I've had a CDX-M800 (with a Sony CDX-T70MX CD changer) in my Vauxhall Vectra 2.0 SRi for nearly a year now.
I bought it because the CD changer on the previous system had failed and I wanted ID3 tags (CD text), MP3 and RDS. The alternatives considered were all Sony because I'd had good experience of other Sony brand products and had no knowledge of other leading car audio manufacturers.
I bought the M800 online, misunderstanding how its user interface worked. The idea of using a swing out panel to double the area of the user interface appealed greatly but it turned out that the only user controls available when the panel is closed are two buttons to open it.
A further disappointment was that, with the panel closed, the display area is a relatively small part of the whole panel and the pixelated part is less than 2/3 of that. The pixels are quite coarse. As a result it only displays 12 characters of CD text. When the CD starts the CD title is scrolled to display the whole. When the track changes the track title is shown and then the display goes back to the first 12 characters of the CD title.
The non pixelated part shows information that I've never checked because it's the sort of thing you attend to while setting the controls and you can't set anything with the panel closed. It also has a distracting circulating graphic that conveys no information as far as I can tell.
I'd expected something that would a) show more than 12 characters and b) show both CD and track titles at the same time.
With the panel open the area showing CD, track, time, titles etc is smaller than the usual. Hence unnecessarily difficult to read while driving.
Overall I'm very pleased with the audio performance but find the user interface a constant irritation. See the "Detailed Cons" list below for more details. I feel that the designers of the M800 were more concerned to make the unit show itself off than to serve the user well. If I could justify the expense of replacing the M800 I'd do so tomorrow.
Detailed Pros:
1. Sound quality and power -- sounds great on my car's standard speakers
2. Value for money
3. Number of features
4. Number of connections/expandability
5. Build quality
6. Superb radio reception and quality
7. Good fitting instructions and easy to fit.
Detailed Cons:
1. At night:
a) The blue lights on the fascia are too similar to a main beam indicator
b) The displays, both with panel up and down, are too bright, even when they're dimmed. They're significantly brighter than the fascia lights on my car.
c) The front panel lights up when the CD changes even when the unit has been configured with the front panel display off. When driving on country roads this is an unwelcome distraction.
2. With the panel closed:
a ) When closed, the unit has distinctive appearance, especially in bright sunlight. Would not fool a thief with good knowledge of car audio head units.
b) CD track title is only displayed briefly
3. With the panel open:
a) The display of useful information is too small and the font is more fashionable than readable. For example 3 and 5 could be a lot easier to distinguish.
b) I can't read the legends on the buttons while driving (I use spectacles to drive and to read).
4. The display with the panel closed cannot be turned off completely. It comes up at power up and when changing CDs. The first is a security liability when starting the car in a habitual parking place with observant potential thieves around.
5. Does not default to setting clock from RDS. This must be set up manually.
6. Poor buffering of CD against bumps. I've given up using it and only use the changer now.
7. Manual disc labelling is too tedious
8. The operating instructions do not describe all functions. Some features covered in quick setup are not mentioned in the more in-depth section.
9. The "Remote" unit is useless while driving but must be used for some functions when the optional extra rotary commander is not used.
10. The radio volume is much lower than CDs hence CDs come on too loud when you switch from radio to CD
11. There is no automatic volume adjustment to suit the ambient sound level. Given the huge feature list of the MX800 this is surprising.
12. There is no "Att" function on the unit itself. If you need to turn it off or down you have to open the panel first and then turn it off or down.
13. As you open the panel, the buttons are disabled so you can't begin, say, turning the volume down as it opens. If you do press a button before the front has fully opened you have to release it and press it again before it has any effect. This behaviour is particularly irritating in conjunction with the lack of an "Att" function on the unit itself.
NB: was bought in British pounds. Price quoted includes VAT but not carriage and was converted to US dollars at 19 December 2004 rates.
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