First off, sorry about War and Peace; tis late and I have a habit of rambling when tired.
I recently went through this same conundrum. I initially looked at the VMS 7000 series (at $2700ish) but found several unflattering reviews about the support; including from a dealer. I then looked at Polaris and found the same problem; some folks claiming poor support others a poor product. Not being a gambling kind of guy, that seemed a bit risky to me for $1200ish. Having almost given up and being ready to resort to a double DIN stereo with reverse camera, I stumbled on posts from several folks on the Prado (and Patrol, if I recall) forums singing the praises of a fellow named Matt on ebay, trading as DIG Options. I decided to suss it out further so dropped him a mail. He managed to put up with all my questions and I subsequently decided that, at $565, it was less of a gamble than the big name units. One of my more desired features was offroad GPS, so I figured if that side of it was rubbish, I'd buy a Hema Navigator with the change left over.
So, the features of the unit I purchased are:
- CD/DVD player (does MP3 on CD)
- Reverse camera
- GPS; will do onroad (IGO8) and offroad if you ask (Matt will install demo version Ozi for you along with a software switcher so you can choose road or offroad; you'll need to buy the offroad maps and software)
- Bluetooth connectivity with external mike
- Virtual CD stacker (i.e. copy 5 of your CD's onto the units storage)
- Dual zone (play a movie on the DVD player and punch picture and sound to a slave screen/speaker via RCA's)
- iPod control
- Micro SD for music and movies (I think 16G limit)
- Up to a 16Gb MicroSD for navigation software and maps
- USB connectivity
- Plug and play wiring, including steering wheel controls (can't comment on the latter, as I've not got controls on my wheel)
I think that's all of it...
I know you can also get a model with a TV tuner in it; but talk to the supplier about that, as I didn't want that as an option.
It all arrived within about a week. Fitment was easy enough as the unit is supplied such that it'll plug into the factory loom; a big deal for me, as I didn't want to start hacking up the wiring in the cabin (having already spent hours fixing ARB's wiring under my bonnet!). All it needed was the for the factory stereo brackets to be re-drilled to suit the side mounts on the new unit (there's quite a few holes there, so making it fit wasn't hard) and it bolted right in. It is a bit tight at the back of the unit, but it does fit with a bit of care and persistence (should mention mine is a 2008 Spanish D40 dual cab). If in doubt, use some of the more rearward holes to push the unit slightly further out in the dash. That will give clearance to the bar that runs under the dash. Dash removal in my truck was about 20 minutes, mainly due to care and not wanting to damage any clips.
Having fitted it up, I'm pretty happy with it. It looks pretty much factory and it works as advertised. Here's a bit of a summary of my findings so far (I've had it up and working about 3 weeks)
Pro's:
- Sound seems pretty reasonable (though I'm no stereo-head)
- DVD/dual zone works well. I purchased a $139 10" LCD off ebay, along with universal mount and my son loves it. iFish or 4WD Action on interstate trips, all controlled from the dash is outstanding!
- Love having road and off-road Nav in the dash (I purchased Ozi and some Hema maps). The unit will take a variety of software, though you need to either purchase it or own it already.
- It is pretty easy to use and the touch screen works well, except in specific circumstances (see Con's)
- Bluethooth through car speakers is a godsend....
- Love the Bluetooth automute function when music or DVD is playing. Better yet, it doesn't kill audio if you've set the DVD to dual zone...
- Fitment was straight forward
- Price was good
- Matt's service is pretty good. He's also in Melbourne, which makes communication easy and allows him to supply some spares for the units. For example, I recently purchased a spare GPS antenna ($15), as I've mounted the antenna on the snorkel. About the only issue is that the phone is seemingly the best way to get after sales service as he can be a bit slow on email (in fact I think he's forgotten about a mail I sent him a few weeks back...need to call him).
Con's:
While there's a lot of text following, its to provide some detail - as after all, I tend to want to understand the problems as opposed to the things that work. I've not found any of these things a major drama, but others may. So.....
- The interface is not as...nice/smooth/intuitive as the expensive versions. The VMS, for example, has a very nice interface indeed; both pretty and functional. The cheaper unit I have is a touch clumsy and not quite as nice to look at. That said, I'll keep my $2200 and take the cheap unit.
- It does run WinCE (6 if I recall) and you very occasionally need to interact with it. This is a bugger on the small screen and you'll want a stylus to minimise the irritation. Otherwise, the stylus isn't needed...unless....
- You install Ozi. Ozi is all good while you're in the mapping modes, but if you need to start selecting things from menu's, its time for the stylus again. This comes from the fact that the menu's and messages are running out of the operating system and are thus very small on an already small screen (7" if I recall). I think Memory Map may be a better option on this unit, as I think the interface would be better suited. Given its free (maps cost), I may yet trial it. Anyway, I've not found the interaction with Ozi to be a show stopper, but rather just annoying. Oh, and for some weird reason on my unit, you need to press to the lower left of the actual button/menu item/etc. Again, annoying rather than a major drama.
- I guess I should make clear - you generally won't need a stylus to use the unit; a fat finger (like mine) is normally fine. Finer fingers will probably be even better.
- The supplied wired bluetooth mike is poor quality; tinny and loud, according to the recipients on the other end of my calls. I've ordered a better quality Kenwood mike which will hopefully help fix that. Sound of callers through the speakers is very good however.
- Virtual CD stacker can get irritating. Sound and function are fine, but the interface is a bit clumsy. It also has the annoying trait of playing music even after you've paused it, whenever you switch to another function (such as navigation). The work around is pretty simple; select something else (such as bluetooth or DVD) from the source menu and then select the function you want....but if you forget it can get annoying.
- The supplied road mapping software (IGO8) is a mixed bag. Its accurate, its pretty intuitive, but it lacks the features of other programs like Tom Tom or Sygic. That said, you can upload other software to the unit if you have it, so this can be overcome. I just can't seem to find a WinCE version of Sygic any more. :/ Anyway, it will get you where you need to go, which I guess is the point.
Unfortunately, I can't comment at this point on the reversing camera as I've not fitted it (this weekends job as it happens). Matt seemingly supplies two camera versions - I paid for the better CCD camera, though I note it doesn't have LED's for night vision. We'll see how that works out. Either way, its a simple video RCA input on the unit so if I don't like it I'll turf it in favor of something else.
So in summary am I happy with it? Yep. For the price it does all I want and while it does have a few little idiosyncrasies which can get irritating, for the $565 I paid for it (which included the upgraded camera), I think it's a decent unit. Considering I was going to spend almost 5 times that amount on a unit with more or less the same features, I'll happily live with the fact that the unit from Matt has a few minor flaws.
I'll have my Nav in bits again tomorrow and will try to remember to take some photo's.
In the event you want to have a closer look, here's a link to Matt's ebay store:
http://stores.ebay.com.au/DIG-Options
Finally, I've no affiliation with Matt or his business. I was just fortunate enough to stumble across some posts on other forums recommending him.
