Recently got a new Mazda-specific Head unit that has GPS, DVD playback, IPOD, Bluetooth etc...all the fun stuff. Ordered it from Caradvanced.com, arrived quickly and is so clean that even most dealers might confuse it for some sort of factory-option. The unit has a 6.5 touchscreen and produces 45w per channel, so thankfully it actually has bass It also has a USB input which I have attached a 30GB laptop drive to. Its awesome to have that much music available without using CD's or a iPod. The unit actually comes as a flat-black too, sadly not even close to matching the 08.5 piano black finish. I ordered some Gloss Black vinyl though to rectify that and its about a 90% match, turned out great. Onto some pics!

Here is where I hide my iPhone cable and HDD. Also some shots of the TOMTOM maps I loaded with custom car pointer

That looks GREAT........Wish they had something like that for the MS6.......get to keep the above dash storage.......I am jealous...

I was looking into this a while back, but was kinda leery of ordering it from a no-name outfit. I'd like to take a closer look at it if you're willing. The thing is super awesome looking and has so many features. What's your first impression of quality and how do you like the GUI? Also, what software does it use for nav? Don't you have the choice of Tom-Tom or another one? Is the Mazda logo just a splash screen or what?

Awesome...just noticed it looks like it still makes use of the LCD display above the radio. What about the trip computer, were you able to retain use of that?

That looks very factory looking..... Nice..... and Congrats!

dommo_g wrote:I was looking into this a while back, but was kinda leery of ordering it from a no-name outfit. I'd like to take a closer look at it if you're willing. The thing is super awesome looking and has so many features. What's your first impression of quality and how do you like the GUI? Also, what software does it use for nav? Don't you have the choice of Tom-Tom or another one? Is the Mazda logo just a splash screen or what?

I love the thing. I did lose the trip computer but there is now another unit on the caradvanced site that retains it, just doesn't look quite as clean. Quality is great, similar to oem. Buttons and knobs are solid. The mazda logo actually came on it and appears on startup. The GUI is simple and works well, however the ipod interface is lacking...you can only scroll through albums alphabetically. So if you have some ZZtop lol, it would take awhile to scroll through each album. The unit comes with an iPod cable though along WITH and aux cable, which is the standard 3 RCA inputs. After trying the iPod interface I switched to the aux cable and bought the video output cable for the iPhone. So now I just use that and can outout video as well to the unit (or my boost guage from my iRev app )
The unit comes with Route 66 and Finean map software, and the Finean requires activation. However there is a way to install TOMTOM so I followed a guide from another forum and got that working instead. Route 66 was actually pretty good but I couldn't resist testing the TOMTOM. If anyone does purchase one then let me know as I can simply copy my SD card for you so you can bypass the day-long process of getting TOMTOM to run.

Very cool! I like it a lot...looks very sharp and like it BELONGS there (Hint hint, Mazda, lol)

Looks fantastic and super clean!

Very slick!

That looks great!!

expensive but very tempting. I definitely want one.

GGRR wrote:expensive but very tempting. I definitely want one.

true, but in it's defense the stock GPS unit is near 2k and you have to have a GT model to even get the option...and it still sucks in comparison

here are some pics of the iPhone Rev app...output via aux to the head unit. There are two different apps that let you output anything from the phone, and within Rev there are some different views as well