Long Term Polaris owners

[Muddles Member Find all posts View Profile Close Muddles]

Hi there all you Polaris unit owners,

I am currently looking around at a new head unit and the Polaris unit has been mentioned in a number of threads.

I am trying to get an idea of what they are like both from a long term owner and new owners alike.

What experiences have you had? good bad or downright ugly?

How is it physically holding up to things such as sticky fingers bull dust etc?

What was the install like and does it look good in place?

How does it stack up operationally? is the Street nav good and easy to use. Does it give good accurate instructions and is the route the shortest or best or both?

Does it play dvd's and cd's well over rough ground? Is it easy and well setup for MP3's and other compressed music formats?

can you play compresed music off any medium? (SD, DVD, CD)

If you have had warranty issues were they dealt with quickly and easily?

Does it integrate well with the Toyota steering wheel mounted electronics?


These are the sorts of things that i am looking to get answers for.

Please don't feel the need to answer exactly the questions above as these are just examples of what i am trying to find out.

All i hope to get out of this is a feeling that i would not be doing the wrong thing by purchasing this unit as i had a couple of people tell me not to go down this road at the CC&4WD super show last week. Yes they all have a vested interest in selling the products that they supply so i take it with a grain of salt but in so saying there was also a guy who said don't buy the polaris and was also prepared to point out another unit that i should purchase that he didn't even supply.

I am looking for all experiences good and bad to go by, so please don't hold back

cheers
muddles

[DarkHorse Member Find all posts View Profile Close DarkHorse]

Muddles can you please check your pm's!!!!

Regards,


Rob

[Guest Close Guest]

Please place your location in your profile.

[Muddles Member Find all posts View Profile Close Muddles]

Hi there Darkhorse and Team Piggy

Done

and

Done

to the above requests

Cheers
Muddles

[plucker Advanced Member Find all posts View Profile Close plucker]

Any feedback worth noting Muddles

[Muddles Member Find all posts View Profile Close Muddles]

Hi Plucker,

Sorry to say but i haven't got 1 jot of feedback from anybody. I know that there are a few polaris owners out there but at this point in time i am still yet to hear from any.

I hope that after yesterday there may be some commentary on the way in the next few days from a new owner but i will have to wait and see.

cheers
Muddles

[plucker Advanced Member Find all posts View Profile Close plucker]

I haven't found one on display in Townsville yet so I am still unsure how they are in real life.
I asked Strathfield yesterday who are supposedly resellers and they had never heard of them.
When I enquired at TJM a month or two ago they all gave me the blank look until someone searched through the book at the bottom of the shelf and still were unsure if Polaris made something that would fit.
Strange with the amount of Prados on the road around here you would think that someone would jump on that business opportunity.

[navy1430 Member Find all posts View Profile Close navy1430]

Muddles,

How is your search for a new head unit going?

[plucker Advanced Member Find all posts View Profile Close plucker]

Yeah got the polaris unit today, so I am ready for the install.
I got it with a free camera for the same price. I think that is the deal for this month.
Will comment more when I get it up and running.
The Polaris unit cost $1300 with camera.
The dent in the back of the car while cameraless cost $1250
I think I know the better deal......

[navy1430 Member Find all posts View Profile Close navy1430]

excatly the same story here.. as soon as the Home Accountant saw $800 repair bill, $1500 was instantly approved..

[Johnnos Brisbane Lurker Find all posts View Profile Close Johnnos Brisbane]

DVDs while driving

Guys,

I'm interested in purchasing a Polaris in-dash but an installer I spoke to told me that it's not possible to play a DVD while moving. He explained that the unit must play the DVD on the main unit screen and it's not possible to play the DVD via rear screens only (eg DVD on rear screens with GPS on main unit while driving).

Can anyone clarify this for me? Is it possible to play a DVD on the rear screens while using the GPS on the front screen?

Also, is the Bluetooth functionality OK?

Thanks

Andrew

[navy1430 Member Find all posts View Profile Close navy1430]

Andrew

[navy1430 Member Find all posts View Profile Close navy1430]

Re: DVDs while driving

I'm interested in purchasing a Polaris in-dash but an installer I spoke to told me that it's not possible to play a DVD while moving.

He is right but there is a setting you need to change which overrides this. You do not need extra switch or any mod... Probably takes 5 sec to do it.

Please do not that it is illegal for the driver to watch DVD whilst a car is in motion He explained that the unit must play the DVD on the main unit screen and it's not possible to play the DVD via rear screens only (eg DVD on rear screens with GPS on main unit while driving).

Can anyone clarify this for me? Is it possible to play a DVD on the rear screens while using the GPS on the front screen? Poron guys may give you a acurate answer as I do not kow anyone running this system with the rear screens yet.


Also, is the Bluetooth functionality OK? No issues.. good Mic and sound

[Johnnos Brisbane Lurker Find all posts View Profile Close Johnnos Brisbane]

Re DVDs while driving

Guys,

Just an update. I went ahead and purchased the Polaris. Took me about 2 hours to install. (Head unit install was very easy, cabling to Reverse Camera was slowest part).

It easily meets my expectations and does everything I wanted. Apart from the basics, it meets my specific requirements including:
1. Play DVDs to rear screen while displaying GPS on front screen (while mobile)
2. Pairs with both my mobiles
3. Interrupts GPS or Radio with BlueTooth for incoming/outgoing phone call
4. Switches to Reverse Camera upon selection of Reverse gear
5. Interfaces to steering wheel controls

So I'm very impressed so far. At first I didn't think it interfaced with the steering wheel controls properly but I soon found the calibration screen for the controls and now it all works fine.

One point I have noted is the slow bootup. It takes awhile to boot which means the reverse camera often isn't ready when I'm ready to go. I did notice that the boot sequence involves testing a number of functions which my unit doesn't have (eg Tyre pressure sensor, Ipod interface, etc). I might see if I can disable them from the boot sequence to speed things up. The alternative is to see if I can get the unit to sit in 'standby' mode (perhaps off aux battery) while switched off. I have no idea if it will support this so is just a wild idea.

I also installed the headrests recommended by Mav in a different post complete with wireless headphones. Excellent quality and will keep the kids happy on our trip to the Gulf in July.

Very happy so far.

Andrew

[mav Addicted PP Member Find all posts View Profile Close mav]

Re: Re DVDs while driving

Guys,

Just an update. I went ahead and purchased the Polaris. Took me about 2 hours to install. (Head unit install was very easy, cabling to Reverse Camera was slowest part).

It easily meets my expectations and does everything I wanted. Apart from the basics, it meets my specific requirements including:
1. Play DVDs to rear screen while displaying GPS on front screen (while mobile)
2. Pairs with both my mobiles
3. Interrupts GPS or Radio with BlueTooth for incoming/outgoing phone call
4. Switches to Reverse Camera upon selection of Reverse gear
5. Interfaces to steering wheel controls

So I'm very impressed so far. At first I didn't think it interfaced with the steering wheel controls properly but I soon found the calibration screen for the controls and now it all works fine.

One point I have noted is the slow bootup. It takes awhile to boot which means the reverse camera often isn't ready when I'm ready to go. I did notice that the boot sequence involves testing a number of functions which my unit doesn't have (eg Tyre pressure sensor, Ipod interface, etc). I might see if I can disable them from the boot sequence to speed things up. The alternative is to see if I can get the unit to sit in 'standby' mode (perhaps off aux battery) while switched off. I have no idea if it will support this so is just a wild idea.

I also installed the headrests recommended by Mav in a different post complete with wireless headphones. Excellent quality and will keep the kids happy on our trip to the Gulf in July.

Very happy so far.

Andrew

Andrew, the slow boot up is not confined to the Polaris most if not all the all-in-one units are the same. They are basically just cut down PCs and so have to go through their bios boot up procedures. The Roadrover is no different in this regard.

I am very interested in the TPMS that the Poaris is suppose to be able to do. I am guessing that the Polaris is another Chinese made unit and the manufacture in China already has the TPMS components to go along with this unit. It is probable that the Polaris folks here did not want to pay the extra for the license to sell this add on. Has anybody found who the actual manufacturer of this unit is? As you may be able to go direct to them to get the TPMS components.