Just installed new NAV/DVD head unit (with pics)

That was the impression I got from the thread. No need to get defensive. I was simply asking a question based on the fact that this unit seems to have issues as well as customer service concerns that would make the price less attractive. Was just a question.

 

Oh dang, I didn't realize your setup was that bad-nice person! That's awesome! DTV and the whole bit. Yeah, I should have read. Sorry these things get so long and I get lazy. haha Glad your getting it all figured out.
-Brad

 

This device has enough bugs that I'm seriously considering returning it. I suppose the average user might not care, but the following things I don't find acceptable:

1. The hardware-layer mp3 player is very hard to use, does not support random playback, playlists, skipping though folders, displaying id3 tags, or frankly anything aside from playing next song or previous song. The interface will randomly loose all text and not be accessible unless you reboot.

2. The USB slot does not mount any of my usb devices, including my G1, or sansa player. It *Does* Mount a broken 32gb usb device, so it does work with some.

3. The USB slot is irratic as a usb charger, so when I plug in my G1 to charge the phone, it attempts to access mass storage mode something like 5 times a second, effectively annoying the shit out of my phone and draining its power. I have to expect a USB slot that does not access data correctly to at least power devices without weirdness.

4. I have an xbox hooked up to the AUX input for movies/music and that works great. However, when playing music/movies while I'm in NAVI (software layer) mode, with or without PIP, the audio from the AUX input does not play. One would expect this to work since it does work with the SD Card/USB Music features. Audio is simply not piped into the navigation mode from aux. So I can't listen to aux music/movies while in navigation mode. I have to switch to AUX mode and PIP in navigation. Lame

5. The unit will randomly not be able to access the music SD Card slot until reboot.

6. The Bluetooth functionality is flakey and much of it is simply incomplete or non existant. On my G1 or my nokia, if I type in a number and hit the dial button, it will just call the last person I called instead. The Bluetooth contact import feature does not work on either phone.

Good news:

I have figured out that much of the registry in the software (WinCE) layer is persistant, so I have made some changes that stick. The problem is that this is flakey, so I am in the process of coding a script to load the registry with some default settings I want to keep. I mostly want to change the SD Card slot from 'StorageCard' to something more standard so I can use Garmin GPS Software. I also want to get rid of the annoying windows click sounds whenever I touch the screen (it stops the music). If I can figure out this software layer a bit more, I plan to put all my music and gps software on my 16gb card so I can use more advanced media players than the built in crud. I'll let everyone know if I make any progress on this.

Ultimately there may be a way to flash the device with either better software or something different. I have seen some posts on the net that suggest this. This may be a device worth keeping and tinkering, but as it stands there is just so many little things sloppy or not working on it which makes me want to return it.

 

Great information everyone!

I am picking up my Trim II tomorrow - I had planned on getting a III, but couldn't find one in the color I wanted and wanted to get the 0% financing... Thanks to this and the other threads, I bought a II and will install one of these cooler HU myself.

Now I have to figure out if I want to go with the Caska or a name brand unit.

Does the Caska have the ability to do HD Radio?

I don't care so much about the DVD player, backup camera (never got used to using it on our 2008 Prius!) and parking sensors.. But I do want Navigation, Bluetooth, Ipod and hopefully HD.

I also am looking for ease of installation and reasonable price (Caska seems to really fit this bill). Don't mind a bit of hacking, but nor is it required to be WinCE...

What do folks recommend?

Thanks!
Jeff

 

I'm confused... I thought you were using one of the Chinese units. Did you give up on those and switch to the Pioneer? Didn't you have to send it back at one point?

 

what model?

same easy install?

steering wheel controls work?

thanks for the info.

 

bagwell,

You have gen2 Prius right? If you have not see my thread, it should help you out with the components you'll need and the wiring.

 

no, I dumped it and bought a used 3G PII and I'll replace the radio ASAP.

 

and for the surround trim plate.....did you use the original toyota trim piece and have to plug the sides or ????

 

Wait a minute, so if I get the kenwood which takes about 30 seconds to boot, I wont have a back up cam available until the cycle completes? Oh Boy.

 

That was my experience with a Kenwood. The backup camera doesn't come on until after the system has booted, which for some reason takes a long time on the Kenwood units.

My latest Chinese unit boots in about 9 seconds, but the backup camera works immediately, the unit doesn't need to boot for the screen to display the camera image. The only odd thing is that sound is muted when the backup camera is on, for some reason.

 

Rolff,

THanks for the sharing your information. I recently installed Advent OE HU (OTOPRI). Installation was very easy as you mentioned, all wires were plug and play...However, I can't get video to play even when parkbrake is applied (but I do get sound). Is there additional wiring to Park Brake needed, other than the factory connections???
thanks much
dp

 

Simply ground the connector pin for "vehicle in motion" signal. But your problem will be the another one, when the audio part of video is going on. It can be a defective video player install or sw codec incompatibility. Check your user guide for supported video formats.