Vaistech SL2iC Review (vs SL2i-UP and SL2Vi) -- ML+ to come
12-27-10, 10:41 PM
#1
Vaistech SL2iC Review (vs SL2i-UP and SL2Vi) -- ML+ to come
iPod integration has really come a long way for Lexus vehicles. Especially the fact that Lexus didn't even bother to put in any official iPod integration kits on their vehicles until 2010 opens up the door to a lot of companies. Among them, Vaistech is probably one of the front runners in iPod integration development. They have had iPod integration kits (among other products) for a long time and they often push out different updates to their product line. Recently Vaistech released couple of new products, utilizing the newly introduced iPod Out feature on Apple products with iOS4 -- namely the SL2iC and the ML+. This is a review of the SL2iC compared to the old SL2i-UP and SL2Vi. Hopefully soon I will be able to add ML+ to the review list as well
SL2i-UP and SL2Vi Recap
Prior to the recent release, SL2i-UP and SL2Vi are probably two of the most common Viastech products out there. The SL2i-UP is a straight forward iPod audio integration. It allows song audio playback from the iPod/iPhone through the factory audio system. And most of the controls can be done directly through the factory navigation screen or audio / steering wheel controls. Song names and information are also displayed directly on the navigation screen (if applicable). The unit also charges the iPod/iPhone.
SL2Vi is an "upgrade" of the SL2i-UP. It carries all the funcationality of the SL2i-UP, and on top of that, it adds another extra video mode, which will allow videos on iPod/iPhone to be played directly on the factory navigation screen as well. Of course, the video is blacked out when the car is moving (unless you cut some wires or have the PS override), but this adds a lot of flexibility to the system. Some downsides of the system include the charging of newer iPod/iPhone is done through an additional 5V charging adapter, adding complexity. Moreoever, for certain vehicles (especially top of the line vehicles with Mark Levinson), you are required to get P4 system which is significantly more expensive.
SL2i-UP and SL2Vi Recap
Prior to the recent release, SL2i-UP and SL2Vi are probably two of the most common Viastech products out there. The SL2i-UP is a straight forward iPod audio integration. It allows song audio playback from the iPod/iPhone through the factory audio system. And most of the controls can be done directly through the factory navigation screen or audio / steering wheel controls. Song names and information are also displayed directly on the navigation screen (if applicable). The unit also charges the iPod/iPhone.
SL2Vi is an "upgrade" of the SL2i-UP. It carries all the funcationality of the SL2i-UP, and on top of that, it adds another extra video mode, which will allow videos on iPod/iPhone to be played directly on the factory navigation screen as well. Of course, the video is blacked out when the car is moving (unless you cut some wires or have the PS override), but this adds a lot of flexibility to the system. Some downsides of the system include the charging of newer iPod/iPhone is done through an additional 5V charging adapter, adding complexity. Moreoever, for certain vehicles (especially top of the line vehicles with Mark Levinson), you are required to get P4 system which is significantly more expensive.
Last edited by rominl; 12-27-10 at 10:44 PM.
12-27-10, 10:44 PM
#2
SL2iC Overview
In some way, you can think of the SL2iC as an enhancement / replacement of the SL2Vi, with even more cool features to offer but with some strings attached as well. The whole setup is obviously more involved, with more harnesses and also 2 unit boxes (instead of 1 for SL2i-UP / SL2Vi). So installation can get a bit messy if you are not clear about all the connections, and it's also a bit harder to hide all the units. Constructions of the harnesses and units are of very good quality, similar to that of the SL2i-UP and SL2Vi. Installation is more complicated because of the extra harnesses, and depending on your vehicle setup, some of the harnesses might be left unplugged. Programming of the unit is very straight forward just like the SL2i-UP and SL2Vi.
The whole SL2iC setup
New Features
The most important new feature of the SL2iC is the iPod Out integration, allowing the system to display a much better graphical inteface for audio playback mode. This is different from the SL2i-UP, which only utilizes the factory navigation display setup, so owners have to memorize that "1" stands for playlists, "2" stands for artists, "3" stands for albums, etc... On the new setup, different playback modes are displayed on screen directly. All you need is do is to use the control buttons to scroll through and select your desired choices.
New "start menu" interface
Invoking the control buttons
And because of the new iPod Out feature, album arts can now be displayed on screen, as well as the playback bar at the bottom of the screen. Moreover, since the system is now basically displaying whatever the iPod/iPhone feed out, so as long as your iPod device is capable of decoding, you can now display foreign characters on screen as well. This was not possible in the previous SL2i-UP and SL2Vi setup.
Album arts, foreign characters display
When no album art present
When selecting albums, have the option to shuffle songs
The video mode is also "integrated" in this control setup screen as well, rather than having to use the DISC button to cycle through the modes like that in the SL2Vi. The video quality is pretty much the same as the SL2Vi, since both systems utilizes similar kind of connection to the factory navigation screen. Video quality is decent, but since it's not digital video, the quality for sure won't be as good as the ML+.
Brief capture of video mode
The SL2iC also added the feature to override the navigation / BT system while the car is moving. This is done by pressing certain preset button and it will allow users to gain access to the navigation menus. This is a feature unique to the SL2iC so far.
Things to Keep in Mind
1) The idea of SL2iC focuses on user interface and operation. In terms of sound quality, it's completely analog so for those who are into clarity and quality, there will be degrade in sound quality with the SL2iC. Moreover, since SL2iC also utilizes analog video signals, the video quality won't be of very high quality. For those who are into these two factors, look no further than the ML+, which support fully digital video and audio.
2) As mentioned before, plan ahead of installation. You are dealing with 2 boxes and quite a few wires. You need to be sure which wires to go where and how you are going to hide all the harnesses / boxes. Otherwise you are in for a complicated install for a while.
3) In order to utilize the SL2iC, your iPod/iPhone MUST have the iOS4 installed. You cannot use any non iOS4 iPod/iPhone or the system won't function properly at all.
Operation / Usage Impressions
FWIW, I had a SL2i-UP in my car for a long time, and I have also installed and operated a lot of SL2Vi and VML setups.
Jumping from SL2i-UP to SL2iC is a great improvement. SL2i-UP (or SL2Vi) provides a decent user interface, and it doesn't take very long to get used to the button location, representation of each button, etc... But the SL2iC is just that much more intuitive, everything is graphical and mostly self-explained. It's very straight forward to browse through all the menus, including playlists / album lists, etc... (these were all grayed out in the SL2i-UP and SL2Vi while the car is in motion). This is huge improvement. And the display of foreign characters as well as album arts, that's just a great added bonus as well. Of course, the ability to override the navigation and enable BT screens gives the unit more flexibility.
Out of the box SL2iC is ready to be installed already, you don't really need any other components. You just need to make sure you locate all the harnesses ahead of time.
Overall I am very impressed with the SL2iC. For its price, I think it's a very good bargin for the features you get, as long as you have reasonable expecting on the audio and video quality
Wish List
There are a few things that I think can be improved or not as intuitive.
1) The override feature, while available, is not very intuitive. You have to get to the SL2iC audio screen, press on the screen to display controls, go to page 2, and then press on a button to override the system. Similarly you have to repeat the same process to disable the override. This is as opposed to the PS override, which is simply press of a button (extra module). Personally I think the PS override is still a better choice to override the system, but some will argue from a price point of view
2) Every time you start the car and want to go to video mode, you will need to enter the specific codes to enable the feature. This is more or less a liability issue obviously, but in a perfect world, it would be nice if video is enabled directly. But at least Vaistech did a work around to get this to work on the system.
3) Toggling between MAP and SL2iC audio screen is a problem Vaistech is actively working on right now. For example, when the car is moving and the MAP screen is being displayed, if you want to enter SL2iC mode, you will have to cycle through the DISC button (to factory CD/DVD changer and back to SL2iC). If you press on the AUDIO button, the PICTURE button is grayed out when the car is moving. Hopefully a fix will be available soon
4) The new iPod Out interface, you have to use the control buttons to browse through various menus. It would be best if it's straight forward touch screen operation where you simply touch "Playlists" or "Artists" or "Albums" directly. This is more of a wish list since it will involve a lot more programming, and the current implementation is already very intuitive. And from talking to Vaistech, the limitation is mostly on Apple's side. In the iPod out mode, Apple only displays the information, but they only allow commands like up/down/repeat, etc... Since they do not allow any direct touch control setup, it's virtually impossible for Vaistech to integrate this feature. So until the day Apple opens up this direct touch control feature, the current interface is the best option.
5) Some people would prefer to have videos controlled through the touch screen as well (similar to that of the audio). Again, this is a limitation set by Apple. Likely due to liability issue, Apple doesn't allow any of those controls. That's why for Vaistech, all they could do it bypass the system and allow display of videos on screen, but for the controls and selections it will have to be done through the iPod/iPhone directly.
Sumary
A good way to look at this is to compare the prices
MSRPs are as follow:
SL2i-UP - $220
SL2Vi - $350
SL2Vi-P4 - $420
SL2iC - $370
I think the choice is very clear. SL2i-UP continues to be the solid "simple" choice of course, but for $150 more, you get the better user interface, video mode, and navigation override. That's almost no brainer. Comparing the SL2iC to normal SL2Vi, for 20 bucks more you get the better interface and override. In the end, as long as you have an iPod/iPhone with iOS4, the SL2iC is a clear winner over the SL2i-UP and SL2Vi.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VQGQSvgC-xE
Next to Come...
Hopefully soon I will be able to take a closer look at the ML+. The key would be to see if the ML+ is worth the extra money. Obviously it has digital audio and video which should translate to better quality, but with the lack of override feature, which one makes more sense?
In some way, you can think of the SL2iC as an enhancement / replacement of the SL2Vi, with even more cool features to offer but with some strings attached as well. The whole setup is obviously more involved, with more harnesses and also 2 unit boxes (instead of 1 for SL2i-UP / SL2Vi). So installation can get a bit messy if you are not clear about all the connections, and it's also a bit harder to hide all the units. Constructions of the harnesses and units are of very good quality, similar to that of the SL2i-UP and SL2Vi. Installation is more complicated because of the extra harnesses, and depending on your vehicle setup, some of the harnesses might be left unplugged. Programming of the unit is very straight forward just like the SL2i-UP and SL2Vi.
The whole SL2iC setup
New Features
The most important new feature of the SL2iC is the iPod Out integration, allowing the system to display a much better graphical inteface for audio playback mode. This is different from the SL2i-UP, which only utilizes the factory navigation display setup, so owners have to memorize that "1" stands for playlists, "2" stands for artists, "3" stands for albums, etc... On the new setup, different playback modes are displayed on screen directly. All you need is do is to use the control buttons to scroll through and select your desired choices.
New "start menu" interface
Invoking the control buttons
And because of the new iPod Out feature, album arts can now be displayed on screen, as well as the playback bar at the bottom of the screen. Moreover, since the system is now basically displaying whatever the iPod/iPhone feed out, so as long as your iPod device is capable of decoding, you can now display foreign characters on screen as well. This was not possible in the previous SL2i-UP and SL2Vi setup.
Album arts, foreign characters display
When no album art present
When selecting albums, have the option to shuffle songs
The video mode is also "integrated" in this control setup screen as well, rather than having to use the DISC button to cycle through the modes like that in the SL2Vi. The video quality is pretty much the same as the SL2Vi, since both systems utilizes similar kind of connection to the factory navigation screen. Video quality is decent, but since it's not digital video, the quality for sure won't be as good as the ML+.
Brief capture of video mode
The SL2iC also added the feature to override the navigation / BT system while the car is moving. This is done by pressing certain preset button and it will allow users to gain access to the navigation menus. This is a feature unique to the SL2iC so far.
Things to Keep in Mind
1) The idea of SL2iC focuses on user interface and operation. In terms of sound quality, it's completely analog so for those who are into clarity and quality, there will be degrade in sound quality with the SL2iC. Moreover, since SL2iC also utilizes analog video signals, the video quality won't be of very high quality. For those who are into these two factors, look no further than the ML+, which support fully digital video and audio.
2) As mentioned before, plan ahead of installation. You are dealing with 2 boxes and quite a few wires. You need to be sure which wires to go where and how you are going to hide all the harnesses / boxes. Otherwise you are in for a complicated install for a while.
3) In order to utilize the SL2iC, your iPod/iPhone MUST have the iOS4 installed. You cannot use any non iOS4 iPod/iPhone or the system won't function properly at all.
Operation / Usage Impressions
FWIW, I had a SL2i-UP in my car for a long time, and I have also installed and operated a lot of SL2Vi and VML setups.
Jumping from SL2i-UP to SL2iC is a great improvement. SL2i-UP (or SL2Vi) provides a decent user interface, and it doesn't take very long to get used to the button location, representation of each button, etc... But the SL2iC is just that much more intuitive, everything is graphical and mostly self-explained. It's very straight forward to browse through all the menus, including playlists / album lists, etc... (these were all grayed out in the SL2i-UP and SL2Vi while the car is in motion). This is huge improvement. And the display of foreign characters as well as album arts, that's just a great added bonus as well. Of course, the ability to override the navigation and enable BT screens gives the unit more flexibility.
Out of the box SL2iC is ready to be installed already, you don't really need any other components. You just need to make sure you locate all the harnesses ahead of time.
Overall I am very impressed with the SL2iC. For its price, I think it's a very good bargin for the features you get, as long as you have reasonable expecting on the audio and video quality
Wish List
There are a few things that I think can be improved or not as intuitive.
1) The override feature, while available, is not very intuitive. You have to get to the SL2iC audio screen, press on the screen to display controls, go to page 2, and then press on a button to override the system. Similarly you have to repeat the same process to disable the override. This is as opposed to the PS override, which is simply press of a button (extra module). Personally I think the PS override is still a better choice to override the system, but some will argue from a price point of view
2) Every time you start the car and want to go to video mode, you will need to enter the specific codes to enable the feature. This is more or less a liability issue obviously, but in a perfect world, it would be nice if video is enabled directly. But at least Vaistech did a work around to get this to work on the system.
3) Toggling between MAP and SL2iC audio screen is a problem Vaistech is actively working on right now. For example, when the car is moving and the MAP screen is being displayed, if you want to enter SL2iC mode, you will have to cycle through the DISC button (to factory CD/DVD changer and back to SL2iC). If you press on the AUDIO button, the PICTURE button is grayed out when the car is moving. Hopefully a fix will be available soon
4) The new iPod Out interface, you have to use the control buttons to browse through various menus. It would be best if it's straight forward touch screen operation where you simply touch "Playlists" or "Artists" or "Albums" directly. This is more of a wish list since it will involve a lot more programming, and the current implementation is already very intuitive. And from talking to Vaistech, the limitation is mostly on Apple's side. In the iPod out mode, Apple only displays the information, but they only allow commands like up/down/repeat, etc... Since they do not allow any direct touch control setup, it's virtually impossible for Vaistech to integrate this feature. So until the day Apple opens up this direct touch control feature, the current interface is the best option.
5) Some people would prefer to have videos controlled through the touch screen as well (similar to that of the audio). Again, this is a limitation set by Apple. Likely due to liability issue, Apple doesn't allow any of those controls. That's why for Vaistech, all they could do it bypass the system and allow display of videos on screen, but for the controls and selections it will have to be done through the iPod/iPhone directly.
Sumary
A good way to look at this is to compare the prices
MSRPs are as follow:
SL2i-UP - $220
SL2Vi - $350
SL2Vi-P4 - $420
SL2iC - $370
I think the choice is very clear. SL2i-UP continues to be the solid "simple" choice of course, but for $150 more, you get the better user interface, video mode, and navigation override. That's almost no brainer. Comparing the SL2iC to normal SL2Vi, for 20 bucks more you get the better interface and override. In the end, as long as you have an iPod/iPhone with iOS4, the SL2iC is a clear winner over the SL2i-UP and SL2Vi.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VQGQSvgC-xE
Next to Come...
Hopefully soon I will be able to take a closer look at the ML+. The key would be to see if the ML+ is worth the extra money. Obviously it has digital audio and video which should translate to better quality, but with the lack of override feature, which one makes more sense?
Last edited by rominl; 12-28-10 at 11:08 AM.
12-28-10, 12:36 AM
#3
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Romini, your post is a very concise, easy to follow outline of the pros and cons of the various pieces of Vaistech software you mention. I wish i had had the benefit of this thread when i was attempting to work out, on my own, the benefits and /or downsides of Vaistech's several different hardware offerings. After you have a chance to "play with" the ML+, I look foward to seeimg whether you believe an upgrade from SL2iC to ML+ is actually "worth it."
I have one tiny comment / possible clarification relating to your preliminary comments about the ML+--while it is true that the Blurtooth and Navigation override features of the SL2iC are NOT part of the feature set of the ML+, I believe that all "iPod out" and "iPod video out" features of the ML+ are completely available when the car is in motion, without the need for any additional hardware. Do I wish that all override features of the SL2iC were included on the ML+? Heck yeah! But I just don't want the "partial" override capabilities of the ML+ to be overlooked.
Keep up the good work.
I have one tiny comment / possible clarification relating to your preliminary comments about the ML+--while it is true that the Blurtooth and Navigation override features of the SL2iC are NOT part of the feature set of the ML+, I believe that all "iPod out" and "iPod video out" features of the ML+ are completely available when the car is in motion, without the need for any additional hardware. Do I wish that all override features of the SL2iC were included on the ML+? Heck yeah! But I just don't want the "partial" override capabilities of the ML+ to be overlooked.
Keep up the good work.
12-28-10, 01:52 AM
#4
Thanks for this informative post Rominl! Can't wait to hear your thoughts on the ML+, although my unit is arriving on Wednesday so hopefully it's all good things. 
Did you catch some of the "Easter Egg" features built into the SL2iC? If you get a text message on your iPhone while it's hooked up to your car, you'll get a notification on the screen of who sent you a text (but not the message itself). You also get caller ID and the caller's photo if you associated one with him/her. This is all possible because of iPod out of course. Sadly, I don't think these features are in the ML+, but it's a non-issue for me because I like to have my phone free, while an iPod touch stays connected.
Did you catch some of the "Easter Egg" features built into the SL2iC? If you get a text message on your iPhone while it's hooked up to your car, you'll get a notification on the screen of who sent you a text (but not the message itself). You also get caller ID and the caller's photo if you associated one with him/her. This is all possible because of iPod out of course. Sadly, I don't think these features are in the ML+, but it's a non-issue for me because I like to have my phone free, while an iPod touch stays connected.
12-28-10, 07:58 AM
#5
Excellent review. Well done!
I hadn't seen what it looks like to have no album art on my ML+. I was able to fill out all of the album art for my import CDs by going to Amazon Germany, Amazon France and Amazon UK and doing a drag and drop of the album art into iTunes. You may be able to do same with Amazon China.
I hadn't seen what it looks like to have no album art on my ML+. I was able to fill out all of the album art for my import CDs by going to Amazon Germany, Amazon France and Amazon UK and doing a drag and drop of the album art into iTunes. You may be able to do same with Amazon China.
12-28-10, 08:41 AM
#6
Romini, your post is a very concise, easy to follow outline of the pros and cons of the various pieces of Vaistech software you mention. I wish i had had the benefit of this thread when i was attempting to work out, on my own, the benefits and /or downsides of Vaistech's several different hardware offerings. After you have a chance to "play with" the ML+, I look foward to seeimg whether you believe an upgrade from SL2iC to ML+ is actually "worth it."
I have one tiny comment / possible clarification relating to your preliminary comments about the ML+--while it is true that the Blurtooth and Navigation override features of the SL2iC are NOT part of the feature set of the ML+, I believe that all "iPod out" and "iPod video out" features of the ML+ are completely available when the car is in motion, without the need for any additional hardware. Do I wish that all override features of the SL2iC were included on the ML+? Heck yeah! But I just don't want the "partial" override capabilities of the ML+ to be overlooked.
Keep up the good work.
I have one tiny comment / possible clarification relating to your preliminary comments about the ML+--while it is true that the Blurtooth and Navigation override features of the SL2iC are NOT part of the feature set of the ML+, I believe that all "iPod out" and "iPod video out" features of the ML+ are completely available when the car is in motion, without the need for any additional hardware. Do I wish that all override features of the SL2iC were included on the ML+? Heck yeah! But I just don't want the "partial" override capabilities of the ML+ to be overlooked.
Keep up the good work.
you are right, when i said override i only meant to say the navigation part. the video part is enabled for both the ml+ and sl2ic i am pretty sure. Thanks for this informative post Rominl! Can't wait to hear your thoughts on the ML+, although my unit is arriving on Wednesday so hopefully it's all good things.
Did you catch some of the "Easter Egg" features built into the SL2iC? If you get a text message on your iPhone while it's hooked up to your car, you'll get a notification on the screen of who sent you a text (but not the message itself). You also get caller ID and the caller's photo if you associated one with him/her. This is all possible because of iPod out of course. Sadly, I don't think these features are in the ML+, but it's a non-issue for me because I like to have my phone free, while an iPod touch stays connected.
Did you catch some of the "Easter Egg" features built into the SL2iC? If you get a text message on your iPhone while it's hooked up to your car, you'll get a notification on the screen of who sent you a text (but not the message itself). You also get caller ID and the caller's photo if you associated one with him/her. This is all possible because of iPod out of course. Sadly, I don't think these features are in the ML+, but it's a non-issue for me because I like to have my phone free, while an iPod touch stays connected.
Excellent review. Well done!
I hadn't seen what it looks like to have no album art on my ML+. I was able to fill out all of the album art for my import CDs by going to Amazon Germany, Amazon France and Amazon UK and doing a drag and drop of the album art into iTunes. You may be able to do same with Amazon China.
I hadn't seen what it looks like to have no album art on my ML+. I was able to fill out all of the album art for my import CDs by going to Amazon Germany, Amazon France and Amazon UK and doing a drag and drop of the album art into iTunes. You may be able to do same with Amazon China.
12-28-10, 03:52 PM
#7
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very good write up. As far as the wish list, I completely agree. Although, I do not mind using the arrows to go up and down, but when you are down with them, theres a back button to goto the previous buttons ( stop,play,pause) and it doesn't work. Therefore you have to cycle thru DISC/AUX again, and relaunch. This is a PITA.
Your also completely right about the issue with going from MAP to the unit. There must be a fix for this soon.
The wish for touch screen control, actually... i would imagine that someone could make an app in CYDIA that could over come this... but it wouldn't be widely accepted by mainstream.
Your also completely right about the issue with going from MAP to the unit. There must be a fix for this soon.
The wish for touch screen control, actually... i would imagine that someone could make an app in CYDIA that could over come this... but it wouldn't be widely accepted by mainstream.
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12-28-10, 11:42 PM
#8
Lexus Test Driver
The "foreign characters" feature is something I have been looking for a long time. My eyes popped when I saw Henry’s SL2iC photos… more than 90% of my music is in traditional Chinese… it’s pain in the *** to search playlist/artist/album on the Lexus screen with my VML. Finally the SL2iC (also the ML+ I assume) get around this with its own user interface.
What I don’t like is the way Vaistech does business, I purchased my VML in June 2010 and I specifically asked the sales about foreign language display question… he didn’t even bother to tell me the SL2iC/ML+ are coming out soon to solve this problem. Does Vaistech think I might purchase again when SL2iC/ML+ come out?
For now I’ll keep my VML & enjoy it. Although there are many shortcomings of it I just don’t agree with Vaistech’s business philosophy.
What I don’t like is the way Vaistech does business, I purchased my VML in June 2010 and I specifically asked the sales about foreign language display question… he didn’t even bother to tell me the SL2iC/ML+ are coming out soon to solve this problem. Does Vaistech think I might purchase again when SL2iC/ML+ come out?
For now I’ll keep my VML & enjoy it. Although there are many shortcomings of it I just don’t agree with Vaistech’s business philosophy.
12-29-10, 08:53 AM
#9
The "foreign characters" feature is something I have been looking for a long time. My eyes popped when I saw Henry’s SL2iC photos… more than 90% of my music is in traditional Chinese… it’s pain in the *** to search playlist/artist/album on the Lexus screen with my VML. Finally the SL2iC (also the ML+ I assume) get around this with its own user interface.
What I don’t like is the way Vaistech does business, I purchased my VML in June 2010 and I specifically asked the sales about foreign language display question… he didn’t even bother to tell me the SL2iC/ML+ are coming out soon to solve this problem. Does Vaistech think I might purchase again when SL2iC/ML+ come out?
For now I’ll keep my VML & enjoy it. Although there are many shortcomings of it I just don’t agree with Vaistech’s business philosophy.
What I don’t like is the way Vaistech does business, I purchased my VML in June 2010 and I specifically asked the sales about foreign language display question… he didn’t even bother to tell me the SL2iC/ML+ are coming out soon to solve this problem. Does Vaistech think I might purchase again when SL2iC/ML+ come out?
For now I’ll keep my VML & enjoy it. Although there are many shortcomings of it I just don’t agree with Vaistech’s business philosophy.
12-29-10, 10:33 AM
#10
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The "foreign characters" feature is something I have been looking for a long time. My eyes popped when I saw Henry’s SL2iC photos… more than 90% of my music is in traditional Chinese… it’s pain in the *** to search playlist/artist/album on the Lexus screen with my VML. Finally the SL2iC (also the ML+ I assume) get around this with its own user interface.
What I don’t like is the way Vaistech does business, I purchased my VML in June 2010 and I specifically asked the sales about foreign language display question… he didn’t even bother to tell me the SL2iC/ML+ are coming out soon to solve this problem. Does Vaistech think I might purchase again when SL2iC/ML+ come out?
For now I’ll keep my VML & enjoy it. Although there are many shortcomings of it I just don’t agree with Vaistech’s business philosophy.
What I don’t like is the way Vaistech does business, I purchased my VML in June 2010 and I specifically asked the sales about foreign language display question… he didn’t even bother to tell me the SL2iC/ML+ are coming out soon to solve this problem. Does Vaistech think I might purchase again when SL2iC/ML+ come out?
For now I’ll keep my VML & enjoy it. Although there are many shortcomings of it I just don’t agree with Vaistech’s business philosophy.
12-29-10, 11:00 AM
#11
Lexus Test Driver
i am not 100% sure if vaistech were aware of this "feature". i remember asking them similar questions as well earlier this year and there wasn't much of a solution either (their units having the unicode setup firmware is one thing, but our head units can't decode that...). i was surprised as well when i installed it. same thing when i discovered you could open pandora apps and it will feed audio through factory system as well
The Pandora playback is really nice although sound quality still lacks. Audio from iPhone games can also pass through as Pandora. However, while the iPhone is connected to my VML it locks the video playback on the iPhone screen. This limitation is on Vaistech, not Apple. Vaistech should allow the "passenger mode" for iPhone MUSIC/VIDEO operations.
12-29-10, 11:03 AM
#12
Lexus Test Driver
01-01-11, 08:48 PM
#13
Lexus Test Driver
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Just installed VML..so far everything is great...especially the digital sound quality..sounds better than the cd player imo. Only thing i do not like so far is the 99 songs per playlist. My playlists are set up in category ie hip hop....pop...rock...etc. But for those of you who do not care for video and only care about the sound quality..spend the extra money and get the VML over the SL2i-UP...the install only took me 4 hours lol (first time opening the center console up, so i was very meticulous.)
06-03-11, 02:24 PM
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So it looks like:
a) The interface to the iPod/iPhone is the Apple connector and not a female USB (which would allow for any size, the bumpers Apple made don't fit a variety of third party connectors, ugh.) having female USB there I could use any Apple <-> USB connector that fits (including the defacto white one) - just wanted to confirm that, from the picture it looks like that's the case.
b) You say older iPods won't function "at all" - as in I plug it in and it just gets ignored? Or I just won't get the whiz-bang iPod Out capabilities. Will it still function and play songs and perhaps read some of the metadata? What is the experience with say, an iPod Classic (one of the 60 gig models)
c) The navigation override (allowing GPS to be programmed while moving) isn't enabled by default, but requires a few keys to enable (much like the service menu override, but a little easier) - once you enable it, it's good until the power/car is turned off. I assume when you turn it back on, it's back to being disabled again? Or does it persist across car restarts? I want something to persist ideally. I had a couple loaner cars from my dealer and I swea the newer Lexus built-in nav units allow for full navigation programming/etc. while the car is in motion, and the "joystick" interface I find to be 10x more distracting to drivers. That to me seems like more of a safety issue than my generation nav!
For the record I have an '06 IS350.
Ideally, I want these, if anyone has ideas of how to accomplish this, or if VAIS has updated the units to do this...
a) USB connectivity - for iPod, iPhone, maybe other specially formatted USB devices (HDs etc?) - if I have to stick with Apple products that's fine. I assume I'd have to for this (I have been looking at a lot of different products, some of them allow for any USB devices)
b) Nav override I don't have to even touch - or I touch it once to enable the override and never have to touch it again (unless for some reason I have to disable it.)
c) Video support is neat but I don't care as much. I just want song titles / playlists / full browsing capability using the touchscreen.
I come from using a USA SPEC PA20-TOY, which was "the best on the market" at the time I bought it, and I found it to be horribly limited and annoying. Obviously these units are steps above that, but I don't want to drop a bunch of money + time into installation to wind up finding out other limitations that I thought were part of it. Like the nav override I saw a bullet point perhaps on VAIS's site, but I didn't know that it requires some keystrokes to enable. I thought it was maybe a jumper switch or a config option that isn't forgotten and you only had to do it once
a) The interface to the iPod/iPhone is the Apple connector and not a female USB (which would allow for any size, the bumpers Apple made don't fit a variety of third party connectors, ugh.) having female USB there I could use any Apple <-> USB connector that fits (including the defacto white one) - just wanted to confirm that, from the picture it looks like that's the case.
b) You say older iPods won't function "at all" - as in I plug it in and it just gets ignored? Or I just won't get the whiz-bang iPod Out capabilities. Will it still function and play songs and perhaps read some of the metadata? What is the experience with say, an iPod Classic (one of the 60 gig models)
c) The navigation override (allowing GPS to be programmed while moving) isn't enabled by default, but requires a few keys to enable (much like the service menu override, but a little easier) - once you enable it, it's good until the power/car is turned off. I assume when you turn it back on, it's back to being disabled again? Or does it persist across car restarts? I want something to persist ideally. I had a couple loaner cars from my dealer and I swea the newer Lexus built-in nav units allow for full navigation programming/etc. while the car is in motion, and the "joystick" interface I find to be 10x more distracting to drivers. That to me seems like more of a safety issue than my generation nav!
For the record I have an '06 IS350.
Ideally, I want these, if anyone has ideas of how to accomplish this, or if VAIS has updated the units to do this...
a) USB connectivity - for iPod, iPhone, maybe other specially formatted USB devices (HDs etc?) - if I have to stick with Apple products that's fine. I assume I'd have to for this (I have been looking at a lot of different products, some of them allow for any USB devices)
b) Nav override I don't have to even touch - or I touch it once to enable the override and never have to touch it again (unless for some reason I have to disable it.)
c) Video support is neat but I don't care as much. I just want song titles / playlists / full browsing capability using the touchscreen.
I come from using a USA SPEC PA20-TOY, which was "the best on the market" at the time I bought it, and I found it to be horribly limited and annoying. Obviously these units are steps above that, but I don't want to drop a bunch of money + time into installation to wind up finding out other limitations that I thought were part of it. Like the nav override I saw a bullet point perhaps on VAIS's site, but I didn't know that it requires some keystrokes to enable. I thought it was maybe a jumper switch or a config option that isn't forgotten and you only had to do it once