Anyone know more about factory mp3 players?

I read that the 2004 VUE and possibly other saturns and GM vehicles
would have mp3 cd players as optional equipment. I googled a bit and
saw some other quick blurbs, but of course, no pictures. I'm
wondering if these will be barebones mp3 cd players that show file
numbers as track numbers or maybe if they display file names or ID3
tags.

I currently have an aftermarket kenwood mp3 cd player in my 1993 SC2
and I love it. I had to replace all the speakers to make it sound
decent, though.

 

To My knowledge There are no plans to have a factory MP3 players in
Saturns. XMRadio yes, M3 no.

I'm not sure GM wants to touch that. I can just see all the nasty
letters comming from the RIAA to GM.

The Saturn Parts Guy

 

....if the RIAA could get a cut or a payout from songs ripped to mp3 I'm sure
they'd happy as the corner whore turning tricks. Audio hobbyists are what
drive sales of music and gear, I don't know why they don't get that - but I
digress.

Maybe I'm confusing (myself) with the definition of audio hobbyist versus
commercial pirate. Whatever...

Is XMRadio two way (does the portable or car unit talk to the satellite?).
If so maybe GM could include CD track tagging for music or mp3 sources
through the XM service and then pay some music group i.e. RIAA, monies
collected through user subscriptions.

 

'04 IONs and VUEs have a cd/mp3 player available.

 

Sorry make that cd/mp3/xm with either single cd or 6 disc.

 

....that's pretty slick - go Saturn!

 

Wonder of they'll be similar enough that they can be retrofit into an 03.
Anyone know?

 

....you know the first couple of years after getting my 97 I kept getting
generous offers from Saturn to trade mine in for a newer model - don't know
if it's like that anymore, nor would you want to trade your new ION because
the new models have more features, but... if the payment was the same (and
the rest of the math was okay) it might be an idea to entertain. ...also
read the weird center-feel of the steering has been addressed in the '04's
too.

 

Oh, I just found this today:
http://www.saturnfans.com/photos/showphoto.php3?photo=5021

its a picture of a 2004 VUE factory 6 disk changer at the NY autoshow

 

OK.

Anyone know if I can remove my '03 changer and pop a new '04 changer in
there?

I WANT ONE! DROOL! DROOL!

 

Anyone know if I can remove my '03 changer and pop a new '04 changer in

The '04 uplevel radios are on the serial data link. I don't know if they will
be able to be made backward compatible.

 

I had the chance tonight to play with the mp3 stereo in an 04 quad
coupe. I was asking about the red line and the mp3 stereos. The
sales guy was very nice and let me play one of my mp3 cds. I think he
was mostly curious to see what I wanted to do. He didn't know much
about mp3s and kept asking me questions.

What I really wanted to find out was if the stereo showed ID3 tags.
The short answer is yes, at least if its one of the XM capable radios.
I could only play with the single disk XM unit and the sales guy
seemed to think that only the XM units were able to show alpha text.

I couldn't figure out if there was a way to keep the tag display up
all the time, though. It would show the song number and the clock and
the time within the track be default. If I pressed the rocker button
labled "i" , the song title would flash up, then the artist, then the
file name and the directory name, then back to the default display.

It's not as nice as the scrolling text on my Kenwood unit. I think
it's common now for aftermarket mp3 players to have scrolling ID3
displays.

 

....I just bought a $60 portable discman (Panasonic SL-MP80) that scrolls ID
tags and plays MP3 Pro. Very cool I thought...