opinions: Sony CDX-GT300S

[Taylor]

Hey,

Noticed this 'revised' ipod compatible model is getting quite cheap on the
net (around ~£105 uk pounds); anybody had any experience of them thus far?

As far as I can tell, unlike some other units it does not control the ipod
directly from the head unit, but uses an adapter (included) from
connects2.com in the box that can allow the ipod to be recognised as a
cd-changer.

Had a fiddle with one today, was okay for general ipod usage i suppose...

[In-Car Express]

On Mon, 30 Jan 2006 03:00:30 GMT, "Taylor"

Post by Taylor
Noticed this 'revised' ipod compatible model is getting quite cheap on the
net (around ~£105 uk pounds); anybody had any experience of them thus far?
As far as I can tell, unlike some other units it does not control the ipod
directly from the head unit, but uses an adapter (included) from
connects2.com in the box that can allow the ipod to be recognised as a
cd-changer.

Be a bit careful, as some of the ones you see online at around £105
are probably minus the interface. As standard, the unit can connect to
an ipod using a 3.5mm to 3.5mm lead to the ipod headphone jack, but to
get proper ipod control, etc, you need the kit with the interface.
AFAIK, we're one of the cheapest around for this at £129.99, but there
seem to be plenty of the usual eBay *******s promoting the basic unit
as "ipod ready", which will no doubt catch a few people out.

In general it's a pretty good value unit. The newer Sony stuff now has
a much better signal to noise ratio than the older units, which took a
lot of criticism. We're finding that their reliability's pretty great
across the board as well these days. About the only minor downpoint is
that the display's not especially great for ID3 tag display - not bad
as such, just not as good as good as some of the higher multi-line dot
matrix or OEL displays.

Jon

[Taylor]

Post by In-Car Express
On Mon, 30 Jan 2006 03:00:30 GMT, "Taylor"

Post by Taylor
Noticed this 'revised' ipod compatible model is getting quite cheap on the
net (around ~£105 uk pounds); anybody had any experience of them thus far?
As far as I can tell, unlike some other units it does not control the ipod
directly from the head unit, but uses an adapter (included) from
connects2.com in the box that can allow the ipod to be recognised as a
cd-changer.

Be a bit careful, as some of the ones you see online at around £105
are probably minus the interface. As standard, the unit can connect to
an ipod using a 3.5mm to 3.5mm lead to the ipod headphone jack, but to
get proper ipod control, etc, you need the kit with the interface.
AFAIK, we're one of the cheapest around for this at £129.99, but there
seem to be plenty of the usual eBay *******s promoting the basic unit
as "ipod ready", which will no doubt catch a few people out.
In general it's a pretty good value unit. The newer Sony stuff now has
a much better signal to noise ratio than the older units, which took a
lot of criticism. We're finding that their reliability's pretty great
across the board as well these days. About the only minor downpoint is
that the display's not especially great for ID3 tag display - not bad
as such, just not as good as good as some of the higher multi-line dot
matrix or OEL displays.

Got one today, wiht the thought of taking it back if all wasn't great. It
seems good, it came with the "connects2" (www.connects2.com) unit, as it is
approved by sony.

I would say though that the actual unit came in the box, so maybe it's
automatically included in the 's' model of the gt300 (gt300s)?

I agree about the ID3 tag display; it's not great, but I suppose if you know
your own ipod and have had one for a while you'll know what the albums are,
for example. The playlists just show the name of the artist that will fit in
the display, and does not scroll or anything, even with auto-scroll enabled,
which i think is a bit shit actually, but it will do :)