best place to get a phatbox from looked on e-bay anybody know how much they are new or where can i get one
phatbox
- Thread starter adrian2006uk
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I've heard they retail at about £600 but i'm not sure. I've been offered a brand new one for £150. All i need is an S3!!!
shineydave
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got mine off rallybid on ebay which came from the states, cost about 180 quid but yup, one from an audi dealer will be 450-500 ish if i recall. plug and play for most audi head units
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shineydave
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mine is a brand new one for 180, much cheaper in the states.
basically they're a hard drive that you can store massive amounts of music on, between 20 and 80 gig depending on which cartridge you buy. the standard audi headunits then control them just like a cd autochanger
basically they're a hard drive that you can store massive amounts of music on, between 20 and 80 gig depending on which cartridge you buy. the standard audi headunits then control them just like a cd autochanger
cg
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all this talk has make me keen on the box but on the web sites it says theat it only fits the
TT Roadster (2001-2002
A4 Sedan and Avant (1998-2002)
S4 (2000-2002)
A6 (1998-2002)
S6 RS6 (2002)
Allroad (2001-2002)
A8 (1998-2002)
S8 (2001-2002)
does anyone know if it fits the a3? or are there model specifis boxes.
TT Roadster (2001-2002
A4 Sedan and Avant (1998-2002)
S4 (2000-2002)
A6 (1998-2002)
S6 RS6 (2002)
Allroad (2001-2002)
A8 (1998-2002)
S8 (2001-2002)
does anyone know if it fits the a3? or are there model specifis boxes.
shineydave
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if you can fit (or have fitted) a cd changer then the phatbox will go in the same place, just replace the changer. i fitted one in the wifes broomstick (2000 passat) in the cubby hole where the first aid kit should go.
Unfortunately I don't have a CD changer cable in my car atm, so next weekend I will be taking off my glovebox and inside panels to install the cable nice and snugly! Once that is done it should just be as simple as plugging in 
Get one from the US - I got 2, one for the A3 and one for my Touareg.
Paid $150 each - about £80 plus £25 postage from US.
Have a look on the VWVortex forum - they list rcommended sources.
Jas
Paid $150 each - about £80 plus £25 postage from US.
Have a look on the VWVortex forum - they list rcommended sources.
Jas
Mine's waiting to be fitted due to lack of cable (should have checked first!).
Take a look at phathack for info on changing the HDD for a bigger one, 20Gb just doesn't cut it these days...!
Take a look at phathack for info on changing the HDD for a bigger one, 20Gb just doesn't cut it these days...!
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so does it use the same wiring as the cd changer? means its literally plug and play into the boot?
very tempted by this!"
how do you loads music onto it? is there some form of removable media to connect it up to a PC?
very tempted by this!"
how do you loads music onto it? is there some form of removable media to connect it up to a PC?
Aye, there's a removable 2.5" (laptop size) hard-drive housed in a plastic cartridge that you connect to your PC via the supplied USB2 docking station. Transferring MP3s is fast and easy once you get the hang of the PhatBox Software.
The best thing is that the whole kit is hidden away in your boot, so would-be theives will only see a bog-standard audi headunit and no sign of any iPod cables that might tempt them to give your car a once-over.
The cool-factor of having 1,000's of tunes hidden away in your boot is, excellent. Having your car-stereo announce album titles and artists as you search through the library never fails to impress passengers
Here's a link showing the essentials of how a PhatBox works
http://www.phatnoise.com/products/digitalmediaplayers/index.aspx
Cheers,
Mark.
The best thing is that the whole kit is hidden away in your boot, so would-be theives will only see a bog-standard audi headunit and no sign of any iPod cables that might tempt them to give your car a once-over.
The cool-factor of having 1,000's of tunes hidden away in your boot is, excellent. Having your car-stereo announce album titles and artists as you search through the library never fails to impress passengers
Here's a link showing the essentials of how a PhatBox works
http://www.phatnoise.com/products/digitalmediaplayers/index.aspx
Cheers,
Mark.
Have you considered the alternatives available?
I was after a Phatbox for my car, but then heard about the Solisto.
http://www.solisto.co.uk/index.php?page=home&lang=en
I got one with a cable for my Becker, slotted in a 2GB USB stick and it works a treat! It emulates 10cds on my HU, and also displays the track info etc. It's about the size of a cigarette packet so mines been hidden in the lower compartment of my glovebox.
You're looking at about £170 all in and delivered, but you'll need a USB stick of your choice which are cheap enough nowadays.
I was after a Phatbox for my car, but then heard about the Solisto.
http://www.solisto.co.uk/index.php?page=home&lang=en
I got one with a cable for my Becker, slotted in a 2GB USB stick and it works a treat! It emulates 10cds on my HU, and also displays the track info etc. It's about the size of a cigarette packet so mines been hidden in the lower compartment of my glovebox.
You're looking at about £170 all in and delivered, but you'll need a USB stick of your choice which are cheap enough nowadays.
tommo-turbo
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I think it only supports MP3's.
In itunes, can you copy your music to any devices? I don't use itunes so don't know in what format the music is stored on your pc, or whether it lets you copy it to a USB stick?
I just drag my MP3's from Windows Media Player onto the USB stick in one of the CD1, CD2 etc folders, and the box of tricks in the car does the rest.
In itunes, can you copy your music to any devices? I don't use itunes so don't know in what format the music is stored on your pc, or whether it lets you copy it to a USB stick?
I just drag my MP3's from Windows Media Player onto the USB stick in one of the CD1, CD2 etc folders, and the box of tricks in the car does the rest.
tommo-turbo
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The iTunes are stored in its own format, although there is a folder where they're stored in WMA. Problem is it's time consuming getting them off because they're all in seperate folders...
shineydave
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buckas
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bouncer--daz
A dog is for life....not just for friday nights!
Im getting tempted aswell... was thinking about plugging my ipod into the head unit via a cable adaptor that would use the cd changer port. Only problem being is my ipod is only a little 2gig nano which i bought for use in the gym... not really up to the standard of a phatbox. I will say those itunes is far better than windows media player for how easy it is to use, organise and play off.
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Had one for a while. I managed to install it in place of the stock CD unit so its tucked away. Upgraded to an 80gb disc so pretty much all the music I own is on it.
Very handy as I no longer need to even think about which CDs to take on journeys etc.
Browsing for particular albums/songs is okay. You can browse by artist name, album name or genre.
If you hold hold down the browse button in albums for example, it runs through the content via the alphabet. A.....B...C...etc speaking the letters vocally.
You can edit the setup files on the disc so it can read track details the way you like it. Album, artist, track, or just artist track etc etc.
You can change the voice to a number of different styles, woman, man accents etc. See the phathack website.
You can random play an album or your whole collection.
Very handy as I no longer need to even think about which CDs to take on journeys etc.
Browsing for particular albums/songs is okay. You can browse by artist name, album name or genre.
If you hold hold down the browse button in albums for example, it runs through the content via the alphabet. A.....B...C...etc speaking the letters vocally.
You can edit the setup files on the disc so it can read track details the way you like it. Album, artist, track, or just artist track etc etc.
You can change the voice to a number of different styles, woman, man accents etc. See the phathack website.
You can random play an album or your whole collection.
The phat noise is the nuts you wont know until you get one but you certainly wont regret it. I got mine from a UK Audi Dealer x-stock (£200) they realised that no ones pays £700 for them.
Now go get one ;-)
Matt
Now go get one ;-)
Matt
