Koolertron radio

[al200]

Hi, has anyone had any experience of the koolertron units. They look almost identical to the rcd 510 but seem to do so much more.

I am hoping to upgrade my rcd300 to a 510 but don't really want the hassle and cost of changing the canbus and the DAB aeriel. This looks like a good buy but not sure of the quality.

I want to stick with the oem look!

You can find them on amazon for £280.

Any feed back would be much appreciated.

[JoeDarKa]

Just looks like them cheap chinese ones that work for about a month then break! Zenecs are meant to be ok? You could always get an RCD-510 to stay OEM

[al200]

Yeah, that's what I thought too. Was hoping someone had first hand experience. Looked into the zenec units and their expensive. Might just get an rcd510 without the DAB but then it wont come with rds which is a feature I like.

[JoeDarKa]

Rds?

[al200]

Radio data system - it allows the unit to displays text when listening to the radio, such as station name, song name etc.

[JoeDarKa]

My non dab rns does that 

[Leebo310]

My advice would be don't do it mate!!!
I bought a similar one recently, I've reviewed it here. It was an Erisin but I did look at the Koolertron too
http://www.mk5golfgti.co.uk/forum/index.php/topic,70489.15.html

Basically it had minor glitches straight out of the box and then within a few weeks, pretty much every piece of functionality had an issue...

I've returned mine for a refund and will go for something like a Kenwood 4023BT/Sony XAV  62-BT and then just live without the sat nav!

[al200]

Thanks for the replies. Sorry to hear about the issues with the one you bought Leebo310, but you've helped me make my mind up. I think I'll give the koolertron a miss. Too good to be true.


JoeDarKa, you mentioned that your non DAB rcd510 shows the radio station name and artist/song playing. I was under the impression that only the DAB ones had RDS. All the ones I have found on ebay without DAB also lack RDS. Maybe I just haven't come across one.

Does anyone know if the newer RCD510s have better sound quality than the older ones? Do they have an updated amp? I've found a few but there from 2009.

[JoeDarKa]

Its a firmware thing. I have no idea which firmware im on but i bought the upgrade firmware as i wanted radio text. I can find out for you.

[andyR43]

Thanks for the replies. Sorry to hear about the issues with the one you bought Leebo310, but you've helped me make my mind up. I think I'll give the koolertron a miss. Too good to be true.


JoeDarKa, you mentioned that your non DAB rcd510 shows the radio station name and artist/song playing. I was under the impression that only the DAB ones had RDS. All the ones I have found on ebay without DAB also lack RDS. Maybe I just haven't come across one.

Does anyone know if the newer RCD510s have better sound quality than the older ones? Do they have an updated amp? I've found a few but there from 2009.

Your RCD300 has RDS as it displays the station name not just the station frequency. RDS is for FM radios.

DAB radios use DLS to display station and song information not RDS.