Harman Kardon Drive + Play iPod Control System

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Average user rating: 3.0 stars out of 13 reviews Back to product review
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1 out of 1 people found this review helpful

3.0 stars

"Like it, but (I would say) the software has a few bugs..."

by st4000 on September 2, 2006

Pros: Don't even need to see your iPod, plug it in and lock it away safe.

Cons: (I think) the sofware can be improved...
Summary: I like the unit and really like the concept so let's start with 10 and knock off points as we hack this thing. First off, I am only interested in direct integration. Nice of it to have an FM transmitter, but that's not how we do it here! Another problem - I have an old radio with no auxiliary input! Fortunately I found enough on the web to hack an auxiliary output and input. Now on to a direct connection integration. I connected the radio's auxiliary output to the HK's input and the HK's output to the radio's input. Think of adding a graphic equalizer to your stereo. This worked great until the HK was powered down. Turns out the default HK power down behavior is to drop the connection when in the power down state (the HK is never really off). This should be a simple software fix. But the down side is that you always need the HK on to listen to anything through the HK's auxiliary input. Minus 2 points (this really annoys me)! Then, I noticed the automatic auxiliary switch menu setting does not survive a power down state like other menu settings! That's just inconsistent. Another point off. I also noticed a little delay in updating the screen and also in the controls. No doubt the 8051 processor (I am guessing) based HK is trying its best to get serial data to and from the iPod, the HK controller and the HK display. But the delay is noticeable and sometimes annoying. Especially when skipping forward in a song. For example, after releasing the rotation part of the HK's control know, the iPod continues to fast forward for 1 to 2 more skips. Minus 1 point. That puts us at 6 out of 10 points.

Like I said, I like the unit, I really like the concept, but I wish Harman would fix the software.

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Where to buy

Harman Kardon Drive + Play iPod Control System: $47.95 - $90.08

store	price	in stock?	rating
	$90.08	Backorder
Amazon.com Marketplace	$47.95	Yes

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