So for the '06 HCH with nav, I saw that it has the ability to read a memory card. Does it work out of the box as long as you have a memory card (i.e., you just drop it in), or do you need an attachment of some sort to get it to read the card?

Thanks,
Brad

It's about time they started putting in card readers or usb ports for a built in mp3 player don't you think?

Brad, I haven't heard of such a thing. Can you direct me to your source?

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It's a PCMCIA slot, so you need something like the SAN 6-in-1 PCMCIA card that you can plug a Compact Flash (or other type) card into. This press release mentions the card reader:

http://corporate.honda.com/press/art...=2005091954757

There is a PC Card (PCMCIA) slot behind the screen of the NAV unit. There are also slots behind the screen for the CD and the NAV DVD.

I put a MMC card into a 6-1 PC Card adapter, pushed it in the slot, and am hapily playing MP3s off of the MMC card. Nothing else needed for hardware or configuration. It works great, you even get a navigation screen for choosing file folders on the MMC card just like when you put a CD-ROM with MP3s on it into the CD player.

Only restriction is that Honda says to not use PC Card hard drives in the slot, only flash memory. I think they said it could damage the radio. They don't really say why - seems to me if a drive meets the PC Card specs it should work fine. The better question is whether you want a hard drive baking in the car during the summer....

With the NAV system you really get a lot of potential for audio inputs: memory card, CD-Audio, MP3/WMA CD, AM/FM, XM (with dealer receiver), iPod (with dealer adapter), aux audio input jack. Hard to imagine that would not be enough.

By the way, I've heard that one of the Mazda cars (can't remember the model) has a USB port that acts as the ignition key as well as for MP3s.

I don't remember the name either but it was a concept car. USB keys will not be supplanting regular metal keys for some time I think

Agree metal keys will be with us for a while. Helps to get the driver's door unlocked if the battery goes dead at a minimum and I'm not sure USB connectors are that durable. I think it also remembered seat and radio settings, etc.

IIRC, it was a concept car shown in Tokyo late last year.

You are thinking about the Mazda Sassou concept car. I think it's a great idea if it was sufficiently armored for frequent use. As far as a dead battery goes, it would probably be better off in a hybrid or electric car than a conventional car (b/c of power distribution).

http://www.everythingusb.com/mazda_sassou.html

What are the advantages to listening to MP3's off the card rather than just burning them to a CD?

you dont have to waste cds.