Tuesday, December 27, 2011

INA-W910 - Alpine 7" Touchscreen Multimedia with In-Dash GPS Navigation Review

INA-W910 – Alpine 7″ Touchscreen Multimedia with In-Dash GPS Navigation

51dKiVJxUJL. SL160  INA W910   Alpine 7 Touchscreen Multimedia with In Dash GPS Navigation Review

  • DVD/navigation receiver with 7″ touchscreen and AM/FM tuner
  • Internal amp (18 watts RMS CEA-2006/50 peak x 4 channels)
  • Built-in Bluetooth®
  • Built-in HD RadioTM
  • Plays DVD Video, DVD-R/RW, DVD+R/RW, CD, and CD-R/RW

Illumination Buttons – Blue Illuminated Buttons Playback – MP3/WMA/AAC PreOut – 1 PreOuts (2 V) Auxiliary Input – Front AUX Input (3.5mm mini jack) /Full Speed AUX + (Required KCE-237B) Bass & Treble – Bass & Treble Controls Fader & Balance – Fader & Balance Controls Clock – Clock Built-In Clock DIN Trim Plate – DIN Trim Plate Detachable Trim Plate Detachable Face Plate – Detachable Face Plate Power Antenna Lead – Power Antenna Lead Output Remote Turn-On – Remote Turn-On Output Remote Control – Remote Control Ready

buynow big INA W910   Alpine 7 Touchscreen Multimedia with In Dash GPS Navigation Review

List Price: $ 1,299.99

Price: $ 985.98

Tags: B0058A4O36

 

I did a lot of research before selecting the W910 to replace my original stereo in a 2003 Suburban. I selected this unit because of its quick start-up time and clean, simple interface, and Alpine quality. About the boot-up time: Alpine advertises 6 seconds… and while this may be true for the start-up screen, the actual time to view an image from a backup camera is 12 seconds. Not the end of the world, and better than some other units, but it was not quite as advertised – otherwise it would have received 5 stars.

Navigation is simple and easy to use. Built-in free traffic is great. For security’s sake, it would be nice to require a PIN code to use the “home” and address book function, but I just use my neighbor’s address icon smile INA W910   Alpine 7 Touchscreen Multimedia with In Dash GPS Navigation Review

Built-in HD Radio sounds awesome. Between the Pandora functionality, my iPhone music, and HD radio, I have no real need for satellite radio.

I added an HCE-200R rear camera and am very happy with the sharp image an multiple views. I plan on adding the 200F front camera soon which will really help my wife be more comfortable when she needs to drive this very large vehicle. NOTE – If you plan on using the 200 series cameras, note that the camera module connects to the head unit via an RCA plug. Alpine says you can select different camera angles directly from the INA-W910, but this is only for the directly-connected 300 series cameras. In my case, I needed to mount the controller pad that came with the 200R camera. Not a huge deal, just not as “clean” an installation as I would have liked.

My iPhone connects perfectly via bluetooth and the voice recognition is fantastic. When plugged into the cable, music on the iPhone can be navigated very quickly.

I used a video bypass module (do an internet search) so my 3-year old (she sits in the middle, center row) can enjoy her Sesame Street videos can watch her stuff while we are on the move – I have no plans to watch video while driving… that is just plain stupid.

I also used module that allows my steering wheel buttons to work. This was the only way I would be happy with a radio without a simple rotary volume knob. For me, a simple twist will always beat a tap-tap-tap-tap-tap-tap-tap every time. Doesn’t anyone else find these type of controls annoying?

As for cons, and I will nitpick here because the unit is generally awesome: 1)the navigation display resolution could be a bit better (videos are great, however), 2) The overall system font is a bit strange as it seems like it was made for the visually impaired, 3) the clock font is so tiny – it is almost like reading the fine-print from a pharmaceutical company ad. Also, the clock is not visible when the unit is off. I thought it would be an issue, but there really is no need to turn it off, and 4) there should really be a hard button to turn off/turn down the display for night visibility.

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