Car and Home 2 in 1 Combo Charger for the Cradlepoint PHS 300 - uses Gomadic TipExchange Technology

Gomadic Combo Charger with "TipExchange Technology" overheats and blinks after a few minutes of use, then the Cradlepoint PHS300 shuts off. The charger does not turn off when it overheats. I do not recommend leaving the thing plugged in unattended if you are already an unfortunate buyer. For me it worked for a few days of limited use while connected to AC power. Didn't use it often enough to realize it was defective from the git go. Total waste of $27. It cost almost as much as the Cradlepoint, too! I would not dare to try the GoMadic power adaptor in my car. Cradlepoint PHS300 works fine with original power adaptor it came with, so I know the router is good. This is my first bad experience with buying on Amazon. The return policy on the device has expired so I'm stuck with it.

I ordered 3 of these and all 3 died after a few weeks use. I asked for a replacement and the company said sure, glad to help. That was months ago and no replacement. Save your money, these things are junk!

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I bought this because I thought it would be convenient to carry around a single charger for work, home, and in the car. So far it's been great. It arrived in a plain plastic bag with the correct tip. No extra points for packaging, buy hey, it's just a battery charger. I also want to point out that you can run the PHS off of the charger too.

Read Best Reviews of Car and Home 2 in 1 Combo Charger for the Cradlepoint PHS 300 - uses Gomadic TipExchange Technology Here

This charger is good in that it is a 12 volt and 120 volt charger in one.

The problem is that if I use it when I am using the WiFi ( not just to charge it) it gets hot. The plastic on one side is shiny and deformed.

I realized it because I could smell it.

If I shut off the WiFi and just charge the Cradlepoint, it is fine.

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I recently purchased this product from Gomadic Corp model PHS300. I bought this for my business trips as I am a frequent traveller and I usually avoid paying for hotspot at the airport and not to mention no connectivity at remote locations.

If ANYONE OF YOU READING this review want to buy this product from Gomadic Corp DONT!!!!! unless you really want it for 1-2 weeks and don't really care for your benjamins. 1-2 is the maximum life of this product. I also bought a car-travel charger once I figured that the battery life of this product doesn't last very long. Despite of minimum battery use this product failed to boot after a week hanging me out dry in the out.

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Compatible DC 12v Car Charger for Dell Aero

This item was deleivered before the estimated date which was great this is exactly what I needed works great, this is a great car charger it also will stop charging once the phone is completely charged to avoid over charging my phone

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EMPIRE Retractable Car Charger (CLA) for Verizon LG Cosmos 2

less wires to tangle and handy for transport to carry in any vehicle and in any mode of transportation for convenience

Bought this a few weeks ago for my new phone and it works great so far. Seems to have a solid connection and the retractable cord keeps things neat.

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I purchased this item for a great price. It is exactly what I needed and I received it right away. I would purchase from this company again. This item would have cost me $29.99 at the Verizon website.

Read Best Reviews of EMPIRE Retractable Car Charger (CLA) for Verizon LG Cosmos 2 Here

Black Bull BFC12 Automatic Battery Float Charger

I like the fact that unlike some other trickle chargers it specifically confirms when it is charging. I have one from Harbor Freight that only indicates if it is either plugged in or connected to the battery. If the battery leads come off it still shows that it's on just because it's still plugged in. The only improvement I would make is that the battery leads could stand to be longer.

I've had one of these float chargers on my C6 Corvette battery for 6 years. Maintains a full charge and doesn't boil out the battery. Works great on the yard tractor and generator battery also.Don't be fooled by the cheap price, it works better than one I spent $130.00 on!

4/3/2013 Unit still works fine.

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This is a great trickle charger. The 'charging' light is a nice add to one I have that didn't include that. I got it for my generator that's used only when the power goes out so it's nice to know it's charged and ready to go when I need it.

Read Best Reviews of Black Bull BFC12 Automatic Battery Float Charger Here

I kept a motorcycle ready to go in an unheated garage thru a nasty winter. Started once in awhile with full battery

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This product is supposed to be used to maintain a charge on a battery but I was able to fully charge a brand new uncharged motorcycle battery. I left it on there for about 48 hours just to be sure it gets a good charge and it worked. The product itself is not anywhere near amazing quality, but it gets the job done for such a small price so I can't take away any stars.

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Motorola Roadster Bluetooth In-Car Speakerphone - Retail Packaging

I own the newer Motorola Roadster and the slightly older Motorola T505. So it made sense to do a head-to-head comparison to see which unit is better.

Design: Both units are compact. The Roadster's layout is somewhat more appealing to my eye. The Roadster's controls are labeled and easy to find. They are also illuminated. The T505's controls are not as well labeled or illuminated, but it is easy to use nonetheless.

The T505 has a reversible mounting clip, so it can work with cars like my Audi, which have sun visors that swing from front-to-rear rather than the usual rear-to-front. Roadster's mounting clip is not reversible, so I must mount it backwards in order to use it. Once the unit is mounted backwards, throw those easy-to-read labels and icons out the window. The T505 is made from plastic. So is the Roadster, but it also is partially covered by a nylon or poly cloth material that could prove to be less durable. While the Roadster features a more updated look, the lack of a reversible mounting clip gives a slight advantage to the T505, as the Roadster is hard to use when mounted backward.

Pairing. Both bluetooth units pair very easily, but the advantage goes to the Roadster, which announces that it is ready to pair and then does so quickly. Things couldn't be much easier then that. But the T505 is also easy to pair, just not quite as easy as Roadster. Also, the Roadster turns itself on when you enter the car, which is nice. The T505 must be turned on manually.

I paired both units with a newer Palm Pixi Plus and a slightly older Palm Treo 755p. While Roadster initially paired with this somewhat older 755p, after a couple of days it would no longer pair. I tried everything I could think of and got to pair eventually, but it later developed the same problem, dropping pairing and then refusing to pair. The T-505 paired and remained connected without issues. While the Roadster pairs easier than the T505, I had no issues with the T505 and I had several problems with Roadster's pairing. Advantage: T505.

Streaming Music: Both units can stream MP3s from your cell phone through your car stereo. When advancing from one track to the next, Roadster required me to hold down the advance button for much longer than I'd like to, creating a distraction while driving. A single touch on that key pauses the music but it must be held down for awhile to advance the track. I had to hold the button down to the point where it was annoying. Also, the advance takes longer than I'd like and is accompanied by a very loud beep and then a clicking sound. Also, with Roadster, I cannot revert to the previously played track. With the T505, I simply click on the right side button to advance and the left side button to go back. Changes from track to track only require a short touch, the change is immediate and it is not accompanied by the obnoxious beep tone or clicking noise. Advantage T505.

Speakerphone: The Roadster's built in speakerphone is louder and clearer than the T505's. If you are using the speakerphone and not streaming to FM stereo, the advantage goes to the Roadster.

Output to FM stereo: Both units have similar output strength to FM. It could be better but both units are much better than a Jabra unit that I tested earlier. I'd consider the output to FM on both units to be on the better side of acceptable. Roadster can select a specific FM frequency that you'd like for the unit to broadcast on each time. The T505 cannot do this. T505 will automatically scan for a frequency and you can select a preferred frequency, but it will generally select whatever it likes. I'd probably call this a draw, although I do prefer Roadster's frequency-selecting ability.

Call quality: I spoke with my mother on the Roadster first and then with the T505. I was driving a convertible with the top up. The car is not noisy but is slightly more so than a hardtop vehicle. The Roadster's microphone was so sensitive that it was picking up much of the background noise and forcing the duplex to me even when I wasn't speaking. That meant that I couldn't hear much of what mom said because Roadster picked up the road noise and shut off mom's conversation. The T505 didn't have this problem. Big advantage T505.

Incoming calls: When an incoming call arrives, both units announce the caller's name and number, if available. Roadster allows you to say "answer" or "ignore". With the T505, you simply tap the telephone icon to answer. Slight advantage Roadster.

Texting: It's my understanding that Roadster can read back texts and allow you to reply to them. I did not test this function, but assuming it works properly, it seems like that would be an attractive feature for someone who texts a lot. Advantage Roadster.

The Winner: Of the two units, I prefer the T505. It's less fussy than Roadster. While Roadster's pairing failed several times, the T505 was always rock solid. Music streaming track advances were much quicker and smoother on the T505. The microphone was way too sensitive on Roadster, although this might not be a problem for those with a very quiet car.

Both are decent units, but I'm using the T505 daily while Roadster sits in its box. Roadster isn't bad, but I can't give it more than 3 stars based on my experiences.

Before getting this I did quite a bit of searching on the web, and couldn't find anything that explains exactly how well this speakerphone works with iPhones. Several other reviews outline its main features, and a few mention that they use it with their iPhones but don't discuss the limitations of that mode, so what follows is intended just for those who hope to use it with an iPhone. (I've got the iPhone 3G, but I can't see any reason it would work differently with the iPhone 3GS or 4).

It's clearly designed for droid phones, and on those phones you can download the MotoSpeak app and have it read texts out loud and even allows you to compose texts hands free. Still, the basic and most essential functions appear to work with any Bluetooth enabled phone, and certainly with my iPhone 3G.

It hooks easily to the sun visor of the car, and the charger plugs into the cigarette lighter. It links easily with the iPhone, once you go into the settings and enable Bluetooth. After it's linked, the Roadster recognizes your phone, and turns itself on automatically, apparently triggered by the sound of an opening or closing car door. Once on, it speaks out loud that it recognizes your phone, and even says the name of the phone it's linked to. It also tells you whether it's fully charged or not.

If you receive a call, it tells you there's an incoming call and if your phone recognizes the caller it tells you who's calling. You can then say either "Answer" or "Ignore" and it will either pick up the call or drop it. You hear the call either through a speaker built in to the Roadster or you can set it up so it transmits directly to your car stereo through an unused FM frequency. The onboard microphone picks up your voice all you have to do is speak at an ordinary level and it works fine. My wife reported that it sounds just like it does when I'm calling her directly through the iPhone.

Pressing the call icon on the Roadster will redial your most recent call. Another feature built in to it is that you're supposed to be able to click on the dial tone button and speak a phone number but when I press that button the Roadster tells me that the feature is unsupported by my phone. It strikes me a bit odd that the Roadster can control my iPhone enough to dial the most recent call, but not to dial a different number, but that's the way it is.

You can also play music from your phone through the Roadster it sounds awful if you try to do it through the speaker on the Roadster, but when you've got it on the FM transmitting mode, and assuming you've got it set on a clear station the music sounds pretty decent, about as good as you'd get it from a decent but not perfect signal on a regular FM station. In my case I hook the iPhone directly to my stereo with a USB cable, so I wouldn't ever bother with this.

So what this is really useful for on my iPhone is answering calls hands free and in my case that's the main thing I wanted it for so it works pretty well for me. If you want to make phone calls a lot while driving, or want to receive and send text with voice commands, you'll need a different kind of phone, with Android 2.2 or higher. Having said that, those features would make this an excellent device for owners of Android phones; the more basic features still make it quite useful for iPhone users like me.

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I am really not sure what is up with the bad reviews(1 star). Regardless of the bad reviews, I still purchased the product and to be honest I think it is great. People seem to complain for absolutely no reason. Don't compare a device to another device. This is not a comparison review. The product delivers as advertised.

This is my first motorola product I purchased from amazon.

-Quick delivery +

-Easy pairing. What a breeze for any non techies out there. +

-Speaker phone works great. + Everyone I spoke to so far had no clue I was on speaker phone. Its loud too except if the volume is on full blast it can be slightly distorted. Simple fix(don't put it on full volume)

-FM transmitter works fine. + Here is where I don't get some of the reviews. What do you expect? Dolby Digital, THX certified sound coming out of your car speaker from this device? You don't even get that from your handheld phone. If you find a clear FM channel and play around a bit, it will come in fine. Not 100% clear but what do you expect? Its a FM transmitter people. I think its perfectly fine and once again, nobody said they heard anything strange on the other line.

-Synch multiple devices. + This was really cool. I had two cellphones in my car and the device knew to switch back and forth between the two when I hit a button on either phone. I remember my old BMW which had bluetooth couldn't do this. I had to manually switch back and forth. So annoying while driving. This device did it no problem.

-Not sure about battery life since i've only had for a week but its seems fine. It would have been nice using mini USB charger instead of some strange connector from motorola.

-Haven't tried motospeak(speech to text) yet sorry.

Only Con: The buttons on the device aren't the best. I hit a button and doesn't seem like i'm even hitting it. FM, +, buttons in particular. No big deal. You shouldn't have to hit buttons often anyway. I changed from 4 stars to 5 because this is just being too picky. If I could do 4.5 stars then I would but I can't so 5 stars it is.

If I were you, I would definitely purchase it. Its a sleek little device and not bad for under $80 bucks. Works like a charm. Don't listen to the rest of these people that gave 1 star reviews cause they are used to their old devices or are just whiners by nature. LOL. Works as advertised.

Read Best Reviews of Motorola Roadster Bluetooth In-Car Speakerphone - Retail Packaging Here

Just got this a few days ago, but so far I am very impressed by it. Charged it up in the house and it immediately connected to my phone. I leave it on in the car and it immediately connects when I get in--even faster than the "built-in" bluetooth on our other car. The sound is good--people have no problem hearing or understanding me while I'm driving in the car, and I have no problem hearing callers. Love the voice commands--I can just say "answer" and don't have to reach up for the button to answer calls. It also automatically connected to my phone's contact list so it tells me who is calling if they are on the list--otherwise just the phone number--and I can say, "Call Roy" and it does it! Now that's real "hands free". So far the battery seems to last well. I've had it on in the car for 3 days and the battery is still "high" (I never turn it off). I don't use the FM connection, nor do I stream music from my phone through it, so can't comment on those functions. However, I can't imagine that this speaker could reproduce music as well as the car's sterio system. I bought it strictly as a Bluetooth speaker for my cell phone for hands free receiving and placing of calls and it is doing that beautifully!

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The Roadster is a lightweight unit roughly the size of a cellphone but molded to fit properly on an automobile sun visor. It comes with a car recharger and small instructional booklet. I unpacked mine and turned it on. It immediately "spoke" through the built-in speaker, indicating that its battery level was low and that it needed to be connected via Bluetooth to my cellphone. I have an iPhone 4; I turned that on and selected the Settings app so that I could set up the Bluetooth connection. Following the instructions I'd just heard on the Roadster, I accomplished that within a few seconds. The Roadster then indicated that it was connected to my iPhone, using my iPhone's personal name through the speaker.

The next day, I put the Roadster in my car, plugging it into the lighter socket to recharge the battery. A blue LED on the lighter plug indicates that power is being received and the unit announces that it is being charged. A little while later, I received a phone call. The ring tone that I'd normally hear on my phone came through on the Roadster's speaker and I was quickly able to answer the call. While driving on the highway with some interior noise in the car, the unit had excellent clarity and my caller indicated that he had no trouble understanding the conversation.

While I can send the Roadster's speaker output to the FM radio band instead, I rarely have the radio on and so have not used that function.

I left the car at the airport, leaving the Roadster turned on and unplugging the lighter plug, and taking my iPhone with me. Four days later, returning to the car, as I opened the door I heard the Roadster announce that it had detected my iPhone and was setting up the Bluetooth connection. This required no action on my part. Battery level was announced as being high, so clearly the unit had turned off appropriately during my and my phone's absence. I initiated a call this time and the input/output was automatically directed to the Roadster's mic/speaker setup without any additional action on my part.

As you've read in other reviews, the Roadster has other capabilities, such as streaming music, voice response to certain commands, and so forth. I haven't utilized these capabilities yet, but the strength of this product is in the straightforward and easy setup, the clarity of the speaker and microphone, and the ease and speed with which it links to the Bluetooth connection of my phone each time I return to the car. I've observed no errors or problems in this regard over the first 10 days of use and am looking forward to a long relationship between my phone and the Roadster.

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Rubberized Retractable Car Charger for LG Voyager

Thought I would like it better. Not greatest quality item. Good idea but not what I thought it would be like. Not convenient to use. Arrived in a timely manner. Priced great.

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2.5" Screen HD 720P Car DVR Driving Recorder With IR 10-LED Night Vision/Cycling Recording/AV OUT

• Uses 500W HD camera lens.
• Night vision function.
• Automatically records once the engine starts.
• When the memory is full, it will automatically cover the previous files

The folks at Alldaymall contacted me shortly after I had ordered this product:

http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00919ZNQM/ref=oh_details_o06_s00_i00

telling me they had just sold out of that particular camera, and asked if they could substitute an alternative. I figured something like this situation would happen eventually (since they had only one of that item left in stock), so I said "OK". The substitute was the camera I'm reviewing now. I was a little disappointed that an English language operating manual wasn't included (the only manual was in Chinese, I think), but since I'm a very technically-minded, hands-on kind of guy, I started pressing buttons to see what did what. It didn't take long to figure out how to operate the camera (about 30-45 minutes of trial-and-error) and get the battery charged. It has several resolutions available, from VGA 640X480 to 1080 FHD on the movie camera side, to VGA 640X480 to 12 MP on the still images side. There's also a setting to flip the display 180 degrees, if you use the camera "upside down", and so many others I haven't used yet. It's a definite learning curve...if you press the setting wheel too soon, it defaults to the main display, and so forth. As mentioned, trial and error and about 45 minutes of tinkering, and you'll be operating this camera in no time flat. I've not yet used it in my car, but I plan to at some point, just to test it's capabilities.

It comes with an in-car mount (a heavy-duty suction cup for attaching to the windshield), an RCA video cable to connect to a TV or DVR, a USB A to micro USB cable, and a 12v car adapter. You can also use it as a webcam, if you're so inclined, or a USB mass storage device (although I had some trouble mounting it as the latter...I suspect my computer not recognizing any USB device over 8gb as the culprit). It'll take up to a 32GB SD Card, which, on the lowest resolution settings, will give you over 400,000 still images or over 5 hours of video. It's also night-vision capable, given the array of 10 IR LEDs on either side of the wide-angle lens. With the LEDs turned on, you can see about 30-45 feet in total darkness (about average for night vision devices). Turning them on takes a bit of practice...press the power button once to turn the camera on, then a brief press of the power button will turn the LEDs on or off (the display will indicate when the LEDs are on or off). The display itself is rather small...no more so than an average LCD camera, so it really isn't an issue.

I've not yet tested the battery capacity, but I suspect on battery power alone, actual use times may vary. I tend to use things like this connected to an inexhaustable power supply (such as a LARGE battery, a car charger, or other means), since batteries are so unpredictable.

I plan to tinker with this some more over the next few weeks, so we'll see just how complicated (or easy!) this camera is to use "in the field", as it were.

In closing, I'd like to ask a favor of the fine folks at Alldaymall Please include an English-language manual, or offer an English-language translation of the included manual with your cameras from now on. The directions on the back of the box are not very informative. Thank you!

Retractable Car Charger for Motorola i1

Bought this retractable car charger as a gift, and it was just what they wanted...and I couldn't beat the price. Thanks!

after trying a number of similar units that don't work with the Motorola I1 for Boost, this does! So mission accomplished!

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Advanced Gomadic Brand Garmin Nuvi 3590 3590LMT 2 in 1 Auto / Car DC Charger with Foldable Wall AC

• Broad input voltage range of 12-24VDC and 100-240VAC respectively. Permits charging via vehicle and home outlets worldwide!
• Intelligent circuit tailors precise output voltage (including resistor configuration) specific to the Garmin Nuvi 3590 3590LMT. This ensures battery is safely and efficiently charged.
• State of the art, advanced circuitry prevents the Garmin Nuvi 3590 3590LMT from being damaged by power surges, overcharging and/or short-circuiting.
• Gomadic TipExchange Technology protects your investment by providing a means to change/upgrade your charger by simply swapping the physical charging tip. (Charging tip for Garmin Nuvi 3590 3590LMT included with additional tips sold separately)
• Non-coiled, straight cable design allows for easy routing around your vehicle trim for a more professionally installed look. Durable construction is built to last.

I bought this because it was well rated and supposedly a high end unit. I can't say it is or isn't It is okay but I am still not used to the way it works. The best feature is it is quick to react to route changes. It also grabs the satellite signal quickly. So far no waiting when I make a wrong turn on purpose to see how it reacts. It quickly reroutes me. There is a big issue. The route it wants me to take when leaving my subdivision is wrong. The other thing is it has the wrong name for the street I live on. I have only seen a few maps or units that has the street name correctly. Tom Tom also has the route wrong. The other odd item is route timing. It is better than my old Magellan but just a bit off. It says I will arrive in 50 minutes and it calculates that time based on I have no idea. It is always a few minutes off. It seems to assume I am going to speed. If I drive the speed limit it will take longer than it says. If I drive faster I will only be a minute or two late. Strange but true. It is also supposed to have a learning feature but so far it seems to have learned nothing. So that part does not work. I live in a rural area and there isn't much in the way of traffic reporting so unless I go to Boston I get nothing. There is a lot of traffic and there are lots of delays just very little reporting. I haven't tried the HD Radio feature yet. I paired it with my cell phone and so far it has been a waste of time. It does not appear to have saved the phone book from my phone so it is another none working feature. Are you sensing a theme here? It is a lot of money to pay for faster satellite acquisition.

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Powerful External Remote Amplified GPS Antenna Receiver for Garmin Nuvi

• 1. External Active Antenna for GPS
• 2. Allows more flexible antenna placement for better reception
• 3. Magnetic base and water resistent

Update December 2010:

DO NOT leave this plugged into the GPS for extended periods when not being used.

It consumes a small amount of power, and will flatten the GPS's internal battery within a few days. There was an even worse problem in one of my cars which was not used for several weeks. It left the car battery TOTALLY flat when it and the GPS were left plugged-in to an un-switched 12v outlet (even though the GPS was switched off).

I still rate this item as ***** (5 stars) now that I know how to easily avoid a flat car battery. Just unplug it!!! All 5 antennae I have bought are still working fine (as is my now-ancient Nuvi 350).

Update December 2009:

I continue to be impressed and bought 2 more to give as gifts. AND No! I have no personal interest in the company (unfortunately). Improves speed of signal acquisition in my Garmin nüvi 765/765T 4.3-Inch Bluetooth Portable GPS Navigator with Traffic especially noticeable when the GPS has not been been used for many days. Again, thoroughly recommended.

----------

Update April9 2009:

I was so pleased with this item that I bought 2 more so that they are permanently installed on my cars.

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I came across this item while browsing Amazon for reviews on new GPS. I needed to replace my 30 month old Nuvi 350 which was non-functioning displaying the dreaded "Cannot Acquire Satellites" error message. The 2 reviews on this antenna both stated that its use had resolved this issue. Further investigation confirmed similar results with other comparable antennae.

I had returned a Nuvi 750 because its performance was inferior to the 350. Seeing that the cost of both the antenna and shipping was minimal I decided that I did not have much to lose by ordering one.

When it arrived, I connected it to my 350 and dumped them both on the passenger seat. My hopes were high but my expectations were low.

In a very short time I noticed that my old 350 (previously destined for the garbage) was now fully functional. Further investigation revealed that signal strength is far higher that it had previously been. Signal acquisition is also very much quicker.

The antenna itself measures 1-3/4" x 1-3/8 x 9/16", has a 10' 1/8" diam. cord and has a powerful magnet for easy routing and exterior attachment. Since I am getting such good signal strength, I shall probably place it permanently above the dash where it will attract less unwelcome interest.

My other pleasant surprise was that it had arrived in Maine (from Texas) 3 days after placing my order.

When I finally replace my Nuvi 350, it (and this antenna) will continue to be used in our second car. My new GPS (maybe 765?) will be ordered along with a second antenna hopefully from the same seller (if not Amazon.com itself).

One caveat:

The antenna's plug could be improved. It is tiny and difficult (very hard on finger nails) to remove. I plan to attach a more substantial grip (maybe a 1/2" diameter plastic disc or similar shape) using epoxy glue to eliminate this minor problem.

This is not enough of a problem to reduce my 5-star rating.

FYI:

The Nuvi has a direct connection for an antenna rather than through its quick-disconnect mount (a design upgrade would be a major improvement!!!) therefore this item must be unplugged whenever removing the GPS.

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This antenna performs as advertised. My Garmin Nuvi GPS was suffering increasingly intermittent connections with satellites. Eventually, it would only rarely locate my car, and several times I had to resort to my phone's GPS to get where I was going. Apparently, from browsing the web, this is a fairly common problem for Garmin units.

I was procrastinating before spending hundreds of dollars on yet another GPS, when I spotted a claim of this solution on a random web page, and then found it on Amazon and saw favorable reviews.

It still might take up to 30 seconds to locate the car when starting, but then the connection is rock solid. At about $20, it is a tiny fraction of the cost of a new GPS unit. The cable is longer than necessary, about 6 feet rather than the necessary 1 or 2 feet, but the antenna itself is compact. It makes putting the unit out of sight slightly more cumbersome, with the extra wire emanating from the GPS, a minor hassle.

[a few days later after looking at the extra cable for a while, I wrapped it around, out the door, and used the magnet under the antenna to stick it on my car roof the extra cable is actually a good thing.]

Instructions were minimal. The user simply plugs the cable into the little connection on the GPS antenna flap that lifts up from the back of the unit.

It worked for me, thanks Amazon and its diligent and accurate reviewers.

Read Best Reviews of Powerful External Remote Amplified GPS Antenna Receiver for Garmin Nuvi Here

Our Nuvi 660 would no longer acquire satellites. After attaching this external antenna, it now works again. Does not come with any manual or setup recommendations.

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I bought the antenna to fix my reception problem with Garmin 350. The signal reception has been restored and looks like works even better than original Garmin chip that broke.

So, if you need cheap fix for Garmin I recommend to try this before spending money on new device.

Disadvantage in my case the cable is too long

As many reviews have suggested, I also had a Garmin Nuvi 660 that had been slowly getting worse and worse reception until it finally would get no signal at all. I had it for over 3 years and traveled extensively with it, so figured it was just the end of the road. I read something about trying this product and figured it was worth a shot for the price. This completely fixed the problem, and in fact, never have any issues with the unit trying to find satellites. The only drawback is that for traveling purposes, having to takes this along is a bit of a headache. (I'm talking about on planes and using rental cars.) As I have stopped traveling and can just keep it in one car, then it is not really an issue.

Overall, very pleased. It saved me from having to buy a new GPS.

Kensington K39264US Travel Battery Pack and Charger for iPhone and iPod touch

• Built-in dock connector to charge your iPhone and flip-out USB tip to recharge without the mess of extra cables
• Extends play time up to 23 hours music, up to 7 hours of video and up to 5 hours of talk time
• LED battery gauge displays remaining battery pack power level
• Perfect for long flights and small travel bags
• 1A power for fast charging of your iPhone, including iPhone 4

Bought this gadget to take to WDW in Orlando, as it's very difficult to find places to charge an iPhone there. I charged the battery pack the night before we hit park #1 and when my iPhone got below 50%, I charged it...took about 30 minutes. Was able to recharge the iPhone several times like this on one "full-charge" of the battery pack. Had to recharge the battery pack after 3 or 4 days. I highly recommend this product if you are not going to be near electricity OR if you're taking and emailing/texting lots of photos which eat up some of the battery time.

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I bought this for my business partner as he uses his iPhone 4 quite a bit and he cannot stop raving about how good it is. The shape of this device makes it really easy to use as a holder for watching a video while supplying battery power at the same time. A definite recommend!

Update: I notice that a similar version of this gets knocked for not working with the iPhone 4. This model does and would be the one you should buy if you have an iPhone 4.

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This charger worked great on my most recent trip away from home. Though my iPod Touch battery life is quite good I still needed a battery backup and this Kensington K39264US Travel Battery Pack and Charger for iPhone and iPod touch unit worked like a charm. As advertised, when my iPod battery ran low I just plugged in the charger and continued listening to my music until my flight was over.

The unit arrived nearly fully charged and I topped it off by plugging it directly into a USB port on my computer using the built-in USB adapter. No extra cables! When I needed to use the unit to charge my iPod I just flipped up the top -which also acts as a stand -and connected it directly to the port. My iPod beeped and displayed it was being charged.

A day or so later I recharged my player again and still the charger was not exhausted. Quite impressive. Little blue status lights along the side indicate the power reserve in the pack so I knew when it was going to need another re-charge. Even after two charges I was only about half empty on the charger and probably could have used it for a 3rd charge before being completely exhausted.

I haven't tried any other charger but I am very pleased with the built-in USB plug and the attached flip-up cover/stand. There's no need to look for a replacement.

Good job, Kensington!

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I spend all day 25 ft. up in a tree deer hunting. This Kensington battery pack and charger is the ideal source in case my IPhone battery discharges with use or unintentionally. I don't go in the woods without it.

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I was really looking for one or two of their ultra portable battery packs that they made in the past which was a great product!!

I had to settle for this. It is OK. When you get to below 20% on your phone this product does not charge your phone completely back up to to 100%, maybe 80 to 90% if you are lucky. (The old product did)

The compactness is Fine except you are trading width for thickness. So it will depend on how you are carrying it. It does charge the phone back to that 80% within I believe it was an hour or two.

The old did it in 1 hour. It is more contained then the the old (it had to be tethered by a cable) but I did not mind the inconvenience for an hour. Price about the same.

Both could charge via computer or AC. I would say if you can find the old one new I would snatch it up. This one I am reviewing is something you just have to settle for because nothing else on the market

is as efficient or reliable as the Kensington!

Samsung Rogue U960 Rubberized Retractable Car Charger

I thought this product would break shortly after I bought it because the cable would get caught in the mechanism. I have had this product for a few months and I LOVE IT. The only problem I had is the sticker on the side fell off right after I took it out of the packaging. It did not hurt the functionality of the product so I'm VERY HAPPY!!!

We bought this because we liked the idea of the cord retracting and not just hanging there in the car or taking up so much room in the glove compartment. It does work well, but the one we received does not retract all the way in. About 2" of the end that plugs into the phone hangs out. It's better than not retracting at all but it would be nice if it retracted all the way like the picture shows.

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Very good product which has worked well. For the price, I don't think you can do any better.

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It broke withing just a ew weeks of having it and it wasn't the greatest at charging in the first place, it was slow to charge.

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This item is apparently not meant for actual use, as it is so flimsy and cheap, it wouldn't survive being stuck into a charging socket. I received mine in 2 pieces, and it doesn't look like it's even designed to hold together for more than 5 minutes. Consider yourself warned.

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Peripheral ISGM73 GM iPod Interface Kit

• The GM iPod Interface kit connects an iPod directly to the factory radio.
• Track-selection can be controlled from the radio
• It provides digital-quality sound and charges the iPod while in use
• Plug-and-play installation maintains factory wiring integrity
• iPod/iPhone track-forward/track-back control through the factory radio
• Supports 5v battery charging for the iPod/iPhone

The Peripheral ipod interface allows you to control your ipod with the ipod, while hooked up to your factory stereo. You can move from one track to the next through the stereo but thats about it. You can however control everything through the ipod on the ipod itself. That was what I wanted since a factory radio doesn't have enough control over an ipod anyways. Most other brands completely shut the ipod contols off and your only able to contol the ipod through the radio with very little control, which makes it impossible to search for music unless you unplug it and find what you want then plug it back in. The box or interface unit is much smaller than other brands which makes it easier to find a place to install it with the limited space in a newer vehicles dash. The ipod cord is much longer than other units as well (12 feet), giving you more options in your vehicle to place your ipod.

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I bought this product, after I talked to a couple of car radio experts. They told me that my 2002 Chevy Monte Carlo would never accept this product. But I bought it any way, and I am I glad I'm a little hard headed sometimes. This thing works perfectly, sound quality is great, I can control song up and down though the radio. I couple of words about the installation; I am very handy and was worried about this install. You have to get to the back of the radio, and in every car there are different degrees if difficulty involved. You also need to splice in wires and I soldered mine in to make sure they are perfect. Also the instruction manual lists settings for like a 100 cars, so you find yours and flip the little switches to match what the manual says. I did that, plugged it all in, tested it, nothing, no sound. It says some radios take up to three minutes to recognize the iPod adapter, waited the three minutes and still nothing. I was so disappointed, however I know that an Impala almost the exact same as a Monte Carlo but with four doors, so I checked to see if the Impala had different switch settings. Which it did, I tried those settings and it worked instantly! So the important thing is know your car and know cars that are like yours that may have the same radio and try different settings before you give up, because this thing is awesome.

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I purchased this to install in my 2002 C5 Corvette.

Included instructions are rather poor. Fortunately there are some excellent directions (including DIP switch settings) to be found on online forums.

The cables included are not used for the Corvette. Unfortunately, I did not find this out until tearing the dash apart to install it. Nothing like doing it two times....

So complaint one there are three cables included, and none of them worked for me. I had to purchase a cable (and one that is becoming rare and may go extinct make sure to check for this before purchasing). I later saw some bright entrepreneurs on a well-known auction site have started offering kits with this device in combination with the correct harness.

The sound quality is great.

As stated in other reviews, the random play control does not work. You get around 7 songs, and then it will play those same 7 again. The only way around this is to use the iPod to forward. Also, sometimes when using the "next" button on the stereo, the song skips or plays fast, "chipmunk style", once again requiring the intervention of the iPod.

A minor inconvenience is that when you press the "next" button, it takes about 1.5 seconds for the iPod to respond and play the next song.

Next problem also stated by other reviews it will no charge the iPhone 3G. You will need an adapter if you want to charge and avoid Apples #%&! nag screens. I purchased one by Griffin and recommend it.

Another problem the connection is powered at all times, key on or off. Other Corvette owners who drive their car infrequently have had their batteries drained by this device. I have not had this happen, but thought it good to warn.

But.... given the options, which are few are far between, this became my choice. If you invest in a good mounting method so that you can easily and quickly control your iPhone/iPod, most of the faults of this device are forgotten.

I just wish Peripheral would update this. It's time to update it to USB from Firewire and try to fix some of the bugs.

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I didn't do the research and just believed what I read on the sellers page. I was under the impression this would fit my car by the way it was described. It was not what I needed for my car. However, they did accept my return and processed it very quickly. It was more my fault then theirs, but they did have wrong information in their description.

I purchased the ISGM73 iPod Interface for my 2007 Pontiac Vibe and I couldn't be happier. It arrived on my doorstep in less than 48 hours, the install was very simple, and the sound quality of this product is top-notch. I didn't read too many reviews that discussed installation, so here are a few pointers I picked up along the way.

I spent a total of about two hours doing the install, but I could probably do it in under an hour if I had to do it again. Obviously, removing the stereo was the first step. Piece of cake. Once out, one end of the supplied harness was plugged into the open port on the back of the stereo (my Vibe didn't come with the factory CD Changer, or even the wiring... which made it even easier). The other end of the harness was then plugged into the supplied interface module. The last thing to do... supply power to the harness assembly/module. I tapped into the 12 volt constant power source that feeds the stereo through the factory stereo harness (in my Vibe, it was the blue wire with the white stripe). I used one of those two-wire blade-type compression connectors, and then double checked that the interface end of the harness was receiving power with a test light. I then grounded the black wire to a piece of metal behind the stereo with a circular wire connector and a sheet metal screw. The last thing to do... connect the data cord to the interface, run the cord under the consol, and plug in the iPod (iPod Classic 80 GB). Instantly, the little "charging" lightning bolt on the iPod came on. I then simply pressed the CD/AUX button on the stereo, and voila... music was flowing (Audioslave, I believe:).

I played around with the EQ setting for a moment or two, and then turned it up. THE BEST THAT THE STEREO HAS EVER SOUNDED! Crisp, clean, clear, and loud (without any distortion). As far as the stereo controls and their interaction with the iPod... they work, but are a bit slow and clumsy. The "next track/previous track" up/down arrows on the stereo work great, but trying to use the factory buttons to search for music would be cumbersome (trying to use the "time advance" feature to get to a particular place in the song is also a little slow to respond). I usually just set my iPod to shuffle and just skip to the next song if need be, so using all the stereo controls isn't that big of a deal to me. If that is of concern, know that the controls of the iPod are still completely functional (this product doesn't cut-off the iPod controls when plugged in). When you turn the car off, the iPod will pause and continue charging (although it takes about 10 seconds for the iPod to recognize that the car is shut down and pause). When you turn the car on, the iPod come out of sleep/charge mode and picks back up where you left off. My one and only complaint...the track/artist info doesn't display on my stereo face. It displays "D1 T1" (disc one, track one), and then advances tracks as I skip ahead (D1 T2, D1 T3, etc...). It would be nice to have the feature, but not that big of a deal to me.

Overall... I am thrilled! My 30 mile commute to work just got a whole lot better!

Hopkins 20119 Engager SM Break-Away System with Battery Meter and 44" Switch

I liked the size, it fit perfect. easy to install. Hopefully my trailer will never be in the situation that it will need to use this system.

I HAVE USED MANY BREAK-AWAY SYSTEMS AND THIS IS THE VERY BEST!! IT IS EASY TO ENSTALL AND BAD WEATHER DOES NOT AFECT IT

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The Hopkins 20119 Engager SM Break-Away System with Battery Meter and 44" Switch is an outstanding product. You get the battery box, battery, and the breakaway switch with a 44 inch cable. The push button check is a great feature. There is not "charger" the description should just say "battery charges when attached to tow vehicle with power wire to trailer". I have had one of these for three years and it still works perfectly. I bought this second one for a second trailer. The price is better than I can get locally. Buy this, you will be very happy with it.

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This is a very nice product, but the directions point out that if someone presses the Test Button while the trailer is hooked up to the truck, then the electrical charge sent through the wire to the truck can destroy your trailer-break controller. If the elves doing the yearly state inspections can't keep their hands off the test button, I may have to replace this nice break-away switch with one without a test button!

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I have a 10 ton rated trailer and I installed one of these on it a year ago. Outstanding product! Easily handles the needs of a trailer this heavy duty! I believe in getting my moneys worth and every bit of what a 10 ton rated trailer is supposed to do! You can count on this product with confidence! I have bought 2 more for equipping other trailers since I put the first one on! No worries!

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HTC EVO 4G Supersonic SPRINT Car Windshield Dash Mount Cradle Holder Kit

First of all, the seller has lighting shipping! Thank you. The product arrive just as described and it has held up perfectly. It is a little flimsy, but that doesn't bother me at all. You have the option of mounting your phone in an 90 degree angle or even 360 degree angle. You receive a dash mount if you prefer not to hang your mount via the windshield. The suction cup holds perfectly,and very durable. I love the mount and the price even better. Thanks again

I just received this item in the mail today...and out of everything I purchased on amazon this was just perfect, exactly what I wanted.

This is perfect for the EXTENDED BATTERY and let alone the CASE on the phone.I can even use this with an Ipod,and basically anything else. I loved how i received this before the set date...I am so happy with this purchase and I hope others enjoy as well. Totally recommend this car mount very sturdy and worth the price!

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I was skeptical about this item because it's so inexpensive that I thought, how good can it be? Well, it's marvelous. I ordered one about a year ago and it has worked wonders in my car, where I use my phone as a GPS. It lasted very well until my 4 year old nephew got hold of it and twisted it using the plastic part, which separated, so it could no longer be used (not his fault, he was just trying to look closely at it) so I ordered another one and it's still just as wonderful. In fact, I'm going to get another one for my husband, whether he likes it or not :-) It will fit just about any phone from an iPhone to a Galaxy Epic Touch, to an Evo it just expands to fit any phone. It used to be mounted on my windshield, but I've now put it on my dashboard. There are more expensive items out there, yes, but I can't see how they'd do a better job. One of the best buys I've made. Please be aware though that not all the car mounts you buy from this particular product link are like the one in the photo. I just ordered one from this site and it was the same KIND of thing, i.e. it was a car mount, but it was NOT the same one in the photo, and this arrived broken, poorly packed so make sure you examine the one you get. The arm on this one is shorter, so even if it wasn't broken, I still wouldn't want it. The one I originally got was from Boho Tronics and that one has quite a long arm so you can move the phone wherever you want. In my opinion, make sure you get from Boho Tronics as you can trust them that they'll send you this exact product. It's a really great accessory if you use your phone as a GPS.

UPDATE: One of our employees liked it so much we got him one and I'm ordering yet another one or two for our company vehicles and I'm getting my husband one too. LOVE IT! And Boho Tronics is the best place to get this from cheapest and most reliable.

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I ordered this item before me and my husband go on vacation...lots and lots of driving. We needed something to hold our phones for our long trip. When I opened this item and started putting it together it is loose. I added some super glue to the back of the phone holder and now it is in place and I have no worries this will get the job done. If I didn't add the glue I'm sure our phones would be falling off the entire trip. You get what you pay for, and this is what I was looking for.

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While, at first, I was hesitant to buy this product, I am SO happy I did. The suction really holds the phone well (safe and secure). I strongly recommend purchasing one for every car.

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Zune Car Charger

• Handy car charger for Microsoft Zune media player
• Lets you charge and power Zune while you drive
• Also works seamlessly with Zune FM transmitter
• Plugs into any vehicle's 12-volt cigarette lighter
• Coiled cable curls up for easy storage; 1-year warranty

There's really not much to review but I figured I would counter the other (misguided) review on this item. The charger works just as fine for powering the Zune while in the car. I pretty much leave my Zune in the car and this lets me do that without having to periodically bring it inside for charging. The part that goes into the cigarette lighter is rather large so take that into account if you have any kind of obstructions around your power socket. The only other thing I noticed that surprized me a little was that the Zune display stays on when connected to the charger and playing music. There's nothing really wrong with that but I was just expecting the screen to go dark like it does when it is not connected to power. Oh, I also like the coiled cord which makes things a bit tidier than having a lot of loose cable cluttering up the console area. I recommend this product.

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Had mine for 8 months. Little button on side of Zune connector either broke or fell off. This locks the connector into the unit until you use a pointed object to push in on the locking pin while pushing "button" on other side of connector. Trick is to not stab yourself when connector lets go.

Noise is probably dependent on vehicles electrical system. I get some low level noise in my '09 Toyota, but not in my Dodge.

I'm going to buy another, because it does work well.

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A little pricy for a charger and bulkier than I prefer but it does exactly what it is suppose to do with no problems and thats really all I ask for something liek this.

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Can't say much about this, other than it works great! Doesn't get hot and it charges my Zune very quickly. I use it for both of my devices; the Zune 30gb (brick) and my Zune HD. It's OEM so you know you're getting the legit and I've never had any issues since the day I got it.

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I use the car charger a lot and it works well. I didn't have any trouble. The product is good.

T-Mobile Branded Car Charger for BlackBerry 8700

I noticed on the Blackberry website that their car charger for the 7105t (7100 category) is also compatible with the 8700 and some others. So I took a chance and ordered this one (which is only labeled for the 8700) hoping it would work with my 7105t. It did. I paid a total of $11.34 for this one. That included shipping. It cost $25 on the Blackberry website. It does have a T-mobile label on it.

Side note: I purchased this because my previous charger would not charge the phone when I plugged it in my car. The charge light would come on for about 2 seconds then stop charging. Purchasing this item solved that problem.

Product works perfectly with my Blackberry 8830. I have no problems with the light on the device. I actually think it looks cool.

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Charger worked well for my Blackberry Pearl. I like the price but there are some off pink/ purple lights on the side that make it look cheap. The version actually shipped was from T -mobile. I prefer one small indicator light but for the price cannot complain too much.

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Based on the recommendation of another reviewer I bought this for my 7105T as well, and it works great...and at a very reasonable price.

I highly recommend this item!

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Clarion CX501 Double-DIN CD/Bluetooth/USB Receiver

• Double-DIN AM/FM Radio, CD, CD-R/RW, WMA/MP3, USB, iPod, Bluetooth Receiver
• 50W x 4 MOSFET internal amplifier with three 4V preamp outputs (front, rear, subwoofer)
• Built-in Bluetooth for hands-free phone operation and audio streaming
• Front-panel USB port with direct iPod control, WMA/MP3 playback; 3.5mm auxiliary input
• Display features oversized rotary knob, 728-variable color illumination
• OEM Steering Wheel Remote Ready. Wireless Remote Control Included
• Built-in Bluetooth Interface (HFP, HSP, OPP, PBAP, A2DP, AVRCP). Front USB Port with iPod Direct Connect Capabilities
• HD Radio Ready with Optional THD301.50 Watts x 4 Built-in Amplifier.6-Channel/4 Volt RCA Output. Subwoofer Volume Control
• Built-in High and Low-Pass Filters.Magna Bass EX Dynamic Bass Enhancement.Parametric EqualizerBeat EQ for Sound Adjustment.
• Built-in Microphone.728 Color Variable Lighting Display and Buttons.3.5mm Audio Auxiliary Input (Front)
• Front USB Port with iPod Direct Connect Capabilities. Sirius Direct Connect Ready.

I bought this for a 2005 Chevy Colorado. I used a Metra 95-2009 Double DIN Installation Multi-Kit for Select 1995-2008 GM/Honda/Isuzu/Suzuki Vehicles installation kit and an Axxess GMRC-01 Class II GM Chime Retention Interface to keep my chimes my truck doesn't have On-Star or a separate factory amp. I also got the Scosche Mda-1B 1988 Up Gm Micro/Delco Antenna Adapter because GM uses a small antenna plug. All parts were exactly what I needed. The radio fit perfectly WITHOUT cutting the truck's metal rear support bracket inside the dash. The truck has Boston Acoustic speakers in the front doors and factory speakers in the rear. As a result I keep the fader set to the front speakers only. This truck has no dimmer wire or illumination wire so the dimming feature will not work. I did not need navigation because I use my Droid and I don't need DVD or movies in the truck. I had that feature in my last head unit for three years and never did watch a movie in the truck.

I like that it's compatible with my existing Sirius SCC1 receiver I didn't want to have to buy a proprietary Sirius receiver. That kind of thing just rankles me and it's a BIG reason I chose this unit. I just plugged it in and it simply worked. The unit will hold 18 Sirius presets and I can choose to display Artist and Track at the same time.

Also, the ability to read USB MP3 files is great I like to throw audio books on a USB stick for long drives. The Clarion will remember the track position even after the truck is turned off and the USB stick removed so when I put the USB stick in again the unit will shift to the USB source and start playing where it left off. This is a great feature for audio books. Fastforward/rewind is accomplished by holding the Next Track/Previous Track buttons.

Good bluetooth connection with my Droid X The unit connects automatically with both BT phone and BT audio at the same time. (My wife's much-more-expensive Pioneer AVIC will not connect both phone and audio to her Incredible at the same time; she has to choose one or the other and go through the cumbersome process to do it.) I can play music on my phone and sound comes out of the Clarion instead of the phone and I can pause, skip tracks, control volume, etc with the Clarion. The BT Telephone part also works great and the sound is fine. The microphone is built into the unit. The Clarion easily accepted my Droid X phone book although it wouldn't transfer the contacts in my favorites but I think that is a problem with the phone and not the Clarion I'm still working on it. It is not possible to add single numbers to the phone book. The Clarion phone book stores all the names in Last Name | First Name order which I don't like. Calls are not that easy to start from the Clarion unless it is redialing a recent call. Trying to direct dial from the radio while driving would be crazy because its way too complicated. However, incoming calls work perfectly (and mute the radio during the call) and I can make outgoing calls from the phone while it sits in the dock and then it's hands free speaker-phone over the Clarion. Overall I'm extremely happy with the bluetooth and this is another BIG reason I am happy with this unit.

Aux-In jack on the front haven't used this yet but its good to have.

Double Din Big two-line text thats easy to read while driving. The buttons are not all mashed together and the volume knob is big. It's easy to control the unit quickly and safely. I appreciate this after driving another vehicle with a single-din unit that had dozens of tiny buttons and practically unreadable text and button labels. However, I can't see the clock at the same time as anything else which is a negative in other words I can see Artist and Track, or Station or whatever but if I want to see the clock it will be all I see. They should have left a spot where the clock can always be visible.

The FM sounds pretty good better than the Sirius music stations I think. I can't compare the FM sensitivity to the factory radio because I took out the factory radio long ago...

Music sounds good enough with my BA speakers. Not outstanding, but good enough for me. In my younger days when I was more into music I would have demanded more and probably used an external amp and sub-woofer, etc (and also bought a more expensive brand just because of the name!) but nowadays I mostly listen to talk radio on Sirius. However, like I said, music sounds very acceptable if I don't crank it up way too loud. I actually removed my external Alpine amp at the same time I installed the Clarion. I don't feel like I need it.

The ability to change colors is very cool. Right now I have it on a custom yellow which looks real good.

The remote, which I don't use, has a mute button but the head unit does not. However it's easy to turn down quickly due to the huge volume knob.

I did test the CD part which was fine, but I probably won't be using that either.

There are three ipods in my house so I could test that feature but I just don't care enough to do it. I can use my Droid over bluetooth if I want to play portable music.

Bottom line is that I am very happy with the Clarion considering it's price and would certainly buy again if I needed another head unit.

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I picked this up this weekend and replaced an older non-amplified Alpine.

This unit is very light. It fit my WRX well after tucking the cabling behind the center vent ducts; and only needing a small custom made trim ring to fill the gaps. The unit went in easily and cleanly. The sound is VERY clean (no EQ setting used). I'm running all channels though older Blue Thunder amplifiers and the imaging is good, bass is clean punchy and the unit looks clean in the dash. The illumination lets you match the car's color very well.

The USB port is the main reason I got this unit. I have a microSD keychain USB adapter that I can toss 8GB of music on, and it plays with no problem. It seeks and changes track incredibly fast. Faster than an iPod.

The bluetooth paired easily with the MyTouch 1.2. I've tested calls and it worked great. Had to adjust the mic gain up some, but thats all.

BONUS: The deck controlled winamp on my android phone. This was a complete surprise to me and I actually giggled when I discovered it.

Radio reception seems fine, I'm not a huge fan of local radio but what it picks up comes in clear. I haven't spun through the entire 'dial' but my main stations are loud & clear. You haven't heard NPR/PRI until the background sub-bass from on-location interviews shakes your seat. ;)

My only gripe is the display. While installing it I thought I had (inexplicably) gotten the dimmer wire screwed up as I could not see the display *at all* while looking directly at it (leaning over the center console installing it). Looking at it off-axis from either front seat helped but it was still pretty dim. I had to crank up the contrast to full to comfortably read the display and I'll likely have to get my windows tinted to have it be bright enough to be readable at a glance on the road. Granted, this is not helped by the high installation point and slight upward angle of the WRX radio location. I may try a non-glare phone screen protector to see if this helps.

I'm still fidgeting with settings but so far this is a keeper. I was looking at its predecessor deciding on this level of head unit or going with a full-blown Nav system that was literally 10x the price. I'm glad I went this route. It was inexpensive, works great and was super-simple to install. As far as nav, Google maps using the blutetooth audio can tell me where to go.

Bottom line: feature rich great sound looks good HOWEVER, display is NOT daylight friendly. BUT if you have a car with window tint, this is your double DIN head unit.

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After a frustrating visit to CarToys (they insisted that I needed to spend $600 to $700 for a new stereo and speakers), I took my stock radio out of my 2004 Ford Explorer to find a jumble of 49 wires and thought, oh no, what have I gotten myself into!

After much research starting here on Amazon (Catamount's advice was invaluable), to Metra (Justin at Metra went above and beyond), and ending on Ford Explorer forum sites (where I located a PDF on removing the door panels to replace the stock speakers), I found my way through the wire jumbles and soldered Metra's wiring harness to the CX501's and then connected it all into the stock Ford harnesses. After which, I was happily astonished at the Bluetooth phone connectivity and great sound (coupled with my iPod) of the CX501. All for about $280 you can install an excellent new stereo along with new speakers. The CX501 paired without any issues to my Droid and controls my iPod just as easily as on the device itself. The sound, coupled with new speakers, blows away the factory radio. It begs the question, why didn't I do it sooner?

If anyone, like me, is new to head unit/speakers replacement, and needs help removing the Ford door panels, let me know and I'll get you the link to the PDF (I've found that Amazon strips URLs out of reviews).

The other pieces include:

Metra Harness (for Ford's with stock Amp and Sub-woofer): Metra 70-5521 Radio Wiring Harness for Ford 03-Up Amp

Nice sounding easy to install Kenwood Speakers: Kenwood KFC-P680C 6-Inch x 8-Inch Easy Fit Ford/Mazda Speaker System

Notes: I had to install a RadioShack 5V voltage regulator between the Amp turn-on in the new radio to the stock Amp turn-on since the new radio is 12V while the stock Ford Amp is 5V. Metra told me if I didn't the sub-woofer would probably "pop" when you turned the radio on. Also, the pin-outs for the Ford harness can be found on the Metra package and also on sites such as InstallDoctor and Cruthfield.

I'm very satisfied; it was well worth the time. Good luck!

Want Clarion CX501 Double-DIN CD/Bluetooth/USB Receiver Discount?

Bought this for my 2001 Pontiac Grand Am GT as a replacement for the factory headunit. My car originally had the premium Monsoon stereo, but I was told while it had an external amplifier, it was held back by the not so great Delco head unit. I popped this radio in via a Scosche GM wiring harness from Walmart for $30 and it worked nearly perfectly. Sound is crisp and clear and a vast improvement over the old headunit.

I chose a double din radio because I want to preserve the "stock" look to act as a deterrent against stereo thieves (my 95 Suburban recently had its single din radio stolen). With this radio it's kind of a "have to look twice" to realize it's not the factory radio. And most radio thieves don't give a rip about factory radios. The only problem is that Clarion is on the front of the radio in large enough print. Perhaps I'll have to get a sticker that says Dual or Jensen.lol

Overall sound quality over all the inputs I've used has been very good. The bass is very good, almost too good in fact as my rear deck speakers are probably being pushed to their limits now. Radio reception is pretty good, not quite as good as factory, but good. And that may be due to the fact that I have to use an antenna wire adapter.

I love the customizable face colors. I have a Pontiac and they have red interior, at night the radio totally looks like it's the factory unit.

I picked this unit over it's older sibling the Clarion CX609 because of the way the Bluetooth is implemented. In the CX609 you have to run a microphone and a wire up your A-pillar or wherever you want it (I don't have the patience to do that) with the CX501 it's integrated into the unit itself and with adjustable gain/sensitivity it works very well. It's so convenient.

A weakness is the interface, it's not the most complicated radio I've used but the ease of use from a factory radio is definitely missed. Sometimes when in iPod mode if I'm in a playlist and want to select another song in the playlist, I have to go back out to the top iPod menu then >music>playlists>playlist I want>song I want. Other time it allows me to browse within the playlist without going through the menus again. And I can't figure out why it does that sometimes.

Also installation was kind of a pain. Both do to engineering choices by Clarion and by GM/Pontiac. The space behind the radio is very tight. I originally learned about this unit at crutchfield.com and they said I might have to modify the space to fit the radio. I didn't have to do that, but it's very close fit, and probably would benefit from cutting the rear support bracket. That said, the clearance issue wasn't due to the radio itself, but the RCA jacks coming out of the rear of the unit. Most radios I've seen have female RCA jack ports in the back for adding on an amplifier. This radio has female RCA jack wires in the back meaning that even if you don't use an amplifier, you still have the RCA jacks coming out of the back of the radio. And they go right up against the rear mounting bracket in my car. Had these just been empty ports, my installation would have been relatively easy. But it does work and it does fit in a 2001 Pontiac Grand Am. It's not the prettiest install, but it is doable.

Also, the illumination/dimming feature doesn't seem to be working on my unit. I have the setting on, but when my headlights come on everything dims to the night setting except the radio. Now this could be a defect in my unit or a defect in my data harness (the one from Walmart). It's not a big issue though, at least not for me. I'm going to give Clarion the benefit of the doubt and say it's a problem with the data harness by Scosche, since I bought it from Walmart.

Overall, I'm loving this radio and am glad I decided to go with it. I recommend it, but if you have a 2001 Pontiac Grand Am, I'd keep a radio shop on speed dial, I came really close to giving up and having my local shop install it.lol

Oh, and the price here on Amazon is a really really good price. It's $50 less than Crutchfield and the few radio shops that carry it.

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I own a Verizon iPhone 4 with unlimited internet 3G plan. I wanted to replace my factory original double-DIN CD player radio on a 2006 Ford Escape XLT. The criteria used to select this unit was that it must SIMUTANEOUSLY connect via Bluetooth to my phone to stream Pandora music (much better than subscribing to Sirius radio), listen to audio commands from my GPS Navigator app (Navigon and Waze), and take incoming phone calls. The built in microphone for calls was a big plus. I like the previous reviewer's statement that a double DIN unit looks similar to factory original to fend off car thieves. Although the unit is designed with a USB port to accept a iPhone sync cord and has features to direct iTunes and at the same time charge the unit, this standard USB charger port delivers only 0.5 amps. iPhone requires a 1 AMP charger to charge while streaming. iPhones are notorious for draining the battery if all features are turned on. This would be important when going on long trips.

I had the unit professionally installed. The installer said it was easy with a bracket unit and necessary adapter plugs which were purchased separately. Below is a preliminary review of my experience so far:

1) Bluetooth connectivity is excellent. The initial pairing of the device was abit difficult because the instructional manual was not very clear. With the help of the installer I was able to initially pair the stereo to my iPhone in 2 minutes. After the initial pairing, you just need to go into the iPhone settings and connect to the device each time. Your phone ID will appear on the unit display upon connection.

2) Stereo streaming from Pandora via Bluetooth. Excellent sound! The A2DP Bluetooth audio processing allows full range of sound to come out beautifully from the factory speakers. The 50W amp (per channel) built in amplifier gave my factory original speakers clear crisp sound which were far superior from what the OEM stereo could deliver. I was considering to buy the CX501 singer DIN unit, but read that it only delivers 17 watts RMS per channel versus a full 50W per channel with this double-DIN unit. The display is also easier to read. It also works very well with audio while watching Netflix streaming video and Podcasts on the road. There is 4 preset equalizer settings and a custom setting. I find that the "Excite" setting is best suited for my type of music (old school that is heavy on the bass).

3) GPS navigation audio directions via Bluetooth. Whenever a voice command to turn emits from the GPS app in the iPhone, it automatically lowers the volume to the steaming music. It then returns to the music back to normal volume. This feature is indicative of the phone, but it nice to know that the Bluetooth connectivity remains solid between the iPhone and the stereo. One disadvantage is that I like to crank up the music while on the road, this causes the GPS voice to also come out loud. This is a problem with the software app on the iPhone and not the stereo unit.

4) Phone Calls: pressing the play button allows me to answer calls. When in the phone mode, you can control the volume easily on the stereo. The person on the other line can hear my voice very well. The microphone is located on the left top corner of the unit so you may need to lower the fan speed of the air conditioner if a vent is located next to the unit and it is noisy. After the call has ended, the music and GPS commands return back to normal without loosing Bluetooth connectivity.

5) I like the option of also plugging via USB port a flash drive with MP3 files, or plugging in via 3.5mm jack any other audio device.

6) Display. I like the large 2 line display. However, I was disappointed to see that when playing the radio, I lost the ability to see the name of the radio station I was listening to as well as the song. This feature was included in the factory original display. Also the clock was always displayed on the factory unit (my car does not come with a separate clock on the dash board). This stereo has a clock but it displays on a separate screen. You press the "DISP" button on the unit to cycle through the display features.

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It definitely works and it's worth the money for the application (using the laptop for the kids to view movies). My only complaint is that it's VERY tight in the car outlet, so if you don't pull it out just so, it comes apart. But if you're careful, it's fine (I just don't let my wife do it any more :)). Like the other posters said: The sound of the fan is forgotten very quickly as you're on the road.

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