automobile mp3 player

Overall Rating: ( 20 reviews )

1. Posted: Jul 13 2008

   I also read a lot of the reviews here and did have a few reservations before I bought the 770 based on those reviews. But ultimately I did buy it and it's been absolutely amazing! The bluetooth handsfree for the phone worked flawlessly, the FM traffic is spookily on the money (I'm a professional photographer living in NYC and it even re-routed me around median grass mowers)!!! From what I've read there does seem to be lemon's out there, so I would recommend testing all features when receiving the unit but it's been a absolute marvel for me and I can only give it 5 stars so far. One of the things that I would strongly suggest is to read the online manual before buying (which can be found here): [...] Other than that, just haven't found a fault with it besides the battery life, oh, and the price of map updates.

2. ( 3 of 3 found this review helpful ) Posted: Jun 22 2008

   I thought my problem was unique, until I read some of the other reviews. A little more than one week after I started using it, the 770 locked up at "Map Loading," a problem you'll find mentioned in a number of reviews. From that point on it was useless and is currently on the way back to Amazon. Before it died, the 770 would, inexplicably, loose Blu-Tooth contact and display a "phone Disconnected" screen. repetitively turning it on and off, would eventually eliminate the problem. Unfortunately, the problem reoccurred every time I began another trip. Barry

3. ( 4 of 5 found this review helpful ) Posted: Jun 14 2008

   My first problem was with Amazon who copped a "not our problem" deal with me when a concern did arise. Then the Garmin was defective and I returned it which was the second lousy experience with all the aggravation entailed. finally those lovely folks charged me a large restocking fee for a unit that in fact was defective. The net result was I will probably never buy from or through Amazon again and perhaps not online again. I will go to local shops and malls for all my future purchases of anything. Public beware!!! Marie Young

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Overall Rating: ( 5 reviews )

1. ( 1 of 1 found this review helpful ) Posted: Dec 7 2007

   This unit is a great solution for hands-free bluetooth calling. I bought this unit when it first came out, so I paid more than the current price of ~$250. While I would still buy it at the higher price if I had it to do over again, the ~$250 price is a steal if you want to get both a decent head unit AND integrated bluetooth. Some other reviewers seem unhappy with the performance, I can't agree with them. While I haven't done an extensive amount of music listening via bluetooth, I use the speakerphone option every single day. It never disappoints. I have never had any problems with echo and every one I talk to claims they can hear me perfectly well. I have tried dozens of in-car phone solutions, from plug-into-the-phone headsets, bluetooth headsets, cigarette-lighter speakerphone contraptions- I've tried them all, twice. I am so happy with the phone capabilities that I will almost definitely pull this head unit and transfer it to my next vehicle. On the downside, I can confirm that the glare issue exists. During daytime driving the polished, convex surface of the faceplate catches wicked glare. The glare does NOT blind me or in any way hinder my driving, it just makes it difficult to read the display on low brightness settings. When set to maximum brightness, it seems to do alright so I don't consider it to be all that much of a hassle. The joystick control makes menu navigation very easy, but it can be a pain when you hit a bump while trying to adjust volume. I therefore stick to the remote for volume and only use the joystick for menu nav. The device is pretty intuitive and easy to use. Pairing to my phones was simple and straightforward. Another reviewer remarked that the bluetooth has trouble with newer phones, but I recently switched from an old HP iPaq 6315 to a Blackberry Curve 8320 and had no trouble whatsoever. With ANY bluetooth solution I would still agree that you should check compatibility lists before buying. That has less to do with this head unit and more to do with Bluetooth's inherent flaws. All in all, I have to say I love this unit and would absolutely recommend it. In fact, I'm thinking about giving one as a gift this holiday season!

2. ( 3 of 3 found this review helpful ) Posted: May 17 2007

   I bought this last night and im already returning it. Returning it for 2 reasons: When i talk through the hansfree bluetooth option, it sounds like im really really far away. Even if i yell, the person on the other end can barley hear me. And #2: There is an incredable glare that shines off it when driving in day time. Such a glare that i can even see the time at a glance. Thats because the face of it is curved towards you and with that come glare.

3. ( 1 of 1 found this review helpful ) Posted: Jan 21 2007

   I paired my HTC S200 with this with minimal difficulties, all due to the phone, not the stereo. If you are buying this to pair with an all in one, make sure that your all in one supports the A2DP protocol or you'll have to do some creative registry hacking. If your device has the protocol pairing is plug and play. Now that I have it paired it is wonderful. I can take my podcasts with me to listen to in the car, no problems!

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Overall Rating: ( 1 reviews )

1. Posted: Oct 27 2007

   I'm not a sophisticated audioph00l, so I can't make any detailed, "subtle, but unassuming," type nebulosities about the bouquet of the sound quality. I will point out that it was a cinch to install it, and all of the features seem to work as advertised. The removable face removes, the CD player plays, the USB MP3 port works quite well (and it tells you what the song is in a sort of ticker display), the radio performs its tasks adequately, and the AUX cable can in fact be hooked up to an ipod shuffle. Be advised though, for the latter use, you will have to purchase an additional cable to hook up to the RCA jacks in the back, and presumably wire the adapter cable up through your car somewhere. I don't know why a car stereo has RCA jacks (which are two giant dongle-like banana plugs), but this one does. There are apparently other car stereos which provide a better connection (with recharging). The skip prevention seems to work well on the CD player when I bounce all over the place in my monster truck, but, oddly, it seems to freak out when the car shimmies a bit. It might be my imagination, or a dirty CD. A neat subtlety: it manages to keep your place on where you were the last time you played your CD, which is a really nice engineering touch, even if it is kind of useless. I haven't tried the XM radio hookups, as paying for radio waves is for sophisticated people who don't drive monster trucks. The idea of a remote in a car stereo is sort of new to me; I like it. Probably, if I read the manual I'd understand why the volume knob sometimes ceases to function, but it's a car radio: I don't want to have to read the manual except while installing the thing. It is also rather confusing switching between audio inputs. It would be nice if it were a little less LED heavy on the faceplate. It makes the cab look sort of like the inside of a cheesy eastern European discotheque. If you're dating an eastern European, maybe this will work for you.

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