Average Reviews:
(More customer reviews)This thing is little, cute, unobtrusive, and clever. The controls are about a 7 out of 10 - not at all what I expected, such as storing presets and such. I HATE reading the manual, and I had to. Damn you. Still...
Everything worked. Can't complain about it, and I'll get used to the quirks. Anyway, that contributes to the 4 out of 5, and really, I'd give it 9 out of 10 if I could.
First - Bought it from Electronics Expo. They were REALLY cheap and REALLY fast. A complete home run - I will buy from them any time. A+
Now, the review:
IN THE CAR.
1 - Install. This kit is so easy to put in it's embarrassing. It isn't pretty (if you use the FM transmitter), because wires will show almost no matter what you do, but get out your tools and tuck them into the door sills and frames (gently), under the carpet, and viola! Clean and mostly pretty, and mucho easy. Took me less than an hour. On the other hand, I have a Kia Rondo - it's not that big, and the antenna cable BARELY reached. That could have been awful in my old van, which was much bigger. Whatever. It wasn't an issue for me. You've been warned, though.
2 - Functions. As I mentioned above, it's not predictable in function, but it functions as advertised, and all those functions work. Buuuut, those little bitty f#@king buttons are...well, little bitty. I like to drive while I am driving, rather than tune the radio. Having said that, like all electronics I will get used to it. I think. Anyway, another reason for 4 out of 5.
...side comment - what am I whining about? One of the things I like about this device is the small overall size. Small size means small buttons. I must commence to cope.
3 - Sound. First, the antenna, in my case, is snuggled securely below the car's antenna as recommended. Second, I have a dead station here in town that is 5 stops between active stations, which implies no sideband interference. So it sounds pretty gosh darn good. There is a bit of hiss, buzz, and gack here and there, and I cannot define whether it's the Roady or my stereo. This noise becomes noticeable only at high volume...and frankly FM radio sounds about the same much of the time. I'm totally cool with it, given this is an aftermarket kit.
So, in the car? VERY high marks, mostly. My nitpicking is really...nitpicky.
IN THE HOUSE.
One word: sweet. No hiss. No icky noises. Hooks up in ten seconds flat. Sounds at least pretty good...seems near perfect, but time will tell about that, I am reserving comment until I have it a while. Downside? The little remote seems to be designed for the car, and doesn't reach from my kitchen to my great room, a distance of about 40 feet. Bad, bad, bad. Another reason for 4 out of 5.
THE FINAL TAKE.
I would recommend this for about anyone. I helped my brother-in-law with his Audiovox unit, and it was a pain in the a$$ until he beat it into shape, then it seemed to work OK, although I found it noisy. I like mine way, way better. Oh: I paid $58 for this bundle - car kit, remote, home kit, radio. That included shipping. GREAT deal. There are some fancy new units with color screens showing interactive stuff out there for hundreds of dollars, but again: I like to drive while I am driving, not stare at the display on my radio. So despite my lower than perfect score, I find it is better than others I have seen and used, and I say go buy one, especially if you can find one at this price.
UPDATE 02-22-2008: All that stuff I said above? Still mean it. My wife loves this thing, it's gotten easier to use as we've messed with it (we didn't even know we could change the screen color and since we can't perfectly match the dash colors we went with the purple color - love it). The little dash mount sticky thing is still holding up strong, the radio pops in and out of the mount easily, and the home base unit is unobtrusive and equally easy. The hiss, buzz, and gack I mentioned above is gone - we found a better FM frequency. Now it's music or silence.
I'm still kind of harrumphing the remote - I never understood why someone needs a remote in a car, and this little thing can't control the radio from across a 30 foot room. Bah, I say.
I'd still buy another one, though. Great little toy.
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Delphi SA10188-11B1 Roady Xt Bundle Includes Car Kit & Home Kit
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