For those of you looking for Navi Unit.
Here is my review and pics.
The unit is a detacheable Navi unit made by collaboration of Eclipse and TomTom.The reason why I bought the unit was because of couple of reason.
First, it cost alot less than other Navi Units. Second, it is a in-dash unit with red illumination that Plays, cd, mp3, ipod etc etc.
I can see that Eclipse was really trying to create an Factory look and feel on this unit. It will depend on a vehicle, but in my CX-7, it matches my dash quite well. Flat black finish and Red illumination really helped here. The reason why I said it has a factory feel is because rotary knob and all the other buttons are big and easy to see. You are not going to mistake one command button to the others here. It also has bluetooth and built-in microphone to pair with your cell phone, but have not tried it yet. No comment on that yet.
The TomTom unit serves couple of functions here. First, obviously Navi and TomTom is a quite capable one. I wish the map was more detailed like other 7inch Navi units out there, but it does its job and instruction is easy to understand and clear. The screen, even though it is kinda small, is bright and easy to read. I did not experience any glare. The touchscreen works very well as well. For those of you who own second car, you can actually detach the TomTom unit and dock it in your second car if you want to. It is a portable navigation afterall.
TomTom also serves as a screen for Radio, and Ipod Control. You could use TomTom's touchscreen to change stations or navigate through your playlist on your ipod. Searching for a song is easy and straight forward. One negative thing about the Ipod interface is that every time you shut the car off and turn on, it needs to read your ipod again and will play the song from the very beginning.
Now the SQ. The sound quality is what you will expect from any eclipse unit.
By no means, this is not Denon or Mcintosh Quality but it sounds good enough to satisfy most of the daily users out there. Compared to my Panasonic unit, which had 2volt preout, I could already tell that this unit puts out cleaner sound with less noise floor.
However, one thing it lacks is a tuning capability. It does not have TA, 30 band EQ, or other bells and whistles. In terms of tuning capability, it does not do better than 50 dollar BOSS CD player. All it has is 3band EQ, Loud, and full pass or LPF for Sub. I have 360.2 running active so no problem here for me. But if you are looking for a unit with Tuning capability, look elsewhere.
Another negative part is lack of CD changer control. It does have Aux in on the back, but Eclipse has not released a cd changer as of yet. I am not even sure if they plan to.
Conclusion.
A bargain unit for someone who is looking for Navi Unit with Ipod control, factory appearance, and USB input capable of playing music at respectable quality. I'd say, for the money($500 at Crutchfield), the unit is very hard to beat.
Here is my review and pics.
The unit is a detacheable Navi unit made by collaboration of Eclipse and TomTom.The reason why I bought the unit was because of couple of reason.
First, it cost alot less than other Navi Units. Second, it is a in-dash unit with red illumination that Plays, cd, mp3, ipod etc etc.
I can see that Eclipse was really trying to create an Factory look and feel on this unit. It will depend on a vehicle, but in my CX-7, it matches my dash quite well. Flat black finish and Red illumination really helped here. The reason why I said it has a factory feel is because rotary knob and all the other buttons are big and easy to see. You are not going to mistake one command button to the others here. It also has bluetooth and built-in microphone to pair with your cell phone, but have not tried it yet. No comment on that yet.
The TomTom unit serves couple of functions here. First, obviously Navi and TomTom is a quite capable one. I wish the map was more detailed like other 7inch Navi units out there, but it does its job and instruction is easy to understand and clear. The screen, even though it is kinda small, is bright and easy to read. I did not experience any glare. The touchscreen works very well as well. For those of you who own second car, you can actually detach the TomTom unit and dock it in your second car if you want to. It is a portable navigation afterall.
TomTom also serves as a screen for Radio, and Ipod Control. You could use TomTom's touchscreen to change stations or navigate through your playlist on your ipod. Searching for a song is easy and straight forward. One negative thing about the Ipod interface is that every time you shut the car off and turn on, it needs to read your ipod again and will play the song from the very beginning.
Now the SQ. The sound quality is what you will expect from any eclipse unit.
By no means, this is not Denon or Mcintosh Quality but it sounds good enough to satisfy most of the daily users out there. Compared to my Panasonic unit, which had 2volt preout, I could already tell that this unit puts out cleaner sound with less noise floor.
However, one thing it lacks is a tuning capability. It does not have TA, 30 band EQ, or other bells and whistles. In terms of tuning capability, it does not do better than 50 dollar BOSS CD player. All it has is 3band EQ, Loud, and full pass or LPF for Sub. I have 360.2 running active so no problem here for me. But if you are looking for a unit with Tuning capability, look elsewhere.
Another negative part is lack of CD changer control. It does have Aux in on the back, but Eclipse has not released a cd changer as of yet. I am not even sure if they plan to.
Conclusion.
A bargain unit for someone who is looking for Navi Unit with Ipod control, factory appearance, and USB input capable of playing music at respectable quality. I'd say, for the money($500 at Crutchfield), the unit is very hard to beat.
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