ALDI CD/MP3/USB/SD Car Stereo £49.99 22/12/05

welshblob

nads wrote:

eBay sells adapter kits to be abgle to use your vaux steering wheel controls

Are you sure this stereo actually has a remote control connection though?

nads

welshblob wrote:

Are you sure this stereo actually has a remote control connection though?

I couldn't say to be honest. My Astra doesn't have audio controls at the wheel. Might be worth ringing an audio shop and asking exactly what may be needed to get it connected to wheel controls.

Cam acros this...

http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/Alpine-Vauxhall-Vectra-Steering-Control-Kit_W0QQitemZ5839268850QQcategoryZ14932QQssPageNameZWDVWQQrdZ1QQcmdZViewItem

brains

What's the sound quality like when plugging in an MP3 player? I have a zen touch and would be interested in a player like this to save me burning everything to CD. Thanks.

welshblob

nads wrote:

I couldn't say to be honest. My Astra doesn't have audio controls at the wheel. Might be worth ringing an audio shop and asking exactly what may be needed to get it connected to wheel controls.

Cam acros this...

http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/Alpine-Vauxhall-Vectra-Steering-Control-Kit_W0QQitemZ5839268850QQcategoryZ14932QQssPageNameZWDVWQQrdZ1QQcmdZViewItem

Ok the things to ask are;
1. Does this Tevion have a wired remote control input?
2. If the Tevion has a wired remote control input, will someone make a converter box to interface with your steering wheel control.

My answers to these currently are;
1. I don't know, it's not explicitly stated on the Aldi ad so I doubt it.
2. As Tevion aren't a well known car stereo manufacturer then I doubt there would be a 3rd party conversion kit. Your only hope would be that if Tevion do have a remote control input then they have used a well known manufacturers standard, which i'd also doubt.

Cheers
Rob

gromituk

brains wrote:

What's the sound quality like when plugging in an MP3 player? I have a zen touch and would be interested in a player like this to save me burning everything to CD. Thanks.

I would be very surprised if it would sound noticeably different from listening to your MP3 player directly.

fox2319

tomt wrote:

I'm gonna take a gamble on this one - the picture clearly shows an iPod in the same picture as a cable plugged into the usb port, so if it doesn't work with an iPod I think I'll take it back and explain it's false advertising. I was thinking it may treat the iPod as an external hard-drive, (no drivers necessary I think), but the screen on the iPod shows a song is actually playing on it. I'm interested to see how it does work, and I can't see them sticking an unmistakable iPod in the picture if they aren't compatible! I'll be there first thing to get one so I'll post some info when I've cracked open the box.

I haven't bought Tevion before - are the instruction manuals typically any good (easy to read/good English etc)?

Any chance of letting me know if it worked with the ipod? I've got a 3G 20GB iPod at the mo and am on the lookout for a stereo.

Ta

Jeff

welshblob

fox2319 wrote:

Any chance of letting me know if it worked with the ipod? I've got a 3G 20GB iPod at the mo and am on the lookout for a stereo.

I'd recommend just going and buying one, knowing how quick these sell out normally. Make sure you print out a copy of the page with it on from the Aldi website so if it doesn't work with your ipod you can take it back as its missadvertised.
Cheers
Rob

gromituk

You don't have to do that - Aldi will take stuff back without quibbling anyway.

tomt

I've just picked one up, been meaning to get a new stereo for ages, but can't vouch for it once installed because (ironically) my car's being serviced today!

I've read through the manual, quick notes on what I've picked up:
- Supports Multi-session burned (MP3 mode) CDRs, CDRWs
- Packet Writing (UDF) not supported
- CDRWs must be finalised
- Doesn't say if it supports ID3 v1 or v2, but I assume it supports both as it only reads SONG/ALBUM/ARTIST. This info is shown when a track starts for 5s for each bit of info.
- FM & MW Radio only
- USB Compatibility Direct quote from Manual "Due to the fast changing technology world, this unit may or may not be compatible to all the USB drive/device available with all the future technology, especially those USB drive/device which require to install a driver. Always choose a compatible USB drive/device which is compatible with this unit." This doesn't really help much as how are you to know what is and what isn't compatible. My theory that it'll accept an iPod as an 'external Hard Drive' may hold true - this is a waste of space on an iPod as mp3s stored as 'files' are not playable on the iPod as music! (Only mp3s loaded via iTunes will play on the iPod itself)

I love Aldi, and the electronic products are great, but if an iPod doesn't work with it as displayed in the advertisement, they really should be reported to Trading Standards, whether they do no-quibble refunds or not.

If anyone gets this installed please let me know how you get on!

gromituk

I am under the impression that MP3 files loaded into the iPod from iTunes will be viewable when it is mounted as a mass storage device, but their names will be fairly incomprehensible - and of course you'll get no playlists. So the compatibility will be partial, unless the radio actually understands Apple's database format.

Anyway, we'll soon have an answer one way or the other.

How do you choose tracks with a non-proprietary player? Does it understand playlists, or does it just play in file date order?