Kenwood KDC-4047UG Car Player

What to say? Seems a little pointless reviewing this item because it has been superseded at time of writing (Jul 2011) and is therefore no longer available from retailers unless you find one on eBay like I did. I bought this from Argos's ebay shop as a manufacturer refurbished item for 60 quid - I wasn't looking specifically for a Kenwood unit, I was just looking at a price point and this one seemed to fit my requirements quite nicely. I only have a little Fiesta so didn't think there was any point in getting anything more expensive but I just HAD to get rid of the standard Ford stereo - it was DIRE!
Ok then, here goes. Quality of item is very good, as is to be expected from any of the major Japanese manufacturers - standard of materials and manufacture is second to none. The instructions weren't very comprehensive though which surprised me - I'm glad I've got a background in electrics and electronics to be able to decipher some of the details of the installation which unfortunately didn't translate that well from Japanese to English(!). Fitting it was a doddle though, just had to pop down to Halfords to get a cable adapter to match up between the standard connectors on the back of the stereo to the Ford connectors in the dashboard and bingo, it worked first time! All in all, it took me half an hour to fit it (not including the trip to Halfords) and then 10-15 minutes learning how to use it and how to access the numerous menus. The stereo does look quite expensive though (compared to the Ford stereo!) and I'm glad that the fascia is removable as a security measure to prevent some little herbert pinching it. The only problem is, the WHOLE front of the fascia comes off, along with the main function knob, which sticks out quite appreciably, even when it is inside the supplied soft carry pouch - I'm sure Kenwood could have designed a much smaller removable front panel but still maintain the security that this feature gives? Anyway, its just a minor quibble.
I haven't tried the CD player or the memory stick playback capability because that's not what I got this stereo for, so sadly I can't comment on the performance of those two functions. I bought the stereo primarily to plug my iriver 80Gb hard drive mp3 player into it to listen to on my journey in and out of London on the M3 and M25 everyday and so far I have to report that it works fine and after spending a few days fiddling with the sound settings, I have now got it set to just how I like it and very good it sounds aswell - MILES better than the original Ford stereo. Even the Ford mechanics at the garage where I get my car serviced remarked on how much better than the Ford stereo this Kenwood unit sounds, and they were equally surprised by its price. So, if you have a Ford of a certain vintage (mine is 10 years old), and you have a hankering to ditch that terrible Ford stereo, then I say go for it, you wont be disappointed. Just don't spend any more than what I spent (unless you're a 'yoof' and want a bangin' stereo, in which case, why are you reading this?) otherwise you might find you'll inadvertently double the value of your car overnight! LOL!

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all good cant beat it
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