Sony MEX-1HD Car CD / MP3 Player

This is an am\fm\cd\mp3\memory stick player which has the ability to rip a cd directly to the built in 10 gig hard-drive(16 gigs on the latest model). You can store at least 225 of your cd's or about 2000 songs hi-quality mode (up to 6000 songs if set on lower quality mode) to the units internal memory. This eliminates any need for a cd changer. Therefore, you can leave all cd's and mp3's safe at home. I have had my mex-1hd for a solid year now. So, i have discovered a few disappointing things about it that were unknown at the time of purchase. But overall i am still impressed (almost satisfied) and unless someone can show me different, there's nothing on the market worth trading it in for. I listen to my built in music library so much now that i hardly ever listen to the radio. The sound quality is good. However, after a few months i started tampering with other functions that i had never used before. The play-list. I found that it did not work at all. I immediately called customer service for a remedy. The service was very poor. They didn't know much of anything about this product. Then after 2 weeks of calling back, my options were grim at best. They pretty much gave me a choice between a disaster and a catastrophe. I could either keep the unit and live with the problem or i could send it in for repair which would most likely result in the total loss of my entire music library and would have to start all over. For some of us this process could take more than a week. I decided to live with the problem because i am not prepared to have my music library deleted. But i will send it in for repairs before my 4 year warranty expires. I purchased this unit because i always want the best, highest quality electronics with the most capabilities in the world. Actually, when compared to what's available on the market, this head unit is hard to beat. But even then it seems purposely flawed in order to implement copyright protection Sony made the simple task of transferring your mp3 collection to your head unit via usb theoretically impossible. For example, if you have an extensive mp3 collection on your computer,you'd have to burn every single song to a cd (in cd audio format only, not in mp3 format) just to transfer them to the head units internal memory. This unit has a built-in usb port but it is so restricted that it's rendered practically useless. A simple usb connection to a laptop would have made much more sense and be much less time consuming. The cost of this radio is flagrantly ridiculous at $1,500 a pop. But i was fortunate. I found one on clearance for $650 with a 4 year extended warranty ($40 extra) although i had to travel 160 miles round trip to get it at that price. It was definitely worth it. But is it worth $1,500? NO! Not even half that. At 128mb max, The compatible memory sticks are much too small. IT should be at least a gig. You have to buy the remote separately in a world where even a $200 cd player includes a remote. How do you justify paying $1,500 for a hard drive radio that physically is not much more than an in-dash Sony Walkman Net-md on steroids? you cant. Because the mex-1hd needs more capability to offset the cost. In essence, for $1,500 this baby should be able to download video files too with a video output jack. But it cant. It should be able to record from every source including auxiliary. But it cant. The pioneer version can(through the auxiliary as well). It should have a color display. But it don't. The pioneer does. The fact is, a black and white display just don't scream high-end on anything anywhere in the world. Now let me be clear, the pioneer even though better in several ways, it cost $2000 and records 8x slower. That fact alone was the deciding factor in choosing the Sony, a no-brainer. When you ask how can a store sell a $1,500 head unit for $650 and still make a profit? It becomes apparent that this unit is probably only worth about $700 retail. The Memory stick is also not included. However, in the original owners manual on the specifications page it clearly says that a 64mb magic gate memory stick is included. So, i called customer service and capitalized on that. They did send me the memory stick but one month later they also sent me a new updated owners manual with the "memory stick included" sentence deleted. A classic example of Sony wasting manpower fixing the wrong problem instead of improving the head unit. Through it all, i still think the Sony mex-1hd is among the best you can get only if you can find one for under $750.