will you buy a suzuki sx4 dvd/gps unit?

[jacober]

I own a 2011 SX4 crossover and would like to upgrade the dashboard, so considering a after market dvd/gps unit, after searching for a long time and found this item is the model that I like best, 2 Din Suzuki SX4 DVD Player - Suzuki SX4 GPS Navi 8 LCD Touch Screen Radio with TV [3068] - US$299.80 : Cars-electronics.com not only for its price, but also the software and appearance, if anyone has installed it before, what do you think about it? can you please upload some pictures of after installation here?

[powerhouse]

I have that head unit in my 2010 CrossOver but the firmware was just recently updated so my screens look a little different. I bought mine a few months ago, right after they upgarded it to WinCE 6.0. Installation is a breeze. It truly is plug and play. The hardest part is CAREFULLY removing the chrome trim pieces around the radio. After that, it's a 5 minute job. The camera that comes with it did not fit without totally modifying it . I had to completely cut it off the bracket and then mount the camera itself to the factory hatch switch bracket. After that, it works really well.
Mine also didn't come with a usb plug so I had to order it seperately. CarsElectronics said I should have got it so they sent it to me free of charge but I had to pay $15.00 shipping.
The radio does a ton of things and will play just about any file type you throw at it. I've found that music in WMA or CDA format sound much bettter than MP3. MP3 sounds like it is filtered through cotton.
The radio reception however leaves a lot to be desired. Every station I try to get fades in and out and it is very annoying to listen to. I live in Maryland and near quite a few large stations but, even after replacing the factory stubby antenna with a FUBA series 16 inch antenna, stations still fade in and out. The factory radio had MUCH better reception.
I'm not a big radio listener so this is not a big deal to me. Also, it appears that the CD player does not read metadata so the songs are not listed. Just track numbers. If you burn your own cd, depending on the format that you use, the song titles will appear.
The Blue tooth and GPS functions work very well BUT the maps I got were from 2009 and you will not find support from CarsElectronics or IGO to update them. If you look around the internet, you can find updated maps and update them yourself. That's what I did.
I like the equalizer built into the radio but it is somewhat hidden and takes a while to find it. Once you do, you can really customize the sound. I have since added an 8 inch amplified underseat sub woofer and that also made a huge difference.
I do not have the steering wheel controls but I understand that it is a simple thing to set up if yours does. I also only had the 4 speaker factory set up so if you have the 9 speaker deal, it will probably sound even better.
All in all I like the radio but I do wish you could update the firmware when new ones come out. I bought mine a few months ago and they had just updated it then. Now they have updated it again but it is not user upgradeable. Not a deal breaker but each new interface looks better than the last.
Hope this helps you and if I can think of anything else, I'll post it here.
Head over to Update on Chinese DVD/GPS for Suzuki SX4 - Page 31 and read more about these units.

powerhouse

[powerhouse]

One other thing to mention.
When installing, some users have had to "cut" or "trim" the tabs off of the top of the climate control panel, (these are hidden behind the factory radio), but I found if you remove the top 4 screws from that panel, you can pull it slightly forward. Then you push the new radio in and mate the top of the climate control panel with the bottom of the new radio and push them both back together. This way you don't have to cut or trim anything.
If you plan on installing the camera, I ran the wires up along the left side of the hatch, through the rubber boot and then under the head liner. Then back down the left side rear pillar near the left tail light. I then tapped into the left, reverse light for power and then ran the wires up the left side under the rocker panels to the dash. Not real hard but it does take some time and I did have to remove a few trim pieces.
I got myself a set of plastic trim removal tools and a nylon electrical fistape from Harbor Freight tools and these really helped in the installation.
The radio itself takes about 10-15 minutes to install. With the camera, sub and their related wiring it took abaout 4 housr or so and that was because i'm not an installer and was taking my time to try and do it right.

powerhouse

[theforsa]

These units have really come down in price! A few have dropped below the $200 level.

[jlk_250]

I have a 2011 Crossover and one of the 8" DVD GPS units from cars-electronics. Mine is from when they just switched to Win CE 6.0 and it was quite buggy. Cars-electonics wasn't very helpful so I can't really recommend them. When I bought a similar unit for my wife's Mazda I got one through Ali Express and it was cheaper there and the transaction was fine.

Despite the bugs and a ton of hassle due to a defective unit that I had to fix myself, I continue to -love- this new head unit. Best money I've spent in a long time!

(Powerhouse--Where is the equalizer if it really does have one? Also, my unit is sometimes very slow to acquire GPS, like normal is 2 minutes and sometimes takes 20 minutes. Normal? Lastly, the microphone quality for bluetooth phone calls is so bad as to be barely usable. Normal? My wife's is a different brand/design completely and it acquires GPS instantly and the bluetooth microphone is great, making me more disappointed with mine than I had been. I just sent cars-electronics an email asking if the firmware can be upgraded. I'm guessing you already asked and they said no. Bummer, but probably true for all the brands.)

[Sandsent]

I have a 2011 sx4 crossover without gps. I bought the oem dash unit off eBay and installed it and just recd the nuvi I ordered to fit it from amazon.

I bought the commercial nuvi not the Suzuki version.

When I mount the gps in the holder the radio goes to navi mode and kills all others sound while gps mounted.

any thoughts?

[jacober]

Thanks a lot powerhouse, I already installed mine and it works well, I'm very happy with it, the only defect is the maps, can you please tell me where did you update it?

Originally Posted by powerhouse

I have that head unit in my 2010 CrossOver but the firmware was just recently updated so my screens look a little different. I bought mine a few months ago, right after they upgarded it to WinCE 6.0. Installation is a breeze. It truly is plug and play. The hardest part is CAREFULLY removing the chrome trim pieces around the radio. After that, it's a 5 minute job. The camera that comes with it did not fit without totally modifying it . I had to completely cut it off the bracket and then mount the camera itself to the factory hatch switch bracket. After that, it works really well.
Mine also didn't come with a usb plug so I had to order it seperately. CarsElectronics said I should have got it so they sent it to me free of charge but I had to pay $15.00 shipping.
The radio does a ton of things and will play just about any file type you throw at it. I've found that music in WMA or CDA format sound much bettter than MP3. MP3 sounds like it is filtered through cotton.
The radio reception however leaves a lot to be desired. Every station I try to get fades in and out and it is very annoying to listen to. I live in Maryland and near quite a few large stations but, even after replacing the factory stubby antenna with a FUBA series 16 inch antenna, stations still fade in and out. The factory radio had MUCH better reception.
I'm not a big radio listener so this is not a big deal to me. Also, it appears that the CD player does not read metadata so the songs are not listed. Just track numbers. If you burn your own cd, depending on the format that you use, the song titles will appear.
The Blue tooth and GPS functions work very well BUT the maps I got were from 2009 and you will not find support from CarsElectronics or IGO to update them. If you look around the internet, you can find updated maps and update them yourself. That's what I did.
I like the equalizer built into the radio but it is somewhat hidden and takes a while to find it. Once you do, you can really customize the sound. I have since added an 8 inch amplified underseat sub woofer and that also made a huge difference.
I do not have the steering wheel controls but I understand that it is a simple thing to set up if yours does. I also only had the 4 speaker factory set up so if you have the 9 speaker deal, it will probably sound even better.
All in all I like the radio but I do wish you could update the firmware when new ones come out. I bought mine a few months ago and they had just updated it then. Now they have updated it again but it is not user upgradeable. Not a deal breaker but each new interface looks better than the last.
Hope this helps you and if I can think of anything else, I'll post it here.
Head over to Update on Chinese DVD/GPS for Suzuki SX4 - Page 31 and read more about these units.

powerhouse

[powerhouse]

jacober,

It's been awhile but as I recall, I went to Fixmygps Mk III - GPS Navigation Made Easy and followed a few threads where others were asking the same question. I was directed to download the latest maps,( as .rar files through a torent as I recall), and then, after opening/unpacking them, I just put the files on a new sd card.
If I remember right, I took the back up copy I made and studied the file layout so I knew where to put the new map and poi files.
In either case, if you look around that site, you can easily find the procedure to follow from the other users and moderators there.
Like I said it's been awhile so I should probably check for more recent maps as well.
Hope this helps.

powerhouse

[DarkStorm1087]

I am looking for the Garmin GPS model in the 2012 Suzuki to replace my 2011. Very difficult to find one with the dock connector at the bottom.

[Krram]

Does the Navi work in europe, Finland? i would very much appreciate if anyone could check it out somehow on their Navi

EDIT: Oh and i read somewhere that you can add your own maps on sa SD card? so how does that work? if anyone have any experience!

Thank you in advance, im not so good at these kinds of things