Customer Reviews
Surprisingly great quality 
2007-12-27
At first I was a bit skeptical of how good this stereo would be, given the $80.00 price tag. I have to say though, that this CD player has better sound than the $300.00 Aiwa CDC-MP3 HU that was already in my truck! It has every feature I could ever need, including RCA pre-outs for my sub. The ability to take my music on thumb drives and SD cards is by far the biggest advantage of this unit. Before I installed this stereo my truck was FULL of CD's. I was always getting new music and trying to burn new compilation MP3 CD's so I could have all of it with me, but it was just too much to keep up with. With the SD/USB media, I can shuffle whatever albums I'm into that week onto the card and save myself a lot of time burning discs and money spent on CD's. I would definitely purchase this product again.
That being said, there was only one downside to my purchase of this product. The first unit I received was defective and would not read USB or SD cards at all. Roadmaster said that I had to swap the unit where I purchased it (Target). I ended up taking it back and purchasing the second one from Walmart. The second one works great, but the static sticker on the face plate removed the gloss from the face plate itself, leaving it permanently foggy in places. Once I can get that part swapped out for a new one I will be a happy camper. I would definitely recommend this product to anyone who wants a great sounding system but doesn't want to spend a lot of money.
Quite amazing! Plays (stick) Flash Memory, SD cards, CDs, iPod and XM radio. 
2007-12-05
UPDATE: Amazing device. I've used it daily, and it sounds great, even with speakers in a 1978 Mercedes Benz. There is another device, very similar to this made by the same company that offers Bluetooth. That may appeal to some of you, but the added cost didn't add up for me. I've been removing the "face" on my radio almost daily (for security reasons), then reinstalling it, and it is holding up to the abuse with no problem. Now if you actually had some descent speakers in your vehicle, this device would be quite exceptional; although I have NO complaints, even with my antique speaker set. Highly recommend this purchase.
$80-90 bucks? What a deal! This no-name company really hit a home run with this device. The built-in SD card reader does the job very nicely. Just save your songs to an SD, and plug it in. Works great! I'm using a 1Gb SD, but you could use a 4Gb SD I'm told. That would be more songs that I would ever care to sit and listen to in my vehicle, and that's for sure. If that's not enough, you can use your Flash Card memory (stick memory card) and do the same; there is a rubber dust cover for that USB port. There is also a plug-in for an external device, perhaps a non-iPod, or maybe your XM radio output (which I'm using it for). I've read nothing but good about this system (27 five-star ratings on another web site - Wal Mart), but here on this site, someone mentions that the sound output is not world class. Perhaps it is not, but for my money it's great - and I'm only using two of the 4 speaker outputs (RR and LR). The installation job was easy, and the wiring harness snaps into the unit after you've done your connecting. Everything is clearly labeled, and I did the job with a multitool, wire connectors, and electrical tape in only 25 minutes. Rarely does an underpriced system such as this actually perform as you hope - but this unit does the job. And for $80 bucks, if it breaks in a few months, I'll buy another one. Fit and finish are not as smooth as you might dream, but functionality and performance met my expectations and then some. My only complaint is that the supplied audio cable (to be used for the audio input - where I'm using my XM radio output to this radio) can make a slight noise when you insert the cable; so leave the cable inserted and turn it off prior to using the outside audio source. Likewise, the same cable can make some noise if it is not fully seated in the plug; so make sure it's all the way in. All in all, this is truly a great system, and it plays every imaginable sound source (except cassette!), for a bargin price. Viva VR3! I highly recommend this unit for non-snob audiophiles. One other note, I've heard that some have installed USB hard drives for this unit; that seems a little crazy to me, but I'm told it works. SD cards' capacity exceed my sit-in-the-car cability these days.
Excellent price-to-value ratio, packed with great features 2007-11-11
I like this product enough to buy a second one for my second car. The OOBE (out of box experience) is great - the manual is accurate, clear and concise. It plays the two most popular formats (WMA, MP3) and accepts a SanDisk, audio jack, USB, and music or MP3 CDRs. AM and FM reception is as good as any I've run into. Another reviewers comment that it isn't a good starting point for a premium car stereo system may be true - I'm not familiar with high-end systems. However, OOBE with no user mods is very satisfying, and the large feature set meets all of my requirements.
This is the best deal for <$90 I've seen. If you buy this, you won't be sorry!
The price is unbeatable, but quality suffers. 
2007-05-16
Pros:
Amazing set of features
Price
Customer Support
Cons:
Nothing is done right
Sound is blah-blah
MP3 navigation
Placement of controls
I admit, I thought I could get away with buying a generic eighty dollar stereo. I was wrong. This stereo is great for the guy who doesn't mind using dollar store headphones and can listen to radio stations from the other state. However if you want to ever have a respectable sound system, you do not want to build off of this stereo. I used it for three months. The beginning was awesome, mainly because I was used to listening off an FM transmitter. This wears off quickly however. Most people who rode in my car told me that it seemed like there was something muffling the speakers. I spent hours trying to make it sound nice, soldering, re wiring, and tuning the EQ, but it was ultimately a battle lost. I spent twice this unit's price to buy another stereo, and it was worth every penny (and I'm a poor college kid). My aftermarket speakers come to life now, and I've got nothing but compliments on how crisp everything sounds.
There's also the annoying feature where the music starts over from the beginning of the song every time you change sources or power the radio on and off. I didn't think it would be all that annoying, but it is outright painful.
Don't plan on doing anything other than shuffle for your MP3s, it's way to complicated and slow to navigate through the folders. Somebody also thought it might be a good idea to have the titles slowly roll out, that guy needs to be fired.
I would like to point out, that the customer service on this stereo is outstanding. They replaced it once within three days when it broke.
Sorry to sound like a whiner, I really, really wanted to like this radio, but it's not worth the trouble. If you're on a budget, I'd recommend buying a low end pioneer or sony xplod.
