Man, for the price, this is a great head-unit. Don't really have much to add that hasn't been covered already. The instructions are garbage, so if you don't know what you're doing, definitely have it professionally installed. I put mine in myself on a 1999 Dodge Durango with
Scosche Fcj1270Ab Multi-Purpose Kit For 1974 and Up Chrysler, Dodge, Eagle, Ford, Jeep, Lincoln, Mercury, Plymouth
, hooked up my sub, and I am bouncing down the road now. My main desired feature was the aux in so I could hook up my phone/mp3 player and listen to it through my deck, and this fit the bill perfectly. The only problem I'm having is I do get some engine noise when I have my phone hooked up to the deck and plugged in to the DC charger. I'm hoping some better quality cables will fix that. I'll update when I find out. I haven't really used the bluetooth, though it did sync up with my LG Optimus S just fine. I made one call to my wife, and she said I sounded pretty quiet, but I get pretty dodgy phone service where I live, so that's not the best test. I'll definitely update more as I learn more, but I can say for sure that for my purposes, and for the price, I am extremely satisfied with this purchase.
UPDATE 8-3-12: I'll start with the good. I am still very, very impressed with the sound from this head unit. My stock Infinity door speakers, Pioneer door tweeters, and Sony Xplod sub all sound great. I like my music loud, listen to both rap and metal, and even with the volume cranked there is no distortion or cutting out. If I have a complaint in this area it's that it could get even louder.
I have since hooked up a rear view camera:
PYLE PLCM22IR Flush Mount Rear View Camera with 0.5 Lux Night Vision
and it works perfect, with a caveat. If you want ultimate control over the camera, you need to run it to a switch. You can power it with your reverse lights, but it will only come on when you're in reverse, and I like to be able to occasionally check my trailer while driving down the road. If you power the camera with any constant on/ignition controlled source, then the camera will always be on no matter what screen you're currently viewing, and if you unplug the camera every screen will be blue with a "Camera Not Detected" message. I was adding off-road lights anyway, so drilled another hole in the dash, took power from my parking lamps fuse in the block, and now I can turn the camera on whenever I like. The picture is fine...I'll post a separate review of the camera itself.
Now for the bad, and the potentially very bad. First, the Bluetooth has become glitchy. I only recently started using it to get away from the aforementioned engine sound when using aux (again, this only occurs when charging the phone...but I'm always charging my phone.) The Bluetooth solved this problem nicely. Music plays great on BT through my phone and pauses/restarts for phone calls as it should. The mic is lacking a little, and I have to talk fairly loud to be heard clearly. After using BT for music maybe 10 times, it started cutting out on me. I was just losing Bluetooth connectivity....my phone couldn't find the deck. My phone is still connecting to everything else I use, so it's got to be a problem with the hu. I'll keep working on this (next step is to try to connect my BT headphones) and I'll update if I do or don't find a solution. I'll be finding out soon if there's any customer service available because...
...of the very bad recent development. I lost volume control at the deck! The push button still works for selecting bass, treble, etc., but not that it matters, because rotating the knob does absolutely nothing. I have no idea what to do about this, and to compound matters the remote isn't working either. I've never used the remote, other than testing upon installation, since I operate most everything I use with my phone or a switch, and I'm assuming that the battery died...which means there wasn't much life to it to begin with. I have spare batteries on order, so will update when I found out if I can control the volume that way. BTW, if you're planning on getting this deck, go ahead and order some CR2025 batteries for the remote. I just ordered these:
Energizer 2025BP-2 Lithium Button Cell Battery (2 Count)
. Get them through Amazon...a little more expensive but people have been having problems with other sellers.
I expect no product support for this very inexpensive deck, so it will be interesting to find out if I can get these problems fixed. I'll jump through the hoops and report back on my progress.
UPDATE 2-27-13: Needless to say, I never received a response from the manufacturer. However, my volume knob is back to working. No explanation as to why, just started working again. Nice to not have to use the remote all the time.
I have a new phone now, and the Bluetooth is working much better. Only issue I have is that I have to reset the BT on the phone every time I restart my truck, even if I just went into the convenience store. Not a huge pain, but definitely a small one.
All in all, and after almost a year, I'm very satisfied with this HU for the price.
UPDATE 3-18: My original head unit served me well for six years, including some pretty heavy four wheeling, until a pack rat apparently needed the wiring more that I did. So I bought the same model hu and installed it today. This newer version has some features and functionality that brings my rating back up to five stars. First, the whole interface is better with a much nicer menu and nicer screens for each setting/mode. The wiring has changed a bit; the rca's are configured slightly different and the hu now has wiring for steering wheel controls (labeled KEY1, KEY2, AND KEY (GROUND)). These can be used with an swc adapter for digital controls, and can wire straight into old analog controls. I have the latter, and can now control my hu with my swc....SWEET! The screen has a nicer picture, the controls have a better tactile feeling to them (especially the volume)...the whole unit is just nicer than the older model. Bluetooth had zero problems pairing with my S8, but it seems you do still have to repair after every time the ignition is turned off...which is my only gripe at this point. My rear camera still works, but even better because now when I flip the camera switch on my dash, it automatically opens the flip-up screen and takes me to the camera view. Overall, I am very pleased with this newer edition of this model head unit...enough to bump it back to five stars...we'll see how it holds up down the road. It would take a lot to lose that star again, because I got this new unit through Warehouse Deals for $80.46!!!!
| Item Weight | 2.2 pounds |
|---|---|
| Product Dimensions | 11.75 x 9.5 x 4 inches |
| Country of Origin | China |
| Item model number | PLTS78DUB |
| Batteries | 1 Lithium Metal batteries required. |
| Is Discontinued By Manufacturer | No |
| Chassis Size | full-din |
| Preamp Voltage | 1 Volts |
| Display Type | TFT LCD |
| Display Resolution | 1440x234 |
| Wireless Remote | Yes |
| Warranty | 1 year |
| Expansion | optional_mp3_cable, optional_hd_radio, built-in_bluetooth |
| Memory Card Slot | SD Card Slot, USB Drive |
| Media Playback Supported | MP3 |
| Height (inches) | 5 inches |
| Width (inches) | 10 inches |
| Weight | 6.25 Pounds |
