Just wondering if anyone has bought and tried this out yet. Saw it in my recent Crutchfield catalog and it looks interesting. Standalone 7" widescreen with DVD connectivy as well as GPS. Not a bad price all things considered.

Just curious.

We sell the N.I.C.E. system and we've been very pleased with it. Don't forget you also have a 20 Gig hard drive on it and it can be a music server, too. It uses the same maps as everybody else, so its navigation works well, it's easy in its operation and totally portable. The Clarion N.I.C.E. system is just that.

It looks good! I have installed Clarion sound systems on boats. The gear is good and stable. I went to their web site and looked it up. see the link.

http://www.clarion.com/us/en/products/2006/navigation/navigation/NICE/us-en-product-pf_1134643389392.html

Oh man that GPS is sick! Sirius, 20GB hard drive, picture slide show, maps, easy install, 7 inch screen, and it wirelessly interfaces with exisitng audio system?!?!....does it make my dinner too?? if only I had the money! That is definately one of the best GPS systems have seen! Great find!

Yea I thought it was pretty sick too, but was surprised when I saw it because it seemed no one on here ever mentioned it. The fact its so portable makes it even more intriguing. I havent checked but I thought Crutchfield has it fo $1299. In dash units run just as much, if not more but dont contain some of the bells and whistles.

I'd be interested to see some pics of vehicles set up with this, just to see the different mounting solutions.

Ya know, it would look real good mounted over the center of the passenger dash, similar to the single monitor Empire has set up on his E.

Oh man that GPS is sick! Sirius, 20GB hard drive, picture slide show, maps, easy install, 7 inch screen, and it wirelessly interfaces with exisitng audio system?!?!....does it make my dinner too?? if only I had the money! That is definately one of the best GPS systems have seen! Great find!Agreed. I did talk to my store manager who put this in his car for a couple of weeks. He thinks it's great, too, but he did have a couple of nits to pick. Entering an address into the navigation I guess is tough. He could also find no way to organize the music files into folders or genres. They are simply numbered on the hard drive and you want a song, you step to that number. I hope it isn't #1,278. It might take a while. :D

Overall, he was quite impressed.

I has some awesome features, the only thing I dont like is the looks of it. It just looks like a cheaply made peice. I know clarion has a decent reputation, but I just think it looks ugly. I would buy it because I am more of a functional person. If it does the job it works for me. I just think they could have made it more tasteful.

I'd be interested to see some pics of vehicles set up with this, just to see the different mounting solutions.

Ya know, it would look real good mounted over the center of the passenger dash, similar to the single monitor Empire has set up on his E.
I do think it's a cool device but the mounting aspect of it like you mentioned is what puzzles me. The specs are great and it's 7" screen is great but that's what will make it hard to mount cleanly in most vehicles without a custom or modified docking panel for it. It's sort of too big to mount on the dash above the steering wheel like you could a Garmin or TomTom unit, and a bracket mounted into the dash, like a cel phone or Ipod, seems like it would protrude too far into the cabin. A gooseneck mount between the seats might work but it's a bit low and a hassle if you're used to having an upfront indash nav screen for easy viewing and control. The passenger side dash shelf would be a great spot if a passenger were to use it but even my 6" monitor barely, just barely fit in the middle slot. It actually is wedged in there very tightly. Tho if you were to fabricate a custom docking pocket into the dash panel above it would look (here it comes)....N.I.C.E. and clean.

Here's a shot of my passenger side 6" monitor showing how tight the fit is.

http://img233.imageshack.us/img233/3278/indash2mu.jpg

Because of its portability, the N.I.C.E. is designed to be stuck to the windshield. It seems to work pretty well that way.

It comes in a soft carrying case. It really is made to be mobile.

It doesn't seem chintzy in real life. It fact, it seems rather substantial. I may take some pictures and post them.

My local Clarion rep is looking into the mp3 file storage issue. He experienced the same thing as we did, that the music files were all in one big folder, but I guess the manual shows differently. We both have early units as demos. We're thinking it may be one of those update thangs.

I'll let you know.

hmmm, interesting.

Hello, Santa...?

Please bring little Warty something N.I.C.E. for Christmas.

I haven't been very naughty this year.

P.S. (Only 850 bucks on-line!)

P.S. (Only 850 bucks on-line!)I would be careful here. That's definitely under sheet cost.

I would be careful here. That's definitely under sheet cost.

If it has serial #'s on it I am happy!

Thanks for the warning, Outpost4 -- I am pretty new at internet shopping, so I really do appreciate advice from fellow EOC-ers.

I'm not sure what "sheet cost" means, but if it's like the MSRP on a car, then a motivated dealer still has some slack to go below that.

I found that price on PriceGrabber. There are about a half-dozen listings in the mid-800's and a few others in the 900's. And -- since my earlier post -- yet another vendor has shown up, listing the NICE at 798 (incl tax and shipping to my zipcode.)

Are those prices really too good to be true, or just the honest workings of the free-market economy as we enter the Christmas buying frenzy?

Sorry. Sheet cost means something to someone in the industry. It is the cost on the price sheet. A dealer can sometimes buy lower than sheet cost but it's a good starting place.

The problem in buying on the Internet is that most of these guys are probably not Clarion authorized dealers. You wouldn't get a factory warranty on it from Clarion. You need a receipt from a Clarion authorized dealer to get a warranty. Here's (http://www.clarion.com/usa/alert/index.html) Clarion's statement on this issue.

Crutchfield is a Clarion dealer. So is my store. We get the support from Clarion if we need service. An unauthorized dealer will not. An Internet dealer may say they warranty the product, but they are on their own in terms of getting it repaired and access to parts and service manuals. All can be done by an unauthorized dealer; it just isn't easy, fast or cheap. The best way to fix a N.IC.E. piece is to send it into Clarion for repair. You have to have purchased it from an authorized dealer to do that under warranty. Your receipt starts your warranty.

If anybody is interested in getting one of these, send me a PM. :)