Customer Reviews

Alpine EX-10 Advanced iPod Controller with Bluetooth

5 star:		(4)
4 star:		(5)
3 star:		(4)
2 star:		(2)
1 star:		(6)

 

 

I bought this unit a few months ago and just found the time to install it in my truck. I had it up and running my iPhone in no time at all. It was real plug and play. As far as the one reviewer using the FM modulator feature, if you have an AUX in jack on your stereo, you can connect directly. That is what I did, and like I said, it sounds great!

I placed mine right on the dash, just a little off center. The wires and control box are buried in my dash. There is a supplied remote control wire with a sensor on it for use with the remote. I spliced into my cigarette lighter and put a 12 volt outlet on it that I picked up at a truck stop, it too is buried in the dash. Very clean looking install.

As far as the bluetooth? I don't use it on the Alpine. I have a Jawbone bluetooth ear piece that works much better than an external mike. Need that noise cancellation feature in my cab.

And the navigation seems to work fine. I just pick an artist and go from there. And it is nice not having to screw around with the iPhone while driving. The little Alpine monitor looks small, but is very readable and easy to navigate.

The Alpine Ex-10 does some things well and some things okay. I've given it four stars because it is a very nice little gadget. Here's my experience so far...

I installed it outside a Car-Toys in about 30 minutes after reading through the guide.
The instructions that come with it are very good about installation and the basics of the unit.
The colors that little screen put out (mostly blue) are very vibrant. The screen brightness can be adjusted up or down.

***BIG ONE*** There are a lot of people bashing the FM Modulator because it has only 4 preset stations in the 88.x range. These are the illiterates I am talking about. By following the instructions and holding down a button for a couple seconds you can seek either direction to find an unused station. You can preset 4 different stations to tune into. For example, 103.1 and 90.7 are both fairly free where I live. I chose them in slots 1 and 2 and now if I have any problem with one I can switch to the other extremely easily. These presets are completely changable - all 4 of them - and it says so right in the setup guide if these people would read them.

I was able to sync up my AT&T HTC Fuze via bluetooth effortlessly. The whole bluetooth setup took about 60 seconds and that includes turning bluetooth on on both devices. It syncs perfectly whenever I get in the car now. I am able to listen to audiobooks and music wirelessly over bluetooth in full stereo from my phone to the Ex-10 and then transmitted over FM to my car stereo. It's nice and as easy to use as starting the music player on my phone.

Bluetooth calling is a bit of an issue. I haven't set up voice dialing yet. My phonebook took forever to come over onto the Ex-10 and it seems to be missing a few numbers for some reason. Answering seems easy enough with the remote - just hit enter. But I can't seem to hang up as easy. Calling has been a pain, but I haven't spent much time working on it yet either. Voice to me sounds crystal clear - I chose the external speaker which sends it through the FM Modulator to my car stereo. The other persons voice comes through my car speakers as clear as a bell. My voice though sounded a bit "tinny" and had a little "staticy" sound to it according to who I was talking to. The ease of setup was good though with the microphone and whatnot.

Haven't used Ipod yet actually, but it appears to be as easy as the other things to set up and use.

My gripes are just with the remote having to point at the right spot and having to hold down my push sometimes. Also there is an occasional delay in my commands over the remote and I've double clicked on accident several times thinking the command didn't go through. I'm still not sure how to use all the buttons on the remote in the different situations despite the picture on each button... There are also no unit controls - only the remote. DON'T LOSE THE REMOTE! =-) The cables are a bit much with how many there are and how thick the power one is to the unit, but so far this has been a nice little unit. Definitly worth the price.

After having used an FM transmitter for my iPod classic for a while, was looking for something that would make it easier to control what I was listening to and that would make good eye candy for what was playing.. this device was it!. Setup for my iPod couldn't have been easier, I did have to read the manual to figure out how to get back out from a list once it was chosen, but other than that, it is pretty intuitive.
Phone setup with my Motorola Razr was simple. I don't use that feature as much, but it wsa simple to setup.

Sound Quality over my previous transmitter (Griffin Roadtrip) is a quantum leap better... no more occasional interference, better reproduction of my music library.

The only concern I have is for battery life in the remote, but so far after three months usage it seems to still be going strong.

Purchased one for my wife and then my daughter and sister in law wanted one also. Purchased two more and everyone is happy. Item works great and it also is safe for them to operate while they drive. Great deal.

I truly cannot understand what all the commotion is about. This is a excellent product at $35.00. You are not going to find another for this price. I've bought multiple units and none have failed. I just installed in a BMW 740il. Took an hour and a half but after you could only see one cable. I hid the microphone where the original one was and WOW what clarity and it's hidden. No one I have installed this for has complained about bluetooth connectivity or ipod functionality. Of course there is going to be half a second lag now and then. This is not made by apple people. For 34.99 you cannot possible go wrong.

I have a 98 Porsche..and I didnt want to hack up my dash and remove my stock radio....this is a very nice addition to my car that works EXACTLY how I needed it to. Not that sound quality is my main concern with the top down.....BUT the functionality..is ABSOLUTELY what I needed.

This is the worst electronic gadget I have ever used, let alone bought. The only function that consistently works is the power comes on. Half the time, it cannot find my iPod. When it does I hear the hard-drive on my iPod spin up and data (like the old dial-up modems) over the speakers during the first few seconds of the song. There is no volume control for the "aux out" so if you have a sensitive "aux in" jack, any albums that were recorded at a higher than normal volume level are very distorted. If that's not enough distortion for you, try Alpine's built-in equalizer.

The unit has a mind of it's own when it comes to shuffling songs or albums. If you set it the way you want it and power the unit down, it may or may not retain your settings. The artwork that shows on-screen is some Picasso-like version of the artwork actually on my iPod. The recommended placement of the display is on the dashboard but the instructions warn you not to place it in direct sunlight... huh? The instructions say that the remote may not be able to communicate if it is in bright light so I guess we can only use this device on cloudy days or at night. The remote feels very fragile and it is very small and cheap feeling. There is no storage holster so it will end up floating around in your car and probably get lost, broken or scratched. The remote operates via infrared vs. RF. This means you have to point the remote at the display (within 1 meter) for it to operate. Any higher quality remote controls are RF. My Tom-Tom remote makes the EX-10's look sick!

Phone pairing is easy enough but if you leave the unit on and leave the vehicle and then return, it won't re-connect. You have to re-start the EX-10 to reconnect with your phone. On the up-side, the bluetooth interface did upload my contacts and call history very well. Too bad 1/2 of the display is taken up with useless logos so I have to wait for the full contact name to scroll across the screen (in VERY slow motion) to make sure I have the right person. If you have more than one number for a contact, the contact's name will be listed several times but you will have no way of knowing which number you will be dialing.

If that isn't enough bad news for you, go ahead and buy the EX-10. I haven't listed all it's faults here because I'm tired of writing. If you buy one, you'll want to tell everyone to steer clear of this thing too!!

I don't know why Alpine stopped making this product. It's great.

If you hate fidgeting with your iPod and looking down while you're driving, this is for you.

In terms of Bluetooth, I had it pair with my Motorola DROID, and then my iPhone 4 (Verizon) with no problems.

Two minor complaints:
1. Too much of the screen real estate can be devoted to layout/ design, and not to the track/ album/ playlist title, and it takes a while to scroll through.
2. The IR remote needs to be pointed directly at the screen, which makes it less convenient than a more powerful IR remote would be.

I had an in-dash radio with Bluetooth in my old car. I traded it for a pickup that had a factory XM radio in the dash. My old stereo had Sirius. Not wanting to clutter the roof with stick-on antennae, but needing Bluetooth, as I am hearing-impaired decided to get the Alpine eX-10. I made a small shelf for it to sit on, along with the remote, hooked it up and tried it out.

Since my stereo has an Aux Input, I wired it directly to the car stereo. I found that the phonebook will not download, a fact that circumvents the hands-free functions of the phone. When I want to make a call, I have to do so manually, using the phone. I make sure I do this when I am not in traffic, and I have memorized the button pushes to make calls to the two places I call most. The phone sounds great and I can have the conversation without holding the phone to my ear. Sometimes when the person on the other end of the conversation hangs up, the eX-10 realizes this and hangs up for me. If I am expecting a call, I have to use the radio in Aux/CD mode. Since CDs are so 90s, I don't use them. If I forget my iPod, I have to listen to road noise until my call is complete. I will probably get a cell phone with mp3 capabilities and will hopefully get rid of this problem.

I mentioned the iPod. It plays through the eX-10 really well. I do with there were buttons on the front of the unit, so that I didn't have to retrieve the remote any time I want to play another song, answer the phone, etc. A short piece of velcro taped to that aluminum shelf I built keeps the remote within reach and at the same place, so I can pick it up without taking my eyes off the road.

All in all, this is a good unit. I was really pampered with the "everyone's everything" unit I had before. I am acclimating to the apparent shortcomings of this unit. I can't find another that does Bluetooth and iPod. I'd buy it again.

Don't waste your time. Don't buy this one.

The item that I used is DOA: the sound output (Aux) has only right channel output. The left channel is silent.

Plus, the design is so horrible: The ex-10 has more than 5 units(main unit, monitor, car charger, antenna, aux sound output, microphone), and each you will find yourself entangled in a big mess of cables.

Third, it has a detached monitor which is supposed to be mounted on dashboard. These days we already have a gps on dashboard and we don't have any space left to fit another thing.

Fourth, it has a remote control, this is the last thing I want. Why don't we just put all buttons on the main unit?