The official Alpine W505 thread

[bikinpunk 10+ year member]

Since I've gotten about 6 PM's asking me about my review on the w505 since people can't reply to that thread, I'm opening up a thread for this unit to be talked about publicly.

Link to review:

http://www.caraudio.com/forum/showthread.php?t=306940&highlight=w505

If you have any questions, or want to discuss the review, feel free to do so here.

Click to read more...

 

[jluv 10+ year member]

Hooray for the mute button! That (and the visual graphic eq) are the biggest things I missed when switching from the W200 to the W205. At least we got one back. I'm excited about the 7" screen as well. I'm miffed about the Toslink thing, as I've got the H701. Nice find on the Panasonic cable.

Nice review.

 

[Fahqu]

Great review. Sorry for being extremely rude, but how much did you pay for the head unit? I didn't see it anywhere in the review. Sorry, if I over looked it. And if anyone is reading and you purchased the W505 as well, what have you guys been paying? Thanks a lot in advance.

 

[meade916 10+ year member]

Excellent review and a badass deck!!

 

[bikinpunk 10+ year member]

Great review. Sorry for being extremely rude, but how much did you pay for the head unit? I didn't see it anywhere in the review. Sorry, if I over looked it. And if anyone is reading and you purchased the W505 as well, what have you guys been paying? Thanks a lot in advance.

I paid full MSRP from Crutchfield which was $1000. Could've saved about $150 and gotten it through e-bay, but I wanted the authorized purchase for warranty purposes.

If you're saaavy you can find 'em for less than $800 but it's a toss up. I'd stick with the norms (e-bay, CF).

 

[Supergumby5000 5,000+ posts]

i've been waiting for some info on this! What kind of audio controls does it have? I've been wanting to get a double DIN alpine, but i dont wanna lose all the options my 780mp has (equalizer, etc)

 

[bikinpunk 10+ year member]

For basic audio settings you'll have to check the website or CF's site. I can't tell you because it's been connected to my h701 since it's been installed.

 

[Gregger]

I have mine installed in my 07 WRX, and LOVE IT! I can't tell you how satisfied I am with this unit. I don't have any other really high end audio stuff, so I can't really review it's sound quality in a meaningful way, but the screen is top notch, the controls are intuitive, and the sound is better out of the box than my x001..I know, big surprise...

I wish I could figure out how to use a background on all my inputs, not just radio.

 

[sierra4x4 10+ year member]

I have been researching nav units for about a week straight now. I have changed my preference about 5 times, but I keep coming back to the W505. That said, I have come across every extreme of review and opinion about this unit and every other unit out there. Everyone seems to agree that the Alpine performs its audio/video functions almost perfectly. They rave about the features, the performance, the touch screen quality, etc. What I am not sure on is the performance of the navigation system. Some people love it others hate it. Does anybody have some first hand experience in dealing the IVA-W505 + B200 Blackbird navigation performance?

 

[steveklein 10+ year member]

I have been researching nav units for about a week straight now. I have changed my preference about 5 times, but I keep coming back to the W505. That said, I have come across every extreme of review and opinion about this unit and every other unit out there. Everyone seems to agree that the Alpine performs its audio/video functions almost perfectly. They rave about the features, the performance, the touch screen quality, etc. What I am not sure on is the performance of the navigation system. Some people love it others hate it. Does anybody have some first hand experience in dealing the IVA-W505 + B200 Blackbird navigation performance?

I also want to hear about people's opinion of the blackbird. $400+ is a lot to spend on a portable GPS unit. It needs to be top notch if I'm going to throw down that kind of coin for it.

 

[Supergumby5000 5,000+ posts]

I also want to hear about people's opinion of the blackbird. $400+ is a lot to spend on a portable GPS unit. It needs to be top notch if I'm going to throw down that kind of coin for it.

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oh, and for cost purposes for the w505, it can be had from sonicelectronix for $950, who is an authorized Alpine dealer now.

 

[hojo802]

I have the W505 installed with the Blackbird II. Before I have used a Megallen 4250 and the Harmon Kardon GPS 810. Let me say this, the blackbird II does not compare to these 2 GPS. But I have to use the BlackBird because I don't extra stuff hanging on my windshield.

First thing, docking the blackbird to the W505 is very simple. Open the face plate and insert. But it is recommended to install the optional antenna to the back of W505. It is the only way to get a excellent reception. Without the antenna, the reception is horrible.

Docking the Blackbird with the W505 does give you the large screen size, but does not increase resolution. Therefore the map looked pixelated.

Calculation of route is fast and accurate. You get choices of fastest time, and less use of freeway. Blackbird does not annouce the street name or freeway. Re-routing is also fast.

Traffic is optional, free for 90 days. It does show you where the traffic is, but somehow it is not as accurate.

Docking the Blackbird also give you the capability of bluetooth handsfree. It connects to your cellphone thru bluetooth, and sync with your phone's phonebook automatically. You can connect the optional mic to the back of the W505 for complete handsfree operation, talk thru mic and hear thru car speaker. And when receiving call or calling someone, it gives you the option to send the call back to the phone for private conversation.

POI searching is not as intuitive, you have to type the exact wording of the place you are searching or it will not come up.

The blackbird does have some good tool. There is a information tool that tells you your speed, how long have you been driving and idling, fastest speed and average speed.

Overall, the blackbird is a good compilment to the W505 if you are like me that don't like extra thing hanging on the windshield. Good GPS overall, but it just does not have the cool features of the Garmin or Magellan.

 

[cash9987 10+ year member]

what do you have to do to bypass the w505 so that i can watch ipod videos/music videos and dvd's while driving ? can i just ground a wire or do i need to install a toggle switch ?

 

[steveklein 10+ year member]

what do you have to do to bypass the w505 so that i can watch ipod videos/music videos and dvd's while driving ? can i just ground a wire or do i need to install a toggle switch ?

Alpine PAC-TR7 bypass I believe.

 

[cash9987 10+ year member]

now would it be the pac tr7 or the tr-7 look at pac's website both tr7 but one has a dash .. i think it is the tr-7.