jamesg1's Full Review: Sony CDX-M9900 Car CD/ MP3 Player
This is Sony's latest car headunit with a TFT LCD display. I bought it a few weeks ago to replace my aging Sony minidisc stereo and I'm reasonably happy with it.
First impressions are great. The screen is high-resolution, very clear in bright sunlight and the motorised front feels strong and well-built.
The unit can play regular audio CDs and CD-R/CD-RW discs with mp3 files. I use an external Sony amp so can't comment on the quality of the internal amp, but my music sounds great. There are many options to tweak the sound, including a graphic equalizer and the slightly gimmicky DSO that claims to improve sound from low positioned speakers.
There are a number of built-in videos that really show off how good the screen is. My favourite is the blue rippling water as it's not too distracting while driving. It's not possible to record new videos which is a shame.
This stereo actually has a composite video input so it's possible to watch movies on the screen. If you do this, everything gets a bit squished, as the display is approx 1"x4", but there are a few options to crop and expand the picture. I've plugged my digital camera into this input and up to 100 images can be stored and used as wallpaper.
The interface was what I was most concerned about before buying the stereo. In all honesty, it isn't very good. There are only a few buttons on the unit, so some of the features are relegated to the remote control (such as rewind and FF), and some can only be accessed by pressing a shift button before rotating the right dial. The volume is particularly annoying as it brings up a separate screen for a couple of seconds, and during this time, the current track cannot be changed. When playing mp3s, the track name doesn't appear straightaway, so it's hard to flick through tracks to find the one you want.
Overall, I'm pleased with the stereo despite a few minor annoyances. It's got good sound quality, looks fantastic in my car and could even be used to watch movies.
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