- 4 X 60 watts power
- 30 station presets (18 FM/12 AM)
- Dual RCA outputs
- Fader, seperate bass-treble control, loudness
- Aux Input
- MP3 player includes 256MB internal memory, expandable with MMC/SD card (not included), USB interface, Li-Ion battery charges on head unit
Ordered this and installed in my car about a year ago. Took some minor adjusting to get it to fit right. Seemed like very good quality out of the box. But the problem with RCA is that if it's not ordered by an authorized RCA retailer then they will not honor any warranty. Needless to say the unit I received was in need of such service. So let's begin with the PROS: The usb mp3 player is a great idea and what sold me on this unit. Not that I ever expected to detach it and go for a jog with it but the ability to record a song off the radio and then take it home and put it on your computer is super cool. It's why I purchased this unit and why, despite it's flaws I would actually purchase this unit again without a second thought. I am not an audiophile while driving. I am at home but in my car I have the windows down and am typically in my car primarily to get from point A to points B and beyond. So my needs were for a nice sounding unit with upgrade capability if later deemed necessary. That was my basic need which just about every car stereo out there matched. Beyond that I wanted knobs. I hate buttons for volume and tuning. I'm 30 so I'm still on the knob side of technology. They just plain work better. And they are much better suited for driving than a button barely the size of my finger nail. For the most part all of the controls make sense. It also comes with a remote that is a great size with all the features you'd need without a plethora of unnecessary buttons. But it is not needed for any function that the radio's direct interface can't navigate. Now for the CONS: The mp3 player is absolute rubbish. Don't expect to use it for anything at all besides recording that rare song or newsbyte. If NPR is your thing it would be very well suited. But the audio quality is really sub-par. Also the CD player tends to almost eat CDs. In fact I don't even carry a single CD in the car anymore because of how bad it is. The interface mostly makes sense but of course if I were to design the layout I would pretty much change everything. The only thing I would keep is the one-knob-per-side layout. A classic that I still think is the way to go. Sound manipulation is limited to balance bass treble fader. Nothing spectacular but good enough for me and my stock Toyota speakers.
BOTTOM LINE:
A great idea with poor execution. I would buy this again only because I don't think anybody else has done this. The idea of a built in detachable mp3 player that charges itself as you drive seems very basic but still I have yet to see another one. And at this point not having one would really irk me. If you do buy this make sure it's through an RCA retailer. Based on how many things were/are wrong with mine you're probably gonna need it.
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