I've been hunting for a suitable 3.5" HD based player which can run on DC input for the longest time without success. Dension used to make a player called DMP3 http://www.dension.com/dmp3_info.htm
Its discontinued. Now all I can find is DivX players like Modix and MVix which are not primarily designed with MP3 playback in mind. No information available on how they handle large MP3 collections, ease of navigation etc. Don't really want to go around with a bag of iPOD's or Zen Xtra's. (Need ~200GB) I only need the player in the car and at different work sites i.e. no need for battery operation. Can't believe that there is no easy solution for that! Someone please point me to a good product by a company that will be around more than a year.

For thee DIY type guys and girls...

http://www.frankvh.com/mp3player/index.html

A little more polished.

http://www.affiliatesexcel.com/catalog/pro...products_id/271

Thanks for the response. Option 1 is a bit too much. They are not even selling the PCB's anymore and I can't solder very well. Option 2 is the Modix player I referred to in my initial post. Mvix is similar and one of their models also has an inbuilt FM modulator. However, I do not know what these players will do with thousands of files arranged in a directory tree. Very likely, they'll ignore sub-directories or just freeze at the sight of too many files. They are also unlikely to be around next year. I can't get any parts for my broken Dension DMP3 player and Dension is a better known company.