Any more feedback? Looking at options.
I still haven't hooked up the new amp and speakers so all I can talk about is the head unit. All I'm using is the basic unit with a 32Gig thumb-drive for MP3s.
Cons:
*) I've only have one real issue, playlists. Playlists for a thumb drive (don't know about those on an iPhone) require Alpine units to be in 'banked' mode which puts songs into banks of 1K songs, this also limits searching to whatever bank you're currently on. I am getting around it by putting a second copy of songs I want on a playlist into a folder named for the playlist.
*) Still trying to figure out what Alpine uses for album art so I can add the right files to missing ones.
Pros:
*) There is a definite improvement in sound quality, even friends noticed it with stock speakers before I add sound deadening.
*) Built in HDRadio is nice and improves FM sound quality.
*) I like the ability to change the back ground color. Red is a much better match for the 4Runners displays.
*) The audio display can be set to have a window-in-window mode where there is a small window in the lower left that contains a compass and current street or just the current speed limit or the album artwork
*) I'm pretty used to the menus now and they seem fairly natural and easy to navigate through.
*) The ability to set the voice-over nav volume as a percentage of main volume is nice.
*) I'm still really impressed with the over the air traffic updates. They are obviously limited to reception range and if your area has a station broadcasting them which probably limits them to major metro area. On the other hand how often do you need traffic info in the middle of BFE.
Misc:
*) There is a slot for a SD card behind the display which is for map updates which should come in handy when I decide to update.
*) I can't comment on Bluetooth items since I don't have a cell phone.
*) I like the Nav system. It's speed menus, displays, etc seem fine to me but this is my first time using a Nav system so I don't have anything to compare against a don't feel qualified to comment on it beyond that.
*) The CD works as expected but I don't plan on using it. If so I'd probably want to add a separate multi-disk deck as opening display for every disk change would become annoying
Here's a pic (complete with finger prints on the display) showing the window-in-window feature and the red back ground. Sorry for the glare. It was taken from the back seat with flash.
