Thread: PowerAXEL UNAVI review

I received the unavi yesterday and I must admit it felt like Christmas. I've been following the development of the nav since December 2009, so it's been a fairly long wait. Well, the wait was worth it.

It's taken me (from my prespective) a long time to install it because I've been taking notes on things, trying to film a how to and figure out the best or better ways to make it look like it came that way from factory. PowerAXEL with their straightforward and simple PDF instruction manual actually did a very good job of explaining things, so well actually that I've contemplated scrapping my how-to video. If I was not filming and fiddling with everything at the same time as installing it, it would probably take anywhere from an hour to two (if you have all of your supplies and tools at hand).

I purchased the "B"-Type bezel that is a single piece replacement of the upper and lower bezels surrounding the IDD. The bezel is great quality, smooth textured (perfect if you're planning on painting it), fitment is good but does take some minor modifications to the crash pad, these modifications are not reversable so take this route cautiously. (how to install your unavi is located here:http://www.rwdcoupe.com/interior/195...els-unavi.html)

With being scared of breaking your brand new car behind you and having the nav installed I must say, it looks really good. The screen isn't a bright as the old IDD during the day and can be difficult for passengers to watch movies while traveling on bright sunny days but you're only straining to see the commands to move around the OS and SpeedNAVI software with direct sunlight. The touch screen is responsive and requires little effort but spend some time practicing with the calibrate feature just to get used to how to handle it, it's not like navigating an iPod Touch or iPhone.

The system is quick to load, freely navigates and doesn't have any display issues. Text is crisp and clear, although you'll randomly run into Korean, nothing that defeats what you're doing but does make you wonder what it says. Colours are what you would expect from a navigation, it's not going to win monitor of the year but you don't confuse browns with yellows and blues with teal.
I was actually quite supprised by movie playback, the quality is much better through USB than through the dedicated video in (mind you I was using a rigged up cord with a cheap DVD player). Using the Movie option and playing movies through the USB, as long as you're using a realtively quick USB stick playback is smooth and skipping ahead or back is very quick. Inorder to play movies you have to put them on a playlist, which is fine, but there isn't a "just click to play".

The Music fuction is a nice touch and great for those applications that may not have MP3 playback ability but is fairly redundant in the Genesis Coupe with its already rather rich host of functions though the OEM USB port. The sound quality is little to no different than just plugging it into the stereo but audiophiles will want to take advantage of the full digital equalizer built in to really dial in their sound systems*.

The Photo function is pretty much what you would expect it to be, just like the Video option though you have to put them on a playlist before you can view them. With Fill Screen and Maintain aspect ratio the unit will easily suit your displaying needs to show off some of your recent pics from a meet. A nice slideshow option with variable picture display times is a nice touch too.

Another item on the main menu is the ETC option which is where all the features that can't fit on the main menu are stored, such as File Manager which allows you to delete files from your memory sticks (or god forbid your SD card, more on that later) or move them to another one. This is also where your Trip quick button is if you don't have it set to automatic, I'll get more into the Trip screen in a moment.

The AUX function is if you have something plugged into the A/V input on the back of the unit. I temporarily rigged a DVD playing into this to see how well it fairs but had some sound issues, most likely due to my wiring. The video quality seemed lacking but again I'm going to point towards my rather poor attempt to try this feature out. I do recommend it as an A/V input, and to use it if you can, but you'll probably find it hard to get a 3.5mm jack that has video on the fourth notch and grounded 2nd. The proper cord is something I honestly believe should have come with the unit.

Last function you'll find on the main menu is the Setup option that houses various settings from what the unit first displays when it boots up to if you'd like it to overlay distances on the optional back up camera. I was a little disappointed by not being able to have a user selectable background image for the main menu, as well as not having Trip screen as a first thing to show when loaded, but if you select "Trip Display" to automatic whenever the unit is doing nothing it switches back to the Trip screen. The Setup function is also where you update you SpeedNAV software as well as your OS, but I highly recommend not touching that unless you're told to by PowerAXEL as it took me quite a bit of time to figure out how to get out of the update mode and if you try updating and your battery dies your nav unit is toast.

I've already said a few things about the Trip screen but now I'll get into detail about it. What the Trip screen is, is what your IDD would normally display. For those who have auto climate control this will be a far more important screen, but I don't so its not. However, I do prefer it to stay displayed while listening to my iPod or CD's. Getting it to display however can be a work out if your settings are not setup right. Initially you'll feel like you can just hit "Info" on your radio and it should pop up, but it won't if you're radio is set to "AUX". It's tricky because you feel like it's not working right but in actuallity it is because if you still had your IDD and you hit "Info" while in "AUX" it won't change whats on the screen, so why would the nav? When you first start with the nav the Trip is on a 3 second display timer, it shows up for 3 seconds then disappears, great if you're listening to music, the track changes and your wife is browsing some summer pictures, horrible if you're by yourself and you're just listening to music and you didn't get enough time to see what track it's now on. Don't worry though because it's variable, 3, 5, 8 and inf. seconds. They've also gone to the extent of making a mini mode for the trip so it can stay on but take up 1/4 of the space. A big time plus while using the SpeedNAV and listening to music. If your in full screen trip mode and want to go back to the main menu, just tap anywhere on the screen.

I have yet to talk about actually using the nav unit as an actual nav because I kinda feel like the SpeedNavi software and uNavi are two different products that work together. You could use the uNavi as a full featured media hub in your car without ever using the nav aspect of it. And it would be a very good media hub. The ability to watch a show in my car while waiting to pick someone up (as soon as Canada gets nation wide DMB service I'll even watch the current news) will save me loads of boredom time, or for those who commute on ferries or in heavy traffic it'll be a treat. I know for one thing that it'll take some of the boredom out of those 10 hour trips to grandma's house.

Another thing of note is that you can't actually use the SD Card slot. That card is the life source of the uNavi, the OS, nav maps and other things are stored on there so don't lose or break it.

There are a few things to note about having the unavi system in your car. After initial installation the dimmer no longer works to control your gauge backlight, a rather large inconvience to me as I don't like the gauges at full brightness. Another inconvience is that the 'Display' button on the stereo no longer shuts off monitor, which I found very handy to due on long night trips. The glare produced by the monitor with the Type-B bezel however reflects onto the windshield near the rear view mirror at night (at my sitting height) which only bothers me when I'm checking backwards. Occasionally the Trip Computer freezes and forces you to use 'Reset' button on the usb hub or cycle your cars power to regain proper display of your Trip screen information, this doesn't however seem to affect any other operations of the unavi.
Something that isn't a major inconvience but would have been a nice touch would be custom backgrounds for Trip display, it has the same annoying habit of the original display which is to remind you that you're in a Genesis Coupe.