Auto CD Mp3 Player

I stumbled across the VM8013HD last week when looking for a wiring harness for my car. I ordered it through Car Toys for $164, new. I finally installed it tonight and I must say that I am impressed with this unit. It was basically plug and play once I connected the wires from the unit to the wiring harness.

So far, I really like this unit and Im glad I bought it. Off the bat, it played my DVD without a hitch. I was a little disappointed to see that the widescreen aspect of the movie wasnt translated onto the screen; I had black bars at the top and bottom. However, I used the remote control to enter the setup and changed the aspect from 16:9 to 4:3 and the movie looked normal. I then adjusted the color to bright, as the movie looked too dark. You can adjust the colors, contrast, etc, when you select the DYNAMIC setting, but I didnt want to mess around with that right now because I can get a little OCD with those settings. BTW, on the VM8013HD, it has a pink wire that the instructions state must be connected to the brake wire, but I just connected that to the black negative wire from the head unit and grounded both wires to the cars chassis behind the radio.

The VM8013HD is a very solid head unit. It is heavy and well built. IMO, this translates very well to the radio reception I was able to get, even though I was parked in my garage. My stock head unit, and another aftermarket until I installed previously was not this good. As indicated by the model name, the VM8013HD has built in HD Radio, however, this was my first time listening to HD Radio, so I wasnt really sure what the difference was between the normal station (that sounded really clear with no static) and the HD sub-station. Like I was saying, this unit was able to pull in many more stations than I was previously able to, and the stations I listened to before (non HD) sound just as clear as the HD sub-station. Just an FYI, when you land on an HD station, the HD indicator on the screen is highlighted. You know, even on the non-HD stations, the radio info scrolls across the bottom of the screen showing artist name and song name. I thought that was really cool. Also, not only is the station number displayed, but the station call letters (ex. 103.5 KBMB)

Overall, I am very pleased with the VM8013HD. The 3 1/2 screen isnt very big, but its not very small, either. Its going to work out great when Im sitting in the car waiting to pick up my wife, or when I want to take a break from work, or just when Im kicking back in the car. Sometime down the road Im going to burn my .avi files to DVD and see how that looks. The VM8013HD is supposed to play .avi files, so I might not need to convert any files, just burn them strait to DVD (however, like my Creative ZEN MP3 player, I probably have to format the video files to something like 320240 resolution).

Pros:

- Inexpensive for a in-dash DVD player with build in HD Radio

- Pulls in a lot of radio stations

- Easy to install

- Looks great, sounds great

- DVD remembers where your movie left off if you remove the DVD and put it back in

- Awesome EQ settings (Rock, Hip Hop, etc) Adds extra bass and loudness. No amp necessary for me.

Cons:

- Sticks out from the dash

- Wasnt able to use the trim ring around the unit because of fit

- You have to use the remote control to access the more advance functions for the DVD player, like setup

Rating: 4 / 5

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