Thursday, February 23, 2012

Valor Multimedia ITS-710W Nav Ready Single Din AM/FM/CD/DVD with 7-Inch Monitor Review

Valor Multimedia ITS-710W Nav Ready Single Din AM/FM/CD/DVD with 7-Inch Monitor
Average Reviews:

(More customer reviews)
I have had this unit installed for a couple of weeks and have enjoyed it so far. I have the NAV, SAT radio, and a backup camera installed so will give some feedback on the whole package.
Headunit
It is pretty well constructed, and the interface is fairly intuitive. Installation was about the same as any other headunit, except that the NAV, SAT, backup cam, and rear entertainment wiring adds a lot of bulk. Be prepared to find a lot of space behind or beside the unit. Had they made the amp RCAs detachable it would have reduced a lot of bulk.
The monitor itself is sturdy, and the image is sharp and bright. I am getting some flicker in the backup cam that appears to go away when the unit is warm. Could be interference with the camera or wiring since I don't see that when playing a video.
On the critical side the volume knob is pretty small, I would prefer something a little larger. I would have also prefered a USB port on the front rather than the SD slot. A 3.5MM stereo input jack on the front would have also been a nice touch and avoided the need to install one elsewhere.
Bluetooth
The integrated bluetooth is not bad, and folks have said it sounds fine, just a little like I was talking in a cave. It does not support my Blackberry phone book well (connects via bluetooth fine), and does not display the name of the caller. When I try to use the phone book from the touch screen it is so slow it is unusable. Bottom line, the audio is fine, the phonebook integration is not good for newer phones.
iPod
The ipod integration is just okay. For starters, if you have a new iPod touch or iPhone it probably won't work. Those new devices have changed the interface standard, and the old interfaces won't work. I think the unit will work fine with Generation 5 and earlier, but the new stuff may not work. It works great with my 60 gig iPod classic, but won't work with my 32 gig iPod touch. The interface to control music needs a little work. It allows you to search by artist, but when you select artist it goes down to song rather than album. Kind of annoying if you have several albums from the same artist. Once you have found the song it sounds great. The video feature works fine. Be aware you cannot browse or play video from the touchscreen. You select video, then pick up the iPod and select the video to play. Once done the video and sound quality are fantastic, the interface just needs a little work.
Navigation
I have used Garmin, Tom Tom, Mio, and Magellan. I like this navigation unit as much as any of those. My only criticism is I would like to see a little more control over map color and the size of POI icons. Other than that it works well, and it is great to jump in the car and not have to wait for the portable GPS unit to find a satellite. In fact, when I installed the unit and powered it up for a test while still in the garage, it immediately showed my location. I have never had reception that good on a portable unit.
Backup Camera
Works well, just the issue of some screen flicker first thing in the morning.
Sat Radio
I bought a Terk XMD1000 satellite receiver to use with this unit, and it works fine with one hitch. About 80% of the time I have to restart the head unit before I get audio. When I first start the car, the SAT radio stations show, I see I have good satellite reception, just no audio. I turn the unit off and back on and the audio works. The XMD1000 gets power from the headunit, so turning the headunit off and on reboots the satellite receiver. I think the sat receiver may be defective, so I have ordered a replacement and will see if the problem goes away. When it works it is great. Sound is good, and the touch screen controls are solid. One caution, this headunit was designed to work with a Terk XMD1000, which has been discontinued. If you are buying this and want satellite radio, make sure you can get the satellite receiver. It does not appear to be supported by the newer audiovox satellite receiver.
AM/FM Radio
Works fine and sounds good.
DVD
I cannot comment on the DVD or CD player since I use all MP3 and MP4 via iPod.
Overall this is a pretty good unit. If I had it to do over I would buy it again. They need to update and improve the iPod integration, and update the Bluetooth integration to the phone book and call log on newer phones.

Click Here to see more reviews about: Valor Multimedia ITS-710W Nav Ready Single Din AM/FM/CD/DVD with 7-Inch Monitor

Single Din in dash Fully Motorized 7-Inch Touch Screen LCD. Navigation Ready for NAV-2 Box, Built-in Bluetooth with built-in Microphone.Built-in iPod Interface (Cable included)(See iPod Compadability attachment). Built-in Dolby Digital Surround Sound Decoder.Multi-Zone FunctionBuilt-in AM/FM Tuner 36FM/12AM presets. 2.5 Volt 6-Channel Rear RCA Line Level Output(front, rear, center, subwoofer), 1 Audio/Video Input, 2 - Rear Video Outputs, 1 Rear Camera Input, Fixed 2 Channel Audio Output for Rear Zone.4 x 50 Watts. NTSC/PAL Compatible, 336,950 Pixel Display.Mechanism plays: DVD Audio and Video, CD, VCD, MP3 and WMA.Plays MPEG 1, 2 MPEG4 Video Files Including avi and Xvid.Plays MP3 and WMA Files Burned on DVD +/- R Discs.Artists, Song Title, Station information and presets are shown on the display.Last Position Memory on DVD Playback.SD Card Reader.Includes Wireless Remote Control and 3.5mm Aux In Audio Input Adapter to play your iPod or Portable Device through.

Buy Now

Click here for more information about Valor Multimedia ITS-710W Nav Ready Single Din AM/FM/CD/DVD with 7-Inch Monitor

No comments:

Post a Comment