Made Entertaiment on Your Car

I bought this product from a cheaper source, but use these reviews to determine which head unit to buy. The MEX-BT5700U had all the features I was looking for at a decent price. I have a ‘92 Toyota Pickup with a manual transmission, so Bluetooth calling was my top priority (safety) as my state hasn’t implemented handsfree calling laws yet. My calls at highway speed (windows up) were clear and my caller only noticed a slight hum/noise and reported I sounded very clear. This was using the external mic provided on default settings for the gain and noise cancelling.

Note: if an external mic is provided with ANY head unit(this one comes with an external mic)USE IT, DO NOT bother with a head unit that you cannot add or use an external mic….proper mic placement is key. I placed my mic on the steering column in front of my gauges.

Pairing was simple, and iPod control is built in so you DO NOT need the separate iPod controller Sony sells for the other units. I also purchased the HD-Radio unit, but haven’t installed it yet.

The controls, and layout are decent, but some functions take multiple pushes of a single button to reach, or spin the dial….this can be a bit tough while driving. I figure after some use I will figure out what buttons do what and how many times to push to get to a function. In my opinion, no head unit is completely intuitive but I believe this unit provides a reasonable logic to it, but could most certainly be improved like every other head unit on the market.

I recommend this unit to anyone looking for hands free calling, and iPod control. For the iPod control, all you need is your iPod USB cable, plug it in and the unit recognizes it and takes control. The unit can control the iPod, but nothing beats holding the iPod in your hand and selecting music the way you are used too. Looking at the screen you will still see the Artist Name and Song Title displayed even when in ‘passenger mode’. Again, I haven’t read a single review of any unit that has ‘excellent’ iPod controls.

Four stars because, no head unit is perfect, and Sony could probably spend more effort in making the controls more intuitive.
Rating: 4 / 5

Purchased this unit for a 98 pathfinder – really just wanted to add Bluetooth and iPod. Have only been playing with it for a short time but thought i would offer some feedback for others looking at the unit. Overall i am very satisfied with the unit and for the price i paid there is no reason to complain. (using the exisitng Bose amp and speakers that were factory installed)

Flaws:

1. iPod control from the head unit is basically useless if you have alot of music. Solution just control the music from the ipod. use the head unit to advance songs but again almost impossible to find the song you want when you have several thousand songs. having playlists created makes it a bit easier. Sony could have done a much better job with the ipod interface.

2. Display – truely is tough to see in daylight. turning off the background graphics helped some but just very hard to see. Others have reported this.

3. Phone book – had no trouble loading my phone book off my Blackberry Storm. However, i have a very large list of contacts and they did not fit into the units memory. I need to do a bit of research here to find out the deal. Solution – just browse the phonebook vs loading it. And only loading the numbers of contacts that i care to have in the unit.

Likes:

1. Bluetooth phone is very good – mic sensitivity can be adjusted and very clear for hands free.

2. Bluetooth streaming music – really impressed here- dont always have my ipod with me – but always have my blackberry where i have a few thousand songs stored. if your phone supports stereo Bluetooth you can stream music directly to the unit.
Rating: 4 / 5

BLUF: Very satisfied, hands free calling works great, ipod interface is more than adequate, MP3 data discs and IPODS sounds great, EQ tuning options are profound but not overwhelming, BT audio streaming is a fun option. Minor issues with Palm Pre functions (PB, charging)

Burns and Mayer’s review were spot on and very good reviews just wanted to throw a few additonal things out there for the consumers. I have had this HU about a month and am completely satisfied for the price. I bought this head unit and had it installed from a local dealer (more than listed here). It was an upgrade from a Pioneer unit my wife got me for my birthday. The poor reviews on the pioneer’s interface with the iPOD is what scared me away. So i traded it in. I spent about a hundred more than what my wife did and I got a much better HU. Looked at ALPINES becuase ALPINE has some of the best iPOD interfaces I have seen (just an opinion) however none of the alpines in this price range had built in BT and i couldnt see spending additonal money for add ons. Unfortunately my iPOD didnt work with this HU becuase it is too old however my daughters nano works great and the reviews are spot on. It isnt the best interface but really it is NOT a show stopper either it is more than adequate. Like others have said I have yet to see a HU you didnt have a learning curve with. The controls do take a bit getting used to esp if you are coming from a factory stereo. I installed this in a 06 GMC Sierra P/U. I was nervous about going from a double din opening to the single din but with the dash kit it looks ok and now i have additional storage cubby. The face plate is a bit “spongy” but that is me being really picky.

Sound. Again others reviews are spot on. Using bluetooth audio and the aux jack works if your in a pinch but sound is not as good as playing music from the IPOD through the USB. I have paired it with my Palm Pre and had very little complication pairing and it is pretty cool to use pandora on my phone then stream it through my car stereo. It is also nice to have it pair automaticaly when i get into my truck. I have also noticed that CD’s that are ripped as data discs sound far better than creating a disc straight for a traditional cd player. You get a lot more music and it sounds better. I set my HU with the EQ set at “XPLOD” and DM+ at “+2″ and this makes my factory speakers scream pretty good. Cant wait to get a new IPOD!

Calling. Unfortunately my palm doesnt have voice dialing and I am having issues with the phone book but I havent messed with it as much as I should and i think this is more indicative of the phone not the head unit. However the controls on the HU work fine and calls sound clear and most people have told me they cant tell I am talking from hands free calling. The dealer installed the mic to my headliner a few inches from my mirror and it picks up my voice with me talking at normal voice at the default settings.

Display. I dont agree with the bad display reviews. I have no issues with the display and everything works great in both the day and the night. Even the white light on the dial doesnt bother me.

My annoyance is with my Pre, HU interface. I like using the USB for a charger (car chargers are $30) for my phone and the HU routinely gives me a “not supported” beep when i scroll through the sources. But after i tell the phone to “just charge” and move past the “not supported” it charges fine. Using the Pre like an IPOD aka Media Sync doesnt work. (or i havent figured it out) my next step is to try and load some music and play it through the USB.
Rating: 4 / 5