I'm using the stock head unit, but being an '07, it has the auxiliary input. Right now, I use my Verizon phone to play ~130 mp3s on my stereo. It's pretty inconvenient though. It takes a while to start up, and phone calls/texts interrupt the music.

I'm looking towards a Garmin Nuvi GPS, and one the reasons is the built-in mp3 player. I could make it a clean install and it's touchscreen interface combined with a 4gb SD card would be perfect. But I'm worried that I won't ever use the GPS, so it would be a waste (and it's expensive).

I'm also thinking about an iPod. It wouldn't be as easy to control while driving, but it would still be pretty flexible (dash mounts, etc).

So does anyone have any ideas on the best way to do this? And one other thing: are there any satellite radio receivers that are combined with memory and an mp3 player?

 

I had a similar issue.

My solution was to get a jvc head unit with a USB input and a jvc sirius reciever designed to plug into and use the head unit controls. With USB I could buy cheap 2gb flash drives and dump all my mp3s on them. The head unit would read straight from it. It would even interpret folder structures, IE folders for band/album.

pricey though:
-$200 head unit
-$80 Sirius reciever
-$? flash drive/s
-$20 dash kit
-$10 wiring harness
-$70 steering wheel button converter
-Several hours of precious time

I just hate having multiple pieces to fumble with while I'm driving, especially in a manual trans car, so having everything condensed into one control unit is golden.

I'm guessing your trying to avoid all this. But with the price of Ipods, it may be worth it to look into this. It is possible to do something similar for less (nix the wheel controls, and find a cheaper HU with the same capabilities)

 

i have an alpine head unit and it has a plugin for the ipod which u can control through the deck....about 300$

 

whats wrong with burning MP3 discs?

 

My thought exactly. When I had my factory MP3 deck in my cobalt I burned MP3 disks all the time. One CD could hold about 100 songs and I could put them into folders as well. But if you really want to have a deck that will play MP3's from a potable device like an Ipod I would suggest getting an after market deck that has an Ipod interface. Alpine has some nice ones such as this http://www.alpine-usa.com/US-en/prod...model=CDA-9883

You can connect your Ipod to this and control it from the deck. Thats basically what I do with my Pioneer Navi unit. I have a cable running from the back of the unit into the glove box where I connect the Ipod. You don't even see the Ipod or know it's there. Everything is controlled from the deck. I believe you can do the same with the Alpine decks.

 

I wanted to keep my factory deck and i wanted XM so i got this

http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/2005-...QQcmdZViewItem


works A1 with ipods, XM, stearing wheel controls and Ipod and XM shows on factory deck

you can get this kit with or without XM