Kenwood DPX302 CD Player

Kenwood DPX302 CD Player Review



Overall 2.00 of 5 (by 1 user)
 




reviewer
cmarkward
Philadelphia, PA
Great, until it broke
2 star rating

quality conscious, somewhat tech savvy, computer literate
Pros

    great feature set, fairly easy to use, fits in car's with tall stereo enclosure

Cons
    stopped working, separate equipment needed for iPod, not truly compatible with Scion tC

NOV
26
2008

Kenwood DPX302 CD Player — 

I was so excited when my boyfriend purchased the Kenwood for my birthday. I loved that it would fit my Scion tC and that I could get satellite (Sirius) as well as be able to plug in my MP3 player via a USB port and play native AAC (Apple files, I believe that they are also called MP4 and are the type of files that natively download from Apple's iTune's music store).
Problem #1: Despite the fact that it was deemed compatible with my car, the installers had to, for an additional charge, modify the car stereo cover door that comes with the Scion tC. Ok, not quiet fully compatible, but at the least, if I didn't have the installers fix the problem (say, if I installed it myself), I could keep the door open all the time.
Problem#2: Ok, the iPod controls something like 70% of the market (and I'm being VERY conservative. I'd bet it controls closer to 90%). So why does the Kenwood literature (on Crutchfield.com's website) state that it's USB is for "MP3 players", yet you need separate equipment if you want to actually plug in your iPod. $50 worth of separate equipment. Plus, any additional installer fees. For a device that most consider synonymous with MP3 players. So that lucky sap that owns a Rio can plug right in, but the majority of us — iPod users — have to pay. Hey, if Apple has proprietary info that they’re not passing on to companies, fine. But it is Kenwood (and Crutchfield’s) responsibility to make that CLEAR to people, that this feature requires separate equipment to make it compatible.
Problem #3: About a month after the warranty expired, the display stopped working. Couldn’t see anything. What a pain, especially when you have satellite (which tells you the song/artist, etc).
Problem #4: about 6 months after the display stopped working, it suddenly came back. However, within an hour, not only did the display go again, the WHOLE THING DIED! I couldn’t get anything — can’t play a CD, listen to satellite, listen to broadcast radio. Nothing.
So here I am, About 2 years into my beautiful stereo and it’s sitting in my car, dead. I’m just so glad that I kept the OEM stereo. And good luck trying to get help. Unresponsive. Too bad, because when it worked, it was pretty cool.



I_thumb_down Kenwood DPX302 CD Player is not recommended by cmarkward

D
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