I am so bummed. How many of you bought one in the last month?? Oh well, maybe they'll have the text display out of beta by then.

 

it's worth the wait. They were in stock when i ordered mine.

I have never tried the software for the text display...but i did learn that you can hit scan button and it will announce all the info about the current song.

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

 

I was looking at the Phatbox as well and also been checking their website for stock availability for the last few weeks. What I don't understand is that aren't they all the same just with different sets of cables and software/firmware? I figure the software / firmware part would be trival and how difficult is it to get the cables?
In the mean time I've been getting impatient have also been looking for alternatives to the Phatbox. I came across this thing and just wondering if anyone has one of these things, and have any comments or comparisons with the Phatbox. http://www.omnifimedia.com/home/ - the DMP1.
Very similar to the Phatbox, but no SAT interface and hence no steering wheel control . But it does have a cool wireless option so you can wireless sync the music files from the car to your computer via wi-fi 802.11b. Its tempting since its quite a bit cheaper than the Phatbox and available locally in Canada, but I am not to crazy about the idea of having to run the cables for the controls from the trunk to the front of the car.

<P ID="edit"><FONT class="small"><EM>Edited by bigwilly on 07/14/04 12:21 PM.</EM></FONT></P>

 

i didn't see any info on how the omifi organizes, sorts and allows you to search & access the songs.

The wireless upload ability is nice, but honestly, removing the cartridge to put songs on phatbox is not really that much of a hassle. I usually take it out when i get home, if i know i am going to put some songs on it. Also, it sounded like 20 gig was the max HD you could get it with.

How much is the omnifi unit?

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

 

It looks like from the pics of the control module you can arange by genre, artist etc. The hard drives used in the cartriges are standard notebook harddrives and people have already swapped 60GB drives in them. In terms of price the Phatbox is $799 US and the Omnifi is $799 Canadian from Futureshop (similar to BestBuy) + I can save on shipping and duties from the states. The only thing is that it doesn't have the cool voice annouce feature the Phatbox does an no seemless integration with the controls on the steering wheel. I really hope the Phatbox is in stock soon, the wait is driving me crazy.

 

It's definitely worth the wait. I ordered it right when it became out of stock! DOH! Waited about a month for the next batch and have enjoyed it very much ever since!

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

 

I had placed an order while it was backordered and it made a confused order. A very nice woman from Phatnoise called me to inform me that the order was incorrect and asked if I could re-do it. Of course, I couldn't put in a proper order because it was out of stock so I assumed I'd be in the waiting boat. Another week went by and she called me back and said they "found" one more and let me order it.

They are the same, but the "cable" is not just a cable, it's a piece of hardware that interfaces with the Nissan N-BUS.

It's really worth the wait! With or without the SAT firmware. The CD changer interface really wonderful just the way it is. I spent a good 7 hours in the car on a road trip with it yesterday and it made the trip so enjoyable. My favorite thing about it is the Random function. When you tell it to randomize the current playlist (or all playlists) it creates a "randomized list" that you can go forward and backward through. Even if stop and start the car, it picks back up where you left off, and you won't hear the same song twice until you finish the list.

There are lots of cheaper solutions that don't involve the head unit. But having the "real" integration is so worthwhile.

-- Rob