Lidl car stereo

tc20

Hi all,
just wondering if anyone picked up one of these last time around ? Any recommendations/problems with these?
I'm thinking of picking one up this week, cheers

http://www.lidl.ie/ie/home.nsf/pages/c.o.20090611.p.SilvercrestBluetoothCarRadiowithUSB

kippy

Am thinking getting it as well.
Last time out there was a post on here about it an the general consensus was that you could get a better, branded system which did all the same things for slightly more cash. To be honest I haven't been able to get a similiar system as of yet.

The only thing that stopped me last time was that I dont think I would be able to get a "converter" that would make this device work with the current remote on the 00 focus I have. I aint too bothered at this stage whether that works or not to be honest so think I will pick up one.

niceirishfella

see this thread - http://www.boards.ie/vbulletin/showthread.php?t=2055582965

Rowley Birkin QC

No "AUX in" by the looks of it.

Quality wise, I have an Aldi bluetooth headunit with AUX connection for the last two years, never had a problem with it.

cormie

Pretty sure it does have AUX in according to another thread. All the previous stereos by Lidl/Aldi over the past 2 years have had it so I'd be surprised if this doesn't, I think I can see the slot in the pic anyway

tc20

thanks lads, there's an ok unit in the merc but it could do with mp3/usb, and having read the other (linked) posts its looks like a good 'un - the bluetooth capability is a definite bonus

minikin

don't touch that silvercrest yoke from lidl, I got a similar one last time they had them and it randomly goes mad on me... completely locks up... one minute everything is fine then next minute the tuner keeps cycling through the frequencies (AF is switched off) and none of the buttons work on the front panel/remote (completely unresponsive even after resetting it) Then for no good reason it comes back to life. Very frustrating... false economy.

Vain

minikin wrote: »

don't touch that silvercrest yoke from lidl, I got a similar one last time they had them and it randomly goes mad on me... completely locks up... one minute everything is fine then next minute the tuner keeps cycling through the frequencies (AF is switched off) and none of the buttons work on the front panel/remote (completely unresponsive even after resetting it) Then for no good reason it comes back to life. Very frustrating... false economy.

It has a 3year warranty give it back.

niceirishfella

Mini,
you seem to be alone in your experience - most posts are postive towards it from current owners of this headunit.
It's like everything,any brand can give trouble.

minikin

you seem to be alone in your experience

not true, it has happened when there were four of us in the car

Think you're right vain... time to check out the lidl returns policy

niceirishfella

minikin wrote: »

not true, it has happened when there were four of us in the car

serves you right for being a tight arse and buying a cheap stereo!!:D

cabrwab

Mini just wondering did you put it in yourself?

If so just wondering did you mix up the wires when connecting it up. Got a chaep grundig a few years ago as a replacement and the manual was confusing and i ended up doing this.
The radio did the exact same thing went mental, random display buttons not working.

minikin

din connector on it... nothing to mix up!

tc20

Thanks for the reminders - i'll pick one up on the way to work in the morning

bigkev49 wrote: »

No "AUX in" by the looks of it.

just had a look at the flyer (have it here in the office) and thers definitely an AUX in jack on it, happy days

cabrwab

minikin wrote: »

din connector on it... nothing to mix up!

Ah you'd think that!:rolleyes:
Just saying with my own experiance of radio's.
I was putting it into a vw and there is one different connection was all it said in the manual!

kippy

Think I am going to pick one up. I need a handsfree for the car anyway, everything else is a bonus.
I assume this wont work with my Ford Focus remote which is on the steering and that a converter could be nigh on impossible to find.

niceirishfella

kippy wrote: »

I assume this wont work with my Ford Focus remote which is on the steering

afraid not,and you'll miss the ability to up/down volume from your wheel - I guarantee you!

Ferris

Just fitted one of these to the car. Aux in works fine, Ipod on USB works although its hard to find specific songs/artists/albums, sound quality is great, phone works well on bluetooth and the head unit doesn't look too gaudy.

Well worth 90quid

vox

Sound quality is great however there is an audible hiss at low volume.

Graham_B18C

Ferris wrote: »

Just fitted one of these to the car. Aux in works fine, Ipod on USB works although its hard to find specific songs/artists/albums, sound quality is great, phone works well on bluetooth and the head unit doesn't look too gaudy.

Well worth 90quid

For the iPod, did you just plug it in and go? When I plug mine in, it comes up iPod but it won't play, then about 5 seconds later it goes back to radio! Just wondering an I doing something wrong!

Alanstrainor

Damn, missed this, in desperate need of a new stereo/bluetooth kit to replace a tape-deck

Buffman

I've had this in the car for about 9 months now, very handy unit. I have all my music on a 32GB usb memory stick and find this a handy arrangement. SD slot is also handy. Aux in works well too. Phone works perfectly with it, phone numbers come up on radio. It also has a call memory, so you can redial any of the numbers without touching your phone. Great value for €90. And if it all goes pear shaped, the 3 year warranty is there.

Alanstrainor wrote: »

Damn, missed this, in desperate need of a new stereo/bluetooth kit to replace a tape-deck

If you have the time to spare, you could call into a few different stores to see if any are left. I had to go to 3, a luckily got the 2nd last radio in Naas.

BlackWizard

vox wrote: »

Sound quality is great however there is an audible hiss at low volume.

I thought that was just the one I picked up..

So is everyone getting this?

Besides this it's a great radio. Very impressed with the bluetooth

BlackWizard

Buffman wrote: »

I've had this in the car for about 9 months now, very handy unit. I have all my music on a 32GB usb memory stick and find this a handy arrangement.

I was thinking about this until the manual says it only supports up to 1gig..

So it actually will support a large USB stick? You sure you have the same radio yeah?

Buffman

BlackWizard wrote: »

I was thinking about this until the manual says it only supports up to 1gig..

So it actually will support a large USB stick? You sure you have the same radio yeah?

Ye, it's the same model as the one on sale last week, no issues with usb size. It says the same in my manual, luckily I tried it anyway and no problems.

Edit: I think they may have meant max playable file size is 1GB and it was just lost in translation from German.

Big Nasty

Surely the sound quality has more to do with the speakers than the head unit?

Ferris

Grahamo999 wrote: »

For the iPod, did you just plug it in and go? When I plug mine in, it comes up iPod but it won't play, then about 5 seconds later it goes back to radio! Just wondering an I doing something wrong!

Yep, just plug in and it seems to play random tunes, i'm still trying to master control of individual tracks however. It takes a few minutes to load up tho too, I just leave it permenantly connected.

vox

Is anyone else getting hiss at low volumes? Its also more noticeable during talking and on quieter parts of songs. Im trying to determine if it is happening to others.

BlackWizard seems to have the same thing...

Thanks.

Ferris

No hiss on mine at all, pretty clear sound high or low volume apart from a rattly speaker in the back.

tc20

Lads, seeing as i started this thread, i thought i should post an update.
I picked up one on thursday on the way to work.
opened the box and had a look at it on saturday morning.
Was dying of a hangover yesterday, barely made it out of the scratcher.
Will fit it sometime this week, i hope.

Looks like good reviews all round

cjt156

Alanstrainor wrote: »

Damn, missed this, in desperate need of a new stereo/bluetooth kit to replace a tape-deck

Aldi have the Tevion one next week; dunno if that's any use?

Alanstrainor

cjt156 wrote: »

Aldi have the Tevion one next week; dunno if that's any use?

Must check it out, just looking for something cheap, started driving a cheap runaround just to get me by and not having even a cd player is driving me nuts!

tc20

looks as though it has very similar capabilities -


http://www.aldi.ie/ie/html/offers/2827_9399.htm

Buffman

tc20 wrote: »

looks as though it has very similar capabilities -


http://www.aldi.ie/ie/html/offers/2827_9399.htm

And €10 cheaper at €80, looks ok.

Graham_B18C

cjt156 wrote: »

Aldi have the Tevion one next week; dunno if that's any use?

I had a Tevion in my old car, came with it when I bought it, and you're not able to buy the right blocks for the back so it lost the stations every time I turned the car off! Probably could of wired it differently but it was a few years ago and my electrical knowledge wasn't as decent as it is now...probably still couldn't do it correctly now if I tried though!

cormie

Just picked the Lidl one up in Pottery Road store, I'd say they had a few left anyway as the guy seemed confident they had them in stock when I asked. Again, not on display, had to ask.

Would anyone know where I could get the ISO cable and fascia for a ford transit (same as focus stereo I Think). Would like not to get ripped off in halfords and would like it before the 25th

vox

cormie wrote: »

Just picked the Lidl one up in Pottery Road store, I'd say they had a few left anyway as the guy seemed confident they had them in stock when I asked. Again, not on display, had to ask.

Would anyone know where I could get the ISO cable and fascia for a ford transit (same as focus stereo I Think). Would like not to get ripped off in halfords and would like it before the 25th

Check which lead you need here:

http://www.autoleads.co.uk/database.php

Then ring local motorfactors or use ebay. http://www.passionauto.co.uk/ are good and have an ebay and web store with reasionable prices to Ireland.

cormie

Thanks, just ordered what I need, hopefully it's the right thing

BlackWizard

I stuck my USB stick into this radio last night. It played my album "100 Greatest Rock Hits of the 1990's" perfectly fine. Changing tracks was quick and sound was excellent.

So I was rocking out all the way to work today.

I've had no issues with reception but I haven't been outside of Dublin yet. East Coast FM has been find all over Dublin from Balbriggan to Celbridge so that's a good sign.

vox

BlackWizard wrote: »

I stuck my USB stick into this radio last night. It played my album "100 Greatest Rock Hits of the 1990's" perfectly fine. Changing tracks was quick and sound was excellent.

So I was rocking out all the way to work today.

I've had no issues with reception but I haven't been outside of Dublin yet. East Coast FM has been find all over Dublin from Balbriggan to Celbridge so that's a good sign.

Anyone having radio reception issues just has the wrong arial connection and need one with a signal booster. A simple way to check is to see if you can pick up any MW channels. If not you have the wrong connector.

The bluetooth is brilliant... I use one of these with my ipod nano and its fantastic.