Comments on: Alpine iDA-X100 Digital Media Receiver

By: K. Smith

K. Smith — Sun, 13 Sep 2009 00:24:41 +0000

this delivers great sound out of my trucks stock speakers but it has a tendency to not play right off. When i plug it in it will pull up the info and even play the song but no sound. usally all i have to do is disconnect the ipod and reconnect it to get the sound back

Rating: 4 / 5

By: Joe Darooky

Joe Darooky — Sat, 12 Sep 2009 22:35:44 +0000

I cant get over how many people like this head unit. The menus are slow, the sound is sub-par, power is average, adjustments are difficult to find and adjust, and it's unbelievably slow to advance tracks. This model is in serious need of a firmware update. Funny though that even the newer model (iDA-x200) uses the same firmware. Apparently Alpine just wants to update the face and charge a bit more money.

And dont forget, you dont get the "hidden" EQ adjustability unless you blow another $170 for the Imprint add-on.

Alpine has been heading toward total market failure for a couple of years. Now we know why.Rating: 2 / 5

By: John Lee

John Lee — Sat, 12 Sep 2009 21:25:10 +0000

I got a great price on this, I received it according to the description in a timely manner.

Rating: 5 / 5

By: Jessie L. Archuletta

Jessie L. Archuletta — Sat, 12 Sep 2009 20:09:31 +0000

cant beat the performance for your ipod

if u dont have an ipod probley not the radio for you no cd player

uses usb connector so nothing extra to buy

Rating: 5 / 5

By: Hugh N. Dixon

Hugh N. Dixon — Sat, 12 Sep 2009 17:28:04 +0000

I think that Alpine has made a valiant effort to bring digital music to automobiles. I had a very nice Sony radio/CD/MP3 player in my car that had a motorized flip face plate and a detailed remote. Then I bought a 30g Zune last year to wear when I was working out because my kids said that I was embarrassing them with my discman. Instantly I had any music I ever wanted with me at all times. It made me spoiled and I wanted that same feature in the car. First I tried to connect my Zune but the radio modulator connection was iffy and staticky at times. I went to the electronics store to see if they had a radio that I could download my music on and not have to change discs. The Aline ida-x100 ipod radio is the first step towards a radio that you can have with all of your music in the car. The on screen readout doesn't work with Zune but I liked the idea so much that I bought an 80g ipod and the Bluetooth adapter. The screen displaying the album art as the music plays and the phone book of your bluetooth phone is great.

The idea is great but the radio has several flaws. First the Ipod is not made for the connection and it pauses and searches for a connection about once every song. When Alpine says that you can control the ipod through the radio it is true but you can't control it well. It takes forever to look through the music as the extra fast mode on the ipod is not trasferred through the radio connection. A remote sounded silly for the car before I bought the Sony unit but it keeps my hands on the wheel and is actually a help. There is no dedicated remote for this product, there is a universal remote but none that works to operate the ipod function. Sometimes I like to pump up the volume and hear my tunes loud and this Alpine unit fails. I cant find that 50W x 4 channel output that they say is on the unit.

I bought this unit too early. I think that in subsequent versions of this product Alpine will improve on this idea and make it so that the radio is the unit and not an ipod connection. I can't wait for then but until then I will enjoy the strengths of the Alpine ida-x100 and work through the weaknesses.

I purchased this unit in March and I am writing this amendment in December because after trying to get it to work, Alpine agreed to exchange the one I had for a new one and that one works fine. I was told that 1 out of every 5 Alpine iDA-X100 Digital Media Receivers was defective but the one I have now is great.Rating: 3 / 5