Blaupunkt Nevada rdm168

Overall Rating
 2 of 5

Value Rating
 3 of 5

Used product for
More than 1 year

Price Paid:  $200.00

Year / Model Reviewed:
2000 Nevada 168

Strengths:
Fine sound, good features.

Weaknesses:
Here's where it sucks: As someone else pointed out, it skips a lot when it gets warm. This occurs much more in the summer, when the ambient temperature is higher. The bottom of the unit and the faceplate get ridiculously hot. I can live with that, but the skipping is really annoying, and seems to be worse than when it was new. I'm ready to chuck it for that alone.

Summary:
The sound from this unit is great, and installation was a breeze. It does everything I need and is a huge improvement over the Subaru stock CD payer

Price Paid:  $150.00 from Crutchfield

Strengths:
Features, features, features, good price, good sound quality.

Weaknesses:
CD wouldn't eject fully. 2 "skip" buttons. Unreliable.

Summary:
I loved this CD player until it broke last Friday. It has an awesome conservative design that matches my interior perfectly (none of this dang space shuttle console design that seems to be so popular nowadays). It had a ton of features: 18 FM/12 AM, adjustable loudness level, low EQ boost selectable between 25-300 hz, 12/24 hour clock, and preamp outs. It was easy to use on the surface, but if you dug deep you could find lots of neat features to play around with. Drawbacks: I too had the problem with ejecting CD's. They would come out 1/2" and that was it. The "Skip" and the "Search" button for the CD player were the same button (you hit once to skip, hold it down to search). Which is normal, except that there was ANOTHER skip button. Why were there two skip buttons, I dunno. And lastly, the thing broke on me. One day it just happened, the CD's would play for a few minutes, then the laser would lose it's position, couldn't find it again, and it'd cut to the radio. Happened with brand new CD's, too. Now I'm looking for a new CD player and I can't find anything adequate to replace it - Blaupunkt has decided to go the rought of gaudy flashy lights and bright colors on their displays. No thanks.

Similar Products Used:
Various

Price Paid:  $0.00

Strengths:
sound does not skip faceplate and controls are solid

Weaknesses:
CD eject

Summary:
I have 2 of these. They sound good. They never skip. You can turn 'em on without the ignition on, and they stay on for 1 hour - this is a cool feature. One of them is having the problem mentioned above, where the CD does not eject all the way (sticks out about 1/2"). This has not been a problem - 'cause I can still yank it out, but I'm a little nervous about it.

Similar Products Used:
none

Price Paid:  $0.00

Summary:
Hi again. Second time reviewing this stuff. So since my last review, I have encountered some new problems. 1. The volume knob started malfunctioning. When I am trying to raise the volume, the volume goes down and vice versa. I have to keep turing it until it finally realizes which direction I am trying to go in. 2. I mentioned this problem in the last review also, but it became worse. The CD ejects even less now that I need tu use my nails (the CD doesn''t come out enough to use my fingers). 3. The CD won''t go in. In a regular player, there''s point where the player starts sucking the CD in. With my player, this point became almost non-existent.

Price Paid:  $150.00

Strengths:
Good sound.
Very easy to install (minimal soldering).
Looks cool.

Weaknesses:
After a long run (maybe after 45 min +) the face becomes very hot. When you take the CD out the CD is very hot and makes me wonder if it is OK for the CD to get so hot. Moreover, when the module starts to get hot, the CD starts to skip occasionally. his could be annoying, especially if you are on a long trip.
Also the CD eject stopped working correctly after a couple of months. he CD comes out maybe less than half an inch now. I have to literally pull the CD out. Quite annoying.
Oh, and probably a personal preference, but the power antenna stay up when I am listening to a CD.

Summary:
Overall, I am happy with the product for the price I paid ($150 @ Crutchfiled). I instaled it myself and only took me less than an hour (this was the first time I ever installed a car audo myself).

But maybe because the old Sony I had was such a nice player that I am not fully satisfied with the Blaupunkt. I would love to find the bastard that stole it and I'd even buy it back from him (that's how much I liked it).
So, in comparison, I see Blaupunkt as less impressive.

For the price it's alright, but I would not say that it is impressive (kind of like the reviews Hyundai Tiburon gets in carreview.com "the car is fine for the price...").

Similar Products Used:
Sony Xplaud (it was medium level piece I had for about a month. The Blaupunkt sounds much better. Got rid of it ASAP.

Sony ??? came with the car when I bought it but got stolen. Don't know the model (if I did, I would buy that again). Sounds good, rarely skips, the module dsd not get excessively hot and best of all, my power antenna stayed down when I am listening to the CD.