Furthermore, on changing stations after you hit the search button

you have to wait a second for the thing to go into ‘find your preset

mode’ and then you have to push stupid joy stick to find your preset

and then you have to push in the joy stick to select it! And make sure you

don’t get into a crash when you do all this micky mouse crud.

Also, make sure you explain someone who is driving your car how to

select radio stations because he won’t be able to figure it out

that is how stupid this system is. I had to spend a 30 minutes

in the freak’n manual just to figure out how to preset a station!

I am trying to return it to get the KDC-MP342U which had great

reviews.

Really can’t believe they designed such ridiculous system. Totally

backwards. You think Kenwood would get many opinions before they

create a product such as this.

UPDATE AFTER LEARNING HOW TO USE IT.

=======================================================

If you get past the learning curve it’s not as bad as I thought.

Manual needs a lot to be desired. I had to read the guys comments

above to figure out how to search easier: If you put the auto search to 2

you can just move the joy stick like button and go station to station.

Some positives: sounds fine. USB works great. Both CD and USB starts

off where you left off – nice. I wish it would read my folders on my

USB and not just the names of the files on the MP3s – minor issue.

I would probably give this unit a 4 once you figure it out. It’s

too bad Kenwood didn’t have a better manual and too bad it wasn’t

more intuitive to use.

Pros:

*Good sound quality, bright display

*When the iPod connectivity finally worked, it worked very well.

Cons:

*I had a 4th gen, black and white, 20gb iPod, which is what I was intending to use with this product. I had the radio professionally installed so I could be sure everything was working correctly. When I plugged the iPod in for the first time, the stereo wouldn’t play it. I read the instruction manual, and it referred me online to see which models were compatible. I went online and got a really confusing flow chart that showed the 4th gen wouldn’t play, but a 5th gen (first with video) would. I sold my old iPod to a friend, and bought a used 5th gen iPod online. When it got here, it played, but only in shuffle. I called Kenwood this time and explained the situation. They told me that the 5th gen iPods will ONLY play in shuffle. I had to send that iPod back to the seller, got a refund and bought a brand new 120gb iPod classic. THAT iPod finally worked and was fully supported and I still use it to this day.

*The menus are a little tough to navigate, but it’s a lot like my old radio, so I was already kind of used to it.

*Occasionally, when I turn on my car, the radio doesn’t immediately turn on too. This could be a wiring problem or something, but again, I had this radio professionally installed, so I don’t know. It usually turns on in under a minute, and it doesn’t do it all the time, so it’s just a minor annoyance.

Summary:

It’s a good radio for the money, and if you have a SUPPORTED IPOD, it’s great. Please though, make sure yours is supported if that’s why you’re buying this radio, otherwise, you’re going to be in for a real disappointment.

First, the features I liked: It can play MP3s or WMA files from a memory stick! You can turn off many of the annoying (to me) features like the constant scrolling red dots. Many of the options are configurable, especially the audio quality adjustments (filters, speaker size, etc.). It has a lot of presets (18 for FM and 6 for AM). The audio quality is acceptable (actually not bad at all for the price). It has an internal memory for storing “Favorites” (not to be confused with presets which are different). You can enter a text description of your favorite radio stations and other content.

Now, the downside(s)…

Non-intuitive: The on/off button is labeled “SRC” (its other function is to switch between the tuner, CD player, and USB memory). You must press and hold it for two seconds to shut the radio off. There is no tuning knob, per se. To tune the radio you must press the “AUTO” button to select one of three tuning modes: MANUAL lets you push the volume control back and forth to change frequency, AUTO1 lets you push the volume control back and forth to seek to the next station with a strong signal, and AUTO2 lets you push the volume control back and forth to move between the presets. This brings me to the next problem. Setting the presets to your favorite radio stations is extremely complicated. On top of that, the manual is just plain wrong on this point. I had to call Kenwood customer service to figure out how to set the presets. (Ironically, it was one of the best customer service calls I’ve ever had – fluent English speaker, knowledgeable, friendly, great communication skills). Finally, fast forward / fast rewind is only mentioned once in the manual and again the manual entry is wrong. Rather than simply pushing the volume control [AUD] knob to the right or left as the manual says, you must simultaneously twist the knob while pushing it. Not at all obvious…

Needlessly complex: To illustrate, let me list the steps required to change a preset radio station:

1. press [SRC] until display says TUNER

2. push [AUD] up or down to select set (FM1, FM2, …)

3. press [AUTO] until display says MANUAL

4. push [AUD] left or right to select station

5. press [FAVORITE] once

6. press [SEARCH] once

7. turn [AUD] to select preset number

8. press [AUD] and hold until PRESET message appears

On my the stock Honda radio, there was a single button press to accomplish the same thing. Good grief! It also comes with a remote control (do we really need a remote control for a car stereo?). I have not had great luck with the remote control. Sometimes it works and sometimes it doesn’t.

So in summary, if you want a solid car radio / USB / CD player and if you like a good deal, like solving brain teaser puzzles, and don’t mind spending some extra time to accomplish some basic configuration tasks (hopefully, NOT while driving!) then this may be the car stereo for you.