Valor DD-858W

Surprisingly good

This thing sounds surprisingly good; unlike most of the decks i've bought in the past few years, it actually sends a decent amount of bass to the speakers if configured to do so.

The remote is pretty intuitive, only thing is, it could use some larger/more distinctive volume buttons.

The call quality via bluetooth is pretty good, and with the mic attached to the gauge cluster, the other side was able to hear me from any seat in the car, even facing away from it. They weren't able to tell the difference between engine off and idling (and this was in a diesel jetta), but they would be able to hear it when revving.

It seriously puts my 550 dollar Kenwood i have in the truck to shame, at half the price. The install was a pain in the butt but mainly because of the car - the fit was ridiculously tight, and needed a can-bus interface to make it work. Stupid german cars.

Almost perfect

Unit is nearly the perfect all-around stereo. I only had two disappointments:

1) It doesn't load the phonebook from my phone. I still have to use the phone to pick the person I want to call, so the unit is not entirely hands-free.
2) When using the SD Card slots or a USB key for MP3s, the unit does not remember that I had the play mode set to "Random" then next time I start the car. It remembers the the exact spot in the same song, but then it starts playing them sequentially instead of randomizing them.

Otherwise, this unit is great. Easy to set up, easy to connect my phone, and the installer had no trouble hooking it up (I paid a professional installer). It looks and sounds great in my dash.

It drives the Shaker 500 system in my '05 Mustang just fine (I can shake the windows with bass...).

Some reviewers on other sites have said the unit is not bright enough, but I do not agree. This unit has several brightness settings, and the brightest setting works fine in direct sunlight.