Which units play mp3s ?

[Evil Scotsman]

Hola, I currently have an XL one. Lately it has be acting INSANE! Taking 20 minutes to find a signal, wrong routes, etc. So I am thinking of upgrading, I like the 4.3 screen, I have an attachment to mount it on my motorcycle. I would like to be able to play mp3s through it. Can anyone tell me which models have this capability? Does the directions interrupt the mp3 playing and automatically resume after direction? I am not interested in spending more than $300, and would REALLY like to stay around $200. I can get gps directions via my cell phone (blackberry) but when the directions are given it pauses the mp3, then I have to restart it. (not and easy feat while riding a motorcycle)

Thanks

 

[canderson]

Those capable of playing MP3 and are still available new in at least a few places include

GO730 and 930 (if you can still find one - I love 'em both), GO530, GO 540 and 740 if you're in Europe or can talk someone into selling you their silly Active Dock that isn't officially offered in North America (whazup with THAT?) or if you're in Europe, the GO 940.

 

[mikealder]

540 and 740 do not have the mp3 player capability only the 940 from the x40 series has the mp3 option, none of the newer x50 units can play mp3 out of the box.

One other possibility is to add a third party mp3 player to a device such as MobileNova or Open Tom Player this makes a none mp3 compatible device play music and in the case of Mobile Nova it can play movies. But there is no way of knowing whether these third party add ons will remain working after a Navcore update - Mike

 

[canderson]

Ooops. Sorry on those other two. Saw a 740 in action, but (ahem) forgot where the firmware came from. Audio was via the Active Dock, of course. No FM on the 540/740.

Speaking of which (since we don't see the dock here), how do they manage the iPod connection on the 540/740? How does the control work?

 

[vlbaindoor]

Hola, I currently have an XL one. Lately it has be acting INSANE! Taking 20 minutes to find a signal, wrong routes, etc. So I am thinking of upgrading, I like the 4.3 screen, I have an attachment to mount it on my motorcycle. I would like to be able to play mp3s through it. Can anyone tell me which models have this capability? Does the directions interrupt the mp3 playing and automatically resume after direction? I am not interested in spending more than $300, and would REALLY like to stay around $200. I can get gps directions via my cell phone (blackberry) but when the directions are given it pauses the mp3, then I have to restart it. (not and easy feat while riding a motorcycle)

Thanks

Hi,

I have a 940 and it has mp3 player built in, it has FM transmitter built in and can work as a bluetooth hands free for my mobile phone.

But all of which have some bugs.

I have had occasions where when I have the mp3 played through the FM transmitter, it actually not working, forcing me to go back onto the FM transmitter menu option and re-select the same option - so in my view not really changing anything - but the music then starts playing through FM.

I have had occasions where while the music is played through the FM, and a phone call comes in, the music stops playing even after I end the phone call - and to get it working again I need to get back to Jukebox menu option and re-select the same option - again in my opinion not changing anything but the music then starts working again.

The annoying aspect is all these bugs seem to be intermittent - they do not happen always but often enough to annoy. Many times they all seem to work very well - the music gets paused while either a navigational instruction is read out or a phone call is handled and music re-starts again on its own. But sometimes it all seems to go wrong. So not working reliably - they all seem to work often.

The hands free function does not seem to work very well as I don't seem to be able to hear the caller talking at all - as the caller's voice seems to be routed through the Tom Tom's built-in speaker at a low volume and I can not increase the volume at all. But it may well be the phone line being bad.

I use it in my car.

So I am not sure how useful these are for a person who is riding a motor bike - and possibly can not easily move hands out of the controls of the bike if it is required to get round these bugs as such.