Aiwa CDC MP32

Price Paid:  $220.00 from circuit city

Summary:
Can we say "heat sink"? Within 20 minutes of starting this thing up, it is too overheated to play a cd, cd-r, cd-rw, much less an MP3. Oh, and how about that sub and amp I have...they pound the hell out of my car, when the head unit RCA jacks aren't shorting out. What a pain in the butt!

Strengths:
strong, clean sound remote is nice for highway driving sleek design

Weaknesses:
overheats (even in cold weather) skips RCA jacks short out fast

Similar Products Used:
Jenson MP3 player Pioneer MP3 Player

Price Paid:  $130.00 from Returnbuy (ebay)

Year / Model Reviewed:
 Aiwa CDC-MP32

Summary:
Overall, great radio for the price I paid, with some flaws.

Strengths:
Sound quality. MP3 playback, folder navigation. Installation (easy).

Weaknesses:
- Remote doesn't work in my car. - "Mode" button makes you cycle from FM1, 2, AM1, 2, CD, AUX. You can't just hit a button and cycle between CD and FM quickly. - Track playback resets if you power off the car. - Slow scan between tracks, esp. mp3. - some skipping. Bottom line: redesign the mode selector and add a 10 sec memory buffer and I'd be happy. Considering most other MP3 players are well over $200, I'm happy with it.

Similar Products Used:
none

Price Paid:  $0.00

Year / Model Reviewed:
 Aiwa CDC-MP32

Summary:
Great looking player. Not had any problems with skipping or errors. It takes about 5 seconds before the CD starts to play, so what.

Strengths:
Looks great, produces great sound.

Weaknesses:
None that I've experienced.

Price Paid:  $200.00 from Fry's Electronics

Year / Model Reviewed:
 CDC-MP32 - 2002

Summary:
The Aiwa CDC-MP32 sucks!! The good reviews are from people who listened to it when the car was absolutely still or only for a short time. It will skip, stall and refuse to play the MP3 track properly. Don't buy it!!! The Magic Flap busted on my first unit (the installer tightened it too much). Stupid remote and unit can only advance one track at a time. With 200 tracks that's ridiculous!! It doesn't keep the time of the MP3 in memory so if you're 20 minutes into a long mp3 set and you stop the car you'll have to start over at time 00:00 (stupid!!) Doesn't do that on CDA, though. I wish I'd found this site before I bought it. Sigh.. Oh well, i can always plug my Portable mp3 through the Aux. Gah!!!

Strengths:
Sound quality when it isn't freaking skipping.

Weaknesses:
Advances one track at a time Skips Loses MP3 time info when shut off Attenae will raise even if you are on Aux, MP3 whatever. You'll kick yourself if you buy it.

Similar Products Used:
None

Price Paid:  $250.00 from Crutchfield

Year / Model Reviewed:
 CDC-MP32

Summary:
Summary: disappointing. Fails to play disks other than CD-RW consistently. CD-R's and store bought music play only about 40% of the time if that. The remote angle does not align for Honda cars so it fails to work. Scratched disks are a nightmare compared with regular CD players. Takes too long to load up music and those error messages are a pain. Sometimes forces you to eject and reinsert a disk before it plays. Improve these and it'd be a great system. Otherwise hold on to your money and shop around for reliability.

Strengths:
When it plays, the sound is good. Strong Radio. Decent features.

Weaknesses:
Mainly failing to recognize disks other than CD-RW ... huge setback!!!

Similar Products Used:
none.