Customer Reviews

Panasonic Strada 7-Inch Bluetooth Portable GPS Navigator

5 star:		(4)
4 star:		(6)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(2)

 

 

I got this Unit WAY before any of the previous review does, so I already know how this unit works inside out.

yes it has the problem that previous reviewers say but, should we even call those *problems* ? I mean, some of the things could be easily fixed with a simple firmware update. This is Panasonic's first attempt to enter the US's In dash Navigation market. They have great Units in Japan, but I guess Panasonic Japan does not share information with their USA side. So they have to create this from scratch.

Let me list what this unit can do/cant do.
-It can Play MP3 on CD-R/RW, but it cannot read MP3 on DVD+R/RW/-R/-RW.
-It seems that it does not like bad quality CD-R, my friend's cheap CD-R having mad issue with this unit. but mine plays just fine. Well, we should all get quality stuff isnt it ?
-It takes a lot longer, sometimes failed to read DVD-R/RW disc.
-It's DVD playback is Region locked to Region 1, but is not hard to overcome that problem (I think its illegal to say it here)
-Map is based on Navteq's 2005 data, yes you got that right, unit that's out in 2007 still using 2005's map data(maybe because its cheaper, who knows), because I ran into couple of roads that has been changed, one even changed from 2 way into 1 way, almost got me killed. So you better MAKE SURE that you're in the right side of the road.
-Remember to select your route preference before you start your guide. because by default, it does not allow Highway, does not allow tolls, does not allow anything. that means, all local if possible. That might be cool for some people, but I didnt know about it the first time I use it, because my other Unit has the Allow toll and Allow highway option enabled by default. So I ended up spending like 3 hours on something that I suppose to be there in 1 and 1/2 hour.
-The route guidance is kind of funny, sometimes the shortest route that it shows does NOT mean its really the shortest. So if you know that you're already going the shortest route, do NOT listen to the unit.
-It plays back MP3 fine, quality is ok.
-CD Play back is fine, plays original disc no problem, if you want to use a backup, you better make sure the cd-R quality is good.
-You CANNOT record your inserted CD into the HDD. I have no idea what Panasonic is thinking on this one, because as far as I know, the map data used about 10GB of space, that means, in the other words, about 20GB of disc space is there to collecting dust. Maybe a future update will resolve this. who knows.
-HDD unit runs really fast, it takes less than 1 second to get the route out, by default, it shows you 3 routes.
-This unit runs really hot, yes it has a fan behind but ... I would suggest you to turn the screen off if its not in use. it reduce the heat by maybe 30% (rough estimate)
-Screen is big enough, a bit bigger than Pioneer's 7" unit. and the screen is really clear, tried a lot of DVDs on it very good picture quality.
-Fast startup time, about 10 seconds or so.
-Oh yes, did I say the map is not very up to date? Maybe Panasoinc wants to get more money out from us. Anyway, the map data is FAR FROM complete. I cannot find some of the address at all, when I can just do a google search and it pops up right away.
-The way to enter address is kind of funky, you have to enter the way THEY want you to enter, for example, if you want to go 123 Avenue, there're couple of "possbilities", it could be 123th AVE, it could be 123 th AVENUE, 123th AVENUE, 123 AVE, or 123 AVENUE. Keep that in mind.

I still have more to say, but I'll leave those alone.

Is this a good unit ? I think so, if you're looking for fastest and cheapest price HDD unit that *works*, this is a unit for you. but you BETTER MAKE SURE, you try them out first at a store or something.

Im happy with this unit, hey I mean for couple hundred bucks, you get a HDD NAV with dvd playback ? My father's brand NEW CX-7 with all options loaded, all he got was a DVD navigation that cant even play DVD-videos!

Im also 100% sure that Panasonic will update this unit to bring more features out. So dont worry too much about it. Couple hundred bucks only, get it !

I have purchased the Kenwood DNX7100 and had the Eclipse 5435 and I have to say the Panasonic is better than both. The Kenwood sound quality without an amp is horrible and the music menu when using an mp3 cd is really slow. The navigation would also lead me in the wrong direction constantly. Another bad thing about the Kenwood is that it does not have hard buttons for track changing. That is really annoying you're trying to drive and you want to change the station or song and you have to look for a button the screen. The touchscreen functionality was also not very accurate. The Eclipse was over all really slow because it was a DVD based navigation. The sound quality on it was very good though and the navigation was accurate.

The Panasonic is a great mix of both! The sound quality without an amp is excellent, the navigation is very accurate and looks almost exactly like the eclipse and the button layout for both onscreen and hard buttons are great! This is by far the fastest unit and the touch screen is very accurate! The only thing I don't like is the layout of the music tracks when playing a cd. It displays 6 songs at a time but my Eclipse used to display up to 9 and it would display them quickly, the Panasonic lags a bit but not as bad as the Kenwood. I also wish that when you changed songs the music list would highlight the song you changed to and follow, but it just stays on the page you're on. Hard to explain.

Over all really good especially for the money. It's a lot better than most navigation units that are twice the price.

I have to say I was leary of this unit after reading the two reviews bashing the unit. I suppose its kind of dumb to bash a product because one thing doesnt work the way you want it to.

I absolutely love it, very fast with the navigation and the directions. My mothers suburban seems like its on a 5 second delay compared to this one.

The only thing that I am unhappy about is the inability to manually switch between day and night mode. Mine was installed bypassing the brake and park switches. Therefore, at night its like a beacon that lights up the entire car. Panasonic tried to tell me that you can switch it to night mode, but they are wrong, you can only switch to DAY mode from NIGHT mode. Since I cant get to night mode, then it doesnt help me any. I finally found a way around it though, go to menu-setup-navigation setup- and select the daytime map color as 4, it will be black like the night map. Then turn down the contrast and brightness and youre ready to go.

Overall a great unit, some downsides, but isnt every product that way. It does exactly what I want it to do, and for seven hundred bucks, you cant go wrong. Also, DVD's look great on this unit, just added 2 monitors in my headrests, works like a charm.

I just purchased this unit a few weeks back, and so far so good.

The navigation is very fast with plenty of detail. It was a little difficult to use at first, and it takes some time getting used to in terms of figuring out how to find certain buttons. You also have to make sure you put the "N" in north or "Ave" in the street name or sometimes it doesn't find your destination. However, the navigation's speed makes up for the few quirks.

I currenty am using the Sirius tuner and iPod video adapter and they both work great. You will, however, need to download a firmware update onto an SD card from Panasonic's website in order to use the video from your iPod. Make sure you purchase the iPod cable that has a "V" or you will only send audio from your iPod. Also, you cannot operate the video from the unit itself. Once you are in iPod mode, you can touch the video button on the screen, but then you must use the play, stop and fast forward functions directly on the iPod itself. To me, this isn't a big deal since I'm more concerned about audio.

The Sirius works great and sounds good. You have a total of 18 presets and also a traffic button dedicated to a traffic channel of your choice. The unit even puts the Sirius logo on the screen; pretty cool in my opinion.

The DVD video looks good as well. If you ground the parking brake cable, you can watch DVDs while you drive, but this is not recommended and illegal in some states.

Bare in mind that you will need to use an expansion module to add more that one device (iPod, Sirius, Bluetooth, Camera, etc.). I am using this expansion module and it works well and installs very easily.

Overall, I believe this is an excellent unit with a few quirks, but at an outstanding value.

If you look at this unit, both the case and screenshots, it's very apparent that it's a copy of the Eclipse 5510 and 6610. However, it's a poor copy.

1. There is no remote control available. Yes, there is an IR port on the front of the unit but it's only function is as a pass through to the optional TV tuner. You cannot control the unit with a remote. This means you cannot reuse the steering wheel controls on your car. Something every other in dash nav unit on the market can do. Seriously, a unit with a MSRP of $1,799 should have a remote.

2. Panasonic advertises that the unit has Sirius Traffic. Well, the only tuner available right now is the Sir-Pan1. That tuner does not have traffic. When I asked, Panasonic didn't even know the estimated time to market or the cost of a traffic enabled Sirius Tuner. They're advertising something that doesn't exist.

3. The Bluetooth has very limited functionality. It can only be used to answer incomming calls. The phone rings, you push a button to answer it. No, this isn't a button on the screen but rather another button that you have to cut a hole for and mount. You CANNOT dial out. Other units allow you to access your phone book on screen and to dial out. You cannot do any of that with this unit, just push a button to talk when someone else calls you.

Bottom line, this unit misses all of the seemingly standard features that competitors offer at this price point. You should pass up on this model and go for either Eclipse, Kenwood, Alpine, or Pioneer.

I got this 2 years ago and let me just tell you it's "Awesome" You can have the navigation on and still play your DVD, radio or Ipod. You must buy the Ipod cable to be able to play Ipod. It does not support video from Ipod. For me this is perfect product!!

I bought this unit about a month ago but never had time to install it until just recently, I have to admit, this unit was hard as hell to install, so many wires... I had to get a friend to help me out and it took us about 5 hours to get everything working right, but once it's ready, boy is it something? I own a 2004 WRX and it just looks so amazing and the GPS is so accurate... One advice though, you might want to get a more powerful battery than the OEM one since it DOES demand a bit of power

Great for price. Runs really fast. only thing is the radio kind of sounds static but i dont know if thats from the wires im using or what. video quality is great..GPS is great as well..its just off by about 100 feet i dont know if i can fix that or what.It doesnt have aux for ipod so you need to buy a special cord from panasonic, for the bluetooth as well. no steering wheel cords. other than that its a great product for a great price. it is everything you expect.

I've been waiting for a functional in-dash GPS device for our Honda Odyssey. GPS wasn't offered for this vehicle the year it was assembled. However, this GPS offers IPOD connectivity, backup camera connection and we've added XM Radio to it. DVD playback too. We like that Panasonic provides updates on their website and it's easy to apply using a SD Card. The most recent update converted the maps from 2D to 3D, nice enhancement.

This HU is great and decent map for the gps system, and I also bought and connect ipod cable, so I don't have to burn music to CD again, and I can control ipod by HU which is nice and sound quality is great too. The screen is very bright enough to use gps system in morning or afternoon and DVD also.. one thing that I don't like is gps and driving postion seems little slow, but after all I love this HU...