Operation - DVD (continued):
The image below shows the splash screen for DVD mode, and my only complaint is that it stays here while "loading" for what seems like too long. It may load for 10 seconds sometimes, while others may go on for closer to 30 seconds.
The images below provide a couple angles of the screen while playing back "Star Wars: Episode II - Attack of the Clones". The image quality isn't the best in the world, but consider that a high resolution DVD is being played back on a 3.5" screen. For what it is, I think it looks very good.
Glare was occasionally a problem, but that is more the car's fault (and the fact that I wired it so that it would play while driving). With on screen controls like you would find on a television (hue, contrast, brightness, sharpness, etc.) you can really fine tune the image to your liking. The one issue I did notice was frequent aliasing on diagonal surfaces. But again, the size of the screen and the resolution of the source image are at work here.
The images below are provided to show the unit in use at night, again while showing a DVD. The screen looks great in the dark, as does the entire unit. Here you can see that all of the buttons are backlit for convenience, and it has a nice cool blue glow to it!
Operation - General:
Now that most of the specific areas of the device's operation have been covered, there are a few general issues to discuss.
My biggest beef with the unit is that it has no clock. My only clock had previously been on the stock stereo, and with that removed I am now constantly checking my cell phone clock as I fight traffic to get to work on time. Such a little thing was rather frustrating to me.
There is an equalizer built in with four settings: off, pop, rock, and classical. I found that pop and rock were too bass heavy at even moderate volumes, and my speakers couldn't handle it. Separate bass and treble controls would be nice.
CD playback sounded great, but the on screen display left much to be desired. The DVD splash screen (shown previous) is visible at all times during CD playback, and a faint blue menu is overlayed near the top, which is all but impossible to read. I would have even preferred something like the radio's "blue screen". From MP3, to CD, to radio, the display is just under utilized and could be doing so much more!
