The $10 car stereo.

[PrincessB]

Disclaimer - No interest or link to anything financial.

I watch the odd bit of Youtube on my smart TV and after I've watched something I want to see, it pings up an associated type thing which is occasionally worth watching.

One of these was for a Walmart $10 car stereo badged Blaupunkt - It's American, but $10 for a car stereo!

Link to video, I don't think you can get this exact model in the UK.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EBEk9VPsix4

The result is that it's not a bad bit of kit, you don't get a CD player, you do get inputs for memory modules, Bluetooth and an AM/FM radio.

As my car stereo is dire, I wondered if something similar had made its way to the UK and a quick search found similar specced items for about £13.

I hope this interests some of you who drive an older generation of cars.

B.

PS. Trying to resist buying one for the fun of it.

[bungeejumper]

Too modern to have a CD player, but too ancient for DAB? This sounds absolutely perfect for those of us who can't do DAB anyway, because there are hills where we live. (Shock horror, whatever will we rural stick-in-the-muds think of next?) Ideally I'd have wanted to hear a Beethoven piano concerto rather than the tinny techno-junk in the demo, but it does look great for that kind of money.

My last but one car (2002 Ford Focus) came with a Blaupunkt stereo (with a cassette drive!), and it was excellent until the day a diode popped and it died. I'd have snapped up a replacement like this.

BJ

[Breelander]

Too modern to have a CD player, but too ancient for DAB?

My OEM VW one has both.

[bungeejumper]

Too modern to have a CD player, but too ancient for DAB?

My OEM VW one has both.

So does my 2014 Toyota. Not that I ever use either. The DAB radio, because it simply doesn't work in wurzel-land. The CD, because I've compressed 50-odd of my favourite albums onto an 8gb stick, with room for 50 more, and it's so much more convenient than sliding discs in and out every 60 minutes.

I think we're both making the same point actually - that there wasn't a single historical moment when CD was dead but when DAB wasn't already popular. Maybe that's why these particular Blaupunkt stereos are still being remaindered now? Or is it simply that they were supplied as maximo-cheapo fitments to basic/downmarket cars like Daewoo Chevrolets?

BJ

[Breelander]

Not that I ever use either. The DAB radio, because it simply doesn't work in wurzel-land. The CD, because I've compressed 50-odd of my favourite albums onto an 8gb stick, with room for 50 more, and it's so much more convenient than sliding discs in and out every 60 minutes....

I use both, the DAB because it auto-switches to the FM version of the station if it loses signal, the CD because it can play mp3 files from a CD-RW disk.

[swill453]

I think we're both making the same point actually - that there wasn't a single historical moment when CD was dead but when DAB wasn't already popular.

Actually I think we're still there. AFAIK the majority of new cars still have AM/FM radios, not DAB.

Scott.

[bungeejumper]

Actually I think we're still there. AFAIK the majority of new cars still have AM/FM radios, not DAB.

https://bestradios.co.uk/which-cars-have-dab-radio/

"The good news for new car buyers is that the proportion of models with DAB radios fitted as standard has been steadily growing. The figure has risen from only 7.5% in the last quarter of 2010 to over 87% by the end of 2017, with in-car digital radio listening going up by 20% each year."

Yes, I was surprised too. All Fords, Audis, VWs, BMWs and Minis since at least 2013.

BJ

[swill453]

"The good news for new car buyers is that the proportion of models with DAB radios fitted as standard has been steadily growing. The figure has risen from only 7.5% in the last quarter of 2010 to over 87% by the end of 2017, with in-car digital radio listening going up by 20% each year."

Yes, I was surprised too. All Fords, Audis, VWs, BMWs and Minis since at least 2013.

To be pedantic, the proportion of models with DAB isn't the same as the proportion of cars. I'd imagine the cheaper, high-volume cars are less likely to be fitted with DAB than average.

But of course I've got no reference to point to, so my assertion could well be wrong.

Scott.