Wait for the next generation...
Written: Aug 05 '01
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Pros: Space, space, space. Nothing holds more mp3s. Helpful support.
Cons: Construction is flimsy. Introduces noise to audio system.
The Bottom Line: I don't recommend it. It seems like the first generation product it is. Wait for the next version.
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| bigtuna's Full Review: SSI America MTE Neo35 Camcorder |
I've had the SSI Neo 35 for a few months. My experiences with it are mixed.
Box/packaging/manual are a joke. The manual is pretty unhelpful and very low quality. The included "tote" bag is cheap and should have been left out.
Install is okay, but I can't believe they didn't put DIN mounting holes on the car bay. You have to make your own holes if you want to screw it to a DIN adapter. The quality of the PC bay is on par with your average removable HDD bay. The car bay is pretty bad. Very flimsy and the fan wires are not secure (they can hang down or get caught in the fan). Also, if you plan to mount it *under* anything, be aware that the wired remote attaches to the *top* of the unit and sticks up. I wanted to put it under my passenger seat, but there wasn't enough clearance for the remote plug (the new Neo Car Jukebox moves the remote to the back of the unit).
The main NEO unit itself is okay. As mentioned in another review, the PCB that has the buttons slides around and makes the 4-way button unusable. Simply repositioning the PCB fixes this, but for a $300 unit this is not acceptable. On a positive note, the HDD mounting is very secure.
The remote is simply a piece of junk. Seriously, this is the worst remote I've ever used. Each button must be pressed twice before the Neo responds. Perhaps this is supposed to be an "anti-accidently pushed the button" feature but it is really annoying.
This is the best unit in terms of storage. Only the size of the hard drive you put in it limits the number of songs you can have. I put in a 40GB drive but gave up at around 5GB. Adding songs to it is a snap since it's basically just a hard drive to your PC. However, I've come to discover that having access to 800+ songs is not necessarily a good thing for me. It's simply too much to choose from and browsing through everything can be a pain.
Now the real problem. The Neo added noise to my stereo system. Note that I have NO noise from the in-dash CD player nor my 12-disc changer. When I played audio from the NEO I had two kinds of noise: first, alternator noise; and second, a kind of sqealing that could be heard with the ignition in the ON position.
A few emails to SSI support (helpful if a bit slow to reply) brought the suggestion to add a 12 volt power filter and/or a ground-loop isolator. I purchased both from Radio Shack. Both worked in that the above noise was reduced to an inaudible level (unless I turned the deck all the way up). However, the ground loop isolator (basically an RCA cable) introduced a "popping" sound to my system. During particular songs I would get a "pop" sound. Without the ground loop isolator I get alternator noise, which is not acceptable.
Of course, this noise problem might not be the fault of the NEO at all but to be honest I'm sick of trying to fix it. I'm getting rid of my NEO for one of the new breed of car mp3 players (e.g. JVC KD-SH99 or Rockford Fosgate RFX9300).
At this point I can't recommend the Neo 35. Perhaps the newly released Neo Car Jukebox has fixed some of the above problems but I'm not willing to drop another $300-$400 on an "auxiliary" unit. I'd rather just spend the cash on a new deck.
Recommended:
No
Amount Paid (US$): 295
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Epinions.com ID:
bigtuna
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Reviews written: 2
Trusted by: 0 members
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