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(More customer reviews)To put it politely, I have been disappointed by the performance and feature set of this receiver. In fact, I thought it was so bad that this couldn't have been a product developed by Clarion. I think this is a re-badged Clarion which was designed/engineered by a low-tier manufacturer. The fact that the HD Tuner that works with this receiver doesn't work with any other seems to point in that direction too. But this is a review, so I will be specific about it.
Usually, people write the positives and negatives when writing a review. I will do the same. So, here's what I like about it:
1. Looks: It is a handsome looking deck. I am not a fan of the flashing LEDs and rotating colors. This has very minimalistic and simplistic, OEM type design that complements the rest of the dash.
2. Build quality is great. Definitely does not look like a made in China item that you can buy at an auto parts store.
3. Nice, large screen - crisp and clear.
4. Sounds is good, although nothing earth-shattering for a 200W amp.
5. HD Tuner works well, get stations fast and clear.
Now, before I list the things I don't like about it, let me explain something. A lot of people will mention a LACK OF FEATURE as a negative. I kind of find it unfair. I mean, before you buy something, you should know what features it has or doesn't have. For example, this receiver doesn't have Bluetooth. Now, it will be unfair for me to say this is a bad receiver because of that.
On the other hand, things that are wrong with it, or designs that are inconvenient can be fairly mentioned in the list of CONS. So, I will start with it:
1. If you start your car before you attach the faceplate, the receiver will remain turned off. You have to press the power button to turn in on - every time. With most receivers, if you turned off your receiver before you remove your car keys, it will remain off until you turn in on manually. Same way, if you left your receiver turned ON, and turned the car off (remove keys), it will come on automatically next time you turn on ignition and put the faceplate. This doesn't do that. Very inconvenient.
2. The "power"/ON button is not lit when the unit is off. So, coupled with the issue #1, it is a major inconvenience at night. You come in, start the car, put the faceplate back on - and nothing. Now you will have to blindly look for the power button to turn it on.
3. If there is a CD/DVD in the drive, it will always start in the CD/DVD source, regardless of last source you were listening to when it was turned off.
4. USB slot is also not lit, so, inserting a USB drive at night takes a few tries.
5. Most of the buttons have more than one functions. One function is printed right on the button, the other function for the same button is printed right below it. However, ONLY the button is lit, not the print below it. For example, the power button also acts as the mute button. But when the receiver is on, only the power symbol is lit, not "MUTE" which is written right below it. It is true for all buttons with more than one functions.
6. The dreaded DVD-loop issue. If you switched to a different source or turned the unit off while playing a DVD, next time it will only loop in the chapter it was last playing. Definitely a bad programming issue.
7. If you "mute" the unit while playing a CD or songs from USB, the mute will be automatically canceled and sound will come back on after the next song comes on. Really annoying - specially if you are on the phone with someone and suddenly the music comes on. I know this is not meant to be or that it is not a feature because the mute symbol stays on the display, even though the sound is heard. Again, bad programming.
8. The faceplate anchor design is merit-less at best. It has two plastic anchors sticking out from the unit where the faceplate latches on. These are plastic anchors about 1" long and they are just sticking out. If one of the breaks, the whole unit is useless. I will post a pic to show what I mean.
9. Absolutely no display customization. What comes with is what you get - and what comes with it is nothing. You can't change the display color/wallpaper/font/size - nothing.
10. USB operation is ridiculous at best. It shows all the songs in one list and the only way to navigate through them without the remote is to go up and down, which is painfully slow. You can go folder to folder using the remote. With the "UP" and "DOWN" symbols being not lit, it's inconvenient at night.
EDIT: I discovered that you can press and hold the up or down button to navigate from folder to folder. No mention of this in the manual.
11. If your mp3 folders have a pic such as an album art, this unit will get stuck at that, and it will ask you to put the parking brake on to view it - instead of just not showing the pic and moving on to the next song. If you have a lot of albums, you will need to manually remove all the album arts from the USB drive.
12. In the USB mode, it "eats" about 1 sec from the beginning of a song when it moves starts the next track. It's not as noticeable with the songs that start slow, but clearly annoying when a song starts out loud or with a beat, for example, Michael Jackson's Billie Jean. Don't know if this applies to CD tracks too.
13. It will recognize only 512 songs total in your USB drive. Now-a-days people have their whole music collection on a single chip. 512 songs limitation sets you back to 1999.
14. A lot of the DVD operations can only be performed using the remote. There are buttons on the faceplate that are inactive during DVD play which they could have easily put some functions on.
15. It is not compatible with all USB drives. I don't know which ones are okay but I have a USB drive that works fine everywhere but this gives me an error saying "UBS Bad".
16. No dedicated button for "search", meaning fast forward or reverse. So, if you want to FF a song or DVD chapter, you will have to press and hold ">>|" for about 5 secs and then it will do it only at 2x speed. Do the same again (another 5 secs) to go 4x. If you let go before that, it will just skip to the next song or chapter - and you will have to do it again.
17. The internal clock loses time like crazy!! It would be half to a minute behind in just a week.
18. No permanent brightness setting for the screen. All you have is Normal -> Dim -> Off, using the Dim button. You can't set the brightness to your liking. To make matter worse, the setting using "Dim" button is temporary. Once the unit is re-started (turn off/turn on), it goes to full brightness.
19. Finally, THIS UNIT IS SLOW!!! Navigating through songs or tuning stations, skipping songs, switching sources - much slower than even the cheapest receivers out there.
Now, some of things that I would have love to see and I could expect in a $400 receiver:
1. This unit should have been AT LEAST bluetooth ready.
2. It has this huge, rotary volume knob which is also used for Bass/Treble settings by pushing it. I think this would have been more useful is this was programmed to be used as "Enter" button, and putting the "Bass/Treble" settings in the settings menu. Now, the "AS" button acts as enter which is not even lit.
3. When the ignition is on and the faceplate is not on, there is a little triangle blue LED that flashes to show where to enter CD/DVD. I wish this LED would blink all the time so it would act as a theft deterrent.
4. When you enter the "Settings" menu where you can change equalizer/loudness etc, the music stops. So, you have no way to instantly compare the effect of different EQ or loudness settings. Wish the music didn't stop.
5. The faceplate carry-case/box is CHEAP!!! They should have included a little better case.
Like the title says, the only thing that makes things even is the ultra-low pricing of Amazon, which sometimes even include a free HD tuner. Otherwise, for more price I would suggest getting something else.
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Clarion VZ309 3.5-Inch Single-DIN Multimedia Station with USB PortClarion's VZ309 is a true multimedia station with a DVD/ CD receiver; USB connector that supports playback of MP3, WMA and JPEG files; front AUX inputs for portable audio players; and optional iPod audio and video playback (CCUIPOD2). The brilliant 3.5 inch display lets you control it all. All this in a small one-DIN package.
Enjoy a Wide Variety of Media The built-in optical disc drive is compatible with DVD-Video, DVD+/-R, DVD+/-RW, CD-DA, HDCD, CD-R and CD-RW, so you're assured access to a wide variety of visual and musical entertainment.
You can also play back MP3/WMA files from disc, complete with ID3-Tag display of artist/track info on the screen.
3.5-inch LCD Screen The 3.5-inch LCD displays operational status of your iPod, CD and DVD playback, radio functions and more. It offers maximum usability within minimum dimensions.
iPod Playback Just connect your iPod to the VZ309 using the optional CCUIPOD1 to control your iPod from the source unit. Please see the Clarion website for iPod models that can beconnected.
Front USB Input Grab a USB drive with some of your favorite MP3/WMA tracks and enjoy them right from the front of the unit.
HD/SAT Radio Ready You can connect optional tuners and enjoy the benefits of high-definition and XM satellite radio.
AM/FM Radio Catch up on the news or listen to your favorite stations. Get quick access to your favorites with 18 FM and 6 AM station presets.
Auxiliary Input Use the front 3.5mm auxiliary input to connect external audio devices like MP3 players, etc.
Rear AV Output A rear AV output allows you to send your signal to a second monitor in the back seat.
Dedicated Rear vision Camera RCA Input Add a rear vision camera to see the area behind your vehicle, for added safety and convenience.
Room to Grow With 50 Watts through four channels, and a 24-bit D/A converter, the VZ309 gives you great sound to start. But it also includes 6 channels of preamp output and a subwoofer volume control, so you can easily add external amplifiers and build a monster system.
Remote Included A full-featured remote control is included.
What's in the Box VZ309 Source unit, Mounting bracket, Removable face plate case, Trim plate, Remote control unit, Battery (CR2025), Owner's manual, Installation manual, Installation hardware
Click here for more information about Clarion VZ309 3.5-Inch Single-DIN Multimedia Station with USB Port
