 Clarion radio | | Review Date: November 30, 2009 | | Reviewer: Celeste Glenn, Madison, MS USA | | I bought this radio for my teenage son and have been most pleased with my purchase. It is very user friendly (I figured out how to use it without having to read the instructions) and a very versatile radio tumer for the price. What I like best about it is the DVD feature (which shows a very nice picture and is also easy to use) does not show on the screen unless the parking brake is engaged. Don't have to worry about my teenage son driving and trying to watch a movie. A definite plus for the teenage driver in your family! |
Clarion VZ309 | | Review Date: January 25, 2010 | | Reviewer: Rosemary Robinson, | | So far this product has been great, easy to install, has a great picture when watching a dvd, and my iphone plugs right into the stero to play songs from my play list. I love this product, and recomend it to everyone. |
great dvd for the price | | Review Date: January 29, 2010 | | Reviewer: sugehill, California,L.A | | Just installed this DVD player. Works fine. Ipod controller is the best for playing your ipod through the radio. I control my ipod(older 30gb photo) without ever touching it (music only) You have to buy the adapter separate but its only $24(on ebay) and its recommended ,Make sure you by the right one for your Ipod. The remote that comes with it also controls the IPOD through the radio. It has a separate bass sub controller which is cool for getting your perfect bass without a added eq. HD radio is cool but not many stations i really wanna listen to, just listen to the regular ones I always listened too. The DVD player works fine but you cant see it unless the emergency brake is on. There is a bypass you can by on ebay but I wouldn't waste my money. All in all a very good player for the money which is feature packed and free HD tuner. |
Awsome! | | Review Date: February 11, 2010 | | Reviewer: Michael H. Burris, Cranberry, PA USA | | This is a great radio for the money just be aware that the screen setup is not great pretty basic and plain! still haven't got the dvd to play on screen I hooked up every thing and nothing I am going to buy a by pass filter to by pass the ebrake not to play while drivin justso I can veiw the dvd! |
Best Deal ever | | Review Date: February 18, 2010 | | Reviewer: Herminio F. Pagay Jr., Honolulu, HI USA | First off I self installed this and love it, this deck replaced an Alpine CDA-9853 deck and runs to an Alpine PDX-5 amp to power all of my Alpine Type-S components, coaxial and subwoofers. I have been installing my own car stereos for years. I was shopping for a In-dash DVD player with HD Radio and discovered this deal on amazon.com One of the best feature is the HD radio, Finally I can listen to music without annoying commercials and stupid discussions played on normal FM. The sound quality is great and the deck looks beautiful not to mention the best deal here on amazon. There's a few flaws this unit has. One is the small size of the clock display, I wish that it would be bigger. Another flaw is when in aux mode you are stuck with a gray screen with the time and "av1" displayed in the corner. It has an RCA video input but useless without the RCA audio input, this limit the expandability of unit like adding a game console but you can't hear it.
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This is a great head unit for the price | | Review Date: March 3, 2010 | | Reviewer: Gift Card, CEDAR RAPIDS, IOWA, US | | This is a great DVD player for the price. have not had any problems with it yet I have only had it for about a month or so but its great. |
under 200 bucks for a media player with a screen | | Review Date: March 10, 2010 | | Reviewer: H. Ho, PENSACOLA, FL, US | | this is probably the best multimedia station with a screen u can get for under 200 bucks. it works without any problem to my back tv. however it does take a little long to load my dvd. other then that its a great media player for the price.. |
great head unit | | Review Date: April 14, 2010 | | Reviewer: K. Pelley, | I bought this tuner as a combo package with the separate Clarion HD tuner. The price was about half what any other units were. It gives great clarity and power. Some reviews about the functionality are true - the USB menu needs to be easier to use; it is slow to start every time the car is turned on or off; you should be able to personalize the background, etc.
But, I am fully satisfied. The price, power, and capabilities of this unit exceeded my expectations. |
CLARION IS AT THE TOP OF THEIR GAME. | | Review Date: January 16, 2010 | | Reviewer: Jacob A. Otero, Venice FL | | GREAT SOUND GREAT LOOKS WHATS NOT TO LIKE ABOUT IT. OHH WAIT UNLESS YOU LIKE TO WHINE ABOUT STUPID STUFF THAT ONLY A NIT PICKING RETARD WOULD COMPLAIN ABOUT.YOU SHOULD FIRST GET YOUR FACTS STRAIGHT ABOUT THE LEADERS IN CAR AUDIO BEFORE BASHING THEIR PRODUCTS. I THINK ALL OF THE NEGATIVE REVIEWS AND WHINERS ON HERE SHOULD GO BUY JENSEN OR SONY. |
Most bang for your buck! | | Review Date: December 2, 2009 | | Reviewer: Steven Wassif, Fontana, CA USA | Screen/customization: Bright, vivid, and sharp but Clarion decided to keep customization to a complete minimum. For instance, when in aux mode you are stuck with a gray screen with the time and "AVin" displayed in the corner. I just turn off the screen completely to avoid it. Such a waste of a big beautiful screen.
DVD player: Quick start up, strong motor, good quality, and plays where you left off. Sometimes it will run in a chapter loop after turning the car off and then on again. This happens periodically (1 out of 10 times) where there will be a chapter loop causing you to stop the movie and start it again. Edit: I have heard from others that it happens every time you turn the car on and off but this hasn't exactly been the case for me, definitely has problems though.
HD radio: Locks into signals quickly and stays there, sounds fantastic. Info is scrolled on the bottom, again, waste of screen space.
Sound Quality: Excellent sound through deck power and 2V outputs. I have power hungry component speakers so I use an external amplifier but the deck's power will work fine for most setups. I used to run a pioneer deck with 4V preamp outputs so I was a little concerned about how the Clarion's 2V outs (4v for subs) would compare but I was pleasantly surprised at the strength and quality of the signal. Just as loud and clean as ever, if not more so. Sound is mostly flat with a slight emphasis on bass (remedied easily.)
Remote Control: Works well but don't lose it! You'll be crippled without it if you ever watch DVDs since most functions are controlled through the remote only.
USB: Sucks, simple as that, they shouldn't have even included it if they couldn't do it right (only shows one list of songs, difficult navigation.) Edit: Someone has brought it to my attention that you can in fact switch folders using the remote. I stand by my opinion that it's still poorly implemented and will never be used by me.
Rear Camera: Never tested, I'll definitely update this review once installed.
Overall: This is a fantastic unit at Amazon's rock bottom prices. I cannot think of any other deck that even comes close to this feature set and quality for less than $200. At $129 with free HD radio, it's a no-brainer. It's simply the best deck that you can get for that price and feature-set. I thought the DVD player would just be a toy for me but I actually find myself using it quite often when waiting around (parked of course) and the screen and sound quality are a pleasure. My major complaint has to do with the lack of customization. You really can't control what plays on the screen at all, no backgrounds, no color changes, nothing. For less than $200 I really can't complain much but at Clarion's retail price of $400 before tax you would think they'd allow for a little more adjust ability. Another thing is the lack of a rear A/V input. Pretty lame when you have that screen just begging to be used!
Pros:
- Price (IF you get in on amazons $129.99 deal w/hd tuner)
- Sound Quality
- Picture Quality
- (Good) DVD player
- Price
- Feature set
- HD radio
Cons:
- A bit slow when switching sources (roughly 3-5 seconds.)
- Lack of screen customization.
- Lack of A/V input in the rear (there's video but no audio, very lame)
- Cost of accessories (XM is pretty pricey) and rear camera is not included. People really shouldn't expect a rear camera to be included but I'm sure someone out there is going to be shocked when they find it "missing"...
One more thing worth mentioning is that although the DVD function has a lockout so that you can only view media while the parking brake is up (lead from unit connecting to parking brake wire) it is ridiculously easy to bypass. Anyone can google it and figure it out for themselves, not the safest thing for "invincible" teenagers trying to watch The Fast and the Furious while driving... |
Very solid deck for a minimal price! | | Review Date: December 28, 2009 | | Reviewer: James Lettermail, | First off I self installed this and love it, replaced a alpine deck and runs to 2 amps to power all of my after market speakers. Im 22 and have been into car audio for about 6 years now, self learned and installed everything I've put in it. One of the best feature is the HD radio, honestly if you know about car audio you know that FM radio is useless to someone with multiple amps and after market speakers and subs. Finally im about to play radio without all the garbage that is broadcast over normal fm. The sound quality is great and the deck looks beautiful not to mention the ridiculous price here on amazon.
I find these complaints a tad off and wanted to give you my input on them.
1. If you start your car before you attach the faceplate, the receiver will remain turned off. You have to press the power button to turn in on - every time. Very inconvenient.
~ Honestly this is a horrible complaint, I've owned a few alpines and other random decks this seems like a common thing to me, my solution put faceplace on before starting car or press one button?
2. The "power"/ON button is not lit when the unit is off. So, coupled with the issue #1, it is a major inconvenience at night. You come in, start the car, put the faceplate back on - and nothing. Now you will have to blindly look for the power button to turn it on.
~ Again horrible complaint seriously your vehicle doesn't have a dome light, why dont you attach the faceplate before starting your car?
3. If there is a CD/DVD in the drive, it will always start in the CD/DVD source, regardless of last source you were listening to when it was turned off.
~ Incorrect, mine doesn't do this, I leave CD in, USB in, AUX in and it will play what ever I left off with.
4. USB slot is also not lit, so, inserting a USB drive at night takes a few tries.
~ Seriously ... ?
5. Most of the buttons have more than one functions. One function is printed right on the button, the other function for the same button is printed right below it. However, ONLY the button is lit, not the print below it. For example, the power button also acts as the mute button. But when the receiver is on, only the power symbol is lit, not "MUTE" which is written right below it. It is true for all buttons with more than one functions.
~ The deck doesn't have many buttons and memorizing them takes about 5 minutes, after a few car rides I don't find this a valid complaint either.
6. The dreaded DVD-loop issue. If you switched to a different source or turned the unit off while playing a DVD, next time it will only loop in the chapter it was last playing. Definitely a bad programming issue.
~ Valid complaint, I don't use mine primary for DVDs so it hasn't bothered me much.
7. If you "mute" the unit while playing a CD or songs from USB, the mute will be automatically canceled and sound will come back on after the next song comes on.
~ Incorrect, mine doesn't do this
8. The faceplate anchor design is merit-less at best. It has two plastic anchors sticking out from the unit where the faceplate latches on. These are plastic anchors about 1" long and they are just sticking out.
~ Semi valid, they seem strong enough but I do try to be gently while putting the faceplate on doesn't bother me.
9. Absolutely no display customization. What comes with is what you get - and what comes with it is nothing. You can't change the display color/wallpaper/font/size - nothing.
~ True but I wouldn't complain about it, most decks are like this and I think it has a very good looking GUI
10. USB operation is ridiculous at best. It shows all the songs in one list and the only way to navigate through them without the remote is to go up and down, which is painfully slow. You can go folder to folder using the remote. With the "UP" and "DOWN" symbols being not lit, it's inconvenient at night.
~ If u want to play specific song after specific song USB is a bad choice. I usually put a bunch of CDs in there own folders and select the folder I want before I even start driving and stick with that CD or I put it on shuffle
11. If your mp3 folders have a pic such as an album art, this unit will get stuck at that, and it will ask you to put the parking brake on to view it - instead of just not showing the pic and moving on to the next song. If you have a lot of albums, you will need to manually remove all the album arts from the USB drive.
~ Valid, solution delete pictures from USB, took me about 3 minutes but i can see how its annoying.
12. In the USB mode, it "eats" about 1 sec from the beginning of a song when it moves starts the next track.
~ Valid, annoying indeed
13. It will recognize only 512 songs total in your USB drive. Now-a-days people have their whole music collection on a single chip. 512 songs limitation sets you back to 1999.
~ I haven't tested this yet but it is a weak limitation that was an advertised feature you knew before hand.
14. A lot of the DVD operations can only be performed using the remote. There are buttons on the faceplate that are inactive during DVD play which they could have easily put some functions on.
~ I primarily use the remote so not a valid complaint to me.
15. It is not compatible with all USB drives.
~ I've tried a trascend, sandisk and off brand all worked but I'm sure theres some that don't work.
16. No dedicated button for "search", meaning fast forward or reverse. So, if you want to FF a song or DVD chapter, you will have to press and hold ">>|" for about 5 secs and then it will do it only at 2x speed. Do the same again (another 5 secs) to go 4x. If you let go before that, it will just skip to the next song or chapter - and you will have to do it again.
~ I've never found the need to fast forward a song while driving before?
17. The internal clock loses time like crazy!! It would be half to a minute behind in just a week.
~ Not valid had mine installed for over 2 weeks clock is still right on. I believe your install may be bad which caused your Cd playing on start up.
18. No permanent brightness setting for the screen. All you have is Normal -> Dim -> Off, using the Dim button.
~ Valid but minimal, even at night I haven't found the unit to be overly bright my car has the deck set pretty low so that may be why.
19. Finally, THIS UNIT IS SLOW!!! Navigating through songs or tuning stations, skipping songs, switching sources - much slower than even the cheapest receivers out there.
~ Not true I've had a few off brand feature loaded decks that where slower and how often do you swith sources maybe once at most during a car ride which the switch takes about 3.2 seconds (i timed mine) and switching stations or songs is very quick less then a second on my unit.
These are just my opinions take them as you will. Thanks. |
Four stars at the price!! | | Review Date: December 21, 2009 | | Reviewer: TSG, Sacramento, CA USA | Really odd receiver. A multi-hundred dollar MSRP, selling often for $130 with an HD radio receiver. Doesn't have any of Clarion's normal navigation buttons or interface elements, and lacks Clarion's CeNET interface. I strongly agree with the notion that this is some random product branded by Clarion. At MSRP I'd be horribly disappointed with this unit - plenty of options from Pioneer, Alpine, Kenwood that blow this thing out of the water. But at $130 with an HD radio receiver, it's a great deal - sort of. It's not as polished or as thoughtful as other $130 receivers, but what it lacks in polish it makes up in features, and sometimes that's a fair trade to make.
Build - not great. Chassis has some flex to it, and you have to be careful if you're using the DIN bracket to mount it. Believe it or not, the chassis will flex enough that the faceplate won't lock into place. It's not a roadblock, just a concern. If you're ISO mounting it, you won't have a problem. I originally DIN mounted for ease of removal, but switched to ISO.
Display - really very good. I wasn't expecting much out of a 3.5" display on a $130 receiver, but it's fine. I'm sure there are better displays, but it's as good as any I've seen in low/mid end car audio gear. There is no screen saver or visualization options, which I feel is unusual for a stereo with a relatively high-tech display, but quite frankly I find that stuff distracting anyway, so whatever. As others noted, there is zero customization. Also not a big deal. The unit is connected to a 7" display on the roof (got screens, yo!) and whatever is on the stereo's display is also on the second display. It does NOT handle multisource playback.
Interface - buttons are all labeled clearly enough and are easy to use. As I mentioned above, it's not like other Clarions so don't expect to know what you're doing. The buttons are not logically laid out, and most have multiple functions. There are only like 10 buttons so it's not exactly difficult to use, but by the same token just not well thought out. Many functions require the remote to use - some make sense, some are seemingly random. For example, you can navigate through MP3s track-by-track on the head unit itself, but if you want to change folders, you need to use the remote. Dumb!
Menus respond slowly, but not impossibly slowly. Pressing Source to switch sources means waiting a couple seconds for the source to actually switch. Changing tracks takes a second or so each press of the Next button. Pressing Setup is another second or two delay before the setup menu appears. I don't tend to fidget with my stereo while I'm driving, but I see how this could be an annoyance to some. It might be an annoyance to me from time to time.
In general, the interface is Fine. All elements are labeled clearly enough that nothing is a hassle. It's not perfect, but you quickly get used to it and it does what you ask it to do.
Playback - My primary motivation for buying this stereo was playing MP3s off a flash drive, and it seems virtually no manufacturer is good about documenting this feature on their stereos so it's always a surprise. Apparently the entire function was a surprise on the VZ-309, as "MP3 Playback from a USB Device" is not documented at all in the manual. Not even one word. Here's what I can say -
MP3 decoding is good. I've heard better, but I've heard much worse. I'm playing back on stock Isuzu speakers through the integrated amp, and have no complaints. Aside from the slow menus, tracks start quickly and seek properly, so that's a plus. I have not yet found the upper limit of what the stereo will address, but my flash drive is 4gb and has 628 tracks on it across three folders and the unit has no problem here; Folder 1 has about 10 tracks, Folder 2 about 10 tracks, and Folder 3 has the remaining. All folders are directly in the root. It plays CBR and VBR files, although it does not handle bad files gracefully. Sometimes it will skip the track, sometimes it will reboot the entire unit. It does keep playing, though, so that's nice. A Sony of mine just displays ERROR and does nothing else til you power cycle it.
The display only shows Folder, the two next tracks, and the currently playing track. Kind of a waste of screen space, but also makes those four items very easy to read. ID3 information for the playing track scrolls, but the other tracks you only see the first 12 or so characters. If you're like me and have a folder FULL of Huey Lewis and the News MP3s, you're hosed. Every single Huey Lewis and the News track looks identical on the menu, so you're guessing at what track is up next. Makes seeking a particular file really annoying. On the upside, I LOVE Huey Lewis and the News, so I'm always happy to hear ANY of their songs! If you're sensitive to this, rename everything from Artist - Title to Title - Artist.
Playback order of MP3s is VERY odd. Playing Folder 3 on my flash drive puts about 550 songs in one folder. They appear in a random order - not sorted by artist, track, album OR file name. They may be sorted by date order, but I'm not sure. It seems a little random. I'm pretty neurotic about keeping files named uniformly and having most if not all ID3 information filled out, so the fact is a little intriguing. Hardly a roadblock, though. A nice feature this unit has is that it allows you to choose a track number by typing it into the remote - for example, if you want to listen to track 432, just type 432 into the remote. That's super convenient. On the downside, tracks are labeled across folders and not per folder - to expand on the previous example, the first track in the first folder is track 001, and the last track in the last folder track 628. The first track in the third folder might be 54. Minor nit - again, it's something easy to get used to.
Random works pretty well, and UNLIKE a lot of other Clarions, it you hit Next it goes to another random track, not the next track in that folder. On the downside, your only options are randomize everything or randomize nothing - you can't tell it to just randomize one folder. I feel that's a seriously lacking feature. Same with repeat - repeat the entire device, or nothing.
Overall, I'm happy with the feature. Yes, it could be better in several ways, but in combination with everything else this stereo offers and at the price point it's totally fine. Heck, there aren't many $130 receivers that even handle USB! I have more expensive stereos in other cars that aren't any more graceful. The fact handles a lot of music on a big drive makes it a-ok by me.
HD radio works very well - it seeks fast and tunes fast. After a couple seconds of listening to SD radio, it notifies you if an HD-1 or HD-2 channel is available. It will automatically tune to the HD-1 channel, and the OPT button lets you select the other. My only other HD radio experience is in my truck with a Directed tuner, and the Clarion works as well or better. Zero complaints. Normal radio reception is very good in town - don't have any long-distance tests yet, but it pulled in some pretty weak SD stations just sitting in the driveway.
DVD playback is quick and clean. As others have noted, if you cut power to the unit while watching a DVD, when it resumes it will be stuck in that chapter of the DVD forever. Weird little problem. You can either switch to another source before powering down, or eject and reinsert the DVD when you power back up to start over. Switching sources or stopping & restarting doesn't work. The remote is absolutely required to navigate DVDs, so don't lose it. Also, it seems to have a minor problem choosing some aspect ratios - I tried a variety of 16:9, 2.25:1, and 4:3 DVDs and results are mixed. The screen on the roof is smart enough to work it out, but the screen on the unit not so much. If you like watching movies on a 3.5" screen this could be a problem, but if you do, stop. That's silly.
Bottom line - It's not perfect, but does everything its advertised to do moderately competently. At $400, you have much better options, but at $130 nothing comes even close. IMHO, the details where it isn't perfect are more than offset by the wide range of things it does at the price. If you just want to play a CD, don't buy this unit - it will annoy and frustrate you. But if you want to play MP3s off a flash drive while watching your backup camera it's a fine option.
Final word of warning - Again, I'm pretty convinced this is not a Clarion-manufactured unit. With that in mind, you can't connect any other ceNET peripherals. If you read the specs, you already know that. But for everyone else, DO NOT anticipate buying an iPod interface, satellite radio interface, CD changer interface, or Bluetooth interface. I wouldn't anticipate being able to buy a replacement remote or faceplate or anything else. Until I know otherwise, everything about this unit is "fly by night" so to speak, so be nice to it, and enjoy your $130 DVD/MP3/HD-radio-playing receiver while you can! I am!
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Good stereo | | Review Date: January 25, 2010 | | Reviewer: M. Masseo, Danbury, CT United States | I did not have unrealistic expectations for this unit. All I wanted was an in-dash DVD video player, with MP3 capability. This is what I got, and then some.
The unit looked mildly attractive to me after seeing it on Cruthfield's site for 299.99. I just couldn't see any justification for spending that much, so I looked on Amazon's and saw it for 129.00!. So I proceeded to purchase this unit. It also came with a bonus of an HD radio tuner.
I am happy with the results.
The system has plenty of power. No external amplifier is required in most cases. Its loud enough to cause hearing loss, if thats what you want.
The audio quality is quite good. There is no noticeable hiss or hum, the frequency response is good. Bass and treble functions are adequate, The loudness setting is great at lower volumes.
The system does not distort heavily when listening at loud volumes.
AM/FM Reception
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- The reception I get with AM/FM is better than my 2003 aftermarket panasonic head unit.
HD Radio
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- HD Radio sounds amazing. I never thought I would listen to broadcast stations, but this makes it much better. Living in the NYC area, i listen to 660AM WFAN Sports radio. I have listened to the shoe-box, mono sound for years and never minded. Now when I tune into 660 AM, I initially hear the mono sound, then a few seconds later, the radio picks up the HD signal. The sound truly does seem to be CD quality. I'm happy the HD tuner was thrown in ;)
The only issue with HD, has nothing to do with the unit. This is a flaw in HD signals themselves. Since HD signals only have about 10% of the power of analog, good luck hearing your HD stations without it reverting back to analog while you drive.
CD
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- The Speed of the insert and eject is quite rapid. ( I never really minded slowness of loading and unloading, but this makes me wonder why other decks were so slow in this area)
- The audio quality is quite good, but the navigation through the tracks isn't as simple as it could be. (Due to the button layout, for me) not a big deal, as once I'm playing a disk, I don't really look at the display anyway.
MP3s
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- This unit plays MP3s fine, you put a disk in, and you see the tracks on the screen, and their id3 tags. They sound like you'd expect from Mp3s... ok, to good. Its almost like listening to a cassette where the head has become misaligned, and the highs are going in and out. They are not audiophile quality anyway, and really do not sound good unless you use at least 256k bit-rate.
- MP3s can be listened to from CD, DVD and USB. *My 64GB usb key doesn't work on it, didn't expect it too. Stick to 2GB or smaller USB keys.
DVDs
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- Hooray, I can watch DVDs (or listen to them) while I drive.
- there are not many display options, as far as picture quality adjustments go. You get bright, not so bright, and off. Videos look very nice, considering you are watching them in your dash. Its pretty cool to just even hear everything in surround. (Kind of like dolby and dolby II, not necessarily AC-3)
* For saftey's sake, the manufacturer requires you to have your parking brake on, to assure that you are not moving while viewing video. This is a good thing, but I bypass it. The way the system is supposed to be setup , is you run the green wire from your unit, to your parking brake switch. The unit detects the wire is grounded, when you have your parking brake on (parking brake light illuminated) .. There is no secret, you can easily bypass this. for the Clarion VZ309 , and other.
My workaround.. I just wedge the green wire in my cigarette lighter, by using the 12-v adapter from My Tom-Tom. When I turn the car on, and try to play a disc, it says "Video not allowed while moving". once I see that, I pull out the cigarette lighter adapter for my Tom-tom (with the wire looped in one of the metal connectors) then plug it back in... then the video appears. Basically, you just need a little toggle or push button switch to do this.
AUX
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there is a simple 1/8" stereo jack on the front, so you could plug in any audio device. I'll be using this with my portable XM unit.
Minor gripes:
- The folding up and down of the face scares me. I sometimes think I'm going to break it. Due to the ability to remove the face plate, you can surely tell the hinging and locking mechanism will be a problem area; "Too many moving parts" I suppose.
- There is a longer than desired delay between switching sources (Disc-->HD radio --> source, etc) I sometimes click to quickly and land on the source after the one i needed.
- no simple XM solution (you have to buy a "universal" kit from audiovox, and a cable)
- If you like IPods, and want to control them from the unit, its another cable you have to get.
- It doesn't play DTS audio, and DVD audio disks.
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A Great Performer! | | Review Date: February 4, 2010 | | Reviewer: F. McAfee, Cleveland, Ohio | | I haven't changed a factory stereo out for over 20 years, all the lights began burning out in the head unit in my 05 Astro van and I wanted to plug in an mp3 player and had also been toying with the HDFM idea. This unit (package deal w/HDFM module) was half the cost of a used factory replacement, yes, a little more involved to install but not a problem. The truck has 8 factory speakers installed, I was a bit concerned I'd have to change everything to achieve a decent sound, not the case, it sounds great with all the factory speakers hooked to it. I really love the HDFM, I have very little problem hanging onto broadcast signal and multicast channels come in fine. I didn't buy it for the dvd portion but Cars looks pretty cool on the little screen! I will probably add a screen in the back of the truck for the kids though. I use a Sansa mp3 player, it works just fine and once again has great sound. I consider myself a pretty basic user looking for better than average sound, this unit performs very well for me, I'm extremely happy. I've not plugged in a jump drive yet, another feature thats a plus I didn't buy it for. I do miss my speed controlled volume but would still trade it for the much higher quality of sound I've gotten with the Clarion. Once again, for the investment cost, I'm very pleased. |
Excellent audio and you get HD for a cheap price! | | Review Date: January 31, 2010 | | Reviewer: Travis M. Erck, Chicago, IL | I don't understand what some of the bad reviews are all about. This radio with HD has very nice audio and I'm comparing this to a Sony Xplode that it replaced which lasted a year and then developed problems.
Installation was simple. To trick it into playing DVD's just get a PAC TR7 from Amazon and it will trigger the parking brake wire everytime you start ignition. Problem solved if you want to play DVD's when the car is moving for passengers.
The sound quality blows the old sony away. It's clear. not to tinny, not to bass or deep it sounds real nice with awesome surround output.
The only 2 downsides to the player is the response time is slower than usual and when you play an MP3 and reach the last track it doesn't automatically go back to the first track again.
Other than those 2 minor annoyances this player is awesome for the money!
You get a whole lot more than what you paid and it's good quality right out of the box.
I have no complaints for what I paid whatsoever and glad I bought this unit. And I buy almost everything from Amazon.com they have great customer service and a simple return policy if your not happy.
GET ONE BEFORE THEY ARE GONE! |
An Excellent value on sale, but I wouldn't pay regular price for this. | | Review Date: February 22, 2010 | | Reviewer: Mark Zickefoose, | DISCLAIMER: the four-star rating is entirely dependent on buying it at the sale price of $129 plus a free HD Tuner.
I read all the reviews for this radio before I bought it, so I had some idea of what I was getting myself into, and for the most part, it was what I expected - a rebadged Jensen unit that isn't terribly fast but has a pile of features. It replaces an aging Aiwa that apparently had forgotten how to filter out engine noise properly.
While I knew what to expect, a few issues have appeared over the past few weeks of use:
1.) The HD Radio is LOUD. This wouldn't be a problem if the iPod and AUX inputs weren't so QUIET in comparison - I have to crank the volume to listen to my iPod, but if I forget to turn it down before switching back, the radio is so loud it trips the overload circuit. The reception and sound quality are excellent, but just setting volume levels by input would have solved this without potential ear or amplifier damage.
2.) While the face is gorgeous to look at, it's a pain in the sphinctral region to use while driving - there is practically no tactile dimension to the face - everything is so flat you have to guess and hope that you are pressing the right button without looking away from the road. I've put it on shuffle several times and didn't know it until songs came up out of order.
3.) Combine #2 with the slow interface and iPod navigation can quickly become a chore - the unit only loads TWO ITEMS at a time. If you try to select the third or fourth item quickly, the selection simply switches between the first and second lines unless you wait for it to load the next two items. I have five thousand songs on my iPod, in dozens of categories and hundreds of folders, and that's a long ways from what the newest models can hold. Also, after stopping and restarting the car (and maybe after just playing music for a while), pressing the 'back' button doesn't merely back you up one level as it does on the iPod, it returns you to the TOP MENU. Which means you have to slog through the mud to get BACK to where you were if you just wanted to listen to another album in the same category, or by the same artist. I may have to go back to using the AUX in cable and a charger, since I can navigate to any song directly in a small fraction of the time the Clarion can do the same. USB files have the same problem.
While the VZ309 is certainly worth the $129 sale price (more so when Amazon throws in the free HD Radio tuner), and performs quite nicely within limits, I wouldn't bother spending more than $200 on this, as the equivalent Jensen that shares the VZ309's hardware and software is available from Amazon for less than that. For $265, there is better to be had here and elsewhere. |
vz309 | | Review Date: March 2, 2010 | | Reviewer: F. Taylor, VA | | Purchased this when Amazon had it on sale for $130 with the free HD tuner. Pretty good if you got it on the sale. Good upgrade from factory stereo that came with my Corolla. The factory speakers sound much better with more power going to them. I haven't used a DVD with it, but videos from the iPod nano looks good. iPod interface is so-so, and it would have been great if you could control videos as well as music from the stereo once you add the ccuipod3 cable. |
Good Hardware. Bad Software. BONUS: Plays AVI/MPG files | | Review Date: December 21, 2009 | | Reviewer: NDodd, USA | First of, the four star rating has a lot to do with the price point (130 for Unit + HD Receiver).
The hardware has so much capability, and yet the software lacks so much. It feels like the Software didn't go through any kind of QA process. Software is full of annoying bugs. UI is laggy and lack-luster
The player was able to play AVI and MPG files from the USB drive, which was not mentioned in the spec. I am guessing they initially had plans for this, and ended up scrapping it due to deadline issues. If Clarion made the source available, some software engineer out there like me could make things a little better. This hardware is definitely capable of doing some good things, and can actually sell for 100 bucks more, if the software gets it's issues fixed.
Bottom line: It's a good value (features) at the sale price, if you can ignore the crappy user interface.
List of bugs I can remember:
1. Mute only mutes for one track. This is definitely not an intended feature as you can see the mute icon still on the display.
2. Setup menu looks like they throw something together at the end of the schedule. You can only access this through the remote. Nothing really useful in there anyway.
3. Player plays/displays JPG files. So if you have a USB with music connected that has album art images, it will display it, and doesn't know what to do after that. Doesn't play the next track. When you hit next, it goes to the next music track, but clears out the shuffle option if previously selected. Really annoying
4. I gave up on browsing through folders on USB, which can only be done through remote. This interface is horrid.
5. The looping of a DVD track after a power-cycle as someone already mentioned in a previous review.
6. Yet to figure out on how to change time.
There are so many other randomly annoying bugs |
remote problem | | Review Date: February 7, 2010 | | Reviewer: N. Usoltsev, | | This unit seems to be as described and good deal for the money paid. However my remote does not work(( I tried to flip battery press different things but nothing works... anybody tried universal remote or replacement? |
why has price so high? | | Review Date: February 18, 2010 | | Reviewer: M. Salakaia, US | | I do not understand why has the price risen so high in one day. Some days ago it was $120, now it's $269 despite the negative reviews there are on Amazon and in internet??? In most reviews there is said that this model is worth buying if the price would be like $130 so who will buy it for $269?! I do not understand why have the price risen |
Receiver is good ONLY if you buy at Amazon's low low price!!!! | | Review Date: December 8, 2009 | | Reviewer: Sportura, | To put it politely, I have been disappointed by the performance and feature set of this receiver. In fact, I thought it was so bad that this couldn't have been a product developed by Clarion. I think this is a re-badged Clarion which was designed/engineered by a low-tier manufacturer. The fact that the HD Tuner that works with this receiver doesn't work with any other seems to point in that direction too. But this is a review, so I will be specific about it.
Usually, people write the positives and negatives when writing a review. I will do the same. So, here's what I like about it:
1. Looks: It is a handsome looking deck. I am not a fan of the flashing LEDs and rotating colors. This has very minimalistic and simplistic, OEM type design that complements the rest of the dash.
2. Build quality is great. Definitely does not look like a made in China item that you can buy at an auto parts store.
3. Nice, large screen - crisp and clear.
4. Sounds is good, although nothing earth-shattering for a 200W amp.
5. HD Tuner works well, get stations fast and clear.
Now, before I list the things I don't like about it, let me explain something. A lot of people will mention a LACK OF FEATURE as a negative. I kind of find it unfair. I mean, before you buy something, you should know what features it has or doesn't have. For example, this receiver doesn't have Bluetooth. Now, it will be unfair for me to say this is a bad receiver because of that.
On the other hand, things that are wrong with it, or designs that are inconvenient can be fairly mentioned in the list of CONS. So, I will start with it:
1. If you start your car before you attach the faceplate, the receiver will remain turned off. You have to press the power button to turn in on - every time. With most receivers, if you turned off your receiver before you remove your car keys, it will remain off until you turn in on manually. Same way, if you left your receiver turned ON, and turned the car off (remove keys), it will come on automatically next time you turn on ignition and put the faceplate. This doesn't do that. Very inconvenient.
2. The "power"/ON button is not lit when the unit is off. So, coupled with the issue #1, it is a major inconvenience at night. You come in, start the car, put the faceplate back on - and nothing. Now you will have to blindly look for the power button to turn it on.
3. If there is a CD/DVD in the drive, it will always start in the CD/DVD source, regardless of last source you were listening to when it was turned off.
4. USB slot is also not lit, so, inserting a USB drive at night takes a few tries.
5. Most of the buttons have more than one functions. One function is printed right on the button, the other function for the same button is printed right below it. However, ONLY the button is lit, not the print below it. For example, the power button also acts as the mute button. But when the receiver is on, only the power symbol is lit, not "MUTE" which is written right below it. It is true for all buttons with more than one functions.
6. The dreaded DVD-loop issue. If you switched to a different source or turned the unit off while playing a DVD, next time it will only loop in the chapter it was last playing. Definitely a bad programming issue.
7. If you "mute" the unit while playing a CD or songs from USB, the mute will be automatically canceled and sound will come back on after the next song comes on. Really annoying - specially if you are on the phone with someone and suddenly the music comes on. I know this is not meant to be or that it is not a feature because the mute symbol stays on the display, even though the sound is heard. Again, bad programming.
8. The faceplate anchor design is merit-less at best.
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