Chinavasion's plug-in MP3 player / FM transmitter / etcetera seems surprisingly useful

Chinavasion's latest piece of steaming trash is actually very un-trash-like, as it thoughtfully meshes a number of in-car technologies into one single cigarette adapter doodad. The Plug-In Car MP4 Player with LCD Display manages to bundle an MP4 / MP3 player, 1.5-inch LCD and 4GB of memory into a device that plugs neatly into your car's cigarette adapter, and the inclusion of an FM transmitter means that you won't even need to bring your own DAP to get tunes flowing in the car. Moreover, the SD card slot enables even more jams to be loaded on if you're embarking on a serious road trip, and the USB socket makes PC-to-whatchamacallit transfers a cinch. We're truly impressed with just how awe-inspiring this thing is for €21.57 ($29); too bad we don't trust the quality one bit.

[Via Slashgear]

[bill cant fart @ Jan 4th 2009 9:09AM]

No it doesn't.

[your mum's buttocks are even bigger since last time @ Jan 4th 2009 9:11AM]

Really? Maybe you should check yourself into rehab. All that brainwashing you got was a little too much.

[Dracorius @ Jan 4th 2009 9:16AM]

Indeed it doesn't. Your iPhone doesn't have an FM transmitter and a cigarette adapter built in...
Also, your iPhone costs more than 500€, whereas this thing costs 20€. Get the idea?

I find this a very usefull device. Makes a nice addition to the standard car radio for those who prefer not lugging around a shitload of cd's, and lack a car radio with mp3 support. And if you're not sure about the life expectency of these cheap ass products, you could just buy 2 of these things.

Cheerz

[Game_playa @ Jan 4th 2009 9:36AM]

Is this a dream come true?
The "engadget not bashing everything not apple lately" part

[Acidox @ Jan 4th 2009 9:41AM]

To be honest I'd just want an iPod adapter of one of those iPod FM transmitter docks (Which are illegal... But still)

[Cabe @ Jan 4th 2009 4:22PM]

Nope, as of December 2006 ETSI/ERO certified them for use in Europe and of course, UK. Assuming they carry a CE mark, which means they are certified and transmit on the correct frequency range and have a effective radiated power of 50 nanowatts or less.

[Xavier @ Jan 4th 2009 9:48AM]

My friend bought one with 1GB memory but comes with a remote control for $22 about 3 months ago and he is still using it without any problem at all.

[Xavier @ Jan 4th 2009 10:08AM]

Sorry, I just read at Slashgear that this thing comes with a remote control as well.

[Maniako @ Jan 4th 2009 10:00AM]

I got one of those 2 years ago at BestBuy. It is made bu Toby and have a cheaper LCD, but do exactly the same thing as this one. It is very usefull and i like the fact that i can leave it in the car and bring just a SD card when i want to add new tune in it. I live at the 14th floor and going to the car only to retreive a mp3 player to update it is a pain in the ass,

I think i will update to this one with the real LCD, mine as paid for itself in the past 2 years.

[htd @ Jan 4th 2009 10:08AM]

my car receiver has aux plug in and usb port, I just use my thumbdrive to play those mp3...

[Phoenix @ Jan 4th 2009 11:01AM]

Lucky you. Not everyone does: The target market of this device has cheaper cars, maybe second hand, without radios that have that support.

[Carpet @ Jan 4th 2009 11:52AM]

In Europe I've found that the cheaper new car manufacturers are very quick to add Aux in and USB support but the dearer cars omit them and charge to get them added. To add an aux-in to my car either involves upgrading to the top stereo (£300), or buying the Denon Ice-link (£200).

I'd rather have an MP3 player hard-wired in the glove box but if ca get good enough quality from a FM transmitter at the fraction of the cost I'll settle for that.

[morganvachon @ Jan 4th 2009 7:08PM]

Not everyone has a BMW with an iPod dock. Likewise not everyone wants to spend hundreds of dollars to swap their factory head unit with a fugly DIN unit and "one size fits all" dash faceplate just to gain MP3 playback. Some of us even have services like OnStar that depend on the stock head unit to fully function. This device is perfect for the overwhelming majority of us. Why hate on something just because someone besides you can make use of it? That is very childish and confrontational, and reeks of elitism besides.

[Brian @ Jan 4th 2009 10:19AM]

In the perspective buyer's Toyota Tercel, I'm sure this sounds just as good as a CD. :)

[BB @ Jan 4th 2009 10:40AM]

my dad has one, this thing is crap, the quality of the mp3 transmitted through radio wave to the car amplifier has even lower sound quality than its mp3.

[ElusiveLattice @ Jan 4th 2009 10:48AM]

Wow, the quality of comments on this site are horrible.

[xconan @ Jan 4th 2009 11:27AM]

2nd... true everyone wants to give their 2 cents worth of rant without indifference whether their comment is opinionated or factual statement since most people would like to be an authority on any subject matter whether biased or not.

[000000 @ Jan 4th 2009 11:29AM]

It's kind of engadget's thing.

[brandon @ Jan 4th 2009 11:42AM]

Allow me to be the first to say, "Welcome to Engadget, get used to it."

[CrystalLattice @ Jan 4th 2009 12:43PM]

Wow, the quantity of comments on this site is fantastic.

[SR_G@m3r @ Jan 4th 2009 11:05AM]

lolz. I got this exact one off ebay for $20. The thing surprisingly works great. Remote control and everything. There isn't any static either. The only thing bad with is the shuffle feature. Every time you restart the device the second song played is "What Is Love" lol

[UnixSystemsEngineer @ Jan 4th 2009 3:14PM]

Are you sure that it's not just a feature that points out flaws in your taste in music? :)

For $30 I'd buy one for sure!

[John @ Jan 4th 2009 6:37PM]

static has nothing to do with the transmitter as a rule - the devices are generally right at the legal limit for transmitting strength so the problem lies in finding a station where you won't get spillover from the real radio stations.

[morganvachon @ Jan 4th 2009 7:11PM]

The real question is, do you bob your head to the side when it plays that song?

[Elvis @ Jan 4th 2009 11:43AM]

Wow, one of these would be cool if I ever downgraded my car audio system. Probably good for a rental, and at that price point, it's pretty much disposable. Can you even make a color LCD screen for $20? Makes you think about how much Steve Jobs is ripping off the iDiots...

[BobFromVegas @ Jan 4th 2009 11:47AM]

@ILoveApple

Maybe it can use its kill switch to kill trolls like you?

[mo @ Jan 4th 2009 11:54AM]

I've been given one of these, they're horrible.

Their accuracy is limited at best, and the buttons are terrible, worse even if you're trying to operate them from a fixed position in the lighter.

stay the fuck away form them,

[dne202 @ Jan 4th 2009 12:02PM]

I bought another product on Chinavision's site. It's an mp3 player AND bluetooth unit via FM trasmit. The mp3 player part just scans my phone for MP3 files and lines them up like a list. It's pretty crumby... but when my G1 gets the cupcake, I'm hoping to stream music and calls via bluetooth. Oh, and the light has no dimmer, so it's always obnoxiously bright. Still, for 30 bucks, insane...

[Erv @ Jan 4th 2009 12:42PM]

I want one

[Eddie303 @ Jan 4th 2009 1:27PM]

I had one of these off eBay for about $20, it was acceptable, but the menu was damn dumb and the remote controller died in 6 months... Otherwise it was acceptable, played MP3 ok on a factory installed Daewoo radio/cassette deck in a Matiz SE :) But I've bought a JVC KD-G341 for Christmas, and sold this one for cheap money...

[John @ Jan 4th 2009 6:38PM]

I'd call $20 for 6 months fair enough, especially as it was the remote and not the main unit that broke.

[Eddie303 @ Jan 5th 2009 10:15AM]

John: No, it was surely the remote, I checked out with a camera, and the LED was bright constantly while the battery was in the unit.

[ABB @ Jan 4th 2009 2:10PM]

Stupid little apple fanboi.

[David @ Jan 4th 2009 4:38PM]

Engadget could show a device that cure cancer by merely waving it over the body, and some asshat would slam it saying the color was wrong, or claim that it isn't worth the sweat off his genitals.
For those of you who do slam products, show me what you have invented. Show me your great and wonderful miracle of gadgetry.
Odds are, you can't because you lack the brain power. It's the same old story with you people. You claim you can pull a better product out of your ass, then talk out of it.

[Shugg @ Jan 4th 2009 5:25PM]

Guys ,David is saying that were not allowed to critique products, no matter what unless we are inventors. Do you guys agree? Not even engadget editors agree with him, there wouldn't even be an engadget. I get feeling this guy a treehugger , trying to be politically correct pu$$y. Making sure we don't offend anyone.what a dee dee deee!

[shugg @ Jan 4th 2009 3:22PM]

$29 cant ask for much.,doesnt compare to ipod but again 29$.,this is geared for the cheap ass mofof engadgeters mainly.,

[StupidAE86man @ Jan 4th 2009 3:47PM]

Well..it is better than an iPod shuffle.


But as you seem to have trouble typing normally, I won't overwhelm your brain.

[Shugg @ Jan 4th 2009 5:16PM]

@stupidae86man.,.guys I think we found our first chinavison fanboy,.by the name of stupidae86man. Think this guy is English teacher or something , all he does is correct n criticize people on their spelling. Dee dee deee

[Salsa Shark @ Jan 4th 2009 5:54PM]

I think the fact that you find Carlos Mencia funny speaks volumes about you and the quality of your comments...

[OddManOut @ Jan 5th 2009 12:22AM]

Dude, are you planning to eat it or something?

[fnc @ Jan 4th 2009 9:34PM]

I got one of the ones with a USB input a couple years ago (before they had LCD's and MP4 support. It worked okay. My biggest complaints were that the line in was 2.5mm instead of the more standard 3.5mm, and that despite the fact it said "shuffle" on the play button, it most assuredly did not play the songs on any USB drive in random order. It always played them in the order in which they were placed on the USB drive. Transmitting power was so-so, you did have to retune occasionally. I never got it to recognize my 4GB drive but it did recognize my 1GB. So, not really great as a media player, but pretty useful if you just want to throw a podcast or a quick fixed list of tunes onto a USB drive before leaving for your next trip. I'd say if you want a media player, though, buy a real media player.

[james @ Jan 5th 2009 12:48AM]

i have one of these and it works fine, you can also use up to a 2gb sd card on the front side, however it plays from the sd card instead of the internal 1gb memory, nevertheless the wireless remote works fine and the internal transmitter is great from about 3-5 feet away(tried this with the usb cable hooked up to my computer and transmitted to my bookshelf speakers around the corner.

[aznofazns @ Jan 5th 2009 12:24AM]

Wow i bought some of these in Beijing over the summer (with monochrome screens instead of color) and thought they were pretty nifty too. The quality is actually fine... just because it's Chinese doesn't mean it's a piece of shit, Engadget.

[Rohan @ Jan 5th 2009 2:44AM]

I have owned one other device manufactured by this company, and because I lost the proprietary 'almost-USB' cable that came with it, it was rendered useless after approximately 2 weeks. As others have stated here, the audio quality is not the best from these devices, and I can't see from the info whether the USB port is purely for uploading tracks to the device, or if it can indeed be used for charging MP3-type devices as well. I tend to think that it probably doesn't.

This thing is dirt-cheap, and delivers dirt-cheap quality, which as others on here have also mentioned, is fine for the target audience. They drive old cars, and they don't want to listen to the shite on the radio, they just want their own tunes. For $29US, if it lasts more than 3-6 months it's probably worth the money.

[superhobo @ Jan 5th 2009 8:36AM]

STN screen. Nah.

[Eddie303 @ Jan 5th 2009 10:14AM]

@John: It was surely the remote, I checked out with my phone's camera, and the LED was bright all the time (if the battery was in the unit), maybe the low temperature killed it (Transylvania, often -20, even -30 at night). After this, the unit was still usable with it's own buttons, a little bit incomfortably in the Matiz as it's below the right of the right knee of the driver :) (It's a small car, a little bit tight at space, but while we're young, we'll travel with that till the end of the world :) )

[jupiterthunder @ Jan 5th 2009 4:31PM]

At $29.88, it's already priced perfectly for the Walmart clearance aisle.