Sony CDX-GT420IP

Manufacturer: Sony Part number: CDXGT420IP

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$95.62 - $129.99 at 6 online stores

CNET Editor rating:
3.5 stars Very good
Average user rating: 3.5 stars out of 3 reviews

More product information:: Editors' review; User reviews; Specifications; Manufacturer info

Bottom Line:: Sony's CDX-GT420IP is an affordable means of taking your iPod library on the road. While its basic user interface lacks the search functionality of some other systems, this is a competitively priced and decent sounding entry-level stereo for the digital-audio age.

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	Rate this store See store profile	In stock Free Shipping on $24 and up	Enter zip code to get total price: Price +Tax +Shipping =Total price	$129.99 Shop now as of 10/06/2008
	Rate this store See store profile	In stock		$107.00 Shop now as of 10/06/2008
More stores below Free shipping on all car orders over $129 Pioneer AVH-P4000 $499.99 DVD receiver with USB input and 6.1" touchscreen Alpine SPS-17C2 $59.99 6-1/2" 2-way car speakers Aluminum-coated woofers Silk dome tweeters JL Audio 500/1v2 $599.99 Mono subwoofer amplifier 500 watts RMS x 1 Regulated power supply
Amazon.com	Rate this store See store profile	See Site		$95.62 Shop now as of 10/06/2008
	Not yet rated Rate this store See store profile	In stock		$107.00 Shop now as of 10/06/2008
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Techronics	Not yet rated Rate this store See store profile	In stock		$104.35 Shop now as of 10/06/2008

*Total price for the Sony CDX-GT420IP are estimated and may vary slightly based on exact tax, shipping, manufacturer rebate or any sale/promotion on the merchant site.

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CNET editors' review

Sony CDX-GT420IP

price range: $95.62 - $129.99

Reviewed by: Kevin Massy
Reviewed on: 10/10/2007

The good: The Sony CDX-GT420IP provides drivers with a broad range of digital audio options, including a means of browsing and playing songs from an iPod.

The bad: The system's iPod search functionality is limited by the simplicity of the stereo's design, including its glare-prone monochrome display.

The bottom line: Sony's CDX-GT420IP is an affordable means of taking your iPod library on the road. While its basic user interface lacks the search functionality of some other systems, this is a competitively priced and decent sounding entry-level stereo for the digital-audio age.

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Drivers looking for affordable, as-standard iPod connectivity in their car stereos are finding an ever-increasing array of options. Following the Jensen MP6612i, the JVC KD-PDR30, and its own CDX-GT610Ui, Sony launches the CDX-GT420IP for 2008.

Design
The CDX-GT420IP's simple faceplate design shows that it is one of Sony's entry-level devices. Like the MEX-BT2500, the single-DIN unit features an open CD slot and a standard arrangement of six hard buttons along the bottom of the bezel. To the left of the unit's white-on-blue monochrome display, the rotary volume knob is surrounded by six buttons for selecting and controlling audio sources, two of which--Source and Mode--have stylish red backlighting. In contrast with other made-for-iPod stereos, there is no indication on the faceplate that the CDX-GT420IP has full speed or "intelligent" iPod connectivity.

Features
As well as its as-standard, full-speed iPod connector, the Sony CDX-GT420IP is an AM/FM tuner and has the ability to play CDs and compressed disc-based audio formats such as MP3 and WMA. Its front-mounted generic auxiliary input jack lets non-iPod owners connect their media players, too. For such a simple device, the CDX-GT420IP features some impressive audio-tweaking options: In addition to its six preconfigured EQ3 settings, it enables users to create their own custom EQ curve, and to fine-tune output by adjusting the level of the low-pass filter. A separate control for subwoofer level is also a nice touch.

In addition to its standard iPod connectivity, the Sony CDX-GT420IP has a handy auxiliary input jack for playing audio from other MP3 players.

Performance
In keeping with its simple design, the CDX-GT420IP is straightforward to operate using a combination of hard buttons and a rotary dial. With a digital-audio disc playing, the press of a button on the monochrome display will cycle through the ID3-tag information for the current song's album, the track, and the artist's name. We like the white-on-blue color scheme of the display in darker settings, but the characters have a tendency to wash out in direct sunlight. Only seven characters are shown at a time for each entry, but the tags can be set to scroll across the display. While we like the dedicated buttons for skipping between tracks and between albums (or folders) on a disc, there is no way to browse through the songs on a disc, meaning that drivers have to search through songs or albums one at a time to get to their favorite disc-based music.

Despite the truncated tag information, we found the CDX-GT420IP iPod search interface usable while on the move.

With an iPod connected via the as-standard full-speed cable, all controls of the player are transferred to the stereo faceplate, and drivers can view information for track name, album name, and artist on the monochrome display. The CDX-GT420IP provides drivers with a useful means of browsing iPod songs: pressing the Mode button cycles through the familiar iPod categories of album, artist, and playlist. With one of these categories selected, drivers can use the 1 and 2 preset buttons to scroll through an alphabetized list of entries.

Holding the preset buttons down will scroll through the list at the rate of one per second. For those not interested in the effort of searching for specific songs, a Shuffle button on the faceplate turns the CDX-GT420IP into a handy one-touch iPod jukebox with options for albums, artists, playlists, or all tracks. The shuffle function is also available in disc mode, with options to shuffle between songs (on standard Red Book discs) or albums (on a multi-album MP3 or WMA discs).

With its powerful internal amplifier producing 17 watts (RMS) per channel and its wide range of audio customization features, the CDX-GT420IP delivers decent--albeit bass-heavy--audio quality up to high volumes. A graphic on the front of the faceplate advertises that the stereo is capable of "100dB+", and based on installation in our test car, we can vouch for its accuracy.

In sum
We like the functionality of the Sony CDX-GT420IP. With a price tag of less than $150, it provides an affordable and user-friendly means of playing digital audio from a variety of media, including iPods, other portable audio players, and compressed disc-based formats. Despite its simple design, the CDX-GT420IP does a good job of giving drivers access to their iPod libraries on the road and delivering robust, tweakable audio output.

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User reviews

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Average user rating: 3.5 stars out of 3 reviews
My rating: 0 stars

Showing opinion 1 to 3 out of 3

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8 stars

Access iPod through iPod

by Steve3098 on November 27, 2007

Pros: Easy Browsing

Cons: Distraction

Summary: One thing that annoyed me when I first got this stereo was that I couldn't select the music from the iPod. Having a lot of music made it almost ...

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Summary: One thing that annoyed me when I first got this stereo was that I couldn't select the music from the iPod. Having a lot of music made it almost impossible to find anything.

Although, if you have the iPod in sleep mode and then plug it in. The iPod wants to first show the charging level and from there you can menu out to the normal selection screen. As far as I know all functions still work the same, but you have quicker and more familiar access.

I only can verify this works for the 30gb iPod video with version 1.0.

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3 out of 3 users found this user opinion helpful.
8 stars

Excellent value

by mtntrekker30 on March 19, 2008

Pros: Value, installation, features

Cons: Display (see review)

Summary: About me: like it simple, value-minded, just want something to work like it is supposed to.

This deck works like it is supposed to. Very easy to install (Took me

...

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Summary: About me: like it simple, value-minded, just want something to work like it is supposed to.

This deck works like it is supposed to. Very easy to install (Took me about 15 minutes. Granted the car was pre-wired and ready for installation, but installation would have been simple regardless).

Some reviewers state that the Ipod controls are lacking. I have found that it is not the controls that are lacking but the understanding of how they work. The controls are rather intuitive if you take the time to read the owners manual. With my Ipod I always shuffle all of my songs (my Ipod simply carries all of my music. Just like the radio, if a song doesn't fit my mood I move on). That is all I really want and that is what it does. As well you can shuffle by album or by artist. You just have to know how to set the deck to display what you need to know. The only downside to this unit is the display. Sometimes it will not display the name of the entire album or song if the name is greater than 15 or so characters (I'm not sure of the exact number). Like I said earlier, read the owners manual. Since I can't post Sony's website just copy and paste the model # into a search engine then look for the Xplodsony link. There you can read the manual before your purchase.

Overall I'm very pleased with my purchase. A wonderful value, more than enough features for me, controls my Ipod, remote control, detachable face, and easy installation. It has 2 pre-outs--I use one for my self-powered sub. If you want a better display and fancy things like a motorized faceplace, usb, etc you had better take a look at other models. If you don't need any of that other stuff this may be the one for you. Cheers.

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1 out of 1 users found this user opinion helpful.
6 stars

Help with ipod 30GB video

by ortizjt on January 13, 2008

Pros: Most versatile features for mp3 player users

Cons: Does not work with old ipods

Summary: I have a n ipod 30GB video with software version 1.2.3 and it does not work with this Sony xplod unit CDX-GT420IP. How can I make it work? ...

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Summary: I have a n ipod 30GB video with software version 1.2.3 and it does not work with this Sony xplod unit CDX-GT420IP. How can I make it work? Please send any suggestion to jortiz@concertonetworks.com. Thanks in advance.

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0 out of 1 users found this user opinion helpful.

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Specifications

Manufacturer: Sony
Part number: CDXGT420IP
Description: The CDX-GT420IP CD receiver comes with an iPod control interface. The included 4.9-foot cable has a 30-pin connector made for most iPod players and provides full menu control. The unit’s selectable front and rear/sub preamp outputs can be used to control the frequency and output level of an external amplifier. Other features include MP3 and non-DRM WMA playback, red key illumination and blue LED screen.

General
Product Type Radio / CD / MP3 player
Series Xplod
Recommended Use Car
Width 7 in
Depth 7 in
Form Factor Full-DIN - In-dash unit
Height 2 in
Weight 2.9 lbs
Enclosure Color Gun metal
Faceplate Type Detachable
Audio System
Sound output mode Stereo
Equalizer Yes
Audio system controls Balance, Subwoofer level, Fader, Volume, Loudness
Amplifier max output power / channel qty 52 Watts x 4
Amplifier continuous power / channel qty 17 Watts x 4
Amplifier Output Details 23.2 Watt - 4 Ohm - THD 5 % - 4 channel(s), 17 Watt - 4 Ohm - THD 1.0 % - 4 channel(s)
Audio system built-in display LCD
Display illumination color Blue
Clock Yes (digital)
Additional features ID3 tags support, CD Text capable, IPod ready
Equalizer
Equalizer type Digital graphic
Equalizer band qty 3 bands
Built-in Display
Button backlight color Red

Radio
Type Radio tuner - AM/FM
Tuner frequency range AM: 530 - 1710 kHz, FM: 87.5 - 107.9 MHz
Tuning display LCD display
Station preset qty 30
AM station preset qty 12
FM station preset qty 18
Radio response bandwidth 30 - 15000 Hz
Radio signal-to-noise ratio 69 dB
Additional radio features SSIR-EXA, FM stereo/mono switch, DX/LO switch, Preset buttons, Best stations memory
CD System
CD system type CD / MP3 player
MP3 playback Yes
Media load type Slot-load
Playback modes Repeat folder, One track repeat, Random play / shuffle
Digital audio standards supported WMA, MP3
CD system response bandwidth 10 - 20000 Hz
Signal-to-noise ratio 120 dB
CD-R compatible Yes
CD-RW compatible Yes
Remote Control
Remote control type Remote control
Remote control technology Infrared
Connections
Connector Type 1 x IPod docking, 2 x Audio line-out ( RCA phono x 2 ), 1 x Audio line-in ( Mini-phone stereo 3.5 mm )

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Sony CDX-GT420IP

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