Converting CDs and MP3s to Cassettes

[Joshua May]

I'm starting to get a little fed up with my local radio's small playlist, and my car doesn't have a CD player, so I was wondering if there was anyway I could take CDs and MP3s from my computer and "burn" them onto a cassette tape to play in my car. I know that there are cassettes that plug into a CD player that I could get, but I don't even have a portable CD player anymore. I was hoping you guys might know of something, preferably cheap.

Thanks.

[Billfred]

(Disclaimer: This is assuming you have the legal ability to do this and blah blah blah blah)

The best solution I can think of is to find a tape recorder with a line-in jack, then find a male-to-male cable that connects to your PC. Hit record on the recorder, play on your PC, and bada-bing.

Price and effectiveness may vary.

[Max Lobovsky]

You can get a CD player and car tape kit for less than $40 nowadays. You can probably make it an mp3 CD player for under $70. Froogle, ebay, and rebates are good places to look.

[Elgin Clock]

Originally Posted by Billfred

(Disclaimer: This is assuming you have the legal ability to do this and blah blah blah blah)

Sure.. I'll tag that onto my post as well.

Burn mp3's onto cd's.

Copy cd's to tape via (old school way) a Stereo or Boombox.

Keep tapes of music and play in car.

Give a friend the cd's, or keep them for at home listening enjoyment.

[Josh Hambright]

Originally Posted by Elgin Clock

Sure.. I'll tag that onto my post as well.

Burn mp3's onto cd's.

Copy cd's to tape via (old school way) a Stereo or Boombox.

Keep tapes of music and play in car.

Give a friend the cd's, or keep them for at home listening enjoyment.

Elgins got it right on the nose here. I recently became interested in making mix tapes, something i hadn't done since i was 12, and now i'm in love with it.
You can also set up a playlist in your favorite mp3 playback program that is the right length for a side of tape and BOOM you got yourself a perfectly timed tape side. But yah, the line out/line in on a tape deck or boombox (w/ cd and tape player) is the way to go.

[greencactus3]

Originally Posted by Max Lobovsky

You can get a CD player and car tape kit for less than $40 nowadays. You can probably make it an mp3 CD player for under $70. Froogle, ebay, and rebates are good places to look.

a cd player car kit for $40? i dunno where you live but over here you can get two for that price.

[Joe Matt]

Or if you want to do it all on your computer...

http://www.g4techtv.com/freshgear/fe...us_Deck2.html?

It's 149.99, so it's not cheap, but I would go with the CD MP3 Player (or iPod) and a $15 line-in tape (you can pick them up at Best Buy or the Apple Store).

[Max Lobovsky]

Originally Posted by greencactus3

a cd player car kit for $40? i dunno where you live but over here you can get two for that price.

Yeah, I thought it would be less but I was being conservative. A quick Froogle search turns up one for $24+shipping.

If you just want the tape part and just run on batteries for now, the tape typically runs around 10 bucks that can be found at any major retail chain (walmart, target, etc)

[Raven_Writer]

I'm not quite sure on this, but I believe there's a special drive you can buy for a computer that will handle cassettes.

I just remember reading some stuff about these drives you put into your computer (much like a HDD, or a zip drive probably), and it will handle the reading/writing of cassettes.

When I get home, unless someone beats me to it, I'll search on Best Buy and see if I can find one less than 149.99 (since my school blocked most of those sites).

[Wetzel]

Originally Posted by Raven_Writer

I'm not quite sure on this, but I believe there's a special drive you can buy for a computer that will handle cassettes.

I just remember reading some stuff about these drives you put into your computer (much like a HDD, or a zip drive probably), and it will handle the reading/writing of cassettes.

When I get home, unless someone beats me to it, I'll search on Best Buy and see if I can find one less than 149.99 (since my school blocked most of those sites).

It used to be that computers didn't have hard drives OR floppy drives. They had tape drives, with some using regular cassette tapes.

Here is the Plus Drive 2 at Thinkgeek that Joesph pointed out. And the companies website.

Wetzel