Product: Canon 2171B002

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I had a Canon BubbleJet BJC-4200 long ago, and after that printer I was very hesitant to even consider another Canon printer. When my most recent printer died, an HP DeskJet 970cse, I needed to find a good printer that could print duplex and produce quality output. After reading many, many reviews I decided to give Canon another chance. I am very glad that I did so.

The Pixma iP4500 arrived in a huge box, and as it turns out it needed the space. This is a larger printer than I expected, and as a result I had to rearrange my desk to find room for it. That’s a small oversight on my part. The printer itself is an unassuming-looking box of a machine, though it resembles more of a printer when the paper trays are populated.

Setup was easy and straightforward, though I do recommend using the “getting started” insert before setting everything up. Though setting everything up is relatively self-explanatory, it is helpful to see the illustration of what to do in order before making the leap. Overall, setup took maybe 20-30 minutes once the parts were all out of the box and everything was set up.

Once configured, installing the drivers is simple. Drop in the CD, follow the prompts, and turn on the printer at the right time. No fuss.

Once set up and powered on, the printer is ready to go to work. I print a majority of my things in duplex mode so I tweaked the driver configuration to make it the default, after which the setting is more or less invisible. Everything in the driver configuration is very easy to find, straightforward, and simple.

There are two ways to feed paper into the iP4500. There is a top-loader which is the default paper source and there is a front-loading paper tray (”cassette” according to Canon’s documentation). Heavier papers such as card stock should be loaded from the top-loader.

So, how does this printer perform? I’ll break it down into two parts, speed and quality.

Speed – this is a relatively fast printer! Feeding it a print job that conists of a two-sided black and white print this printer can churn out the pages, including the dry time for the front page, in about 20 seconds. Granted, this is my experience and your mileage may vary but it’s a good starting point from which to base your evaluation of the speed. My previous printer would take at least a minute to print the very same documents, and it still couldn’t keep up when in draft mode. For photo printing it churns out a full-page 8.5″x11″ borderless photo in roughly 45 seconds.

Quality – what good is speed without quality? This printer backs it up. The text and basic image quality is acceptable, though it could be a touch better. This is not noticeable in day-to-day print jobs. On photo printing, though, this printer is an absolute showstopper. The photos it prints, on photo paper, are better than most magazine prints and could easily be used for photo studio gallery shots.

It would be nice if the printer actually had a USB cable in the box, but this is a small thing.

Overall, this is a high-quiality, high-performance printer that is sure to please even the staunchest of critics. It is fast, creates beautiful output, and is very easy to set up.

Canon labels the Pixma iP4500 as a premium photo and document printer, and when I bought it in early January my main purchasing criteria was high quality photo prints and the ability to print on DVDs and CDs.

The printer itself looks tremendously stylish. Next to my iMac it looks as if the designers of the printer had been sitting in front of an iMac when coming up with the design. The printer looks great, which kind of is important as it is located together with my iMac in the living room. The only downside to the good looks is that the shiny black plastic attracts dust like a magnet.

One of the many up-sites to this printer is that it has two paper trays. The bottom tray sticks out about 10 cm (4 inch), when you expand it to hold A4 paper, but that is a small price to pay, considering that this way you do not have to store paper in the top tray. The top tray easily adjusts to hold all sorts of paper sizes from 4×6 photo paper to A4 or letter size. A button on the main unit lets you select the tray you wish to use and I found this a real benefit.

I like the printer driver, though I haven’t a lot to compare it to. I find it easy to use and flexible enough to fulfill my beginner’s needs.

Photo Quality

Comparing photo quality is really hard, as I do not have a bunch of similar printers here, for which I could compare print outs side by side. So I will just simply say that the print outs I have made on glossy photo paper look stunning. So stunning indeed that we have a few of them hanging in our living room already.

The printer uses 5 separate ink tanks, which I am being told is good for photo quality, and i am happy to believe that. What it really means to me is that if one color is out, I can just replace that one color rather than an entire combined cartridge. In my opinion the environmental and bank account friendly option.

Placing a photo print out next to pictures I had “developed” by a popular German photo printing service I must say I personally would consider the Pixma iP4500 print outs almost a bit nicer, at least the smaller sizes, though it greatly depends on the photo paper you use.

The first photo paper I tried obviously wasn’t of the best quality, I have to admit, and thus you end up seeing some tracks from where the printer transported the paper. That is rather unfortunate as it takes away from the otherwise superb impression the pure print-quality gives me.

Of course I tried better quality photo paper as well, and those tracks weren’t there. So you will definitely want to invest in good photo paper to get the best prints, but I would assume you knew that already. I also find that investing in photo paper with a higher weight per square meter makes the prints feel more like “real photos”, but again I would think that you all knew that already.

When printing a normal photo at A4 (about letter size) I notice a minute amount of striping in one area, but I need to get within a few inches of the A4 print in order to see the striping and it is only noticeable in an area of grey clouds. Looking at the image from a normal distance, I cannot see much of a difference. I printed that image last night and the first thing I am going to do is buy an A4 frame, that photo is going to hang in my office.

Black & White

We used the printer to print the inlays and envelopes for our wedding invitations, while black and white only, the speed with which these print outs were completed was purely amazing and the quality was perfect for my impression. Our friends and family were impressed to have professionally printed, yet personalized invitation cards.

In my opinion the result was extremely good and I would be hard pressed to find any fault with the output. Comparing it to my three year old laser printer, I would say that the quality was better and the print outs happened much quicker.

Speed

From a pure specification point of view the printer can deliver a 10×15 borderless photo in 9600×2400 dpi in about 21 seconds. Documents can be printed with a speed of up to 31 pages per minute (b/w) and 24 pages per minute (color).

Printer speeds are hard to really achieve, as they are measured under very specific conditions that we endusers normally don’t see. I would think they are more a guide value than anything else and my impression of this printer is that it is quick, very quick.

Did I sit next to my printer and have it print a 30 page document to measure its speed? No I didn’t. Did I stop the speed of printing a 4×6 borderless photo? Yes, I did, it took about 35 seconds, which is considerably slower, but when do you start to measure? When you push the print button, or when the printer makes its first noise of transporting the paper? I did measure from pressing the print button to finished photo and I don’t think that speed is anything to complain about.

PictBridge

A nice feature is the ability to print directly from my digital camera. I have a Canon A700 which is PictBridge compatible and I plugged it into the printer just to see whether that would work. I was pleased to say the least – the print outs just worked and while I don’t think I would trust my Mom to print a high quality photo from within iPhoto, I think that she’d have no issue getting it done this way.

This isn’t going to be a feature, I am going to use every day, not even every week or month, but I definitely can see its usefulness.

Printing on CDs & DVDs

One of my requirements for buying this printer was that it should print on CDs and it does. You get a little plastic tray, in which you place the CD/DVD and you fire up the CD Label Print Application to design the label you would like to print.

While the print outs are of decent to good quality, I have a bunch of gripes about this particular feature.

The biggest complaint I have is the software not allowing you to adjust the inner circle to be smaller. The DVDs I bought have a fairly large printable area (see photo), but the software cannot adjust to this larger printable area and thus leaves you with a large white inner circle. I already adjusted the circle as much as was possible to reduce the remaining white area, but it is still rather disappointing to get your DVDs, see that they really look good, but still have that white circle in the middle. There is also a bit of white space at the outer edge, which is less than a millimeter and doesn’t bother me too much.

What you see here is that it tells you that the inner circle cannot be smaller than 17mm, but I can only get it to be 33mm. So text and reality just do not match up resulting in the following print out:

The software unfortunately is also not quite intuitive, no tool tips for icons for a starter. My first attempts at printing a DVD saw me resize an image to cover the entire disk, but when I printed this image to disc, the software seemed to have magically reduced the image and printed it much smaller than what it was showing me and thus left a very ugly white space on the disc. So while the software is pretending to be WYSIWYG, it really is more like what you see is what you might get (WYSIWYMG).

If you set a background image that problem isn’t there and t works quite well, you get additional design elements like text, rectangle, circles and the lot – but all in all the CD Label Print software leaves me wholly unimpressed as “old fashioned” looking, difficult to use, not quite ready for more complex label designs and most importantly not quite flexible enough, where it does count.

All in all

I think it is tremendously difficult to evaluate a product you have purchased yourself. After all, if you bought it you want to make yourself believe that you made the right decision, objectivity can be hard to come by. I have tried hard to be as objective as possible, but I might be a bit harsh in my verdict.

All in all I am very happy with the printer. The print outs that I have shown to friends and family have impressed, I personally like both the photo and standard print quality. I am sure there is better, but I know there is worse.

There is that issue with the CD Label Software not being flexible enough and this I find annoying as it was one of the main reasons for purchasing this printer.

On the whole I am really happy with the printer and would recommend it to others. Is there room for improvement, yes there is a little, and I hope that Canon will address it as much as is possible with software updates. From a reviewer rating point of view – this is a very decent product, but also look at the competition.

If you were to buy this printer, I am sure you wouldn’t regret it – thus I am happy to award:

MyMac.com Rating: 4 out of 5 [...]

A previous reviewer has covered most of my impressions about this printer, so I will only highlight the main ones. Overall, this is an excellent printer. It is a little large, when all the trays are fully extended (h=13.5″, depth = 21′, width 17.5″), which could be a problem for users with limited space. However, one does not need to use both trays (at least not at all times), so it is possible to reconfigure it so that it can fit better into limited space. Having two trays is handy, since it makes it easier to switch between paper of difference sizes or qualities.

Setting up the printer is fairly straightforward, though somewhat time-consuming, in part because it spends about 12 minutes calibrating itself as part of the setup. The instructions are ok, but the accompanying informational book is only fair. Some aspects of the printer use are not addressed, so one has to make educated guesses to have the printer do certain things. Once operational, the printer is fast, capable of two-sided output, and produces high quality printing. Text on plain paper is very good, though on close inspection one can see a little bleeding of the ink. It’s about as good as any nonlaser text I’ve seen, be it HP, Canon, or Epson. Photographs are spectacular, with brilliant colors, and very high resolution. Overall, this is an excellent choice if you are looking for a good general purpose printer, capable of producing fine text and photographs at high speed.

Product: Zune H3A-00006

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This is my 3rd Zune from Microsoft. I used up all the memory on my 80 gig, so I decided to buy a Zune 120, and also decided to shell out the extra 20$(?) for the Gears of War Content. I must say, this Zune is very sexy. It’s sleek, shiny, and has has an awesome logo on the back. The only thing I was disappointed with was the standard headphones. They sound good, but the premium ones that came with my 80 gig are exceptionally better. If you are a gamer and want a Zune, this one is definitely the one to get, even for the Gears of War swag that’s comes along with it.

Watch Video Here: http://www.amazon.com/review/R1XFBP105ZHX2T

I first got a Zune 2 years ago for xmas. My hubby and I loved it so much we’d fight over which one of us got to use it. This year, I bought the special edition Gears of War edition for my hubby since he loves that game.

The best part of Zune is the firmware updates. His zune came with the latest updates that included games. When I plugged mine “old” zune in, I got the update and recieved the games also. So no matter what, your zune can only get better!

I have friends that have iPods and they always drool over my Zune. The songs are cheaper also overall. And since it’s Micrsoft, if you have any Microsoft, Xbox, or Zune points, they all work the same so you can use them to buy songs if you want. All it takes is a Windows Live ID. WE LOVE OUR ZUNES!

Product: Westin 23-1950

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This is the second set of Westin bars that I’ve installed. They fit perfect, are very easy to install, are very sturdy and look great. The instructions were a little vague but can be figured out. Overall, I recommend them highly. Spend a few dollars more and get the good stuff.

Bought the nerf bars from Amazon.com They arrived late from from FedEx. Two day shipment became a six day. The Nerf bars arrived damaged. The box they came in was fine. But after unwrapping the bars notice two damaged ends on the bars. The plastic spacers that go between the bars and the mounting brackets, looked like they came out of the garbage desposal. The mounting bolts were the wrong size to fit up in my 2009 GMC Sierra 2500HD truck. Amazon was good for willing to send new ones out… but with snail ground shipping.

I installed these bars today. The directions could have been better but it was easy to figure out and they installed easily. They’re sturdy and look great.

Product: Henckels 33423-008

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This is the 3rd set of Henckels I’ve owned. I sent the first set to the local cutlery store for sharpening and they came back with a different personality. Didn’t cut like Henckels anymore. Really disappointed. In search of a replacement set, I got the lower end Twin Signature 11pcs set. It was stamped, not forged. They cut well, but the knife felt cheap compared with the real forged Henckels.

I am really satisfied with this Four Star set. Feels solid, even weight distribution from front to back, and cuts like butter. My friend has a set of Twin Crusine which is so well built that ended up being too heavy in the back. Feels like I am just about to lose control and dropped the knife. Gives me the insecure feeling that I might cut myself trying to overcome the Twin Crusine under control.

One thing I learn this time…. make good use of the sharpening steel. I finally got the courage to learn how to use the sharpening steel with the correct angle and position, it worked so well. Sharpen my other Henckles knife back to nearly new condition.

The knives themselves are fantastic, but the set really needs a regular unserrated 6-inch utility knife. Since buying it separately is outrageously expensive, I’ve had to pull a poorer-quality knife back out for now since this is a knife I used frequently. I love the santoku, had never used one before, but it’s amazing for chopping. The handles are a perfect size for me, a woman with larger hands, and a man would probably appreciate them as well (although the five-star series knives have even more substantial handles). I see other reviews saying they prefer the Twin series, but these are the higher-end knives, forged instead of stamped like the Twin knives. Overall I would recommend this set as a good starter, and suggest you buy other pieces like the utility knife, bread knife, and steak knives as you come into inheritances….

Set contains all the basics, the quality is very high, the price is fantastic. I have had a set of these knifes for 30 years so I bought these for my son. Henckel is such a good brand, why waste money on poor quality knives when you can have the best for a bargain price. You only have to buy a good set once in your life.

Product: Milwaukee 6370-21

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I am a metal worker by hobbie.

I needed to cut several squares out of 1/4 plate steel.

I was looking at having them sheared by the steel company for $20 cutting charge per square… That was going to get very expensive…

I decided to buy jigsaw blades ($12 worth) to attack the job myself. I set up a guide and cut them… Went through the 8 blades for 2 squares. It took at least an hour to make the cuts.

I realized that the jigsaw method was a false economy.

I sprang for the Milwaukee 6370-21 circular metal saw kit.

No lie… I cut the same squares out in 5 minutes! The saw seriously ripped through the metal. It did a better/cleaner cut than the jigsaw.

I give the saw a 5 rating right now. I can’t address any cons because I have only had it a few days. It worked fantastically for my purposes in the short term, with no signs of future problems.

I can now begin to incorporate more plate steel into my work without concern as to my ability to cut it to size. That’s a big savings at the steel yard. Always a requirement of a tool purchase to me is how quickly it will pay for itself in productivity. I am confident that this tool will do that quickly.

Obviously you have to judge any tool by your usage needs. If you are looking to accurately mitre a lot of steel cuts, you might want to get a cold cut mitre chop saw with the same blade technology as this saw… Any portable hand held saw has it’s accuracy liablities, you have to choose the right tool for the job at hand….Good luck

This saw does with metal like a circular saw with plywood. It blew me away with its cutting ability. From steel to aluminum, you can set your plasma cutter in storage.

Ordered the saw and had it in two days cut the metal roofing and 10 foot of 1/8 inch steel for a bench top then some 5/16 aluminum with no blade change or time lose. Straight and cool to handle with no mess fine tool.

Product: Price Pfister 026-4YPE

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Faucet is beautiful. Easy installation. Everything worked perfectly. Thanks for the great deal Amazon.

Product: MartinLogan Preface

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Before buying new speakers I tried to do my homework properly, but since the Preface is such a new prouct there are virtually no reviews out there–none, in fact, by a pro. So this review is just based on my own judgement–which after all I guess is what really matters. I listened to some other brands: ProAc, Linn, ARCAM Muso/Logo, and a couple of B&W models. Some were simply out of my price range; the others were highly recommended by experts, but honestly–no matter the price and the reviews of the others–these Martin-Logan Prefaces blew me away. They were easily the clearest ones I heard at the price, and considering that the next level up meant a huge jump in cost, for perhaps a small incremental jump in quality,it was an easy choice.

They look great, the sound completely fills my medium-sized living room, and on very familiar albums I hear instruments and sounds that I’d never heard before. The “soundstage” (as experts call it) is huge. I can close my eyes and the equipment completely disappears, or maybe I disappear into the music. What a thrill it is to hear such brilliant sounds. I tried it with jazz (which always shows off the timing of a good sound system), with classical, opera, rock with big thumpy bass notes, and my eclectic African collection with its varied percussion sounds. In every way the Prefaces excelled. I’ll give it my highest recommendation.

I began my journer into audophile country when my H/K receiver bit the dust. I convinced my wife we needed a serious upgrade (don’t ask how but I’ve got serious dish-pan-hands). So I go into the Magnolia center fully plannnig on getting a set of Klipsch’s or Vienna’s. After listening to all the speakers in the room I could not get past the Prefaces. They really did sound the best. The store did not have any in stock and honestly I didn’t like the cherry models on display. I came home and logged onto Martin Logan and I found the Preface in black. To me it looks a whole lot better. Martin Logan has a warning on the website that only Best Buy and Amazon.com are authorized dealers. So I logged onto Amazon and the speakers were here a few days later.

These babies do require a break-in. They sound a bit bright at first but the woofers have to loosen up. I have been in tears listening to some of the music that is coming out of these bad boys. You will still need a sub for the really low stuff. Understand that they are 4 ohm speakers so your receiver should be of good quality or simply add an amp….now I’m really going to wash dishes a long long time.

if you want to blow the windows off at a very reasonable price, this speaker set is for you.

Product: Sirius Satellite Radio Sirius S50 Receiver System pack

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I’ve waited for three months for the S50 to come out. I finally found one and had it installed professionally in my car. I love what the S50 can do, and I’m overall very pleased, but I have some problems with the S50. First the good stuff. It’s a great design with an awesome LCD display. The station, artist and song are always visible. None of the scrolling stuff. The base has a rotating know to change channels, replay songs, press to record a song you like while it’s playing and a host of other options. Very cool. The removable lightweight unit is about the size of 2/3 of a deck of playing cards. With this unit, you can remove it from your car, plug in the headphones and play your downloaded MP3’s and recorded content from sirius. The rechargeable battery is supposed to last around six hours. I haven’t drained it yet. It recharges automatically when plugged into the base unit. Additionally, it will automatically download music from your three most listened to stations…ingenius. Also, if you like a song you’re listening to, you simply press the rotating knob, and the song is recorded for you onto the portable unit…awesome! Additionally, if you like a song you just heard, you can click the knob, and it plays again. You can then skip ahead to the current song playing or keep listening. You can also pause the broadcast and unpause without a hitch. As you turn the knob to change channels, a voice tells you what channel you’re selecting which is a cool feature if you want to keep watching the road.

I love the selection of music that is available for my taste (alternative stuff). Some stations are lame, the all Elvis channel or all Bruce Springstine channel for example, but that’s a matter of taste. Besides, there’s plenty to choose from no matter what your taste in music.

And now, the bad stuff. 1) I was disappointed with the sound quality. I would describe the quality as somewhere between good FM radio and AM. Voices often sound like they’re speaking or singing through a tin can. I thought it may have been the FM broadcaster in the unit, but when I play MP3’s in the car through the unit, they sound great, so I guess it’s not enough band width in the broadcasts. 2) The portable unit does not have an equalizer option. You can’t adjust the bass or treble which even the cheapest MP3 players have. That was poor oversight on their part. 3) My biggest gripe is that the removable unit will sometimes vibrate loose, causing a loss in the transmission. This is very annoying, but I’m getting used to tapping my unit from time to time to prevent it. I think part of the problem there is that my unit was installed so that it lies in a flat position. I may have to get that changed, despite the fact that I love the way it’s positioned right now. Sirius should have designed it so that the unit locks in. However, when you lose the signal (not from the unit vibrating loose), the voice asks if you’d like to switch to downloaded content which can be done very easily.

UPDATE: I had the unit re-installed so that it’s not flat, no problem now with the unit slipping out.

Moreover, I’m very pleased with the S50. If you’re aware of sound quality issue I’d definitely recommend the unit.

First off, let me say that I view the current S50 as a prototype. I think they rushed to market in order to have the product available by the time Stern started broadcasting. The fact that none of the accesories (including the home dock) are available yet shows that this product was rushed. The bugs and missing features, too, indicate a rushed release. Wait a few months and you will probably see prices drop, reliability increase, and features added.

Missing features: (1) There are no audio settings (not even the omnipresent “bass boost”). It should be against the law at this point to release a product like this without at least some sort of rudimentary equalizer. I have found the sound to be very poor largely because of this. The bass is lacking and the highs sound tinny. (2) If you are listening to one of your automatically recorded favorite channels in playback mode and leave the playback and return, you do not return to the point where you left (even if you don’t turn the player off). You must start at the beginning of the recording and cycle through the tracks to find your spot. Remember those old CD players that started at the beginning of the disk each time you turned the player on? Would you buy one today? (3) Can I get a small keypad on the dock so I can change channel without using the dial? Come on, Sirius has almost 200 channels. I’m supposed to scroll through them one at a time? True, the remote has a keypad, but I will lose that thing. (4) Unlike your Tivo or DVR (which this unit is constantly compared to), the unit has only one tuner. That means that you can not listen to live radio while recording another channel. Why would you need to record a show that you listened to live? (5) Also unlike Tivo and DVR, the unit will not turn itself on for a scheduled recording. That means, if you want to record Howard Stern in the morning while you are still asleep, you’ll have to leave the unit on all night. If you were able to track down a home unit during the limited release in December or you have purchased a DC/AC adaptor, you can just leave your S50 on at home. If you only use yours in the car you will find your battery dead and will be calling AAA for a jump start if you leave this thing on all night.

Design flaws: (1) The designers thought it would be cool to have the top of the player shaped like a triangle instead of sitting flush like every other MP3 player. Thats no problem if you only want to listen with the provided headphones (which suck), but if you want to use aftermarket headphones, the 1/8 jack for many will be to big to fit (the housing of the jack, not the jack itself of course). (2) The unit frequently freezes up and fails to respond to any commands. You have to remove the battery and wait ten seconds before reinstalling it in order to “reset” the unit. (3) Six hours of battery life? Thats at the low end of what I would consider exceptable. That is not a huge problem now, but what about a year from now when the battery begins to lose its charge and only holds, say four hours? (4) The interface is anything but intuitive and needs some major tuning. Example: the “Shut off Device” option is in the Setup Menu. Every time I turn this thing off I feel like I’m about to make a major change in the way the device functions. (5) Unlike most players, which have a full-time display, the screen on this unit goes black unless you have recently touched a button. I don’t need the screen to glow all the time, I just want the text of the song on the screen so I know what I’m listening to. Only the backlight should shut off when the unit is “idle.” You can go into “display settings” and change the screen to always be on, but since the backlight will always be on, this will drain the already inadequate battery.

I could go on, but I want to wrap this up. I give this product three stars instead of two or one because it is such a great idea. Finally, we can save large amounts of satellite radio content and play it back on a portable. Also, if you want to listen to Stern, but don’t have the time to catch the show live, this is the only thing to buy.

Would I buy it again? No, not even at a lower price. My advice is wait and see what comes next. This is a new idea, using new technology. Things will only get better from here on. Wait a few months rather than blowing $350 on a prototype that never should have left the Quality Control Department in its current condition.

Update: Sirius issued a software patch for this unit. Now you can fast-forward through recorded material (before you could only skip tracks), schedule recordings for music shows in addition to talk shows, and save more individual songs to your “my sirius songs” folder.

My advice stays the same. Wait for the next generation S50. It will undoubtedly have two tuners, an equalizer, better sound, and will lack the bugs in this unit. Or, you can buy my S50 used on Amazon.com the day the next generation comes out(I will definitely be upgrading).

Second Update: Today is 2/9/06. My S50 is dead. All of the sudden it stopped receiving live broadcasts today. I turn it on while docked and all I get is the startup sound and the Sirius logo screen; then the unit freezes up. Now this thing is basically an Ipod with bad battery life and poor navigation. Luckily I have an extended warranty…

I bought this primarily for the Tivo-like recording feature and that’s a huge disappointment. If you want to record a full Howard Stern show, forget it. It’s not designed to record that many hours and it rarely records the full amount it’s supposed to. Show are almost always incomplete – or the device frequently crashes! I’ve had to remove the battery multiple times because it was frozen.

If you’re a Mac user, there’s no software interface fo the MP3 functions.

The sound quality is pretty mediocre, even with full signal strength.

Given the cost (don’t forget to add $100 to be able to use it at home) and the mediocre performance, don’t buy this.

Product: JVC KDAVX77

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This receiver has many great features and I love it except for one major issue …

it does NOT support the iPhone 3Gs.

I received the following from JVC support:

“Your unit model KD-AVX77 is only compatible with the IPods/I phones that were available when the product was manufactured. Unfortunately the iphone3gs is a new version with a different software and released after the JVC model was manufactured therefore they are not compatible. As of today, there are no firmware updates to make them compatible or any additional information.”

This kameleon deck is freakin sweet! I just installed it, and I must say, I was very nervous because I have never even SEEN one operated in person. I looked on YouTube, etc. but nothing! Needless to say, works flawlessly, and does EVERYTHING I was looking for. For the 1st time, I did not have to compromise! 6 5v Preamps! Oh-Yea! And, ordering this through amazon was a very pleasant experience. If you have any doubts, but this deck! You won’t regret it!

The head unit is really easy to install, if you install it yourself or have someone else put it in I would really suggest putting all your attachments, (i.e. Ipod AV wires, Sub wires etc) so you don’t have to pull the deck again.

Other than that it’s a hell of a great deck for any car!

Product: Actron CP9449

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This is to ABS what the other Code Scan tools are for your engine. It gives you historical codes and current codes so you can get a good over all picture of whats happening. You must have a basic understanding of ABS and the Sensors / Components that make up the system. If you do then this is the tool that will save you a fortune by not having to take your vehicle to a dealer! If you have no idea of how ABS works, keep taking your car to the dealer or learn fast so you can save! Only possible complaint some may have is that the tool will not reset the ABS light like you can with the Check Engine light with the other scan tools. Me personally, I want to see the historical codes so that I can ascertain if a problem is intermittant or not. Once you repair what is wrong your lignt will go out anyway. Most ABS computers reset themselves each time you start your car. The Light comes on for a reason!

For the price, this is a pretty nice ABS scanner. You can’t find anything close to it’s price for your ABS problems. Plugs into the same OBDII port as your normal OBDII scanners so it’s simple to connect. Once it tells you what the problem is, it’s still up to YOU to know how to fix that problem. ABS scanners unlike OBD scanners, you can’t just erase the code(s). When you fix the problem, the ABS light should go off all on it’s own. All ABS systems Self test when you first turn the key on to check and make sure everything is working, of course it can pass that test and when you start driving then Pop the light on from something like a wheel sensor not sending the correct Data to the computer. Unplugging the battery is of last Resort. Doing so can on some cars screw up all the settings for the Engine to run right for example, and it will not Idle correctly and run smoothly until you take it out for a drive for 40 miles or so. This is also why it’s bad to replace your battery just before you go in for a Smog Check It can cause you to fail.

Fix your ABS problem correctly and go out for a drive and the light will go off all on it’s own. This scanner ONLY works on Domestic Cars and Trucks. GM, Ford, Chrysler, which also means Chevy, Mercury, Dodge, etc! It’s also Limited to what cars of those it CAN do and what years. So you need to double check on the list of cars and trucks this ABS scanner supports. It also won’t do Imports!!! Any other ABS scanner you go looking for will be into the $850+++ range. Even here on Amazon, the only other ABS scanner is one by OTC. While they make great scanners, usually for the Pro’s, this one the OTC3762 is ABS and Airbag and says for All Cars, but the price is $999. That’s a lot for home use.

Bought one and returned it after finding out that my 2006 Caravan was not on the list. Contacted the company for software updates as indicated in the manual and there are none. Would be a wonderful tool if it was supported by the mfgr. Price is good, quality good, easy to use but limited. WILL NOT diagnose a car that is not on the list.