8 out of 8 people found this review helpful.
Don't buy a Clarion NICE
Date of Review: Feb 14, 2007
The Bottom Line: Avoid Avoid Avoid...Go with Garmin
I bought and had a Clarion NICE mounted to my Dash (CA does not allow suction cup mounting) about a year and a half ago, at an authorized retailer, and for the first few months it worked well. I had the MP3 output hardwired into my AUX port on my car stereo and it works great. I bought this device because of the screen size and its integrated MP3 capabilities.
The start up is easy enough. Typical for most Nav systems, you have to tap on the "Accept" button to get the Nav to work. The system takes a few seconds to bring up your last known location and then begins to search for satellites. You can choose to bypass the Nav system by pushing the "Music" button on the lower portion of the unit and a player will appear. The MP3 player is pretty straight forward and easy to use.
I don't utilize the video inputs or the Sirius Radio portion. I received a free 30 day trial for Sirius when I purchased the unit, but I let it expire since it was not a necessity for me. However during the 30 day trial period the Sirius Radio worked as promised.
To review:
I bought this system because:
1) Big Screen for the Nav
2) MP3 integration into my stereo
3) Navigation
These will probably be the same reasons any consumer would look at this device and in the showroom it all worked as I wanted it to.
Then I got it home.
Having owned this very pricey system for a year and a half, here is my opinion.
The navigation system is horrid. At freeway speeds it lags and is inaccurate with directions. I can't count the number of times it has recalculated my route after making a turn it told me to make, started yelling at me to make a "U-Turn", only to have it recalculate again in 10 seconds, once it caught up with itself and realized I was in the right place.
The worst part is the maps are at least 3 years old if not older. Where I live, there are established neighborhoods and shopping centers in blank spots on my screen. I have a statewide job in California and need to locate offices and driving directions. www.clarion.com does not offer a map update on their website even though if you call the toll free number or look at their website it says that "updates will be posted when available". With a bit of forceful prying (getting through the maze of automated telephone prompts and finally getting to a person), they told me the map data comes from Navteq and that Navteq had not released an update. I called Navteq and they informed me that there wasn't an update because Clarion had not requested one. Navteq also informed me that they have weekly updates available to their mapping systems and all a company (Clarion) has to do is order the updates. Clarion is pointing the finger at Navteq, when it's their fault there aren't any updates. I called Clarion back (good luck getting to someone...don't use the 800 number, use the area code 310 number and pretend to be an "authorized" reseller looking for tech support) and the tech support guy said he would notify "Engineering" and get back with me. Still waiting.
The POI list is equally awful. Recently, I was parked one city block from a Denny's restaurant in San Diego that had been there for over 10 years and, just for fun, I went to the POI section (after 30 or 40 taps) and went to Restaurants---By Name---Denny's----Sort by Distance…..Directions to the Las Vegas Denny's popped up (I like Denny's, but…..). So I thought "Maybe I was too specific with the 's " so I typed in Denny---Sort by Distance….Directions to the Palm Springs Denny's popped up. Closer, but again that's a 3 hr trip for eggs n' bacon.
Another down side to this Nav system is the total lack of options for Navigation. Almost all of the other units I have used since have the ability to stay off toll roads, quickest time vs. shortest route (programming in average speeds for street type), or even surface streets only. You just get what it gives.
The MP3 player does not have a well thought out user interface considering it will be used while driving. After many attempts to customized folders and create individual play lists (per the manual), I have been relegated to just leaving it on random play and pushing the next song button on the screen.
The touch screen is not very sensitive to my finger/stylus/pen/ or any other item. I average 2 or 3 touches to get the system to recognize that I touched it. I wonder how it would respond to a baseball bat tapping the screen? The sound quality is fine, but getting the song I want is too much work. There is not an intuitive search mechanism. Just keep pressing next, next, next, next until you get to the song you want to hear.
All in all it was a huge investment for a Navigation system that doesn't have updated maps, an MP3 player with a mind of its own, and a catalog of POI that will really challenge you.
Honestly, if they would get me a better map and POI list I would give it 3/5 stars and if they loaded a new MP3 player it would have been 4/5. Throw in some updated firmware for the touch screen that allows for sensitivity adjustment and some other customizable options and ding, ding, ding, we have a winner!!!!
DO NOT BUY THIS PRODUCT!!!!
