I bought a 91 300E 3 weeks ago and have decided to upgrade the factory am/fm cass with a Neo 35 MP3 player and my own 30Gb HDD ( www.ssiamerica.com ) But before I purchase it I have a few questions I'm hoping to get answered. Since the Neo 35 doesn't have an onboard amp will I be required to install one, or is my car already equipted? I'm assuming the factory am/fm cass powers all 6 speakers. If I remove the old radio will the Neo fit having these dimensions; 155 x 43 x 250mm ( 8.2" x 7.15" x 1.97" ) Am I better off removing the old radio entirerly or some how trying to integrate the two units. (mount Neo in trunk and use cable remote)

Sooo many questions, and all my knowlage about car audio can be summed up in this simple equation; diddly/squat.

Thanks for any help.
EADG
91 300E

I believe the car has a factory amp, but I believe it uses high level inputs and not low level (RCA) Inputs.

I know they make line to rca converters, but I dont think they make RCA to line converters.

you may have to get an amp.

How is the neo 35? I was looking at it at computer geeks and have been debating buying it, or buying a whole computer to stick in the car. I was originally going to put in a computer with a touch screen LCD mounted in the dash, and the DVD Drive mounted in the factory din chassis, but then I thought that would be a bit much, especially when that neo 35 looks to be a cool little unit.

I might look into installing my own mp3 player type deal in the roof by the sunroof switch where the factory phone part is. It might take some ingenuity on my part to take the face off the mp3 player so the hard drive can be mounted in the glovebox or trunk.

Alon

------------------
'92 300CE
Metallic Black (Blue Flaked) on Creme
Clear Corners
Black Grille Insert
78k Miles

Future Upgrades:
Sportline Suspension
17" AMG Monoblocks or EVO II's
94-95 Tail Lights
Euro Headlights
Chip
AMG Exhaust

Click here to Go To My 300CE Page

Ashman: I dunno what a high level input looks like... never ran across one before - I think. No big deal though as I have a bunch of Sony equipment, including an amp, sitting around from my last Benz. I'm waiting for a repair manual to arrive in the mail, hopefully I can get some info on stereos from it...
As for the Neo 35 itself I've not been able to find too much info on the web about it, except for a small BBS (at comptergeeks.com) and an unofficial home page. From what I've read posted from ppl who bought the unit, it's not perfect. It seems that it is pretty finikey as to the brand and size of HDD you put into it - larger capacity drives require more amps to spin up wich the unit has some problems supplying (for what ever reason) An alternative is to use a laptop HDD and a converter cable connection, the advantage being less power to operate than the regular 3.5" drives (more shock resistant too) the down side is the price, laptop HDD's are much more expensive. ANother gripe many ppl complained of was noise interferance from the engine, a simple problem solved with a $15 ground loop from Radio Scrap. There is no way to turn the unit off, other than turning your ignition off, and because of that ppl have been wiring up thier own on/off switches. The on/off comes in handy when the unit has a "brown out" You can reset it with out having to turn your car off and restarting. Hopefully these issues will be addressed if & when the next model comes out.
I've looked at other MP3 players, both CD and HDD types, and the NEO 35 is by far the best bang for the buck. I plan on using a 30Gb HDD in the unit, if I were to match this with a Kenwood CD player I would need 47 CD's... where would I keep 47 cd's in my car?!?
I also looked at building and installing a dedicated MP3 PC in the trunk, but the task seemed pretty involved... special power converters, LCD sreens, control units, wireing and soldering and circuit boards, not my cup o' tea. I found a few home-built PC's and the projects cost the owners $1000+ (US)( for that much coin invest anouther $200 and get yerself a EMPEG unit)
As for placement of the NEO, I still don't know where I'll mount it, I'd like to keep it in the cabin as opposed to a trunk mount because the winters here can get pretty cold. I was eye-balling the ash tray this moring... keep the door so it will flip up and cover the unit when not in use... hmmmm. ANouther option is install in the glove box and mount the optional cable remote somewhere in the cabin; dash, shifter console, ash try (with the door of course) or at the sun roof controls... many placement options. Hope this helps a little bit in your decision to purchase a Neo.

Cheers for now
EADG
91 300E

[This message has been edited by EADG (edited 10-20-2000).]

Definately helps, but my first purchase is going to be wheels/tires and a sportline suspension upgrade....

But I think you could get a 50 +1 disc changer for your car too.... pioneer makes it.

In anycase, I'll be looking into it more later on but I did think about the car install, and it is possible, just the way I want to do it is gona cost a lot. The actual computer components wont be too much, but the screen will cost, and the instal;lation will just take a while...

That neo does look cool though. I'd probably go to mount its control unit in the top console where the factory phone remote is.

And the hard drive part in the dash I think, though in the trunk would be kinda nice.

Was thinking it might not be too hard to add a center console from a dual airbag 124, but That might be pricey.

In anycase, sounds like the neo will work out though with those suggestions of yours.


------------------
'92 300CE
Metallic Black (Blue Flaked) on Creme
Clear Corners
Black Grille Insert
78k Miles

Future Upgrades:
Sportline Suspension
17" AMG Monoblocks or EVO II's
94-95 Tail Lights
Euro Headlights
Chip
AMG Exhaust

Click here to Go To My 300CE Page