tony Fabris

Do you ever paddle over at great falls?

Yep, actually I go there quite often. I've only ran one drop there though, haven't quite grown the [PG13 censored] to run all of the falls quite yet, though I probably will this season sometime. There is good paddling there year round.

Yep, nantahala was always freezing, but then again it is bottom-fed from a dam... I used to go there when nothing else was running. Nant falls is a great place to catch some good enders. I personally liked the Ocoee, but it was always too busy. The Chatooga was always my favorite.

I don't know how you C1 guys do that. Theres no way I could sit in that position longer than 20 minutes. :)

(O|||||O)

Sitting here as an Empeg owner the phatbox would be totally unsuited to what I use the empeg for which is a very portable MP3 player with a huge capacity. I can take it away on ships with me where it sits as a "home" stereo for four months at a time. The fact that it plugs into my car is actually just a huge bonus. So the phat box could never do that. The small hard disc players coming onto the market could do it but they have no where near the capcity of the empeg.

As a pure in car solution the empeg is probably equal to or possibly inferior to the phatbox for an everyday user only concerned with a in car mp3 player. The phatbox allows you to have a normal headunit easily with a radio no fooling around to have in car cd as well. It uses the amps of the excisting head unit which is nice for those with out amps. It uses an interface that won't be too alien to those with a decent compatable head unit.

HOWEVER

The empeg is not in any way a pure incar MP3 player it is a very portable music machine that can do lots of clever things. It has brilliant search facilities which hopefully will improve with the mythical 1.1 and the radio unit is just round the corner (hopefully). Anywhere that you have a power supply and a pair of rca inputs you can have your empeg. The visuals are fun but are not the best reason to buy it but the screen is excellent in allowing you to have easily read and accessed menus instead of features hidden away under bewildering button combinations as needed by most mainsteam head units.

If the empeg didn't have the ability to be pulled from you dash it would be in my opinion and circumstances pathetic but it can which raises it to unparalleled brilliance.

That is why to my frame of mind the phatbox while clever in its own right is flawed and not a direct competitor to the empeg

Rio Volt Car?



(Seems a likely area for Rio to target, even if empeg dosen't touch it)