A lot of bang for the buck!
Written: Feb 11 '05
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Pros: Front input jack, MP3, Big display, $$
Cons: Really "glows" at night - somewhat distracting.
The Bottom Line: A good all around stereo that can support a wide variety of media - including good ol' cassettes!
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| obiekinobie's Full Review: Aiwa CDC-X30MP Car CD/ MP3 Player |
When replacing my old cassette stereo, I knew that I wanted to move up to CD's - but I didn't want to completely give up the option of listening to a cassette. I looked into some of the single DIN CD/Cassette combos - but they were pretty expensive. As I continued to research, I also became convinced that having MP3 capability was a must - this virtually eliminates the need for a multi-disc CD player, because you can put 10+ full CD's onto one disc!
Thankfully, AIWA (a division of Sony) came through! The CDC-X30MP has exceeded all of my expectations. The front input jack allows me to plug in my portable cassette player (or other portable devices like a MP3 player for instance - you just need to buy a "mini to mini" adapter to plug the output to the headphones into the front of the stereo). It also supports CD-RW MP3 discs - so I can rip my existing CD collection onto my computer then burn several of them onto one disc (see more info on this later).
I was somewhat concerned about CD's skipping - because Crutchfield states that this deck has no anti-shock memory (see this link for more Crutchfield info: http://www.crutchfield.com/S-IZ531GW4kmS/cgi-bin/ProdView.asp?g=62700&id=essential_info&i=055cdcx30m). I'm wondering if this is a misprint, because so far, I have not had any CD's skip - and I've gone over some pretty good bumps!
CD Burning Hints:
iTunes is currently the most popular music/media player for the computer - but unfortunately it stores all it's music in a proprietary format. It does let you convert them into MP3's when burning a CD, but it doesn't let you organize the songs into folders. So I found that Windows Media Player 10 was the way to go. You can set the rip options to import songs as MP3 (make sure you use the 128kbs option). This will put the songs onto your hard drive as .mp3 files. If you have Windows XP, put a blank CD-R or CD-RW CD into your computer then select the "Data CD" option - this will open up a Windows Explorer window for your CD. Copy your MP3 into this window and arrange them into folders* - then use the burn to CD option. Viola! I was able to get 14 CD's (nearly 200 songs) on the first disc I created.
*Using folders is handy, because the x30MP allows you to jump between folders. It will also display the folder names and the artist and song (based on which display option you are using) - very cool!
Installation Hints:
I installed this stereo myself and it went very smoothly - except for one small problem. After I hooked all the wires, I decided to test it before stuffing it back into my dash. When I turned on the power, it would come on for about a second, then turn off again, on/off, on/off. I thought it was trying to tell me something, but the manual offered no help as to what could be wrong. Finally, I realized that I hadn't plugged in the antenna! I wasted about an hour on this - so I thought I'd post it, just in case there is another sap like me! :-)
Final thoughts:
I must have picked a good stereo - because someone tried to steal it within one week of my install! Make sure you detach the face when leaving your vehicle!!
Recommended:
Yes
Amount Paid (US$): 107 (eBay)
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Epinions.com ID:
obiekinobie
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Reviews written: 1
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