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"Solid performance/good sound, even on deck power alone" on by make_or_break
Pros: Clean aesthetics, very good SQ. No knob clutter. Extremely versatile; works with many formats. Easy BT synch with my CrackBerry. Love the blackout feature.
Cons: Doesn't play at all with older iPods, or my Creative Zen X-Fi. Grease/fingerprint magnet. Faceplate scratches easily; Brasso and a microfiber cloth is an ABSOLUTE MUST. Volume changing is a challenge when driving. Menus are hit and miss.
Summary: Bought the Kam for my old Porsche 993 Carrera 2, replacing a garish Alpine unit. Liked that it could play WMA *AND* AAC, and that sat and HD radio were available options. But the main attraction was its faceplate...no knobs whatsoever. When off, it looks like a shiny blankout panel in the Porsche's dash, as if the car was bought with the radio delete option (yes, some Porschephiles don't want no stinkin' radio in their cars--all in the name of performance).
It does everything I ask of it (99% audio-only). Viewing vids are basically a joke using the built-in LCD; it's PSP-sized but planted into the dash it's also not like you can hold it up to your face, either. The menus are pretty much car geek tech; little forethought was given to how the sub menus interface and mesh with the player; command and function flow can seem somewhat disjointed or unrefined at times when moving down the menu tree, but in general everything works even if it won't make Apple UI designers break a sweat as the Next Big Thing in user friendliness.
I agree with the CNET reviewer; though the iPod-like spinning motion for controlling the volume is cool at first, it gets tired pretty fast. In a hard-sprung car like the Type 993 911, it can be REAL trying to get that dialing motion down pat; there's still nothing as sweet as a big volume knob. I've found that it's also easy to hit the wrong area of the control surface and get entirely the wrong command. I also find that I accidentally hit the pause area of the control surface (the center of the circle) way too often. As much as I hate small buttons, there are times that I would take one of those type of decks over this one, particularly when driving over a particularly bumpy patch of asphalt at the same time as fiddling with the CD deck.
In the end however, I've been rather taken by this deck. The Kam has shown itself over the past year or so to be a steady performer, that happens to make good-sounding audio as well. Plus it looks great, in a minimalist sort of way. I've gotten pretty good with the circular motion for changing volume, even when driving. I just wish I didn't have to CLEAN IT so often. -
"It was great for the 1st 2 months" on by roaldftorres
Pros: DVD Player, iPOD and Bluetooth
Cons: iPOD control is horrible, the Bluetooth keeps droping and after 2 months the screen went black
Summary: Waste of my money, it went down just after the 60 day warranty was off.
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"Lied. Can't use it with an iPod Touch or iPhone." on by jatovi
Pros: Very flashy. Nice screen. Blue tooth works.
Cons: Claims it can work with the iPod Touch or the iPhone but the audio constantly drops out. Display has begun to turn off randomly. Poor remote setup.
Summary: Decent system that offers some good things. I am very disappointed in the iPod Touch situation. Also the remote is really only good for turning the volume up or down.
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"Impossible volume control !!!!" on by YFcraZ
Pros: Bueatiful screen every option you could ever want Sounds quality is great
Cons: Volume control WAY to hard to operate while driving.
No sense of touch so you have to look at the controls while driving.
Touch screen controls are to compact. even tiny fingers will from time to time trip other functionsSummary: The touch screen volume is terrible. It's a struggle to turn down or up without activating another feature. Try adjusting volume while watching a DVD and your running in fast forward or fast back.. If they would have used the up /down arrows it would have made the deck much simpler to operate. I'm concidering taking it back because it is so destracting to try and operate while driving.
If you have a copilot to operate the deck you will love it. My personal opinion is pulls your attention away from the road way to long to simply operate the volume control or hit the presets. If your planing on watching a full lenght DVD better have 2 good batterys or leave the car running. Parking brake has to be on to watch. At least my diesel was in my shop when I did the install. Batterys wouldnt start after watching part of a movie and working through some I-pod issues. -
"Amazing Deck!! Very Suprising from JVC!!!" on by loveallaudio
Pros: This deck is awesome! Plays so many formats, has a fantastic bluetooth capabilities that allows you to use your cellphone to make and accept calls but also stream music! Proximately light up works great. More importantly this deck sounds GREAT!!!!
Cons: Proximatey takes a bit of getting used too. Phone Book entry a little tedious.
Summary: Loaded, this deck is insainly loaded. ipod hook up via USB is great. I have heard it will not work on the older ipods. I have the deck hooked up to an alternate screen and it will display a list of songs on the alternate screen.
It seems there is a bit of a bias to JVC mobile audio equipment on the reviews, I've owned Nakamichi, Denon and other top quality decks. The JVC does not sound as good as the Nak or Denon but it does sound very good! Highly Recommended!!!!!!!!
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