Can anyone answer this question? (why Garmin discontinued MP3 players?)

@GaryA: I don't particularly care for the sarcastic tone of your post. It was unwarranted, totally unnecessary and makes me believe you took my dissenting point of view in this discussion personally.

Regardless of that, to answer your question:

1. If the stereo has an AUX jack (looks like a headphone jack), get a 6' cable with headphone plugs on both ends. Plug one end into the headphone jack of the MP3 player. Plug the other end into the AUX jack and listen away.

2. If the stereo does not have an AUX jack, get a FM transmitter, connect it to the headphone jack of the MP3 player, plug the other end into a cigarette lighter socket (for power), find a station with no interference, and listen away.

3. If your stereo is so old it still has a cassette player, get a cassette player adapter, plug the cord into the headphone jack of the MP3 player, insert the tape end into the stereo and listen away.

So there you have it. Three viable ways of listening to that mp3 player that cover EVERY stereo system in EVERY car available both today and in the recent past. For power, a simple duplex or triplex adapter for the cigarette lighter so you can connect both GPS and MP3 player to the lighter socket and a 12V plug with a USB port on the backside for power.

Now, about that lone advantage of having the MP3 player built into the GPS? I would rather have to replace either the GPS receiver OR the MP3 player than have to replace one device combining both features.

Let's be clear about something. Two comments have been posted about the quality of playback of MP3 files from a nuvi. If you think I am using the speaker I guess I understand but that would be incredibly dumb. Using the headphone jack to take the output to my car's sterio (or to a headphone) the nuvi is no better or worse than any other MP3 player. These are digital files, there is no distortion introduced by storage or playback - only by the speakers. Your fancier device will not improve the sound versus the nuvi.

Jim

I used the audible book feature and thought it worked well. Sorry to not have it on the new Nuvi 2360

Does that MP3 player mute the music when directions and warnings are given by the gps? Will it connect to the bluetooth headset I have tied to the gps so I can hear it over the noise of 40 drunk coeds? Garmin took away options. None of their units have MP3.

@JimD1: Does the nüvi have a graphic equalizer to shape the sound? Most MP3 players, except for the least expensive models, have a graphic equalizer to do just that. Unless the nüvi does in fact have a graphic equalizer included in its firmware, the nüvi cannot sound better than the dedicated MP3 player that does include one. This applies regardless of whether headphones are used or the sound is piped into a stereo. Without an EQ the sound is flat.

The other issue here is what bit rate is the MP3 encoded at? It does make a difference, since a higher bit rate means less data is discarded from the MP3 file upon compression from the source format. However, a 320kbps MP3 will still sound worse than a WAV file, mostly due to the WAV file not discarding any sound data, with a small part of it being the fact the WAV file does not use compression.

In the end, I really do not care what you use to play your music. Not once have I ridiculed yours or anyone's decision regarding what they wish to use in their cars and am not doing so now. Yet in expressing my point of view regarding this issue I have been met with sarcasm from Gary, and now hostility from you. There is no need for that whatsoever because this is not a fight and I am not your opponent.

or have an Aux or iPod port to to plug in a unit.

Why would it need to mute the music? This is little different than having a radio on. If you think you're going to miss a turn on the GPS by having the music playing, try turning down the music using the volume control on the stereo.

As for the 40 drunken coeds, I can't help you there.

I understand why you and everyone else would be upset over Garmin taking this option out. After all isn't removing features what Garmin has been doing since the 200W was released? My point is that I don't think the removal of MP3 is as big a deal as it appears.

As cutthroat as pricing for GPS units has become, I'm sure they are looking to save every penny they can. The days of paying $400 for a small screen basic GPS are over. Just be thankful that given the prevalence of mapping apps on smart phones that Garmin even exists today. The only reason I use my GPS is for warnings of RLC's. I use Google Maps for navigation, and Waze for roving speed traps.

Technology costs for all devices are way down as well. Manufacturing, labour (China), and many other factors come in to play.

As for smart phones, there's a forum for that...

useless
now these days everyone has a ipod

The stereo may have to be loud enough to overcome the ambient noise in the vehicle (e.g., engine noise, wind noise & traffic noise esp. with windows open), so the GPS instructions would have to be louder still. This would be particularly true if the stereo was playing an audiobook instead of music.

I'd rather have my GPS pause the audio and speak to me at a reasonable volume instead of trying to shout over the other sound(s).

Umm, unless the nüvi is being played through a car stereo that has EQ itself....

Apple

Never

By default, the Australian Karen voice is difficult to hear at 80% volume with the windows down. It's necessary to boost her volume using one of TurboCCC's tools so that she can be heard at 80% volume, since at 100% volume she suffers from massive distortion. Because I went and modified Karen to be louder I can hear her clear as a bell despite engine noise (including a leaky manifold), wind noise and traffic noise in my POS Dodge Caravan with its windows down. It's much quieter with the windows up, but what the heck do I know? I only have a POS Caravan that's very good at muffling external noises, including that engine with the leaky manifold. Mind you, I live in a city so I know just how noisy it can get, not to mention dirty and disgusting. Now, if the ambient sounds are that bad with the windows up that you have to turn the stereo up to overcome them, then there is a problem with the seals on the car doors. Might want to make an appointment to see the mechanic on that one.

Everything else is personal preference, and what you choose to do in your car is your business.

Regarding the MP3 player and nüvi, equalizers are additive. Therefore if you have the equalizer of the MP3 player AND the equalizer of the stereo running at the same time, the music gets a double boost. The stereo I have doesn't have a multi-band EQ. What it does have is non-adjustable EQ presets, and the preset I keep the stereo on is Rock, since it has the clearest vocals. Fire up my MP3 player and connect it to the stereo and I get the MP3 player's EQ as well as the stereo's preset. I will concede that every stereo is different and what I experience in this regard may not apply to everyone else. However, the nüvi lacks a built-in EQ while the MP3 player includes one. Therefore the nüvi fails on the basis of a numbers game. 2 EQs are better than 1.

I cannot speak for Garmin, but, even tho my 765t has one, I have not used it. Well, except for the one time right after I bought it, I listened to a couple mp3s, using it to test it, and the FM broadcast through the cat speakers.

It's not a true statement. Please give us some facts.

Strephon,

I think you are being more than a little touchy. I don't think anybody is picking on you, I was only trying to correct mis-information in your prior post. Then in your reply you added some information on why you like your MP3 player but then also misdirected or misinformed again.

You said pretty clearly you like the double EQ you get by combining the built-in of your Caravan with the MP3. OK by me. I do not love the EQ in my SUV but would rather not try and change it with the player. I like the flat response in my bimmer and would not want to modify it with the MP3. But I respect your right to like what you like.

Your comment about the compression of my MP3 files is either not stated well enough for me to understand or is another misinformation. I think, perhaps, that you prefer WAV files which are not compressed like MP3s. That is again perfectly fine with me. But larger MP3 files are judged by people with pickier ears than mine to be OK too. The nuvi does not care about file sizes but the MP3 player doesn't work with WAVs.

Overall, I think you need to assume people are just disagreeing with you, not attacking you. The key reason I like playing MP3s from my nuvi is it allows me to combine 3 functions in the one device plugged into my aux port. I get the navigation coming out of the speakers, the music, and my phone. All switched automatically between functions by the nuvi. I lose that integration with a separate MP3.

Jim

I don't have an Ipod, nor an Iphone, nor an Ipad, nor a Mac, nor anything Steve Jobs created. My phone is as dumb as a post, but it rings. The number one reason for having a phone.

Along with deleting the MP3 player, Garmin has done away with the audio output jack on newer units too. Gone is the ability to plug the GPS into your vehicle sound system. Bummer.

The only number I can find via Google is a licensing fee of .40 to.75 per unit plus a flat fee of around 15K Not a big deal when GPS cost hundreds of dollars but not insignificant when the cost of the units dropped below $100.

Not 100% sure but it looks like Fraunhofer Institute may not have been charging, or at least actively enforcing, royalty payments for decoders, just for encoders. That changed.

Garmin must have decided the demand for mp3 is too small to bother with.

Garmin is a big company. They probably don't want to be a target or test case for a royalty lawsuit.

I wonderd why nobody mentioned the iPod til now. I got to thinking, except for my dad, every person that I know really does have an ipod! Plus, everyone's car has mp3 capability. I have got to the point to where I mostly use my phone for navigation anyway. My 765t has POIs that are hadier to get to than my phone. Least, I can find them while driving anyway.

Why is everyone attacking Strephon? I have read all of his comments and have learned alot from what he speaketh. He sounds very learned to me!

My car does have the ability to play MP3 files from a CD but it doesn't have a jack to plug in an MP3 player. As to the iPod - I won't even consider one of the units. I like my MP3 player, but it will never be an Apple product.

@groundhog: It's actually quite simple. The attack posts come about because I express an unpopular view. Those attacking seem to think that I just don't "get it" and need it explained to me repeatedly. By taking this tactic they believe that I will somehow magically change my opinion to suit them. Only, it doesn't work that way. Since I refuse to change my opinion to suit them, the attackers get more and more upset until eventually the thread is nothing more than personal attacks and the thread gets locked or otherwise disappears.

As I said earlier, this is not a fight and I am no one's opponent. I have stated my opinion, and whether people accept it or reject it is not my concern. What is my concern is ensuring that my opinion is backed up as much as possible by facts, not emotions. With the exception of my initial post in this thread, which answered the question asked by the OP and was clearly speculation, everything in this thread has been based either on basic facts regarding sound or based upon things that I personally have attempted.

Does the 265 have it

.

but not 15 year old motor coach. The customer does not want to hear my music or Jills directions at 3am. I don't want or need three devices. I only have two ears and need one to hear the customer or sirens. The other one gets the gps via bluetooth headset. Also the radio is not convenient (or safe) to change every 50-100 miles. Garmin give us options!!! you put ecoroute on every new gps and I know of no one using that. No new gps until something comes close the the 765T feature set.

Huh? I wasn't trying to be sarcastic. Sorry you took offense, none was intended.

Your "solution" is none at all.

I and four other family members use our MP3 capable Garmins for audible books and BBC podcasts such as "In Our Times". Two of us plug the Garmin in through our stereo jack and two listen from the Garmin - with one using it as the sole source of sound in a car without working stereo.

It works perfectly, no other device is needed. Indeed, for some a second device is not feasible at all.

Should my Garmin fail and no 7XX equivalent be available at that time - I may not replace my GPS at all. And to be frank, I was always somewhat unsatisfied that Garmin held back features from that series....and now Garmin is driving off the cliff as far as I'm concerned by jettisoning all those things that brought me (and those that I know) to the FULL product in the first place.

@GaryA: Perhaps I shouldn't have posted yesterday at all but I felt a very negative impression around the words you had written and it translated to sarcasm. It probably would have made things much easier all around. It would avoid posts like jombl2's, wherein he misreads my statements, especially the part he quotes, as a solution when it was not put forth as a solution.

I'll try and do better next time. Let's move on.

@jombl2: I believe you might want to reread what I have said. I have not presented a solution and will not present a solution. This is because a solution implies consensus, or as Webster defines it, "a bringing or coming to an end or into a state of discontinuity". There will never be consensus on this issue, and I knew that from the very beginning. Thus there is no solution. What I have presented are opinions based upon facts, and workarounds based upon personal experience. I can't stop you from reading what you wish into my opinions, no matter how true they may be. But characterizing them as a solution is a bit of a stretch.

I feel exactly the same. When my 765 dies beyond repair, it's time to get me a Magellan !

Other than Wav files are larger than MP3 files...