JVC KD-S890

Price Paid:  $135.00 from Best Buy

Year / Model Reviewed:
2003 JVC KD-S890

Summary:
Solid, inexpensive player with 200 Watts and good sound quality. Basic MP3 support is a big plus. For more advanced MP3 support, look elsewhere - This one will not play WMA files. Highly recommended for the price!

Strengths:
Good sound quality (CD signal-to-noise ratio: 98dB), good power (4 x 50 Watts = 200 Watts). One of the most inexpensive, reasonably quality headunits with basic MP3 support. A big factor for me was the layout of the controls. Big turn dial for volume. Fewer (but larger) buttons for easy access to the most important functions. This simple layout is great for easy tuning while you drive. STAY AWAY FROM SYSTEMS WITH TONS OF TINY BUTTONS AND BUTTON-STYLE VOLUME CONTROL - it may look good in the store but you will be sorry when you are behind the wheel and trying to watch the road and play with the radio. May save your life, literally.

Weaknesses:
NO SUPPORT FOR .WMA AUDIO FILES. As I said, this player has basic MP3 support only. It will not support .wma and other non-standard compression formats. This will only be a problem for certain users (and they will know who they are.) Still highly recommended as a solid, inexpensive headunit for most users.

Price Paid:  $130.00 from Best Buy

Summary:
Great looking radio. Not too fancy or flashy. Doesn't do any movie-animations or anything. Just a basic display. Plays MP3 dics, shows Artist, Title and so on across the display. Shows Artist/Title and so on for regular custom CDs if they are burned with CD text. Colors are nice, they don't make the radio look too far ahead of the car it is put in. Buttons are easy to find and push, not too many technical confusing buttons, very straight forward layout. I will never buy a CD player that doesn't play MP3 CDs anymore. It's hard to ignore the fact that I can have 200 songs on a CD. Also, no annoying fold downs and extra tiny buttons to get a CD out. Just one button, never have to fold anything down or wait for the motor.

Strengths:
Design, Detatchable, Easy to Use, Not too Many Confusing Buttons

Weaknesses:
No Movie-like animations