Customer Reviews

Clarion NZ500 7" In-Dash Single-Din Touchscreen DVD/CD/MP3/USB Receiver, Built-in Navigation and Bluetooth

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

 

 

I purchased this unit for my vehicle, and couldn't be happier! Very solid unit, lots of options, fairly straightforward install. My only complaint is the minimal installation instructions, presumably because Clarion prefers that their stereos be professionally installed, however, I didn't really have any problems installing it.

UPDATE: DO NOT PAY ATTENTION TO THE LIMIT OF THE NUMBER OF SONGS ON A USB DRIVE! Manual says 1500 max...I have 2350 on an 8GB drive, and it is rocking just fine...

Navigation system update is a couple years old. If area is not stagnant in growth or you visit friends in locations like WV do not expect to have it in the menu. It doesn't like Lowes and refuses to list it. Not that great and gives erroneous locations as well. My WalMart is in a state park. Time zone is eastern here yet it will not keep time unless I enter central. Other brands use the same system I found out by going to their update site. Son has a pioneer with simular issues same software Mfg. It's not a Garmin Quality GPS system by no means. Going to the site and sending support email is like the commercial where the guy puts the phone down and walks away quitely. Mfg should really look at this issue and soon.

Bluetooth will go out. In order to get working again have to reset system and loose presets about every 20-40 calls. Don't ever text while linked to system or it happens sooner. That sucks. No im not texting and driving.

Has potential to be a good system if someone will redo the software to address the issues listed. Hope they read this and start working on it.

I was really excited to get this unit, and did 'some' research and talked with the various vendors and decided it was time to pull the trigger. I figured at $499 down from $799, it had to be the 'real deal' as far as quality and features. Well I was wrong. I spent the day doing a VERY clean install in my 2006 Dodge Viper, to then turn on the unit (once installed) and realize, it 'seems kind of cheap' the push buttons below the screen make a PLASTIC CLICKING/RUBBING (on all buttons) sound like your playing with some 2 year old's 'made in china' toy. I moved on telling myself the lie that it would 'wear itself in, and stop making that noise' after some use. Navi DID look cool, but then i started moving around the rest of the menu system, and it seemed kind of dated, no colors, totally monocrome. You'd think if they had a full color palet they would use it. They opted not to. Made the display very boring. (you wont impress your friends with the 'slickness' of this unit). Next, I adjusted the screen to the angle I wanted, and then played around for a bit, asked it to close itself and reopen, to see if it kept the angle, sure enough it was a few 'clicks' of the angle button off. So I re clicked and it would be hit or miss the next few times on opening and closing, if it would actually go back to the 'set' location I gave it. I was still telling myself for $499 I can live with this. Then the final nail. I tried blue tooth, both on my blackberry bold and wifes iphone 3g. Worked GREAT, if YOU dont want to hear the person your talking to. They hear you clear as day (well ok thats an exegeration), but you cant hear them at all. Sure, take it off of blue tooth through the head unit, and the call resumes easily. I did this with TECH SUPPORT and they said, 'ok sure, we'll replace the unit no proble, BUT dont be suprised if the replacement does this same thing, bluetooth isnt really standardized.' I almost fell out of my seat (except i was in a car, so thats pretty hard to do, unless you open the car door). I said thanks, cancel the replacement order, and just issue me a refund. Internet searches will confirm this is a KNOWN issue with this unit, and people are STILL waiting for a patch for this, luckily clarion has responded and offered a patch for a GPS issue folks have had with the clock (aka totally unrelated, and basically ignoring this issue, since 3/2010.. yes over a year they have known about the issue and offered no fix). Dont let the price fool you, you are getting what you paid for. If you dont want bluetooth to work, and you dont mind the 'cheap feel' and 'look' of the unit, then its a great deal!

All GPS companies should know by now ( just need to check Garmin ) that is very hard to know the city name when entering the address. Garmin just search for the addresses close to you and suggest destinations. Very simple and easy.
The manual also say Video OUT when it should be Video IN for the camera.
Come on Clarion, you know better than this.

Hope this help.
dc

I purchased this system for my 1971 Corvette back in Sept of 2010, and just got around to installing it. I paid much more at that time than it is going for now, but it's still a great value. I use my GPS frequently to get to out of the area car show sites and to find resturants, gas stations, etc., and it has been flawless. I've never tried to find a Lowes, but all else seems to be there. I'm not a great installer, but this was straight forward, and the wiring diagrams are easy to follow with colored wires to match up with even my older wiring. I also purchased the Sirus radio add on, as well as a Pyle backup camera, and they too went in easy, and everything worked the first time. I had to locate both the GPS and Sirus antena modules on my dash, but they work fine thru the windshield. Lots of info on line about it and the installation tricks..

We had the previous model which did not have iphone integration. This unit supports it as well as providing a phone dial menu and full bluetooth support including music as well as contacts and phone log.

Sound is good. We had one small problem with space of deck and wire harness but this was solved with a deck spacer which pushes the deck about 1/2 inch out of dash, problem solved.

GPS is okay... suitable for most uses. Wish more frequent updates.

Bought the Clarion NZ500 about a month ago and quite frankly, it is not worth the money. The most aggravating points about the unit are the fact that the Navigation system is very difficult to use and would get lost in a turnip patch. Secondly, if you use this unit on a sunny day, it will virtually be a blank screen from the drivers seat. The screen virtually disappears if you wear polarized sun glasses as well. It works well with the iPod, has good sound quality but the menu's are difficult to understand and worse to navigate, especially if you can't see the screen. I originally looked at a Pioneer double din unit and wish now I had installed that instead. The Bluetooth function works very well from my limited use and connects perfectly with my Sanyo cell phone, including the contact list and MP3 media. In summary, my main beef is with the GPS unit and the fact that the screen is terrible on a sunny day.

Well, i am happy with this unit although like everyone else i to have some issue's with this unit. First of all when i hook up any ipod new, or old, any kind it shows that everyhting is working on the screen but no sound is produced? I do have the additional cable and still nothing? keep in mind If you have a tight stero compartment goodluck getting this thing in it is a challenge! Maybe i just have a defective unit in regards to the ipod malfunctioning? It seems like there is alittle something wrong with each unit nothing major, but just enough to keep it from having everything working properly, i really like alot of the features and the price of this unit and if your lucky and get one that is 100% functional than its a great unit but if your like me and get one were the ipod doesnt work then prepare to be angry! it seems as though if your not always extremley carefull with this unit it will surley break, or maybe im just bitter about he ipod not working anyways hope the one you buy works completley

I purchased this unit about 3 weeks ago from Fry's Electronics and they installed it with Sirius/XM Radio. Very disappointed. The Navi does not block out Sirius when it time to give directions, but does with tuner. The visual on monitor in good straight on, but from driver's side it is like the old LCD TVs. The Navi is not Garmin, some company I've never heard of, not so great. The manual and interface sucks. I'm pretty technical, but this unit is quite difficult in some ways. Make sure when you set the time, not only pick example Pacific time zone, but pick DST also. You have to syn, Navi with unit to get time right and stop time from changing on you. Mine unit would not work at front speakers in my truck, but tuner would. Bluetooth is GREAT. I am taking this unit back Wed. (Fry's has a 30 day return) and having it with replaced with a Kenwood KVT 516. I have a 6 month old Kenwood 6140 in my Jeep and is basically the same except for 2 din instead of 1 din, but it's fab (still crappy manual), but much better unit and easier interface.

I have had the clarion in dash unit for about a month now and i like it, but it has many minor issues that irritate me a lot. i hate that the display mode changes whenever the volume is adjusted (i prefer to have my display set to show the song title whenever the screen is closed instead of the track number and length). i wish the volume when you turn your car ignition on would GRADUALLY increase instead of resume at the previous volume, since it literally takes about 10 seconds for music to resume and it catches you by surprise (at least that's the case when using a USB). i absolutely hate that when i add new songs onto my track listing via USB, the unit reorders my track listings; so whenever i sync a full album to USB, the first half of the album track listing is listed AFTER the last half sometimes. i dont understand why it does that but it's annoying because i cant just listen to the album in its original track listing order. i am also curious on how i can reorder songs on the unit in alphabetical order or some sort of customized order. as far as the bluetooth, i havent had any issues with it - i like it. takes a while to sync contacts though. the Navigation works good in Hawaii, but i have trouble inputting exact addresses because it tries to guess which letter(s) you want to select next after you input half of the actual word, and sometimes it doesnt list an option that matches your actual address. that happens a lot when i try to type in the house number as well. i paid $800 for mine (because Hawaii is overpriced) but i think it's only worth about $400 to $500. 3 stars.