Disappointed in AVIC8200NEX

[michaelnel]

I have been trying to like this thing, but it is really not growing on me at all.  

 

I think the UI is terrible and non-intuitive.

 

The screen is unusable in daylight, and I have tried and tried to adjust the brightness and contrast.

 

The dimmer function does not work as described, or at least the way I think it is described.  For instance, AUTO mode is supposed to dim when the headlights are on, and not dim when they are off.  Mine doesn't do anything at all when you switch the headlights on and off.

 

My Garmin 3597 had a light sensor and would switch from day to night mode and dim it self automatically according to the ambient light level.  Why can't this far more expensive box do that?

 

The HD radio reception is really awful, just as bad as the $60 crap radio that was in there before upgrading.

 

The map module is cumbersome to operate and difficult to see due to the low contrast, dim display.  The UI is clunky for that too, taking way too many finger touches on the screen to do the simplest things.

 

The only redeeming feature for it so far is the Android Auto which is also pretty much of a letdown, although I really love the NPR ONE app.

 

Wish I had not blown all that money on this thing.

[zzattack]

Contrast on the screen is not supposed to be bad at all. Perhaps disable the dimming altogether for a bit to rule out the possibility that it is constantly dimming.