There are many things that you need to look for if you truly want to get the best car MP3 player. The first thing you need to understand is that the best car MP3 player to you may not be the best car MP3 player to someone else. In order to find the right one for you need to have an idea of two things, one is you need to know how you want to spend and two is you need to know what features you want. Like anything else, the more you spend the more features you will be able to get. The less you spend the fewer features you will see.
Setting Up Your Budget for The Best Car MP3 Player
Depending on what you need the budget for your MP3 player will vary widely. Basic units can start as cheap as $50, whereas high end one can be upwards of $1000. If you are expecting to get a basic player with very little in the feature department, I would say expect to spend around $100. If you are looking for a feature packed, integrated car DVD MP3 player you can probably expect to pay around $500. Once you have that general budget set, finding the best car MP3 player should be much easier.
Next you need to start looking at features. There are some basic ones that every player should have no matter what the cost. First up is the ability to play any and all CD-R’s and CD-RW’s. Next is the power for the unit. I would look at units that put out at least 20 watts RMS per channel with a peak of 50 watts per channel. This is a comfortable listening level and will make you system sound good no matter what the volume is set at.
Some of the more advanced features you can look for are having XM and Satellite Radio access and recording with playback ability. These two features will generally kick the price of the unit up a bit, but not too much. Satellite Radios main expense will be in the monthly subscription fee. While it may not seem like much, when you look at it in context the amount you spend on the subscription fee over the course of the year can be many more times the cost of the actual unit. You have to be careful when signing up for these things, especially when you are on a budget.
Hopefully you have a better idea of what you are looking for when shopping for the best car MP3 player. The key is doing the research and only get what you need. There can be a dizzying amount of features that are offered and for the most part many of them are not needed, so find a unit that has what you need and nothing that you do not.