Customer Ratings & Reviews

Highly Recommended

I got a refurbished model and have totally enjoyed both the savings and the value. It has a few minor blemishes but you have to really look to find them. I've only had it installed for a couple of weeks now and everything performs superbly. Only a few minor bugs I would say are kind of nagging. If you have a power antenna like I do prepare for your antenna being up anytime you have the ignition on. Even if you power down the unit the antenna stays up. The only way to make it come down while the engine is running is by detaching the face. The navigation is really intuitive predicting what I'm about to type for the address and once punched in (which only takes seconds) the routes it gives me are right on the money for the fastest. I deliver pizzas so I use the navigation on a daily basis. The map database has got to be titer tottering on a year old at least but is sufficient. Can't wait for an update with navteq directly as opposed to dealing with JVC. That was a real big selling point to me. My last Navi was a clarion and they told me an update would only be available every two years and the last one was $300 in 2008 as oppose to Navteq's $119 on similar JVC nav units. Funny enough Clarion uses Navteq. If you have XM or Sirius be prepared to play games with Audiovox's JVC protocol adapter. Engine noise is prevalent. I believe because the cable they use which needs a ground and power source, uses wire which is about as thin as it gets next to human hair. I'll eventually (cross my fingers) figure this one out. Another bug is one I believe is becoming the norm on these Bluetooth ready units and that is once your engaged in a call you don't have access to the dial pad on the screen even if your pulled over with the e-brake engaged. Setup of the phone pairing was the easiest ever. Within 20 seconds of pairing it downloaded all of my contacts. Phone calls are very good on both ends. There are only two stations where I live at that are in HD so I do get some use of that feature at least but no total traffic plus coverage so that icon on the unit is ghosted along with news, sports, and so on. I didn't rate the durablility because I've only been using this for two weeks now mind you. Audio quality is quite exceptional and I played a music DVD with EW&F and it was awesome. JVC has definitely set the bar high for its competitors. Ok so now I do have to rate on durability.

Best Head Unit Ever

I did a lot of research to find the best head unit for my car stereo without costing over $1000. This was the one I eventually settled on for several reasons:

1) The navigation system is excellent. It's quick and responsive, easy to read, easy to input directions into, easy to follow directions, and even (in some areas) tells you what lanes turn in which directions;

2) Connectivity is excellent, with an SD card plugging into the back of the faceplate (so it's easily accessible and hidden at the same time) and USB for iPhone or thumb drives. The HD Radio thing is nice too.

3) Good sound features, including intuitive EQ setup with 3 custom preset slots and per-source volume adjustment. Honestly this wasn't a big concern for me because good sound comes from a poweramp and with digital equipment there's no possibility of distortion or sound loss (unless it all goes away, like digital TV signals).

There were a couple of annoyances. As in the picture, the audio controls on the nav screen include seek functions but puzzlingly no play/pause. It's just an extra button push though and I wasn't really expecting the controls anyway. Also, no volume normalization on HD radio stations.

Thank you Sonic for the cheapest version of this great radio. The refurbished model is worth way more than anything else available at this price point. My unit was in excellent condition and the only problem I can see from the refurbish is that the navigation data might be a couple years out of date.

Really Good

I got the refurbished unit and am very pleased, have had this unit for 6 months and really enjoy all the features. The bluetooth is the best!

Perfect !

Great Value for Price.

Great deal amazing features half the price of anywhere else

Display looks great reroutes and starts up quicker than any other gps ive tried even the kenwoods.
Has hdt gps dvd sd card slot usb and bluetooth all built in for 499, you cant beat that, also has a detachable face plate with carrying case.