Average Reviews:
(More customer reviews)This review will be pretty in depth, but will focus primarily on the important things. I'm going to start with the iPod/iPhone stuff first, since I would imagine this is a big reason why many people are looking into this deck.
I will preface this by saying I bought this because I needed a deck that could play music from my iPhone 3G.
*****
UPDATE: I can confirm that the iPhone/iPod 3.0 OS Software is compatible with this deck. In fact, it makes the experience a TINY bit easier because the iPod app no longer launches when you plug in your iPhone/iPod, which means you can be doing something on your phone and not worry about it getting exited when you plug the phone in. It still switches the source to iPod/iPhone, but at least the iPod application on the phone doesn't launch.
*****[iPod/iPhone/USB Stuff]
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This deck supports an impressive amount iPods, iPhone 2G and iPhone 3G, Flash Drives, and most likely many other USB based players. It has a USB port in the back of the unit that screws in to avoid it coming unplugged during normal road bumps, etc. The USB cable they provide you with is nice and long. In my case, it would run almost all the way to the back of my SUV (Buick Rendezvous). It comes with a special iPod/iPhone connector that will charge the iPhone while you play music. Using a normal iPhone cable does not work, the deck gives you an error and throws a fit.
The iPod/iPhone functionality is very solid. It offers most all the sorting types of the iPod (Album, Artist, Song, Playlist) and even will show album art. Though the album art shows up fine when it is smaller, changing the view type to the album art only screen results in blurry/pixelated art work. I was slightly disappointed that there is no "Genius" functionality here, but that feature is pretty new, even to the iPod.
You can advance songs, go back a song, pause, and turn on song or album shuffle on the deck itself.
I personally find it difficult to use the deck to scroll through music, because of how unresponsive the knob is. Turning the knob is very similiar to setting your 10 speed bike to the highest speed. Even though you are pedaling REALLY fast, the tires are moving at a slower pace than if it were at a low speed. If you turn the dial really fast, it only advances 2, 3, maybe 4 spaces on the screen. This makes it hard to scroll through lots of artists, albums, or songs.
Additionally, plugging the iPhone or iPod touch into the stereo cuts off your use of the iPod application, so controlling the song play through your iPod (which I would prefer) is not possible.
Here is the bad part: it is very inconsistent and stubborn when it comes to recognizing my iPhone. If I have the iPod application up and running, then I plug it into the stereo, it will either give me an error on the deck, or tell me the device was not made for the iPhone. This means I have to close the iPod application, then plug it in to the stereo. This wouldn't be so bad, but it also seems to react differently based on whether or not a song is playing, paused, or no activity whatsoever. If I am playing a song when I plug it in, all sorts of crazy stuff happens and I end up having to unplug and replug and then pause and then quit out of the iPod app, and unplug again, then replug before it will work.
Again, wouldn't be so bad, but I find myself spending alot of time just trying to get a song playing instead of just plugging it in and driving.
Also, there is no option to not automatically switch to the iPod source when I plug in the phone. This sucks because if I just want to charge my phone, it will automatically switch the radio to the iPod source, forcing me to push source again to get back. This wouldn't be so bad, but I sometimes listen to Pandora Radio Application through my stereo, and if I am listening to it on my headphones while walking to my vehicle, plugging it into the stereo causes the application to quit, effectively cutting off my music, forcing me to relaunch Pandora and wait for it to buffer my song again. (This may be a personal problem, but it is relevant). It would be nice to turn off Auto Switch as far as the source goes.
Other than no Genius support, not being able to control from the iPhone/iPod itself, and the auto source switch, the iPhone/iPod functionality works well. I just wish I could get in my truck, turn it on, plug in my phone and leave. Instead, getting a song going is a chore. I end up sitting in my truck fidgeting with the deck instead of getting on the road.
[General Use]
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You WILL need to read the manual (comes on a CD in the box) in order to figure out some of the functions of this stereo. Though some of it is pretty straight forward, other functions are hidden, or are a string of button presses and knob turns to get to. They managed to make even simple tasks like setting a station preset slightly difficult.
I found it strange this unit does not support RDS, so you will miss out on the useful information that radio stations have to offer in the way of song artist and title, etc..
The clean face plate comes at the price of having to use menus to get to everything, but I expected as much, and boy are there alot of menus.
Two of the front buttons are dedicated to functions that are not even built into the deck itself, so this is kind of frustrating, especially since these addons will cost you upwards of $150 each. It seems like something better could have been put in those 2 slots (but maybe it's just me who may not be buying both addons).
All the buttons and knobs are easy to use and control, though I wish the knob itself was a little bit "stiffer." Turning the knob has inconsistent functionality. Turning it very slowly ensures you advanced to the next item in a list with every tick (clicks are very close to each other), and turning it very quickly has mixed results (sometimes it will advance you only 1 list item, sometimes a few more). Whatever the case, it is cumbersome to scroll through long lists, even with the inclusion of the "percentage" scrolling type set on, which lets you advance to a specific percentage in your music list, etc. This is kind of useless, since I don't memorize, or care to memorize what percent Metallica or any other artist is at...
Additionally, the ring of the knob can be pressed in and turned a quarter of the way to the right or left. This functionality has different uses depending on what menu, feature, or functionality you are using from the stereo.
All buttons are easy to press and sturdy. The face plate itself is very light (a good thing in my opinion) and only the button portion comes off, the LCD stays attached to the unit, making it easier to carry, but the screen itself may still be enough to tempt somebody. The back button is pretty useful and works well, especially when you are new to this unit, because you WILL venture into the wrong menu several times.
You can change the color of the interface from Blue to Red, as well as change the background using the ones built into the unit, or via a flash drive by downloading wallpapers from Alpine's media website.
[Sound]
*******
The deck sounds great. I can crank it up pretty loud (with lotsa room to go higher) and everything still sounds crisp and clear. There is a ton of room for turning volume up and down on this unit, so you will be able to find the volume level that is JUST right all the time. Has separate controls for subwoofer volume and all the fun equalizer stuff you could want (gotta look in the manual for how to do it).
[Expandability]
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This thing can do pretty much anything you need, but it will cost you big money. It is ready to accept HD Radio, Sirius Satellite, Bluetooth Connectivity, and even an Imprint Sound Processor... but each accessory will cost you $150 plus. It is great they have support for these things, but they are expensive and probably could have been included in the stereo itself, especially when you consider the price tag this baby has. I knew it didn't come with these things when I bought it, but still, when they dedicated 2 of the very few buttons on the face plate to items that are not available in the unit by default, it is kind of frustrating.
There is no CD player built into this unit.
[Final Word]
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This is a great unit and has much to offer in the end of owning something fresh and great looking. It definitely stands out and has a nice LCD screen that is put to pretty good use. I wish you could adjust the size of the text on screen, as I like to have more words on screen over having it be more readable.
I hope there is a firmware update to add in genius functionality for the iPod/iPhone and fix the difficulties that can occur with plugging the phone in and getting it to be recognized.
I would definitely suggest this unit to anybody looking for a good deck that supports iPhone/iPod and is looking for ease of use and nice LCD screen space and use. Although it can be a difficult adjustment changing songs with the deck itself, it is stille very likely the best implementation of iPod/iPhone use in a deck to date. Hopefully we will see a firmware update that lets you control the unit from the phone.
If you are looking for expandability, then this is also your unit. You can do pretty much anything you feel if you are willing to pay the price for the addons. It has a nice lengthy USB and all the connections you need for your iPhone or iPod.
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* 4/5 Stars
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