Customer Reviews

Alpine iDA-X200 In-Dash Radio/MP3 Player (Black)

5 star:		(2)
4 star:		(2)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(2)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

I was surprised there was so little info on the web about the Alpine iDA-x200. It's one of the only car stereos that can control your Creative Zen and other mtp (media transfer protocol) mp3 players like an iPod. When you plug your zen into the usb port, it takes about a minute of searching before it will play music. You can search by playlist, artist, album and others. You can skip to the next song but you can't speed search through a song (this limitation is only with mtp players). Also, when you turn off the car and come back, it will return to the beginning of the track you were listening to (only with mtp players). This means, for practical purposes, you will want to carry your podcasts and any lengthy tracks on a flashdrive or ums mp3 player. The alpine can speed search tracks on ums devices and it even remembers exactly where you left off within tracks when you disconnect the device and reconnect! Plus you can do all the same searching by artist, album, track, file name ect. So you're probably wondering, why not use a ums mp3 player exclusively? Two reasons. First, you won't get playlists. If you want playlists, you have to get a mtp player or iPod. Second there are currently no small ums flash players with large capacity (32 gb) and great sound (Sansa Fuze blows in comparison to Zen V Plus). Two other quick notes, there is no cd player and going to radio presets requires a few clicks. Finally, I want to mention how much better the sound quality is when you allow the Alpine's 24 bit burr brown d/a converter to process the sound (using usb connection) rather than letting the mp3 player decode the sound and send it into the car via minplug aux connection. If you current stereo plays mp3 cds, do a little experiment and listen to the same song on mp3 cd compared to your mp3 player plugged into the aux. Keep an eye on the horizon for when the Microsoft and Ford sync exclusive deal ends. Then you may be able to buy a non-Ford car or an aftermarket head unit that works with mtp mp3 players and has voice command. Should be within a year. One more thing, if you upgrade your Zen V firmware, the Alpine will control it too. Also, I can't tell you about the power of the internal amp because all my speakers have a separate amps. Even though it's the only game in town in aftermarket car stereos that can control mtp music players, it does an admirable job.

Pros:

1. The x200 sounds great.
2. No CD. Why bother anymore, do people still use those disc things?
3. Big bright display easy to see in any light.

Cons:

1. Tiny display, only 11 chars across. Can't see "Stairway to Heaven" on ONE LINE without scrolling? What is this 1999?

2. No playlists for usb thumbdrive. My Blaupunkt had playlists...

3. Controls make no sense. Bass/treble/balance and Sub/HPF menus operate differently. Push button here, turn big honker there, make up your mind, Alpine.

4. Volume should be only volume, never shared with other controls. It's inconvenient.

5. Changing folders shows 'folder up' for 3s. It should display the folder name so you can find the folder you want quickly. Who came up with this junk?

6. Big Honker control knob has to be pushed and turned to change folders, inconvenient. It isn't cool, its annoying.

7. USB skips songs/folers when there's other data on the drive. Worked fine after I removed the data.

8. No EQ on a digital tuner? Ripoff. An extra $200 for an eq? Are you crazy? Preset EQs at the touch of a button would be awesome... x200 missed the boat.

9. No radio channel buttons. Takes 2 buttons and a knob to change channels. Xtreme Inconvenience. This is probably the biggest return to vendor point, who wants to fumble through changing channels!

10. The 88 page manual is a mess. They tried to merge with the x300. The words "Double Action Encoder (iDA-X200 only) or Rotary Encoder (iDA-X300 only)" appears 142 times! Read through the PDF before purchasing this unit.

The x200 is junk. I'm looking for something designed to be enjoyed, convenient and intuitive.

Note again that I love the Alpine sound, speakers, amps, and even this tuner is incredible, but the bad design leaves much to be desired.

Occassionally when I am on the road listening to music using USB connected iPhone 3GS, the iDA-X200's audio cuts out for a 1/2 second or so randomly. Sometimes it won't happen for over an hour or two, sometimes it happens 3-4 times in 10 minutes. It is driving me absolutely insane and I am about ready to return my new stereo as a result.

I was hoping someone here would have some insights into why this unit is doing this. I did some research online and find others with the same problem (with the X300, X100, X001, etc.), which to me points to a flaw with the iDA series of stereos. Stereos from other companies like Pioneer that use a similar USB connection do not appear to have this issue as far as I can tell.

This really ticks me off since it appears that the issue has been happening for quite awhile, but Alpine continues to advertise the new iDA stereos are Made for iPhone certified. I do not know how this can be if an iPhone 3G has the audio cut out randomly on multiple generations of these units.

This thing is awesome,The only complaint I have is the manual is on a CD so you cant read it while in the car.A quick cheat sheet of the buttons would have been perfect.

I don't agree with the criticisms of this head unit that I've read in some reviews. I love this deck. The interface is easy to understand and easy to use. The navigation isn't difficult or unusual or complicated. I saw a complaint from one consumer who marked this unit down because it doesn't include a CD player... really? It's a digital media player and it's marketed as such. There's no deception on Alpine's part. To me, this complaint is like a person ordering a fish sandwich at McDonald's and complaining that they didn't get a burger. Know what you are buying!

This deck is for people who don't want to mess with CDs and want to use iPods and USB flash drives. It's especially good at controlling an iPod and it sounds terrific (particularly with a matching Alpine amp).

After owning this unit for nine months, someone broke into my car and stole it. Insurance paid for a replacement but the local insurance-approved shop didn't have this Alpine in stock so I tried a Kenwood Excelon, then a JVC Arsenal. I hated both. I saved the JVC for another vehicle and spent my own money to purchase this Alpine deck again -- that's how much I like it!

I cannot begin to describe how user-hostile and un-intuitive this device is. Changing listening criteria (album, artist) requires a new search from the beginning of the hierarchy every time, and searching/scrolling through a 160GB iPod is excruciatingly slow. The 8x2 display is a joke and the scrolling speed is ridiculously slow - often a song has finished before I've even seen the title/artist/album info. It's buggy, too. It often can't find the iPod, or hangs for minutes at a time during scrolling. Pressing the << button to re-start a song from its beginning causes the unit to enter some sort of wacky loop repeat mode where it keeps repeating a section of the song. I've had the thing for a couple of years now and am still not sure how to tune the radio, and setting the clock requires a trip to the user's manual every time. I will never buy another Alpine product again.

Great head unit for the price. Works great and is easy to use. Sound is awesome, like all alpine products. Highly reccommend!