Most Helpful Customer Reviews
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8 of 8 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Love It!, July 19, 2008
After trying 2 different stereos from Roadmaster/VR3 and being unhappy with both of them, I finally bought this Blaupunkt SD27 unit. I am so happy with it I could cry...sniff!
I originally stayed away from this unit due to its lack of a CD player. After thinking about it I realized that I didn't even need one! Who needs CD's bouncing around the floor of your car, getting scratched, skipping, taking up space? I can fit maybe 10 CD's in my glove compartment, however, with a single postage stamp sized 2GB SD card I can fit more than twice that amount on one tiny chip! Much more if I lower the bit rate of my MP3s. I can listen to music all day without changing the card once! And I don't have to skip the songs I don't like, unlike with a CD. I simply don't put them on the card!
Of course there is an Auxiliary input for MP3 players, or any other device with audio output. Ipod support is available through an add-on cable, as is Bluetooth.
So finally I picked this stereo up at Fry's for $129. Easy installation. For a low price unit this baby packs quite a punch! It sounds clean even at very loud volumes. My speakers are a bit above average for being stock and they sound great!
There are standard bass and treble controls, but it doesn't stop there. You can also fine tune these settings, as well as an additional mid-range setting if you dig into the menu a little bit. Unlike a previous reviewer, I had no problem navigating through the menu system. The user manual has very clear instructions.
You can adjust the frequency range and gain of your bass, mid, and treble settings to get just the sound you want. It's a bit like a parametric EQ, for those who are familiar with the term. Very sweet! After playing with these settings I had achieved even better sound. Crisp highs and kickin lows. Very good sound for not having a separate amp/EQ installed in the car.
Even more, your EQ settings are separate for the radio, Auxiliary, and SD cards. They are saved separately! Coolness!
To comment on what other reviewers have said:
- The buttons are not hard to push(?).
- The menu system is easy to navigate. After playing with it for 20 minutes I can now do anything I want without referring to the manual.
- Not sure about the 12/24 hour clock issue. I just set mine to 24 anyways, so it isn't a problem for me.
- I have come across no problems with my various SD cards. I am using both Transcend brand, as well as the more expensive SanDisk cards. No "lag", no problems. Perfect.
The user manual states that you can have 1,500 files per directory on an SD card, which seems to mean there is no overall limit on the total amount of tracks you can have. I don't know if there is a limit on SD card size either, I am using 2GB cards.
I recommend using separate directories unless you want to scan through 500 songs to get to what you want. With this unit you can search by folder name, then enter that folder and search though the song list. The VR3 unit with Bluetooth did not have folder search capability, although the manual said it did. What a nightmare!
You can manually adjust the illumination of the display for day and night use. I assume turning on the headlights switches it from one to the other, I haven't used it yet at night. The dimmer switch in my car seems to have no affect on the illumination.
I didn't find many stereos with SD card support. Most offer USB instead. I don't like the idea of a USB thumb drive or cable hanging out of my stereo waiting for someone (like me) to accidentally hit it and break it. SD is the way to go.
If you are thinking about buying a VR3 "brand" unit of any kind, Don't. They don't sound as good, they are full of bugs, and they don't do what the advertisements claim. Tech support is nonexistent as well. I tried 2 different units and suffered the consequences. Don't do it...by this Blaupunkt instead.
I HIGHLY recommend the Melbourne SD27 stereo! At this price range it is the best you can do. I am 100% satisfied!!!
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6 of 6 people found the following review helpful:
3.0 out of 5 stars
Meh, Could be wayyyyy better, October 6, 2007
So I was sick of my motorized face on my alpine getting stuck, and i never have CD's anyways, so I decided to go with this unit. Here's some info:
I wanted a unit that didn't need CD's as that I had a SD card already.
I wanted a unit I could play my iPhone through
I wanted a unit that was reputable.
I got all the things listed.
******EDIT 10/8/07 **** I have decided to return this due to the fact that any SD card has SEVERE lag. Will go back to MP3 cd's (or attaching my iPhone to a new unit) My recommendation: DONT BUY
However, The menu is a PITA to go through. IF you select 12 hour time, it will display the 12 hour format ONLY when the unit is off. If you hit the DIS button while your using your radio, it will show 24 hour format, and there is no way to fix that, at least not one I have come across. Second, PCQ SD cards are too slow for this unit. Get a named brand, and it must be SD, no SDHC, miniSD w/ adapter, JUST SD.
2nd, the buttons are definiltey hard to push. You can't hit the DIS button while in AUX to show the time, big let down. The display looks like it's from 1995.
If you read somewhere this has RDS (Radio Data Store) to populate station names, well it doesn't. It looks like it does (go through the manual, even an icon on the screen) but I haven't figured out how to get it to work. Theres also an XM icon, yet no idea why it's there. I got this for 129.99 and wouldn't suggest paying any more than that.
It definitley removed at least 3 pounds after swithcing out headunits, and this thing is easy to wire as well. Those user attached pictures are mine, so if you have questions feel free to ask.
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5 of 5 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
Good but not great............, July 20, 2007
After three years of trying to find a simple stereo with aux inputs so I can tie in my Ipod and Sirius radio, I think I have finally found one. I tried many others with their Ipod and aux interfaces and they were terrible, either slow, awkward, on simply didn't work as stated. This has an aux input on the front and one on the back which you need to buy a $25 adapter to use. You also need to buy a $30 Ipod adapter and you can only use one or the other, not both. How stupid is that, but I am finding unfathomable stupidity in design is normal for car stereos. Bottom line, its cheap, it works, you can use the aux inputs or IPod link for your accessories, it sounds ok, nice remote, the SD card is cool and actually works as stated, just load it with mp3s. Controls seem more user friendly than most. Radio pulls in well, better than my Clarion attempts. Its good but not perfect. Perfect would have been the ability to use both aux inputs and the IPod interface at the same time.
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