Clarion NX409 6.5-Inch Double-DIN Mulitmedia Station with Touch Panel Control, USB, and Built-In Navigation System
Filed Under (Car Stereo) by Admin on 23-05-2010
Product Description
Get there fast, and get there entertained with Clarion’s NX409. Featuring built-in GPS navigation, a 6.5-inch touchscreen control, iPod direct control, and plenty more, it’s the perfect hub for your mobile entertainment … More >>
$498.99
Clarion NX409 6.5-Inch Double-DIN Mulitmedia Station with Touch Panel Control, USB, and Built-In Navigation System
I debated buying this NX409 but couldn’t resist the price/feature list. While it’s loaded with about every feature you could want not all of them work or don’t work the way they should.
Navigation:
The GPS doesn’t update fast enough so that the vehicle position indicator is not correctly displayed on the map relative to the cross streets especially at speed. The turn by turn voice guidance sometimes says to turn right when you actually are turning left. Many of the POI’s are not accurate both for location on the map and also that some don’t exist. If you can get beyond the robotic tone and poor text to speech pronunciation…the voice guidance also truncates some road names. Two of the features listed in the GPS menu don’t work at all (like the alert tone option when you are approaching your turn). This may be a software bug as they won’t even stay selected.
Sirius Radio:
Mostly works well except way too often you’ll power the unit up and all the presets you spent time getting just the way you want are gone. That gets old after about the 5th time.
Ipod:
I plugged in my Shuffle to the USB port and it says “unrecognized file format”. So I thought I’d check that it’s on the list of supported Ipods on the Clarion site. Click on Ipod compatability list and gee…”page not found”. At least there’s some synergy between their products and the web site.
Other:
The Bluetooth BLT 370 option is a waste of money. Way too often when you start the car it will lock up the radio with a “phone in use” displayed( even when there is no cell phone within a mile of the vehicle)…you then have to shut off the ignition and open the door to get it to power down then restart the car. It sync’s up with the phone great but everyone says I sound like I’m calling from the Mariana trench.
The clock setting can only be set manually. When you select your correct time zone and DST to sync the time using the GPS it’s off by two hours.
Last but not least Clarion’s support both on the web site and by phone is a waste of time.
On a positive note the quality of the audio is very good as is the DVD display.
Rating: 2 / 5
I got my from Crutchfield for ~$350 and am just copying and pasting the review… Some of this may not apply to Amazon.
Just set mine up yesterday after getting some connection accessories from Home Depot. Actually just installed the whole thing in the parking lot of Home Depot. I have a 2005 Nissan Altima and I was able to do the whole job with:
1) Philips screwdriver
2) Electrical tape
3) Exacto knife (because I didn’t have wirestrippers. I’d recommend wire strippers because the wires in the NX409 harness are not pre-stripped. If you’re desperate, you can use your teeth, I’ve done that before in the past too. )
4) Wire nuts (not necessary, I just wanted a cleaner install. Electrical tape should work just fine)
The adapter that came from Crutchfield was a little too simple. All it was is literally just a trim piece between the dashboard and the headunit, no brackets, no screws, nothing else. Just a plastic border. So I had to reuse the factory brackets to mount/secure the NX409. Placement was a little tricky too on the factory brackets to the NX409 because there are a variety of hole alignments. I had to try a couple of times to get NX409 centered with the dashboard hole for the double-DIN radioslot.
Items connect:
All speakers
Radio antenna
GPS antenna (the GPS antenna came with a really long wire which I assumed that I should run somewhere to with line of sight to the sky, but since I was in the Home Depot parking lot, I just rolled the wire back up and threw the antenna in the back of dashboard. After turning the GPS on, there seemed to be good signal with me getting a lot of bars and the bars being green, instead of red)
USB cable included in box
Dimmer wire
After installation:
Everything seemed to work fine. The tuner worked and gets clear reception and presets work well. The CD feature works, but it takes a really LONG time to load. I’m talking probably about a full 40-60 seconds to load the CD. On the bright side though, the NX409 does read the song track names and artist names off the CD and display it. The GPS features did take a while to figure out, but you’ll get used to it. (But the first address I inputted and actually tried driving to, it got me to a destination that was 2 miles from where I wanted to go….so GPS update is topic that I’m really concerned about. The other 4-5 address that I put in, got me to the correct destinations.) I can’t get the damn clock to store right time!! This is driving me nuts. I haven’t studied the manual at all regarding this issue, but how hard can it be? Oh and the time on the GPS is different than the time on the tuner…neither of which is the right time I haven’t tried the DVD player mainly because I left the green wire from the NX409 (supposed to be connected to the parking brake) unconnected.
It was fairly easy to install but I didn’t complete the job 100%:
-Still need to run a USB extension cable
-Still need to go back in to figure out a way to use the DVD player (more research needed)
Rating: 4 / 5
as for one review there is a option on the gps menu to avoid freeways,which will cure this problem.there is also a setting on the time for pacific,mountain,central and etc… to set to correct the time.the dvd player plays video
dvd+r’s in quicktime movie mpg format It works great in everyway,but i havent got it to play mp4′s through the usb port,i’m not sure if thats possible?the green wire i hook-up with a toggle switch to play videos.the main problem i had with this unit is the screen is barely visable if you have have a convertable,when the sun is out.other than that this unit works great.p.s. to one of the other reviews.you must hook up the yellow wire to a wire that has power all the time.this is a good unit except for the screen in the sun.i give it a 4 only for the screen display
Rating: 4 / 5
I am another who got it through crutchfield for $350(thanks slickdeals!)
- GPS works as it should…Seems very accurate to me, so IDK about the other review that says otherwise.
- As someone else already mentioned, the radio presets wipe-out from time to time. I don’t listen to radio so
it’s no big deal for me.
- I use my IPOD video 30gig primarily and it works every time without flaws.
- DVD works fine, no issues.(bypass mod done)
- As I mentioned, the sound quality was shockingly good.
I take points away for only having a 2-band EQ with selectable frequencies for each(not true parametric eq),
and the screen can be tough to see in bright sunlight, but I’m not sure it would be any better with most others…
For what I paid, it was a complete steal!
My setup(2008 Chevrolet Silverado Single Cab – NNBS)
Clarion NX409
Boston Acoustics Pro60se 6.5 Components
2 10″ JL Audio 10W0-4 Subwoofers
JL Audio 300/4 Amplifier powering the components and subs
[...] 2-10″ NNBS Single Cab box
Rating: 4 / 5
My only gripe with this head unit is there isn’t a clock display when out of tuner mode unless I just haven’t figured it out. I doubt it.
Rating: 4 / 5