[BC] Car radios (WAS:QUESTION FOR THE "MIND")

[WFIFeng@aol.com]

In a message dated 12/12/2005 10:51:57 AM Eastern Standard Time, 
enginr at iglou.com writes:

> A Major dealkiller when I buy new cars is the radio.  Good radio (And I'm
>  talking AM sensitivity, bandwidth, overall quality of sound/ FM signal
>  sensitivity) = deal maybe.  Sad radio= no deal at all.  Hear that Detroit?
>  
>  No- I won't hack up a dash and put something else in.  Say what you want 
but
>  the old basic decent Delco was hard to beat. I don't care about 600 
buttons.
>  Sure miss the VOLUME KNOBS.

Minor rant mode ON

When we bought our new (used) car for my Wife, I requested an aftermarket 
radio/CD player. (The stock unit was AM/FM only.) We got a decent-sounding radio, 
but the thing has far too many buttons, and it is not very intuitive. What 
are these engineers thinking (or *are* they thinking?) when they design a *car 
radio* that's more complex than a VCR's timer?

I love gadgets... but when it comes to a radio for my car, I prefer a very 
simple, feature-limited control panel. Just the basics. A menu-system of 
multiple, multi-function buttons *and driving* doesn't exactly make for a good 
combination. The radio sounds good, and if you aren't "DX'ing" with it, it's fine. 
Set your favorite buttons and then just try to remember which "band" (3 FM and 
one AM) they are set for, which mode... etc.

You're right, I, too, miss the simple rotary power/volume control. I'm also 
annoyed by the "auto-scan" tuning that doesn't stay in "manual" for more than a 
few seconds. Makes finding less-than-full-quieting stations difficult.

Minor rant mode OFF

Willie...