No-name car stereo doesn't deliver

I recently purchased this car stereo as a substitution for my stock cd/radio that came with my 2000 Honda Accord. The fact that it's XM ready, plays MP3/WMA discs, and has an external 1/8" stereo jack ("iplug") which connects great to iPods and other external MP3 players through their headphone jack were all big pluses.

The stereo has a certain wow-factor with the motorized drop-down removable plate which allows access to the CD player and LCD panel. The panel is where you will find your radio station frequency/satellite channel information, tone control information, etc. It was an instant red-flag for me as it seemed like a mechanical device which can fail rendering the unit unless.

Since I had the unit installed 2 weeks ago, the drop-down panel has failed twice. It was corrected with turning the unit off and back on again. The left button control is where you can find the rocker switch to change stations. Again, in the past two weeks, this button has failed twice.

I have burned discs with MP3's and WMA's. This unit handled CD-RW's with both formats very well with no hesitations. Entry and exit of the discs was both secure and easy.

Numerical buttons on the front of the unit only go from 1-6. If you wish to enter numbers from 7-0 (for example, in direct mode using XM), there is a "shift" function available on the unit which is referred to in the owner's manual. I have yet to be able to figure out how to get it to work. The owner's manual is very cryptic and difficult to understand in spots. There is a PDF version available on their web site and I would recommend looking at it before making a purchase. The accompanying remote control has buttons 0-9 on it, but I'm not comfortable using a remote control and driving. I prefer to use the front panel.

The front panel of the unit has 3 large button interfaces with the left and right buttons being 4 way rocker switches and the center control is the sole rotating control as well as being the largest of the controls. It's unclear to me why Dual would limit the easiest to access control to volume duty only. It will not allow you to rotate through radio stations, for example. Also, the interface as a whole is confusing with one of the rocker switches being labeled "RS/PS/Enter/Func". There is little support in the unit's documentation.

This unit also has a detachable face plate. I was warned by the staff at Best Buy that it was not an easy process to remove and replace the faceplate. Given the fact that the unit has already started to malfunction, I have decided not to try the process. The unit does come with a hard plastic storage case for travel.

Today will mark the last day I am an owner of this unit. Unfortunately, I can not recommend this radio.