Moon on a stick - Want a head unit with DAB, WMA, BT that uses steering wheel controls
 

OK, I need DAB radio and would like a hard disk WMA player (or MP3 if
necessary, but I'm loathed to convert my CD collection *again*)
And BT for using my telephone would be good too. And I'd like to be
able to use the steering wheel controls on my Renault Modus. If it
talked to the dashboard display too, all the better!

In my other car, I've got a Blaupunkt DAB54 and I hate it: the timer
record function is rubbish (you *must* tune your radio to the right
station first as it won't do it for your); The MP3 playback is hateful
(the fast forward function is too slow, so if you've got, say, a 2 hour
recording and want to FF to a specific part, you have to hold your
finger on a fiddly little button for MINUTES to get there); The buttons
are too small and badly placed; the display is too flashy and teenage.

So, on the DAB side:
Need: 4+ Presets
Want: Pause plus or similar
Want: Timer recording

Now, my telephone can play WMAs so I could just get a head unit with BT
and use that for playing back WMAs as well as being hands-free through
the car speakers for the voice calls. However, that would limit me to
at most 4Gb (SD cards only) of music and would be impossible to use
whilst driving. I've got 20gb of Bach alone, so the idea of getting
dozens of SD cards does not appeal.


Any ideas? Is a car computer my best bet? I've thought a small amount
about it, but draw a blank on the DAB and the use of steering wheel
controls.

Moon on a stick - Want a head unit with DAB, WMA, BT that uses steering wheel controls
 

In article om,
says...
Any ideas? Is a car computer my best bet? I've thought a small amount
about it, but draw a blank on the DAB and the use of steering wheel
controls.

DAB will be a problem, but you can usually use some types of steering
wheel controls if you can get some one to wire up a serial port adaptor
(some have been done) and use a program called GIRDER to translate the
button presses into software controls for particular applications.

Moon on a stick - Want a head unit with DAB, WMA, BT that uses steering wheel controls
 

Elder wrote:
In article om,
says...
Any ideas? Is a car computer my best bet? I've thought a small amount
about it, but draw a blank on the DAB and the use of steering wheel
controls.

DAB will be a problem, but you can usually use some types of steering
wheel controls if you can get some one to wire up a serial port adaptor
(some have been done) and use a program called GIRDER to translate the
button presses into software controls for particular applications.

I'm also considering getting a PureEvoke 3 and hacking it to bits!

Moon on a stick - Want a head unit with DAB, WMA, BT that uses steering wheel controls
 

In article .com,
says...
PureEvoke 3

Doesn't look a bad unit.
Reckon you could interface it to maybe a USB port to control it.