Bests & Worsts Reviews from Amazon

I wanted to wait until I had some time to use and learn this unit before I posted my review. Since the reviews here are all over the place I thought I would try to give the best opinion I can. I'll cover installation, usage and features that I have opted to use so that hopefully it will be useful. INSTALLATION: This is not the 1st radio I have installed but it is the first double DIN I have done. As far as installing it was no different that what I have experienced with other after market radios. The wiring instructions are printed very small in the supplied book, but it was not at all difficult to figure out. I used a harness to match the factory harness in my car. I soldered all the wire connections and the wires held solder very well. For reference I installed this in a 2009 Toyota Camry SE. In order for me to utilize the steering wheel control I need another accessory. I did try hooking directly to the harness with the wires from the unit to the three corresponding wires on my vehicle but it didn't work. Your vehicle may be different than mine. USAGE/FEATURES: the touchscreen is very responsive and feels comfortable to use. However, I will prefer to use my steering wheel controls while driving since it is a little distracting finding the source and songs/station while driving. This is just my preference and shouldn't be used as a negative towards the unit itself. Navigating the features and what not are easy to learn and not very cumbersome to learn. I have used the Bluetooth feature to stream Pandora, music and even YouTube audio through the head unit and it worked as expected. The hands free calling works well and the phone conversation is clear and audible. As a note: If you enter the car on the phone and turn the radio on, it will switch to hands free once it pairs with the phone, which is cool, but be aware that if you were listing to the radio at high volume, the call will be very loud! This did happen to me and provided a nice laughter session during the conversation! USB/SD both work very well. I have opted to just use the SD card feature mostly and occasionally use the USB for variation of music. The AM/FM tuner works well and since I only listen to FM for morning talk shows I really can't go into reception quality or usage. But from what little time I played around with it, it is easy to use and sound quality is what I expect from terrestrial broadcast. DVD works well. It doesn't playback DTS at all, and only stereo from Dolby Digital. Not a deal breaker for me, I w really don't plan on using this as my primary movie source. DVD Audio does work but with stereo only, but I am OK with that as well. REAR-VIEW capability is something I am interested in but have not hooked up yet. I have to still find a camera and plan on how I will run the wires form the tag area on my car. Once I have done that and used it a day or two I will update the results here. Overall I am pleased with the unit. The volume the built in amp is capable of playback at higher volumes than I actually use and is distortion free. I am not running the speakers through any external amplifiers. I have 4 6X9 speakers hooked up to the unit. I do have a powered sub-woofer running off the Pre-Output (RCA). At first I used the sub-woofer pre-out and it was not loud enough for me to hear the bass punch I desire. I then used the front pre-outs for the sub-woofer and that made a difference. For the money I paid for this unit I am very pleased, I know if I spent a little more I could get some additional features but I had a small budget the improve the speakers/radio and add a sub-woofer. Four of Five stars review for the features and design. Less one star for lack of EQ and ability to change wallpapers from factory settings. There are 4 such wallpapers to select from however. Please note: If you are looking for top line features this is not the unit for you. If you want Iphone inter-connectivity and control, this is not the unit for you. If you want a decent touchscreen with several modern features at a good price, this might be an item for you. I hope this was useful and if I have any issues I will update my review, otherwise, so far so good! Update #1: I installed the Metra Axxess ASWC-1 and I can confirm that it does work with this radio. I would recommend to also get the proper harness for your vehicle as well. I was able to find the one for mine and it made the install a breeze. You do have to map the commands to the radio and the GUI interface is a little confusing, but not impossible to figure out! Update #2 (12/26/2014): The screen doesn't like cold weather! On very cold mornings the screen looks a little alien and/or doesn't come on at all. It is a little annoying, but once the unit warms and and power cycle the unit it works properly. I am not sure if this is a common problem with all LCD based units or not (I would imagine it is) but I figured it was worth an update. (02/28/2015) I wanted to clarify that this is not a common problem. It only has happened a few times and the temps were under 20 degrees. Thankfully, where I live that is vary rare! Update #3 (12/26/2014): On both the SD Card and USB connection, if you quickly skip songs the unit will reboot. I have experimented to see if it is the .mp3 or the card and have isolated that it is the radio itself. What I have done to reduce the rebooting during song selection playback is let the song play a few seconds than skip to the next one. Also it is much worse if you use random play. (02/28/2015) I have since updated my music on both USB and SD cards, and the problem has gone away. I do not believe that the problem was the radio, rather the files on my drives. I noticed that I had some .ogg music on the disks and those were the songs that were making the radio reboot. Update #4(02/28/2015) Added a back up camera and it works as expected. No complaints or problems with the use or install of the device. I would recommend having a professional install it for you if you are nervous or inexperienced at making modifications to sheet metal on your car! I had to drill a 10mm hole on an interior panel of my trunk for the wires to run through. Also as part of the update I have taken some pictures of the radio in action and made a short video. Overall impressions of the radio are fairly positive. It is a good radio on a budget that has several features that make it flexible for several types of users. In all honesty I may replace the unit with a different brand, not because I have anything negative about this brand or radio, but I would like additional features that this unit doesn't have.