Raven

Just like everyone else (I'm a newbie...but longtime reader ), I've been trying to let the '04 max grow on me. I think I'm definitely more accepting now than before, but these two things are just dated and don't belong on a car that is symbolic of Nissan's bold place in the automarket.

A tape deck...when are we going to do away with those?!?! Anybody spending 30+ on a car has CDs now. Its a waste of money. I'd rather have nicer plastic on the dash than a silly tape deck.

Those door handles...much better on the 5th gen. They should be flush or stylish like the Z's. These things look like something from my neighbors Buick.



Okay, I feel better, carry on.

eternalmaxima

Hey whats wrong with a tape deck. All the old school stuff is on tape.I like tape Decks.. its better than nothing

Raven

A point you have...we all love that old school , but cmon, we can get all of that stuff on mp3 now. A little O/T, but I don't see a point in hyping up this awesome Bose system so that we can play low-fidelity tapes. Most people can't stand tapes anymore.

It would just make sense to start with a clean slate (as Nissan seems to do well) and give as much bang for the buck...not waste development time and money designing things around a paradigm of the 80's.

1997 GA16DE

iTrader: (3)

haha, good point. Who needs a tape deck. I havent even seen a real casette tape in at least 10 years. no joke

MONTE 01&97 SE

iTrader: (1)

Its not only Nissan doing this guys, there are several other MFG's that do so and will continue to do so. Their are alot of people out their that can care less about technology and want to play their old tapes!

Raven

Then how about those lame door handles...can we all atleast agree that they are dated and resemble something you would see on a grandpa car?

Maxmann

Tape deck. Interesting point. Think about the median age of the Maxima buyer (it is 47). Those of us in our late 30's early 40's still have a lot of cassettes on hand; we didn't just go out and replace all our cassettes with CD's. So, I do have an occasion to slap a tape in the player every now and then. I do admit, it is rare. But, at those rare times, I'm glad it is there.

Now, take my sons cars. They are 18 and 19 years old. One has a Honda Civic Si and the other a SE-R Spec V. Both of these cars only have a CD player. Makes perfect sense to me. All they have ever purchased is CD's. So, the demo of this car's buyers is such that only a CD player is necessary.

When you think about it, it makes perfect sense that the Max still provides a cassette player. I think they know their buyer pretty well.

srm

MaximaZero

i like them. theyre really classy looking.

sammax89

the door handle switch is for ease of use. It is easier to pull a handle, than to turn your hand upside down and flip one up. The grab handles are also considered more upscale and feel more substantial. BTW... I think Nissan had door handles perfect with the innovative ones on the early 90's Sentras. Could be pulled from the top or lifted up. I am surprised that design never caught on or got refined.

As for the cassette, I agree. I burn CD copies on my Gateway all the time, but have never made MP3s. I am 36, and although I have dual use units in all my cars, I rarely ever use the decks. BUT, my wife uses the one in her Pathy sometimes to listen to taped notes she has taken at a meeting or listens to BOOKS ON TAPE! (Don't ask me)

But I agree... I think the separate little doors scattered about the console for the CD and cassette on the Gen6 look stupid.

Raven

OR

how about atleast an aux input?! I think there are some other manufacturers that are putting an aux input on their factory head units.

Wills98MaxSE

I wouldn't mind having an MP3 player integrated w/ the 6CD/Cassette center stack.

Honda & Mazda already have MP3 players as an option or accessory on a few of thier cars.

Quicksilver

iTrader: (1)

So does Ford. Most of the Ford models can be had with an MP3 playing unit. Come on Nissan, listen up here!

dwapenyi

iTrader: (3)

I bet if Nissan does start doing that, it will go in te Sentra V spec 1st, then maybe the Altima. Not in the Maxima . . . . . .

DW

Ludacris

iTrader: (11)

I prefer these pull grab handles over the usual ones. Like stated earlier they are easier to use and your fingers won't slip when opening it. Plus they feel better...most manufacturers are switching back to the pull door handles.

1997 GA16DE

iTrader: (3)

I used to use the tape player in my sentra as an input. I'm sure everyone here has seen those little cassette adaptors that allow you to connect any headphone device to a tape deck. I used to use that for MP3s and MiniDisk. I have an aftermarket radio and I could even get an MP3 head unit if I wanted, but I wouldn't mind having a MP3 player in my next new car. Every album I have is either on CD or CD-R, plus I have a copy on MP3 (5GBs so far) so that I don't have to haul a CD case from my car to my dorm.

I'm planning on solving all of my music problems with a little engineering. I'm going to make my own MP3 player that will allow me to mount a removable 20GB laptop hard drive and run the music through a digital FM modulator. Comes complete with a remotely mounted screen and pushbuttons. Fun Fun

Raven

Thats a great idea. I too have the tape deck adapter that goes to the standard 1/16th headphone jack, but I have a huge problem with that. There a huge factor of quality lost when using a tape deck adapter because all of the high end and low end frequency range is lost (I know that the system doesn't even acknowledge the super highs and lows ).

The hard drive is a great idea...I would vote for any solution that doesn't leave you driving with wires hanging out everywhere like my car looks like now.

The problem I forsee now is that the head unit replacement will be costly and not seamless...not to mention the issue of getting your own nav-system integrated with the head. I'm already hearing of some new ones that have mp3 decoding support now in addition to a full nav/dvd system. Okay, I'll stop before I go O/T.

1997 GA16DE

iTrader: (3)

The MP3 player will be fun. I have almost everything I need besides the actual circuitry (can't afford yet on my crappy budget) and a trunk mountable case (looking for just the right size). If you want, you can check it out at www.prjc.com

Raven

WOW, nice find!!! Do you know anyone that has ever installed somethign like this? How would you integrate display into the dash? Any idea how much this would set someone back after complete installation? I'm wondering I should just wait until there's a full windows operating system on board...doesn't sound like it would be too long.

1997 GA16DE

iTrader: (3)

I don't remember where I found it, but I've known about it for some time. I do know that it's pretty cost effective, especially for it's versitility. The board, screen, buttons, and memory are sold right oon that website and will prolly run less than $250. You are also able to upgrade the firmware on the board which will allow you easier access to songs and features. The only catch is that you need a laptop hard drive and they can run pretty high for what you get in capacity. Fortunately I have a lpatop and I just upgraded my hard drive in it so now I have a 20GB ready to go. I plan on mounting the screen and buttons neatly in my sun visor and then the wires will be fed from the trunk where I will have an aluminum box. The box will have a removable drive bay that will allow me to mount and unmount the hard drive from my Car to my PC like a sliding drawer.

The only thing I'm upset about right now is the design of the removable hard drive. I want to be able to take out the hard drive, but the mounting hardware I have right now is to damn HUGE. I have a laptop hard drive (2.5") mounted inside a housing that is meant for a standard hard drive (3.5") and that piece slides into a bay that uses a 5.25" computer bay. So for a hard drive that's smaller than a MiniDisk, I need an enclosure in my trunk that can hold a unit the size of a CD-ROM computer Drive (6" more than my original design). I still have alot of thinking to go on this.

BTW, there is a gallery on that website of other people's creations. I think there is one other person that put the unit in his car, but he chose not to do the full sized screen.

dstruc

iTrader: (4)

holy ***. this thread was from 03. way to bring back the dead.

1997 GA16DE

iTrader: (3)

Oh my god, I just started college when this thread was around. Looking at my old posts, I'm amazed how much technology has changed.