Install a 320GB HDD in your 407 today!

I took some time to fiddle with my Navist system the other day. The car comes with a 2GB SD card that contains the MAPit files that are required for the GPS to function properly.

Being a little curious, I wondered if it was possible to transfer those files to a larger SDHC (high capacity card) without messing up the system. After copying and backing up the card, I then transferred the maps as well as a few choice Mp3s and videos to a 8GB card and hey presto! The media works properly!

Now a little emboldened by the success I began to wonder if it could support a portable hard disc drive. I decided to plug in my Transcend 320GB HDD into the USB port and incredibly, that worked as well. Fortunately, the HDD was powered directly via the USB port and fit the glove compartment door pocket nicely, so now I have a virtual movie library running on the car. No more long boring drives!!

Take note that both the disc and the cards have to be formatted in FAT32 format and not NFTS. This goes the same for any USB thumb drive that you might be using. Now you can watch full length dvds, Youtube videos etc so long as its in AVI format.

To capture Youtube videos (such as that fantastic 308 commercial), download the latest version of Realplayer. When you next log into a Youtube video file move your mouse to the top right hand corner of the video and you will see a prompt to “Download This Video”. Click and you are all set!

For those who are keen to try ripping their DVDs or converting their Youtube captured videos I currently use Any Video Convertor, a freeware(!) application which can encode AVI files up to 720 x 576 resolution which is good enough for the 7 inch display. Sound output is still in stereo though. The application can be downloaded here.