Pioneer DEH-P6800MP Car CD / MP3 Player

I purchased this unit from a local Circuit City, and had it installed w/4 new speakers (Eclipse--4-ways for rear deck, 3-ways for door panels) to replace an aging factory system (Mazda Millenia). Cool look...not so cool everything else. Been installed for 6 months...just sent off to factory service center for two reasons: 1) the multi-control/joystick, instead of the dozens of functions its supposed to have, typically includes one not in the manual--pushing it to one side or another typically gives you a blank (i.e., no lights) panel! And, 2) the front left door speaker fades in and out--other indicators tell me it's a problem with the amp that feeds that speaker. The local CC was not very willing to help--had to "persuade" the car stereo guy there to even give me the number for Pioneer! He was more interested in telling me that for an additional $50 he would send it to one of his service centers where they would tell me what's actually wrong w/the unit, and what additional it would cost to fix it. He said Pioneer was not good about warranty repairs! Turns out he was wrong--a phone call to Pioneer got me a service center about 300 miles away, where I sent it for repairs--it's there now. They've emailed confirmation of the receipt of the unit, and said they should know something w/in 7-10 days--another nice feature not listed in the manual! Pay $$ for a radio, and you get the added feature of sending it back for repairs w/in six months of purchase!

I should note that I've purchased other Pioneer products (including an original SuperTuner I when they first hit the market...I was in college then).

I agree with other reviewers that indicated a problem with the lighted panel. The light around the multi-control has ZERO ability to dim it during the evening. The other portion of the panel will dim.

The clock (as a screen saver) gets away from the 'kid-appeal' of the other screen savers, but the annoying pendulum behind it (on the screen) that swings back and forth is, well, annoying. I should add here that I'm not a kid!

The volume control (via the multi-control knob) requires too many turns to increase/decrease the volume of the unit. The scale should have been set so that it wouldn't take multiple turns to reduce from a normal (talk-radio format) volume to a lower level. There is no mute button (when the cell phone rings and I need to take the call). Too many features wrapped up in one knob.

The function to turn off the unit entirely requires the button to be held for about five seconds to shut it down. This has become easier to handle than the volume knob when the phone rings. However, since the same switch has so many other different functions, it has become more difficult to turn the radio off, too. There are some other miscellaneous features that had I taken more time to review the radio in advance, I would have purchased a different unit altogether.