Pyle 7" Double Din LCD Review

Riles · 12-30-2005, 12:15 PM

Hey guys, I just wanted to put a good word in for the Pyle in-dash double-din LCD tv/radio. I haven't seen many reviews of the product, so I thought I'd add my $.02

When I first recieved the unit, I was very impressed. It looks great. Then, I opened the instructions- useless. But, luckily, every wire on the harness is individually tagged (a great plus). So, once I got the radio installed, I found my first major dissapointment.

I turned on the radio (it has a 40x4 built in amp, another plus), expecting to see a cool tuner screen, seeing how it has RDS and a huge lcd to be creative. One word- BORING! The radio display is an absolute disgrace. If I weren't going to use mediacar with an FM tuner, I would get rid of this thing right away. The display for the radio takes so much away from the look of everything, including my Lincoln LS, which usually looks pretty good.

Anyway, the sound is great. It has RCA outputs to go to my factory amp, and works well with my 8 speaker system.

All in all, for $230, it was money well spent. I was going to buy a 7" lcd and then go from there, but I could never figure out how I was going to power all of the speakers and control them well. This is the perfect solution- a head unit, and an lcd screen, all for very little money.

One other drawback- the unit has to be reset from time to time. Originally, this meant unplugging it and plugging it back in (major hassle). I don't know why it does this, but I bet it has something to do with costing only $230. But, I wired up a relay circuit with a switch in the glove box, so now it really doesnt matter at all.

In the pic, you can see the boring radio screen. But, like I said, I'll be using media engine, which looks cool anyway. Oh yeah, thats primer- that dash install isn't complete yet.

**Update: I've figured out why it needs to be reset. Well, basically, because its cheap. But, more specifically, something about Pyle head units can't handle the engine crank- most people probably never have a problem, but if you do, all you have to do is make sure that the unit isn't on right before you start your engine. I no longer need to use my reset switch.

Sonicxtacy02 · 12-30-2005, 01:34 PM

um .. why does it have to be reset

nadir_s · 12-30-2005, 04:06 PM

pls post pics!

Cris · 12-30-2005, 05:41 PM

What's a review without pics...?

DarquePervert · 12-30-2005, 07:23 PM

Quote:

What's a review without pics...?

All text?

coucouillu · 12-31-2005, 05:40 AM

SOME PICS...Thanks.

Riles · 12-31-2005, 10:44 AM

I forgot my parents had a digital I could use. Pics are posted in the first post. The trim pieces have been primered, but still need more filling and sanding.

Oh, and by the way, the SWI-X is amazing! It only took three wires (two of which were power and ground) to get my steering wheel controls to work!

Riles · 12-31-2005, 10:49 AM

Quote: Originally Posted by Sonicxtacy02

um .. why does it have to be reset

I guess its a lower quality unit? It just freezes and won't turn on. I don't really know why it does that, but resetting it fixes it. It hasn't happened all week, so maybe it was just a couple of wires installed incorrectly on my part.

d0tech · 12-31-2005, 01:50 PM

so is this screen VGA or composite? I'm assuming VGA since you said you are planning to run MediaCar on it.

Sonicxtacy02 · 12-31-2005, 02:05 PM

its composite

Riles · 01-01-2006, 02:22 PM

Yeah, its composite. I bought a $5 agp video card off of ebay that has an rca out and enough performance to play videos and do gps.

wallaceacura · 03-09-2006, 01:48 PM

Is it possible that RoadRunner can control the FM tuner?

I assume the 40W is max power?

Riles · 05-03-2006, 04:09 PM

I hate digging threads out of the grave, but I have an update on why it needs to be reset. Apparently, this is a problem with more than just this unit- it seems that when Pyle makes head units (they are manufactured by the same company that makes some of the other cheapo head units on the market), they all have a chance at having this happen.

It seems to be from cranking. Now, I turn the screen off when I shut the car off, and then turn it back on after I have the engine running- it hasn't needed to be reset in a month and a half. There are a few reviews of other head units on the internet that said they needed to be reset often if you crank with it on.

So, if you don't mind turning the unit on and off by yourself, you can save a bunch of money on a unit.

I finally have my CarPC running- since it has only an RCA connector, the resolution is pretty low, but when using a front end (media car) with the resolution set to 640x480, you can't even tell. It looks great with music and movies. I haven't set up the gps or any other apps, but I'm confident.

Oh, and to the comment about the fm tuner- it cannot be controlled by anything other than a remote, but then you have to be in radio mode, which is ugly (see above pic). I'm just going to use a USB radio.

I also assume that 40 watts is the max power. I think my Lincoln has an external amp, because it sounds wonderful and gets very loud without distorting. The bass sounds great too, with only 6x9's, which leads me to my belief about an amp.