After hearing about phatbox for several months, i finally picked one up. Installs right into the sat prewire cable and uses a removable cartridge with usb docking station to transfer music.

It is pretty awesome and after debating about it for months, i'm glad i got it. Integrates with the bose unit and uses steering wheel controls. No dangling units or wires by the head unit, no cassette adapters, no FM modulation...just straight mp3s getting pumped into the stereo. Voice prompts that say "now browsing rap (or rock, or pop, or whatever)" and "current artist is AC/DC" over the stock speakers help navigate through the mp3s.

Only downside is the price...at $800 for the 20g it is pretty expensive...but not that bad when compared to satellite radio which is around $300 for the equip + subscription fees.

If you are thinking about getting this unit...do it, you won't be disappointed.

Thanks to everyone who got one and posted about it for providing the info.

03 6MT coupe, red/willow, premium, aero, splash guards, alum pedals, clear corners, double 15% tint

 

unit & cartridge installed

03 6MT coupe, red/willow, premium, aero, splash guards, alum pedals, clear corners, double 15% tint

278253-P6150005.JPG

 

..

03 6MT coupe, red/willow, premium, aero, splash guards, alum pedals, clear corners, double 15% tint

 

,,

03 6MT coupe, red/willow, premium, aero, splash guards, alum pedals, clear corners, double 15% tint

278257-P6150007.JPG

 

cartridge...i went with the 40 gig.

03 6MT coupe, red/willow, premium, aero, splash guards, alum pedals, clear corners, double 15% tint

278260-P6150008.JPG

 

cartridge & usb docking station

03 6MT coupe, red/willow, premium, aero, splash guards, alum pedals, clear corners, double 15% tint

278261-P6150009.JPG

 

Nice. Is yours using the CD button or the SAT button to get to the Phatbox?

-- Rob

 

cd. The button switches between cds & phatbox...but i think if you use the other software it works off the sat button. Not sure though, haven't tried it.

03 6MT coupe, red/willow, premium, aero, splash guards, alum pedals, clear corners, double 15% tint

 

Looks good Red! How many songs have you loaded so far? Is it easy to navigate using the voice prompts?


BLKSNAKE - '04 G35 Coupe
Check out my hidden sub! [img]/w3timages/icons/laugh.gif[/img]

 

So you finally did it. Glad you like it.

Russ

Black 6MT Coupe
Jax, FL
G35Driver.com Business Cards

 

i prob have a few hundred songs on it right now, all with correct tags. Getting the songs on is no prob, its editing the tags that takes time & it can get a little out of control if you don't have the tags done correctly.

With the voice prompt system they have developed it is very easy and fast. It says the name of the artist or album, etc, then immediately starts playing the music with no delay. Also the speech on it is pretty fast so you can navigate around fairly quickly. Sort of has to be that way to allow searching through thousands of songs the unit will hold.

Also, there is no delay between songs, albums, no time for the cd to change discs, or for you to have to find and load a disc....so the music gets playing much faster than with cd's and the sound is somewhat better than cd. Seems like it has much less distortion at higher volumes.

03 6MT coupe, red/willow, premium, aero, splash guards, alum pedals, clear corners, limo tint, Phatbox 40g mp3 player

 

I have some questions...

When you plug in your cartridge to your computer, does it show up as a removable drive? (or do you have to use their special software to copy over songs?)

Can you sort the music into multiple layers of folders? and the voice will tell you the name of each folder before you select them?

eg. -> Hip Hop -> 50 cent -> [Album 1] , [Album 2]
-> Snoop Dogg -> [A] [b]

-> Pop -> Britney Speares -> [blah] , [blah]
-> Celine Dion -> [bleh] [bleh]

how do you go into a folder and come out of it?


btw, thanks for the review & pics!

 

Me want...

When you say it plugs into the SAT pre-wire cable, do you mean it plugs into the cable directly in the trunk or do you have to access the back of the head unit?

How is it powered? By the SAT connection?

 

<blockquote><font class="small">In reply to:</font><hr>


When you plug in your cartridge to your computer, does it show up as a removable drive? (or do you have to use their special software to copy over songs?)


<hr></blockquote> It shows up like another hard drive. Not sure if it shows as a "removable" drive or not. You can def access it just like another hd on it's own, without the software. Have not actually copied any songs to it that way, but i suspect it would work...However, you need the software to "Eject" the cartridge/hd.. i.e. write the additional necessary files for voice prompts and prep the unit for removal from the docking station before you pull it out.

<blockquote><font class="small">In reply to:</font><hr>

Can you sort the music into multiple layers of folders?

<hr></blockquote> it does not exactly double sort things that way. You can browse/search by Genre, Album (album mp3 tag), Playlist (like song list or disc you set up on the software), or Artist. But i don't think there is any way to browse artists under a certain genre. It does not announce more than the 1 way you are browsing. So if you want to find Britney Spears you would just hit #4 on the changer (for artist) then up on the steering wheel control unit you hear "current artist is britney spears".. If you are listening to "pop" genre and it switches from britney spears to celine dion, i think it may say "celine dion" when it switches. But i can't remember for sure.

<blockquote><font class="small">In reply to:</font><hr>

how do you go into a folder and come out of it?

<hr></blockquote> you just hit another search mode

<blockquote><font class="small">In reply to:</font><hr>

do you mean it plugs into the cable directly in the trunk or do you have to access the back of the head unit?

How is it powered? By the SAT connection?

<hr></blockquote>yes, the prewire plug in the trunk has everything it need. No additional wiring or power was required...but the cable to connect to the sat prewire is not standard, you need to let them know you want that cable when you order it.


03 6MT coupe, red/willow, premium, aero, splash guards, alum pedals, clear corners, limo tint, Phatbox 40g mp3 player

 

I agree with everything you just posted redwillow. By far the best mod I've done to my G.

fluffydot: The Phatbox sees your music as virtual CD's or Playlists. I took a screenshot of the Phatnoise Music Manager to give you an idea of how the songs are laid out:


You might want to consider an Empeg/Rio (www.riocar.org or www.empeg.com) I used to own one for my Civic and that database arranged the songs by folders. It also worked very well and both are easy to navigate, but I sold it for the Phatbox mainly because I can use the stock radio, not to mention the voice prompts are a definite plus.

jandc: It is literally plug and play. Just hook it up to the pre-wire SAT cable and you're done! No need to mess with the back of the head unit. And yes, it's powered by the SAT cable.

99 Supercharged Civic Si sold
03.5 DG 6MT Coupe
AIM: Ken99Si