I don't have too much experience with previous Eclipse decks. I've played with one 8455, and it did seem to be built very solidly. The 7000 (which I have now) seems to have nearly equal quality; it feels solid overall. But I know what you mean with your complaints also. The 5-way control is definitely my least favorite thing about it, it took some seroius getting-used-to and I'm still having a hard time getting it to do one thing instead of another once in while. The prest buttons also seem a little messy.
The worst part about this deck for me is that, coming from a 9835, it gains a few features and definitly some SQ improvement, but the Alpine had a few more logical features and yes, probably a slightly better build quality (except for the grinding noise when the faceplate moved). Example: Why does the Eclipse, in 2006, not have a dedicated pause/play button, which Alpine has had for years? I know I can pause with "3" while listening to CDs in the unit, but strangely this doesn't work for CDs in the changer. //content.invisioncic.com/y282845/emoticons/waycrazy.gif.f4a380c3f94043939fd369defd9e6be2.gif Another example is the screen. The quality is up to snuff with the biolite, and better in some regards due to the color, but the font Eclipse chose is horrible for readability (or maybe just because I'm used to the biolite font, which was the easiest to read I've ever seen).
I'm sure after a short while longer, I'll learn to forget about these quirks and enjoy the HU for what it is instead of being aggrivated over what it lacks.
