Pioneer AVH-P5200DVD In-Dash DVD Multimedia AV Receiver Review

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(More customer reviews)I've been a Pioneer "Fan Boy" for many years, and have owned a little more than a 1/2 dozen of their mobile audio head units. Each Pioneer/Primier HU I purchased got progressivly better as time went on, and each one offered more and more features.
The AVH-5200DVD, so far, has been my favorite Aftermarket HU to date - but my very first video capable unit. I'll break this review down into a few sections.
SELECTION / DIY INSTALLATION: I chose this unit for its single-din design, and motorized screen. This allowed for what I considered a "lower profile" install, and helped keep folks in the parking lot from being too impressed with the stereo to consider breaking into my SUV. I own a 2007 Jeep Commander Sport (no OE Boston Acoustics amplifier for you Commander owners out there), and am pretty protective of my possessions as I'm sometimes not in the nicest of areas.
Installation was a breeze, especially having installed several in the past. As always, you'll want to look up/purchase the single din conversion kit for your particular vehicle. I'm using a Metra branded kit, mostly b/c it was the only option. I also recommend a wiring harness.
Something a little unusual about this unit over previous models is the inclusion of an "external" radio receiver. Its pretty much a small 1"x3"x4" box that contains all the guts for the AM/FM radio. My assumption is that since the screen retracts into the body of the unit, they had to sacrifice some space internally and the radio got the boot. The HU and the radio box simply connect together with a proprietary cable that is included in the packaging.
Something else "new" for me was the inclusion of the parking brake wire. You're supposed to ground this on your parking break to allow you to watch video while parked. Aparantly its not recommended to drive with video playing in the front seat. There are ways to "hack" this - but you'll have to do your own Google search on that.
***NOTE: Make sure you boot up the unit BEFORE you put the dash back together. The screen screen slides out and into a pre-determined angle and distance from the dash - there are controls in the set-up menu that allows you to chose a "pitch" and 2 distances from the face of the dash. I pitched mine back a few clicks for a better viewing angle, and set it up to extend out a little further due to a lip/overhang on the top of my dashboard.FIRST IMPRESSIONS: Once I had the unit installed, I "oooooh'd" and "aaaaaaah'd" over the glossy finish, the smooth action of the screen sliding out and into position. The unit should be fully booted up by the time the screen locks into position.
There are tactile buttons on the exterior that made sense to me. Track Skip/Advance and Reverse, Source, Menu, Mode (for switching from possible GPS mode, regular mode, rear camera, and rear seat video), and of course Eject and Screen "Hide/Open". Since the unit is a touch screen, I feel a little better about using the "physical" buttons to advance songs, rather than having to look away from the road to change tracks.
When the car is shut off, the unit waits a few seconds, beeps to remind you take the removeable anti-theft faceplate with you, and quietly retracts the screen. The anti-theft face is sort of a joke, I'm not sure if it's keyed into this specific unit, and its removal doesn't radically alter the appearance of the unit - so a thief might not know the faceplate is missing until they've smashed their way into the car. INTERFACE: The interface is a little confusing to learn at first, with some items not being labeled. You'll want to play with it a bit before cruising around and trying to operate it. Keep your manual handy in the glove box if you ever get confused. Its quick and easy to pick-up though, and I mastered it within a few short days.
The 7" screen, animations, and graphics are great - fonts and displays are easy to understand a read - even while driving. The unit is a show-stopper, and will impress your passengers the moment the screen slides out and blazes to life.
The touch screen controls are intuitive, though the sliding motion will be a little awkward to you iPhone and BlackBerry Storm users out there as the pages don't "glide" after you've lifted your finger. Very little pressure is needed to activate something on the screen. Just a VERY light tap. You can calibrate the screen too if you need - but mine operates flawlessly out of the box.
The screen is a matte texture (very smart) - which guts down on glare from other light sources like the sure and reduces finger prints/smudges.
You can also change the colors of the external lighting - and the interface colors to match your car's esisting lighting. The ability to make your own custom wallpapers is amazing as well.AUDIO PERFORMANCE: The MOSFET powered amplifier built into the unit pumps crisp clean highs and punchy powerful lows from the Commander's 6 speaker factory speakers (haven't replaced them yet). It currently pushs two 3.5" mid/high speakers, two 6x9" woofers in the front doors, and two 6.5" mid-rangers in the rear doors. The sound fills the cabin of this fairly large SUV nicely with minimal distortion at fairly loud volumes.
I'll be upgrading to a 5-channel amp shortly, using all 3 of the RCA inputs on the reverse of the unit for front, rear, and sub componants.
The menu gives you a great EQ options with 8 bands, bass boost control, 3 "loudness levels", Front/Rear/Sub crossovers, and much much more. Pretty much everything you need to build an audiophile set up.
iPod integration works well. I was a little disappointed that they put the USB input on the front, and not the back as I'm unable to hide the cables for a clean install. It's nice though, for people that want to play files off of a USB flash drive, etc...
I'm using an iPod Classic 160gb loaded down to about 80% capacity. Songs read clear, with song ID tags loading promptly with just a slight delay. There is also a delay when using the SongLink feature - which allows you to search for songs/genre/album/artist based on what is currently playing. In some cases it took several minutes to load up some results. I'm ASSUMING that this is because of the sheer number of songs I have loaded onto the Classic, and the fact that it is a hard drive based player. My wifes flash memory-based iPod loads song data instantly, and has a much faster SongLink retrieval time. So this is probably iPod technology-based, not Pioneer Hu software-based.
I organize all oy my music by genre - so tearing through the organization tree is fast and efficient. The "Alphabet Search" is fantastic too. You slide your finger along the alphabet for the first letter in your search, and a LARGE magnification of that letter appears in the middle of the screen, making it easier and safer to see while driving.
Album art loads a few seconds after the song begins to play and looks pretty sharp - it even animates a little when it loads - making for a flashy display. VIDEO PERFORMANCE: DVD's play just as they're supposed to - like any normal DVD player. Menu items are selected by simply touching the option with your finger. The unit supports several aspect ratios - most of my movie collection is in 16:9 widescreen format - so it fits perfectly. The 16:10 stuff looks great too.
I watched the original Star Wars trilogy (not the new CGI garbage Lucas put out recently) in its entirety on my way too and from Gatlinburg with nary a hiccough or hang up.
It is capable of reading video from an iPod as well. I'm having issues with it reading video from my Classic 160gb, but my wifes flash-based iPod Nano reads perfectly. My issue with the Classic is probably the encoding method I chose to convert the music videos to that I had intended to watch.EXPANDABILITY!!! I, personally, am happy that Pioneer decided to make this unit one of their more "expandable" head units - giving the consumer a boatload of technology to add onto their unit at their leisure and in small increments as your personal cash flow allows.
Just a few of these "upgrades" include:
Bluetooth (if you didn't buy the unit with BT built in - the AVH-5200BT)
HD Radio - I don't personally listen to the radio, unless its a little conservative talk radio, and thats mostly on the AM bands
Sirius/XM Satillite
Rear View Camera
and - most notably - GPS Navigation
You can also add rear seat video monitors utilizing the rear video output on the unit,Now on to some of my gripes about this unit:
No remote control - every single Pioneer HU I've ever purchased came with a remote. This one, for whatever reason - did not. At $500 for a HU, I'd think a remote might not be too much to ask.
Expansion module price - I'm also a little disappointed in the price of the expandsion modules. Dropping $500 on a HU, then another $400 on a GPS unit might seem a little insane - but if you look at the prices of head units that INCLUDE GPS, the price comes out on par, or cheaper, than an "all inclusive" option.
The SOMETIMES slow crawling speed of the iPod library search - even though this is probably iPod related - a 15minute long search for a tune is more than little rediculous. The integrated search on the iPod itself would only take a dozen or so seconds - MAX. Of course - 100-160gb of music/movie files could be a little overwhelming. Perhaps Jobs will offer a little support and help Pioneer find a way to speed up this process.

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Get your media on the road with Pioneer's AVH-P5200DVD, an in-dash single-DIN DVD Multimedia AV Receiver featuring a motorized seven-inch widescreen display. With versatile music and video playback, modern features like USB Direct Control and DivX support, a built-in MOSFET 50 W x 4 amplifier, and plenty of expansion options, it's the perfect way to turn your vehicle into a mobile entertainment center.


AVH-P5200DVD Features
Motorized Seven-Inch Touchscreen Display The AVH-P5200DVD boasts a seven-inch TFT LCD touchscreen display with 1440 x 240 pixel resolution. Navigating your media and system settings from the touchscreen is a breeze thanks to intuitive touch controls and customizable menus. Tap, Swipe or Drag--exactly the way you expect a touchscreen device to work.
When not in use, the screen tucks away safely in the unit. The viewing angle is also adjustable, from 50 to 110 degrees.
Versatile Multimedia Playback Enjoy your favorite DVDs while parked with the full-featured DVD player, or add a back seat screen for your passengers to watch as you drive. The AVH-P5200DVD will play DVDs, DVD-Rs, Video CDs and even DivX files burnt to CD or DVD (or from a USB device). You can also use the rear A/V input to attach external devices like video game systems.
As for music, you can enjoy your favorite CDs, or listen to MP3/WMA/AAC files from either CD/DVD data discs or a USB device.
USB Input / SD Memory Card Slot Connect USB thumb drives or other devices and enjoy playback of your digital audio files or DivX video. Ditto for SD memory cards. This makes it a breeze to quickly grab some media from your computer before a big road trip, and enjoy hours of entertainment on the road.
iPod Direct Control (CD-IU50V required) Connect your iPod directly and experience exceptional sound quality while easily navigating through music, videos and album art on the AVH-P5200DVD's screen. Say goodbye to the annoying static of FM transmitters and other iPod half-solutions.
Advanced Sound Retriever Hear the detail, warmth and clarity, the way the artist intended it, from all of your highly compressed MP3, WMA and AAC files stored on USB memory device, iPod and portable digital players. By restoring data (especially higher frequencies) that tend to get lost in the digital compression process, Pioneer's Advanced Sound Retriever technology enhances audio reproduction nearly all the way up to 20 kHz frequencies.
Supertuner IIID AM/FM Tuner Pioneer's legendary Supertuner IIID combines the best of digital and analog tuner technologies to reduce distortion to bring you exceptional FM and AM performance. If you live in an area where reception is weak, you'll hear a big improvement in signal strength. And when you're near tall buildings, Supertuner IIID reduces the effect of multi-path noise, which occurs when the signal is reflecting off of the buildings.
Always have your favorite stations at hand with 18 FM and 6 AM user presets. And when you're somewhere new, let the tuner do the work for you by activating the Best Stations Memory (BSM) function. The tuner will seek out the 6 strongest stations in the area and set them into the tuner presets.
Dial in Your Sound Use and customize EQ curves, adjust the eight-band parametric equalizer, or change loudness and bass boost settings to get the perfect sound.
AUX-In Connection Use the built-in AUX input for connecting any digital portable player and other external auxiliary devices. For extra-convenient access, the AVH-P5200DVD has this A/V input on the front panel.
MOSFET 50W x4 Amplifier for the Power Hungry Compared to conventional power supplies, the MOSFET amplification circuit is smaller and more efficient, delivering power with less distortion and absolutely zero on/off switching noise. And that doesn't just mean a boost in volume: it means that your music will be cleaner at higher volumes because you're not pushing the limits of the amplification circuit. Clean, efficient power that will rock your vehicle.
For those who'd like a bit more power, three 4V RCA preamp outputs are also included for system expansion (front/rear/sub).
Available Bluetooth Wireless Technology Use the available CD-BTB200 Bluetooth Adapter and Bluetooth-enabled cellular phones for easy, safe, and hands-free operation, including talking via the headunit's microphone and your vehicle's speaker system. The system automatically mutes any other audio during incoming or outgoing calls.
Add the Power of Navigation This receiver is ready to take direction with the optional AVIC-U220 navigation module, a sleek navigation unit that supports AVIC feeds, enabling you to create custom trips, as well as your own points of interest. The plug and play AVIC-U220 puts Pioneer's legendary AVIC navigation at your fingertips.
Rear View Camera Capability Keep an eye on your backside using the optional Rear View Camera (ND-BC2 or ND-BC20PA): while you're in reverse the rear-view camera can be in full screen.An unit equipped with the optional rear-view camera adds a level of safety and assurance you can rely on.In addition to keeping you and your family safe, this feature also makes maneuvering in tight spaces easier.
Ready to Expand The AVH-P5200DVD is also compatible with Pioneer's XM and Sirius satellite radio tuners, HD radio tuner, TV tuner, CD/DVD changers and more.
AVH-P5200DVD Basic Specs

What's in the Box Pioneer AVH-P5200DVD Receiver, Wiring Harness, Installation Hardware, Owner's Manual

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