I am one of the pitiful losers who recently found out about the RIOcar empeg and, of course, don't have one. Does anyone know of any resources that have information about upcoming technologies (i.e. either another release of the empeg or a related product) I don't know whether or not to TRY and wait for another one or to shell out the big bucks for ebay.

Thanks for your help.

will

The "big bucks" on Ebay are fewer than you would've spent when these devices were new and still in production.

Sony and Pioneer have "competing" devices -- if you consider a device that is designed around digital rights management competition. Music goes on but it never gets out. More to the point, you have to rip all of your music there, in your car, on the Sony/Pioneer unit. Oh and did I mention that the Sony and Pioneer contraptions cost more than an Empeg on Ebay?

Shell out the big bucks and start bidding on Ebay. Currently there's not one product out there that's even remotely as good as the Empeg.
Even worse, nothing competitive has been announced, not for the near or even in distant future.
(I don't consider the Pioneer and Sony units as competition. Even a Neo35 is better than those, and certainly cheaper!)

Start bidding!! Once you have it you'll never look back!

Greetings!

I would also recommend that you try to find someone near you that has one, and ask for a demo. Once you see an empeg in action, that would also give you motive to start bidding.

thanks for the info - that ripping ON the unit sounds miserable! just out of curiosity, how much was a 20 gig empeg for the lucky few who got them from RIO?
How much are the competitors?

There *are* other hard drive based MP3 players out there, but as has been noted in many threads throughout this BBS, they pale in comparison for one reason or another. If you can muster the cash, I would look for a good deal on a 10GB RioCar and stretch the budget a little to get it, rather than blowing a similar amount of money on one of the other offerings that doesn't measure up.

But as with all technologies, if you wait long enough, something better WILL come around. It just hasn't yet, and if there's no market/demand, it'll take a lot longer. Depends on your timetable.

Greetings!

A 10GB RioCar started out at $1,000 when they first came out (empeg Mark 2), went down in the first price cut to around $699, then down to $199 during the fire / liquidation sale. On eBay, they (20GB) are now running about $600.

I would not worry about the capacity as such - since it is a standard drive, they are very easy to upgrade.

that ripping ON the unit sounds miserable!

Actually, it could be quite excellent if it's done properly. There's a home-stereo device with software made by the same team (the Rio Central HSX-109) which does ripping as well as playback, and it really neat how it goes about its job. If something like that were implemented in an in-dash car stereo, it would be rather cool.

how much was a 20 gig empeg for the lucky few who got them from RIO?

Before they were discontinued, they were over $1000.00. A bunch of people got them for just a few hundred dollars after the EOL when Rio decided to clear out the stock.

You should probably read through these pages before asking any more questions. You'll probably begin bidding on ebay after reading through that stuff.

all i know is that is the same situation that a few of my friends are in. Saw empeg like 4 months ago and was like "yea, its fresh but i like my CD's"...now they are wishing that they had one. I honestly dont see anthing new that will be able to touch the empeg for a LONG time.

If you are really ambitious and technically savvy, you can put something together yourself (http://www.mp3car.com). I was doing that before I got my empeg, and to tell you the truth, I ended up spending far more than the $600-$700 that you'll spend on ebay (although I did have a 8.4" VGA flat panel touchscreen and a singleboard computer to show for it.) The real gem with the Empeg is the software. It far outshines any music software I've ever used for flexibility, manageability, and stability.

Speaking of ebay, last night a 20 gig went for $705, so as they get rarer, the price is still rising...time is of the essence.

I saw the one on ebay last night. I weeped like a child as I watched the price rocket in the final 2 minutes. I was planning on bidding but not prepared to go that high. The thirst is too great!

mmmmmmmmmm ...... empeggggggg...

I will have one!

will