Aldi Car Radio/CD/MP3 problems

kyote00

Tevion MP3/CD/MP3 players.....anyone else get one of these....

I installed it fine but the system seems a bit crappy....

1) you have to switch off the radio before switching off the car otherwise all presets are
lost
2) CD regularly get stuck in drive
3) USB port does not recognise an Iriver 20G MP3 player --- I think because it has too many files (the main reason I bought the radio was the USB port on the front)
4) line in and line out at at the back of the system....

Radio works fine :rolleyes:

toffeapple

from Aldi?

i think i see your problem right there..............

chalky

I bought one of those too.
1) Haven't had a problem with this as my radio is powered even when the power is off.
2) Haven't had a problem
3) There's something in the instruction booklet that says it only recognises a certain no. of files or folders (don't know the exact amount)

I have noticed it sometimes sounds a bit fuzzy (radio and cds)

seamus

kyote00 wrote:

1) you have to switch off the radio before switching off the car otherwise all presets are lost

This is probably an issue with the power connectors. I had to switch the constant 12V connector with the ignition switch connector to get the LIDL one to remember stations. When they're switched, your radio is getting no power when the ignition is off, and so it erases your stations.

2) CD regularly get stuck in drive

Again with the LIDL one, I was getting this problem with CD's I burned - it was caused by the label I sellotaped to the front of the CD (with the contents on it), making the CD that little bit thicker.

4) line in and line out at at the back of the system....

I think this is pretty standard. The line in is for a CD changer (in the boot usually). There's very little preventing you from MacGuyvering a line-in cable that comes out the front.

kyote00

thanks.

Its the Aldi one I have....

The CD sticking seems to be the angle the radio is at. Anything slightly off horizontal and it gets into trouble.

I must check the connector, I needed to get an ISO adaptor to connect it in the first place...

The USB on the front is kind handy still as I can charge my MP3 thro USB port.

I think I will extend the line in into a port in the ash tray ..... very james bond...;)

(PS. As for the comment about Aldi --- well all this stuff is manufactored in the low cost regions in the far east now -- so unless you are buying some exotic local made machine, then your Sony, Alpine, Blaupunkt etc are all very similar in terms of the components used inside --- but you should free feel to pay an extra couple of hundred for the label :eek:

toffeapple

kyote0 wrote:

(PS. As for the comment about Aldi --- well all this stuff is manufactored in the low cost regions in the far east now -- so unless you are buying some exotic local made machine, then your Sony, Alpine, Blaupunkt etc are all very similar in terms of the components used inside --- but you should free feel to pay an extra couple of hundred for the label :eek:

so if Aldi start making cars would you drive one? or would you wear Aldi trainers or Aldi trousers...need i go on?

kyote00

The point I was making is that a lot big brands dont make anything anymore --- cars, car radios, trousers....

A car is great example, which would you drive Audi A4, VW Passat or Skoda Octavia

I would certainly wear Aldi trousers before Armani !

stevenmu

kyote00 wrote:

I would certainly wear Aldi trousers before Armani !

Damn straight, I actually had a pair of Aldi trousers which were very nice till they got covered in oil.

I also had one of the previous Aldi head units and didn't have the problem with CDs (at probably about 10/15 degrees off flat), it's possible you got an iffy unit, maybe if you dug up the thread on them in bargain alerts you might see if others have the same issue. I'm also not sure if your loosing the presets problem is related to the wiring, if it was then I think you'd loose them even if you turn the radio off first, unless doing this causes some kind of battery backup to kick in which is very possible. It should be easy enough to swap them round to check though, the previous one anyway had red and yellow wires going from the unit to the ISO connectors, these both had fuse containers on them which you could open and just swap the wires (after disconnecting the connector from the car naturally).

toffeapple

aahhhhh twoshay!!!(dont know how to spell it, dont even know what it means!)

I know what your getting at but with electronics there is a difference between high end products in the fact that they use better components and the goods are subjected to better testing and quality assurance.
Look at the difference in the guarantee.......

i wouldnt wear armani trousers either...but i know i wouldnt trust electronics from aldi..or trousers....or the cheese...the frozen cream dognuts are class but...

Matt Simis

kyote00 wrote:

The point I was making is that a lot big brands dont make anything anymore --- cars, car radios, trousers....

A car is great example, which would you drive Audi A4, VW Passat or Skoda Octavia

I would certainly wear Aldi trousers before Armani !

Actually many large Electronics companies still operate their own, independent facilities in the Far East. Just because they are made "over there" doesnt mean they are all the same quality, components etc.. Realistically you know that, you are just trying to justify paying less, but why bother, I sometimes buy cheap crap cos its cheap too, call a spade a spade.


Matt

kyote00

My point is that there is much less manufactoring of electronic components in the west now. We have tended to associate cheap with low quality --- this is not recessarily the case anymore --- just as the eastern economies have learned to built ultra reliable and cheap cars, the electronics industry has followed.

Economies of scale and low cost workforces have forced this equation --- so when you open up your 70 euro Aldi unit and your 300euro Sony unit, you will find that approx 50% of the components originate from the same low cost supplier (according to Gartner Research 2001) --- I can only assume the % is higher in 2006

A lot of the retrenchment in electronics manufactoring in Ireland over the last 10 years is directly due to the globalisation of world economy. Certainly in the telecoms industry, I cant think of any major supplier who makes it own components anymore (east or west). I agree that these large companies certainly do have major footprints in the far east -- however they are not doing component manufactoring anymore --- they are doing product design, software development and integration.

Also, I feel that cost and quality not necessarily dependant on each other --- because its cheap does not mean its crap and vice versa --- owners of E class Merc's will vouch for that.

Anyway back to the original point of the post, my lovely (or crappy) car radio (which no doubt will fall apart before the weeks end) is as good as the kenwood unit I took out of the car, has as many features as a 300euro Sony unit

5500

kyote00 wrote:

1) you have to switch off the radio before switching off the car otherwise all presets are
lost:

Your wiring is wrong,switch the red wire with the yellow/orange wire at the back of the Hu.To the other poster your Hu shouldnt stay on either when the key is not in the ignition

kyote00 wrote:

4) line in and line out at at the back of the system....:

All radios are like this,ive yet to come across one with line ins and outs on the front of it,just run a cable from the back into the glovebox ect.

Are the radios usb2 compatible?

I think the biggest difference you'l find in the internals is the amplifer,in saying that headunit amp still suck and ive never used any of mine's inbuilt ones

bg

Hi
I tried to play mp3 cd in the hu but it keeps giving an error code U35, the cd has about 400 tracks, some mp3 and some wav, any reason why it will not play? I have tested the cd in the computer it works fine..

Thanks
BG

chalky

bg wrote:

Hi
I tried to play mp3 cd in the hu but it keeps giving an error code U35, the cd has about 400 tracks, some mp3 and some wav, any reason why it will not play? I have tested the cd in the computer it works fine..

Thanks
BG

Chalky wrote:

3) There's something in the instruction booklet that says it only recognises a certain no. of files or folders (don't know the exact amount)

Forgot to check the exact amount. Its in the instruction booklet somewhere

SouperComputer

anybody know of any Aldi\Lidl stores that have these left in Dublin?

kyote00

Aldi doesn't work on large mp3 players. I have a iriver which doesn't work but a 1G memory stick does .....