Customer Reviews

Clarion FZ409 MP3/WMA/AAC Receiver with USB Port

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

 

 

The Good: Nice options (internal amp on/off, HPF and LPF, USB interface and 1/8" jack interface in the rear, front/rear/subw preamp outs, good power). The unit has a clean look when turned off.

The Bad:
From an ergonomic standpoint, this unit does not completely succeed. Regarding the touch-sensitive controls, there is no positive tactile feedback that, for instance, smartphone designers have tried so hard to emulate on their touchscreens. Also, there is a reason that most factory stereos include large dials and big buttons. Because of these shortcomings, I found myself trying to make sure I was hitting the correct button by looking at the unit more often, instead of the road. Also, the unit did not always respond to my finger presses, as a normal button-based interface does.

The following quotes are from the description of the interface:
"Only the buttons you need for your current task are displayed, so there's less fumbling for the right button." There is more fumbling because of the reasons stated above.
"...multi-line OEL (Organic Electro-Luminescence) display that responds to your touch" This phrase is misleading, because you cannot touch the display itself, you have to touch the up/down sliders that are vaguely close to the corresponding icons in the display. A larger display would help this problem as well as the next issue: The OEL display is too small to see. For a unit with no CD slot and fewer buttons than most other DIN untis, there is wasted real estate that could be used to make the display bigger. It is difficult to read some items from the driving position, such as the top row that shows folder number/track number.

Do not buy this. I guarantee you will spend wasted time and money on this receiver as you return it. It is not at all user friendly/intuitive. It is hard to read, small old-school font, and my biggest complaint...That damn "touch screen." How annoying. Im used to my iphone touchscreen which I love and is very responsive. This thing is a major driving hazard. I almost hit another car trying to turn down the volume because the button would not respond. You must hit the screen slowly, firmly and precisely and with luck, it will respond. The menu will not remember where you left off so you have to go through the whole procedure just to pick an artist on the ipod. Also, 1.8 Volt amp preouts??? Seriously? This is 2010.
Its so frustrating to use this. I usually enjoy tinkering with electronics but this is annoying!!!!! I wasted $20.00 for shipping minus 15% restocking fee, 2 hour installation/removal and trip to post office. I am buying the Clarion MVH-P8200.

I have Clarion FZ409 Car Deck, which I bought at Amazon.com about a year and half ago.
Two days ago while driving on a highway with my wife and 7 years old son the volume-up button automatically activated and kept going until I could pull over to the side of the road and turned off the engine. There was no way to turn the deck off neither manually nor with the remote. The deck simply did not respond to any action. The sound from the deck became so loud that we almost got deaf.

Clarion FZ409 Car Deck is very unsafe to use while driving. The volume-up button can get automatically activated at any time. This car deck should be recalled to my strong opinion.

If you have done away with most of your cd's and don't wanna waste time creating mp3 cds then this is the stereo for you. This Clarion is a great example of sleekness, and simplicity. The sound is great with my infinity speakers and it does everything i need. Works perfectly with my iphone and charges it as well. Also works great with a thumb drive. There are no buttons, everything is touch sensitive. I purchased this to replace a Pioneer that had a knob that moved everywhere except where i needed it too. I was looking for something simple without a lot of buttons and no cd player and this head unit definitely delivers! There's 2 things I wish it had; a removable faceplate and changing display colors.

This head unit isnt all that great. The buttons arent that responsive and the display isnt crisp kind of pixelated. This clarion doesnt have a detachable face nor does it play cd's. However it does sound well and has a decent amount of power.

This vehicle receiver lived up to my expectations. Very clear sound, plenty of RCA outputs for external amplifiers, and the Aux in is a nice touch if you have a mp3 player or a friend brings a laptop. My favorite is using a large USB flash drive for almost endless music.

Like some others have mentioned, I have experienced the receiver acting funny by increasing its own volume. I was able to shut it off using the power button, the behavior only happened once and I attribute it to my hands being extremely greasy from eating potato chips while driving. So wash your hands people, don't blame a touch sensitive device when having poor hygiene habits.

The navigation through the menus isn't really good for driving, but that is why there is a remote included. The remote is easy to use, intuitive and makes it so there is almost no need to touch the receiver except for the first power on when you start your vehicle.

bonus: if all you use is external amplifiers for the sound, this handy unit has the option of turning its own internal amplifier off saving power if your speaker system is already pushing the limits of your alternator.

Very good device without any problems. 3 months old and I have no complaints. It was bought for $ 99.97 with a discount.
I advise everyone to ...
thanks

Not sure why so many people complain about this HU. I love it. For all those people saying they almost get in accidents while trying to ajust it or what not maybe you should use the remote or even adjust the radio when you stop at a light. If your fiddling with a car stereo while driving that intensely you shouldn't be driving anyway. The quality of this product is great. Sounds great and looks great and when teamed up with the Clarion EQS746 they are unbelievable. For the price you absolutely can't beat it. Not only that I took all the CDs out of my vehicle and it seems so much less cluttered.

this radio when being advertised states that it is a 50x4 channel unit, after installing it, it turns out that it is only 18x4 (very disappionting)I have been trying to contact the seller (amazon.com) but i cant figure out how to do so.On this unit you have turn the volume totally up to 20 and above to get clear sound and i would like to exchange this unit for something else, can someone help me with contact info(phone#, e-mail)

I bought this radio despite the poor reviews based on the fact that it has an ipod adapter and an aux input and it's a Clarion. My suspicion was confirmed. It's an excellent radio and because of all the bad publicity about the buttonless interface, it's an even better value. I only paid $88 here on Amazon with free shipping. It was easy to install and it sounds friggin' awesome. I use the aux plug to listen to Pandora and it's clear and powerful- typical Clarion. I agree that the user interface is sometimes difficult. Sometimes you have to touch the buttons in different ways to get them to work. But the volume and mute controls always seem to work though. Also, the remote is junk. Overall this is actually a 4 star radio but I gave it 5 to bring up the average. It's the best head unit I've ever had and I've had a bunch of them.