I've followed most of the threads here about the Caska unit, but I've been rather nervous to pull the trigger on one. I'm just not comfortable spending that amount of cash on a unit shipped straight from China if something goes wrong with it. I was rather excited when I saw the Rosen MZ0830 on Crutchfield's site. Last week, I pulled the trigger and ordered the unit. It arrived yesterday.
Some comments first on install. The installation was very straightforward. I only have 3 complaints.
1. The GPS antenna connector has a NASTY right angle on it. It made feeding it down the rubber sleeve with the other trunk lid wires a nightmare. I finally got it, but a straight connector would have been much easier.
2. For the DVD video to work, you have to run a wire to your parking brake. I have a manual transmission, perhaps this is different on an automatic. The wire wasn't included, nor was the matching male bullet terminal. Instructions on where said wire would be located didn't exist either. Being a rebel (and the instructions state the wire is GROUND when the parking brake is engaged), I just hardwired it to ground so DVD Video is always available.
3. My worst nightmare... brand new unit, scratched VERY easily. I have a nice scratch in the silver trim... not cool. If it's that sensitive, it should have been wrapped with plastic. I have an email in to Rosen to get a price on a new bezel.
So, the unit is installed. Everything seems to work -- FM Radio, NAV, DVD Player, iPod Control, Bluetooth, Steering Wheel controls, the factory LCD for the radio.
However, there are some things that annoy me. Most are minor, I'm trying to learn to love it (I paid $1000... I should love it)... however, I technically have 28 more days to decide if I do or not. Here's my gripe list, and I'm curious if the Caska, FlyAudio, or any of the other OEM replacements suffer the same shortcomings.
1. The GUI is just plain ugly. It's functional, but overall - it's UGLY.
2. In radio mode, it has the ability to show the song title and artist if the radio station broadcasts it. It does show this data, but the screen area allocated is so short, it has to scroll alot to show anything. This should be bigger, with a fluid autoscroll, not text swapping scroll. Also, when radio goes into spectrum mode -- up top, it nicely displays the radio station frequency, but none of this song data.
3. In iPod mode... it doesn't show CD covers, tho the video on the Rosen website alludes that it will for some iPods. It doesn't on my iPod Touch 3G. The song title displays on the screen, and in spectrum mode... but it doesn't scroll, so the titles get cut off.
4. DVD Video. Per the documentation, it should play media files off SD card. I have an 8GB SDHC card that works in our portable Samsung DVD player. It only plays DVDs, the instructions for getting in SD/USB mode don't work... I haven't tried USB yet.
**5. Bluetooth Audio. It syncs to my iPhone, and Pandora plays via bluetooth -- works well. Except, if I'm listening to the radio or my iPod, and I unlock my iPhone and it makes the little iPhone click sound... it drops me out of radio or iPod to play the click. That's great for a phone call, but annoying for everything else. I have to put my phone on vibrate.
6. Glare... when the sun is out, the glare on the unit is horrible. I may have to try a screen protector with glare reduction.
**7. Clock. So, the GPS clock is great... but clock for the radio is jacked. You set the time, but it only ticks while the car is on... it stops and falls behind when the car is off. Also, the clock in the LCD is still on, but it doesn't match the GPS clock or the radio clock... I have no idea where it's getting set from.
That's all for now. I'm going to contact Crutchfield support to see if they have any suggestions. Rosen only has email contacts, no phone numbers. It's only been 24 hours, but there is still no response on my replacement bezel inquiry.
Regards,
Hannibal
In regards to issue #5, the only workaround is to disable bluetooth auto connect or put phone on vibrate. When the phone rings, it will come thru the radio if on vibrate.
In regards to issue #7, this has been resolved. To fix the problem, you must go into Setup -> System Setup. Under the clock press "Setup" -- use the - key to adjust the hours, and the + key to adjust the minutes. This will change the time on the OEM dash clock. Press exit when you are done. Afterwards, go back into the System Setup screen and set the radio clock (don't press setup, just click on either the hour or minute and use the + / - keys). Press the 12H button to set AM/PM and leave the clock setting. Afterwards, when you turn off the car and turn it back on again -- it will take ~30-60s for the radio clock to set itself from the OEM dash clock.
Some comments first on install. The installation was very straightforward. I only have 3 complaints.
1. The GPS antenna connector has a NASTY right angle on it. It made feeding it down the rubber sleeve with the other trunk lid wires a nightmare. I finally got it, but a straight connector would have been much easier.
2. For the DVD video to work, you have to run a wire to your parking brake. I have a manual transmission, perhaps this is different on an automatic. The wire wasn't included, nor was the matching male bullet terminal. Instructions on where said wire would be located didn't exist either. Being a rebel (and the instructions state the wire is GROUND when the parking brake is engaged), I just hardwired it to ground so DVD Video is always available.
3. My worst nightmare... brand new unit, scratched VERY easily. I have a nice scratch in the silver trim... not cool. If it's that sensitive, it should have been wrapped with plastic. I have an email in to Rosen to get a price on a new bezel.
So, the unit is installed. Everything seems to work -- FM Radio, NAV, DVD Player, iPod Control, Bluetooth, Steering Wheel controls, the factory LCD for the radio.
However, there are some things that annoy me. Most are minor, I'm trying to learn to love it (I paid $1000... I should love it)... however, I technically have 28 more days to decide if I do or not. Here's my gripe list, and I'm curious if the Caska, FlyAudio, or any of the other OEM replacements suffer the same shortcomings.
1. The GUI is just plain ugly. It's functional, but overall - it's UGLY.
2. In radio mode, it has the ability to show the song title and artist if the radio station broadcasts it. It does show this data, but the screen area allocated is so short, it has to scroll alot to show anything. This should be bigger, with a fluid autoscroll, not text swapping scroll. Also, when radio goes into spectrum mode -- up top, it nicely displays the radio station frequency, but none of this song data.
3. In iPod mode... it doesn't show CD covers, tho the video on the Rosen website alludes that it will for some iPods. It doesn't on my iPod Touch 3G. The song title displays on the screen, and in spectrum mode... but it doesn't scroll, so the titles get cut off.
4. DVD Video. Per the documentation, it should play media files off SD card. I have an 8GB SDHC card that works in our portable Samsung DVD player. It only plays DVDs, the instructions for getting in SD/USB mode don't work... I haven't tried USB yet.
**5. Bluetooth Audio. It syncs to my iPhone, and Pandora plays via bluetooth -- works well. Except, if I'm listening to the radio or my iPod, and I unlock my iPhone and it makes the little iPhone click sound... it drops me out of radio or iPod to play the click. That's great for a phone call, but annoying for everything else. I have to put my phone on vibrate.
6. Glare... when the sun is out, the glare on the unit is horrible. I may have to try a screen protector with glare reduction.
**7. Clock. So, the GPS clock is great... but clock for the radio is jacked. You set the time, but it only ticks while the car is on... it stops and falls behind when the car is off. Also, the clock in the LCD is still on, but it doesn't match the GPS clock or the radio clock... I have no idea where it's getting set from.
That's all for now. I'm going to contact Crutchfield support to see if they have any suggestions. Rosen only has email contacts, no phone numbers. It's only been 24 hours, but there is still no response on my replacement bezel inquiry.
Regards,
Hannibal
In regards to issue #5, the only workaround is to disable bluetooth auto connect or put phone on vibrate. When the phone rings, it will come thru the radio if on vibrate.
In regards to issue #7, this has been resolved. To fix the problem, you must go into Setup -> System Setup. Under the clock press "Setup" -- use the - key to adjust the hours, and the + key to adjust the minutes. This will change the time on the OEM dash clock. Press exit when you are done. Afterwards, go back into the System Setup screen and set the radio clock (don't press setup, just click on either the hour or minute and use the + / - keys). Press the 12H button to set AM/PM and leave the clock setting. Afterwards, when you turn off the car and turn it back on again -- it will take ~30-60s for the radio clock to set itself from the OEM dash clock.
