0ur opinion:

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P0WER AC0USTlK PTlD-8001N 8' Widescreen Touch-Screen Single-Din Monitor With Navigation








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Buyer's feedback: - * Great Sound, But a True Touch Screen This is NOT ...
I've had the PTID-8001N now for just a little over a month and so far I've been satisfied. I was looking for something to replace my factory unit without breaking the bank and with an 8" screen I couldn't pass this up. My car is seven years old so I can't see spending $800+ for a radio. For the price this is a very good deal. It offers a ton of connections in the rear as well as a USB connection up front and a second input, I haven't used, on the side.

As per many Power Acoustik products the sound is very good. It offers a crisp clean delivery and there are several preset modes such as jazz, rock, classic, pop, or user defined. These however can only be switched through using the remote(more in that shortly). If you want to destroy your hearing this unit can probably help. I've yet to see what the max volume is but I generally keep mines at about 10 and it doesn't even cover 15% of the volume bar.

Video quality is good but with any screen this small there is generally a loss in fidelity on small objects. I wont hold that against the unit as watching videos was never my primary intention. You can adjust the brightness and HUE through the unit without the remote but to do this you actually have to stop the video which makes adjusting to your liking a bit difficult. You can adjust it using the remote while watching however.

The USB connection is a great addition but I have found it to be less than ideal. Initially it worked well but it literally took about 2 minutes to read about 4GB of music from a USB flash drive. This can be annoying when every time you stop and start the car you've got about 2 minutes of silence. This is even the case if you turn the car back to the "on" position. Another issue that arises is quality. The problem could be my USB drive but i'm unsure so i'll note it anyway. Lots of times it would be reading my drive and when it got to the 100% mark it will kick me out to the standard radio. You wanna guess what happens then? I have to restart the entire reading process. I think that is a horribly flawed design. If the device is read and you switch to either a cd, radio or anything when you go back to that input it has to read all over again. A definite thumbs down.

If you look at the pictures of the unit you will see several buttons on the face of it. The menu is very basic allowing you to only switch through inputs, or make basic adjustment to the color, bass, treble, balance, and clock settings. Don't bother setting the clock either. It runs entirely too fast. I've set it several times to my watch and after only a few days its already several minutes ahead. Aside from that when you are playing mp3s the screen is a very light blue color and the time text is white. The colors blend and the time is nearly illegible. Those are about the only things you can change without the remote.

My biggest disappointment comes from the fact that this is touted as a touch screen but the command interface and software are extremely outdated. The screen only has a few touch points and with the exception of a very ugly menu screen, they are for the same function no matter what mode you are in. I find it a bit frustrating to have a DVD or USB full of mp3s and the only way to scroll through is with the remote. If you plan to use the touch screen to scroll through and select songs as you please, you've got another thing coming. You can only skip through one song at a time either forward or backwards. If you have several hundred songs prepare for hell and you had better pray you don't lose your remote. Without it this unit could be nearly unusable.

Power Acoustik offers a Navigation connection to this but from what i've seen of the touch screens capability I'm afraid of what that experience could turn into.

I know it may seem like I'm bashing the unit but I'm not. I still have the unit and don't plan to sell it anytime soon. However, I think everyone deserves to know that for as decent as the unit is there are some serious shortcomings with its touch screen and software incorporation.