Jensen VM8013HD 3.5-Inch Screen MultiMedia Receiver

5 Comments

1. C. Gilliam says:

   November 1, 2009 at 3:18 pm

   I was initially wary about purchasing this unit. I read about four reviews and found that half were for and half were less than satisfied. My decision was strictly base on my monies or lack thereof. When the unit arrived it looked humongous but it actually fit right in. The screen shows surprising well. The remote is largish but you can control everything on deck from it. The HD radio is not bad,I have a bunch of stations here that broadcast in HD. The difference is very noticeable. The included i-pod interface worked with my wife’s i-pod. I can control all of its functions from the radio.(NICE!)You will have to get used to the playing order though. If you have playlists you’re good to go. The EQ is cheesy but I have a passive parametric EQ and I dial in more mids with that. The DVD portion works great,its played every one of my discs so far. Also the video outputs put out a good signal to my head rest monitors. I haven’t tried the AUX input yet but I suspect it will work just fine,plus it comes with the cord anyway. One note: Get familiar with the controls on the remote. It is very hard to adjust anything on the deck while you are driving. The buttons have a cheapish feel to them,kinda like they are going to break if you press them too hard. They don’t break though,it’s just easier to use the remote. All in all I give this a 4 1/2 star rating. The features are there and the price is really good. The unit itself is really nice to look at too when it’s on. It has blue backlit buttons and a really bright screen.Oh yeah,one more note: When you have monitors getting a signal from the deck,they show what is on the deck. For example when I have the radio on,the backseat passengers see the radio station and whats playing and such.
2. Richard Brown says:

   November 1, 2009 at 5:17 pm

   I stumbled across the VM8013HD last week when looking for a wiring harness for my car. I ordered it through Car Toys for $164, new. I finally installed it tonight and I must say that I am impressed with this unit. It was basically plug and play once I connected the wires from the unit to the wiring harness.

   So far, I really like this unit and I’m glad I bought it. Off the bat, it played my DVD without a hitch. I was a little disappointed to see that the widescreen aspect of the movie wasn’t translated onto the screen; I had black bars at the top and bottom. However, I used the remote control to enter the setup and changed the aspect from 16:9 to 4:3 and the movie looked normal. I then adjusted the color to bright, as the movie looked too dark. You can adjust the colors, contrast, etc, when you select the DYNAMIC setting, but I didn’t want to mess around with that right now because I can get a little OCD with those settings. BTW, on the VM8013HD, it has a pink wire that the instructions state must be connected to the brake wire, but I just connected that to the black negative wire from the head unit and grounded both wires to the car’s chassis behind the radio.

   The VM8013HD is a very solid head unit. It is heavy and well built. IMO, this translates very well to the radio reception I was able to get, even though I was parked in my garage. My stock head unit, and another aftermarket until I installed previously was not this good. As indicated by the model name, the VM8013HD has built in HD Radio, however, this was my first time listening to HD Radio, so I wasn’t really sure what the difference was between the normal station (that sounded really clear with no static) and the HD sub-station. Like I was saying, this unit was able to pull in many more stations than I was previously able to, and the stations I listened to before (non HD) sound just as clear as the HD sub-station. Just an FYI, when you land on an HD station, the HD indicator on the screen is highlighted. You know, even on the non-HD stations, the radio info scrolls across the bottom of the screen showing artist name and song name. I thought that was really cool. Also, not only is the station number displayed, but the station call letters (ex. 103.5 KBMB)

   Overall, I am very pleased with the VM8013HD. The 3 1/2 screen isn’t very big, but it’s not very small, either. It’s going to work out great when I’m sitting in the car waiting to pick up my wife, or when I want to take a break from work, or just when I’m kicking back in the car. Sometime down the road I’m going to burn my .avi files to DVD and see how that looks. The VM8013HD is supposed to play .avi files, so I might not need to convert any files, just burn them strait to DVD (however, like my Creative ZEN MP3 player, I probably have to format the video files to something like 320×240 resolution).

   Pros:

   - Inexpensive for a in-dash DVD player with build in HD Radio
   
   - Pulls in a lot of radio stations
   
   - Easy to install
   
   - Looks great, sounds great
   
   - DVD remembers where your movie left off if you remove the DVD and put it back in
   
   - Awesome EQ settings (Rock, Hip Hop, etc) Adds extra bass and loudness. No amp necessary for me.

   Cons:

   - Sticks out from the dash
   
   - Wasn’t able to use the trim ring around the unit because of fit
   
   - You have to use the remote control to access the more advance functions for the DVD player, like setup
3. M. Cannon says:

   November 1, 2009 at 6:19 pm

   This is a great radio for the price. For a Jeep Wrangler, it probably doesn’t get much easier and better. Easy installation – about one hour total time to put this in. Grounded DVD to ground wire and it works whether in park or driving. DVD is small, but sufficient to give back seat drivers plenty of distraction. The features are really phenomenal, DVD/CD-R (+), iPod direct connection (doesn’t work to charge iPhone, so minus one star), USB connection, SD card input, HD radio, direct 3.5 mm connection, and too many presets for most cities. It really was a surprise as to how many things that can be done with this radio. Since my Jeep is so loud, I don’t have a need for bluetooth operations with my phone, but that would be about the only thing it doesn’t have. It does take a full 20-30 seconds to switch sources if you’re connected to your iPod/Phone device, but for less than $200, I’ll take it. E-N-J-O-Y! That should be their tagline. It’s fantastic.
4. Patrick D. Crowe says:

   November 1, 2009 at 9:15 pm

   I was looking for a replacement to the ‘made-in-china’ replacement that I purchased for my Ford Expedition last year. I paid $168 for that unit because it had DVD, Bluetooth, aux-in, and a touch screen. Well, that unit wasn’t bad but began giving me problems after only a few months; first the radio became iffy, and the bluetooth mic, which was a little hole in the face, started going out, and the touch screen was becoming insensitive.

   Fast forward to now; I just bought and installed this unit for the same price as what I paid for the other stereo. Holy cow! What a difference! This unit doesn’t have a touch-screen or bluetooth, but it has a dedicated Ipod cable and HD radio! Excellent sound, great radio sensitivity, and multiple video outputs (I’m adding 2 monitors for the kiddos in the back!) I’m overjoyed! You can’t beat this unit on a price/features basis! Get it and you won’t be sorry!
5. P. TITIRO says:

   November 2, 2009 at 12:13 am

   I`m feel the music with amazing realism, after a easy installation.

   Really another good purchase.