So you have tried one of these then?
I dont want to sound like an ass, but you do not always get what you pay for, I have purchased nice stuff that was crap before and I know you have also....I have had some dead hi end stuff in the past.
I was a Vizio dealer before anyone even know they were off the boat, of course they were cheap junk from that bad place...I am not saying they were or are great, but they sell more than any other brand, somebody had to buy them first I guess.
My question still stands, does anyone know who makes it or has anyone actually messed with one of those units?
You will have a very hard time getting a real opinion in this forum. You will hear many say it's crap - yet they have no experience - and specifically can't comment on this because they do not know who made it. Typically it is a post from an illiterate dweeb who thinks what they own is the best. They mostly are under educated, and very adept at blanket statements like "it *****" "stuff made in China is cheap". Not knowing or understanding that what they purchased may have come off the same assembly lines.
These are mostly made and designed in either China or Korea. Before buying anything, find out who makes it, then find out how it is supported. Some of these guys have forums for user Q and A which will show you strengths and weaknesses.
Some things to look out for - Does the steering interface work (does not exist on Eonon)? Can the Nav run other software (like iGo Amigo)? What nav comes with the unit? Does it support iPhone (along with iPod) - and what OS iPhone is supported? Does it have specific interfaces to your car (this is very nice come install time).
Nav to me is pretty important, and most come with generic Nav software that is quite poor. It seems all the generic boxes on
EBay run WINCE - so some are hackable for customization...
I've been running one in my Prius for 2 weeks now... Far better sound quality (there is no comparison), and all those nice features - it took my 30 minutes to install, and it just plugged into my existing wiring (no changes). I know when my backup cam comes, i'll pull the HU out again to plug it in - now that I've done it once, I bet it won't take more than 5 minutes to pull and plug.
The one I chose is newer (has 800x480 resolution), and hence {IMO} has a better GUI. The weak point on some of these Asian branded/non branded HUs is the GUI and support (I like my GUI, but I HATE the support - you're pretty much left to figuring out menus on your own - unless you find a support forum).
My all in was $650 - but includes backup cam, parking sensors (show distance on backup image), DTV box w/antenna. As you have noted, there are much cheaper solutions. I bought mine because I have a new car with no aftermarket plastic dash adapters - so I was stuck with a 200mm x 100mm opening.
Things I don't really like - Bluetooth sounds like a car speakerphone - so when you stream music A2DP, the sound is not good - workaround is USB or iPod interfaces. Also as stated, support - the user guide is useless (34 pages - should be more like 100+), and emailing China takes days (1 to send an email, 1 for response that likely isn't the question asked).
I like it overall - it's just taking time to figure everything out (it took a week before I knew how to program my steering wheel buttons).
