http://www.engadget.com/2009/07/15/alpines-nve-m300-black-box-brings-navigation-to-top-head-units/ Engadget Comments for Alpine's NVE-M300 black box brings navigation to top head units http://www.engadget.com/media/feedlogo.gif http://www.engadget.com en-us Copyright 2012 Weblogs, Inc. The contents of this feed are available for non-commercial use only. Blogsmith http://www.blogsmith.com/http://www.engadget.com/2009/07/15/alpines-nve-m300-black-box-brings-navigation-to-top-head-units/http://www.engadget.com/2009/07/15/alpines-nve-m300-black-box-brings-navigation-to-top-head-units/Jul 15th 2009 3:55PMhttp://www.engadget.com/2009/07/15/alpines-nve-m300-black-box-brings-navigation-to-top-head-units/http://www.engadget.com/2009/07/15/alpines-nve-m300-black-box-brings-navigation-to-top-head-units/Jul 15th 2009 3:58PMhttp://www.engadget.com/2009/07/15/alpines-nve-m300-black-box-brings-navigation-to-top-head-units/http://www.engadget.com/2009/07/15/alpines-nve-m300-black-box-brings-navigation-to-top-head-units/Jul 16th 2009 6:42AMhttp://www.engadget.com/2009/07/15/alpines-nve-m300-black-box-brings-navigation-to-top-head-units/http://www.engadget.com/2009/07/15/alpines-nve-m300-black-box-brings-navigation-to-top-head-units/
Know what's fun? Having to pump the parking brake three times while keeping my foot on the other brake, just to reset the clock every other day, which read 7201:3 when I looked at it this morning. Why the holy *&%^$% should I have to do the same tapdance required to make sure people aren't watching videos while driving, just to get to the settings menu?!

I love Alpine, but I hate this POS head unit. ]]>Jul 15th 2009 3:58PMhttp://www.engadget.com/2009/07/15/alpines-nve-m300-black-box-brings-navigation-to-top-head-units/http://www.engadget.com/2009/07/15/alpines-nve-m300-black-box-brings-navigation-to-top-head-units/
they don't want you changing settings/tweeking while you're driving in general, and there's ways around that. save yourself some headache and just install a nice, little toggle switch tapped into the parking brake wires to mirror its functionality. with my my IVA-D300, i only have to flip the switch up-down-up and press on the brake while driving, and then i'm good to go.

now, if your clock is always resetting itself for no reason... that is a whole nother issue. do your other settings also change? if so, could be a problem with the battery/connection.]]>Jul 15th 2009 4:51PMhttp://www.engadget.com/2009/07/15/alpines-nve-m300-black-box-brings-navigation-to-top-head-units/http://www.engadget.com/2009/07/15/alpines-nve-m300-black-box-brings-navigation-to-top-head-units/Jul 15th 2009 4:52PMhttp://www.engadget.com/2009/07/15/alpines-nve-m300-black-box-brings-navigation-to-top-head-units/http://www.engadget.com/2009/07/15/alpines-nve-m300-black-box-brings-navigation-to-top-head-units/
And personally, I don't give a crap what Alpine thinks I should and should not be able to do while driving. There is no state or federal law forbidding the adjustment of stereo settings while waiting at a stop light. And if they were going to go all big brother on their customers, why not block out *all* adjustments, instead of only the ones that aren't audio related? Which is more of a distraction: three key taps to reset the clock, or manually tuning the equalizer?

And if they really wanted to go that route, why not just install a 20 cent accelerometer into the stupid thing so the settings couldn't be adjusted while the vehicle was in ACTUAL motion, instead of making me tear apart my dash just to get to the parking break indicator light lead, which I neglected to do in the first place, as I have no need of the video playback capabilities anyway. ]]>Jul 15th 2009 8:13PMhttp://www.engadget.com/2009/07/15/alpines-nve-m300-black-box-brings-navigation-to-top-head-units/http://www.engadget.com/2009/07/15/alpines-nve-m300-black-box-brings-navigation-to-top-head-units/
Alpines have always been overpriced pieces of shit anyway.]]>Jul 16th 2009 6:44AMhttp://www.engadget.com/2009/07/15/alpines-nve-m300-black-box-brings-navigation-to-top-head-units/http://www.engadget.com/2009/07/15/alpines-nve-m300-black-box-brings-navigation-to-top-head-units/Jul 15th 2009 4:13PMhttp://www.engadget.com/2009/07/15/alpines-nve-m300-black-box-brings-navigation-to-top-head-units/http://www.engadget.com/2009/07/15/alpines-nve-m300-black-box-brings-navigation-to-top-head-units/
more like the *highest profit margin* models]]>Jul 15th 2009 4:45PMhttp://www.engadget.com/2009/07/15/alpines-nve-m300-black-box-brings-navigation-to-top-head-units/http://www.engadget.com/2009/07/15/alpines-nve-m300-black-box-brings-navigation-to-top-head-units/Jul 15th 2009 5:45PMhttp://www.engadget.com/2009/07/15/alpines-nve-m300-black-box-brings-navigation-to-top-head-units/http://www.engadget.com/2009/07/15/alpines-nve-m300-black-box-brings-navigation-to-top-head-units/Jul 15th 2009 6:31PMhttp://www.engadget.com/2009/07/15/alpines-nve-m300-black-box-brings-navigation-to-top-head-units/http://www.engadget.com/2009/07/15/alpines-nve-m300-black-box-brings-navigation-to-top-head-units/
as for the 505, why the hell would you pay 450 for this to plug in the back when it has a dok behind the fave for the NVE-P1 thats only $250 ?]]>Jul 15th 2009 8:27PMhttp://www.engadget.com/2009/07/15/alpines-nve-m300-black-box-brings-navigation-to-top-head-units/http://www.engadget.com/2009/07/15/alpines-nve-m300-black-box-brings-navigation-to-top-head-units/Jul 15th 2009 8:28PMhttp://www.engadget.com/2009/07/15/alpines-nve-m300-black-box-brings-navigation-to-top-head-units/http://www.engadget.com/2009/07/15/alpines-nve-m300-black-box-brings-navigation-to-top-head-units/
Meh... What do I know...]]>Jul 15th 2009 8:46PMhttp://www.engadget.com/2009/07/15/alpines-nve-m300-black-box-brings-navigation-to-top-head-units/http://www.engadget.com/2009/07/15/alpines-nve-m300-black-box-brings-navigation-to-top-head-units/
Alpine used to be a high end car audio company, now they are just a high priced car audio company.]]>Jul 16th 2009 11:45AMhttp://www.engadget.com/2009/07/15/alpines-nve-m300-black-box-brings-navigation-to-top-head-units/http://www.engadget.com/2009/07/15/alpines-nve-m300-black-box-brings-navigation-to-top-head-units/
These days, we all know portable GPS units are the way to go and make the most sense - they're affordable, can be transported between cars or merely held in hand while walking, geocaching, etc., and their firmware is also much cheaper to upgrade. Not to mention it's cheaper to just buy a new one down the road (no pun intended), and we've got this functionality on our mobiles, too.

But these head-units are overpriced and always have been. Sometimes they're ridden with bugs. Customer service is lacking and you're not going to get good help from Tommy the teenager down at the local stereo shop.

It just makes more sense from financial, technological, and convenience standpoints to simply have a good CD/Satellite stereo system (with maybe an iPod connection) and to keep that separate from a handheld GPS system.

These over-priced units from Alpine, Kenwood, Pioneer, and Clarion are finding fewer and fewer buyers as they scramble to find ways to brainwash people into thinking that spending $2500-$3000 on a multimedia stereo is a good idea.]]>Jul 17th 2009 7:20AM