Product Description
Double DIN MP3/CD Receiver w/Internal iPod Docking Station, Bluetooth, Full Detachable Front Panel, USB/SD Card Slot, Front Aux-In AM/FM/RDS, 80W X 4… More >>
Product Description
Double DIN MP3/CD Receiver w/Internal iPod Docking Station, Bluetooth, Full Detachable Front Panel, USB/SD Card Slot, Front Aux-In AM/FM/RDS, 80W X 4… More >>
#1 by Dog Lover on July 2, 2010 - 7:46 pm
The Boss 865 DBI is a full featured double DIN unit That includes an IPod dock, SD card reader, UBS, Bluetooth audio and phone all built in with no other adapters to buy.
Out of the box the unit seemed to be heavier than the unit I was replacing, the stock radio from my 97 Geo Prizm.
The installation was about an 8 on a 1-10 ease of installation chart. The only reason for the 8 was only one hole lined up on each side of the mounts so I had to locate and drill the other holes, after that everything was pretty easy. The interface took a bit to learn but within about 15 minutes you will understand the logic so it becomes easy to setup and operate.
I have tried every function except the IPod dock (I don’t own an IPod) which is cleverly installed behind the face place so Your IPod is out of sight. I will have to borrow my wife’s IPod to see how it works and post an update.
The unit loads up the SD card and it sounds good. The display is easy to read which I find is a plus for someone that wears reading glasses. It tells you what song is playing and the album/group like an IPod screen.
The CD player works well although it is a bit slower to read the disk than most units (It says “reading” for a couple of seconds).After playing a CD, the unit and the CD is still cool to the touch. Most car units I have used make the CD feel like it was just in an oven.
The unit has a transfer function that can transfer files from the CD player to other media in the player. Note: It will not copy a regular audio CD, the CD has to be a MP3 or a WMV file format.
The Bluetooth works good and sounds good in both directions. It can store the last 10 numbers dialed but has no voice dial function.
I am quite pleased with the price and the quality of the unit. It seems that it will last a long time from what I see.
If I were to make suggestions to improve future versions of the unit would be as follows:
The volume knob is too small and slippery, could put knurls on it like the tuning knob.
The writing could be bigger and/or easier to read on the remote control.
The display could use a “progress bar” that lets you know how far along a song has played.
A voice dial function would give this unit a total hands free Bluetooth dialing experience.
Rating: 5 / 5
#2 by GSK on July 2, 2010 - 8:39 pm
I’ll just cut to the chase and give you the bad. The internal iPod dock looks so cool at first – but beware. The user interface for the dock is horrific and completely inconvenient. Can you imagine scrolling through all your songs, artists, or albums one at a time, in alphabetical order, with the volume knob? It took me three minutes to get to the C’s. Forget it. Just use the aux in. Speaking of controls, the layout of the controls and their functions is very counter-intuitive. Example – if you press the volume knob and hold, you get the audio controls (bass, treble, balance, etc). But if you press the volume knob and let off too quickly, you get a screen to enter a phone number for Bluetooth. There is no way to exit this screen. You have to wait for ten seconds or so until the display resets, then you can try to adjust the audio again. Horrible. Separate controls for audio and phone functions would make way more sense. The instruction manual, written in laughable Engrish, is not much help either. But by far, the WORSE thing about this CD player is the illumination. Others have written about it, but I didn’t believe them when I bought mine. Well folks, imagine riding around at night with an aquarium in your dash. That’s right. There is no way to dim this thing’s gigantic blue panel. You can literally read by it at night. Take a good look at the picture of this radio everyone. Now realize that the big rectangle you see in the middle is the color of Obi Wan Kenobi’s lightsaber, and about as bright. Got it? If it wasn’t already in my dash, I’d box this up and return it. Be warned what you’re getting if you buy this radio.
Rating: 2 / 5
#3 by Coop on July 2, 2010 - 9:38 pm
I have to agree with the others on this unit and their comments being an excellent unit. I installed it in a 1985 model car.
I only have a couple of issues with this radio that keeps it from being 6 stars.
1st, the blue screen is very bright and have yet to find a way to dim the screen at night, however is very clear even in a convertible on a sunny day.
2nd, an amplified sub-woofer output is not available thru the internal amplifiers. Only a line-out for the sub-woofer. Simply add a powered sub-woofer and that problem is taken care of.
Other than those two issues, I am extremely happy with the purchase. For the price, there are more features on this unit than those costing up to 4 times as much and did not have to purchase additional “adaptors” like a Bluetooth adaptor, etc.
Boss – add an internal satellite radio to this unit and you will have 10 stars in my book.
Rating: 5 / 5
#4 by Jose F. Perez V on July 2, 2010 - 11:26 pm
This radio works well but has some drawbacks that need improvement: first, accepts many signal interference, ie mixing stations. Second, the volume of the speaker phone in default is very high, leading to echo the talk, besides that other people hear me away (do not know where the microphone).
For the rest, the radio works perfectly: the ipod, sd memory, auxiliary, etc..
Rating: 4 / 5
#5 by Hansleiden on July 3, 2010 - 1:05 am
I was skeptical about buying this product because of the brand name that I was not familiar with. However I was more then pleasantly surprised once I had used it. It sounds great and the convenience of being able to use the CD, SD Card, and USB Drive options together was overwhelmingly satisfying. It is my favorite Car Stereo, and I have had some very nice more expensive units. I do not have an IPOD but without using this feature it is still an outstanding value.
Rating: 5 / 5