I never found a review on this unit in google so here goes. I installed my new CD player Pioneer DEH-P8950BT into my MX5.

Its not quite flush to the silver trim and its got a small gap at the top but im just happy to have some tunes in the car again. Later I will take it out prop it up make it flush and epoxy cement the whole thing into the car (will never be removed but I drive a soft top so call me paranoid)



Cons:

The screne is too small and its difficult to read also the its kinda glossy (the pic says it all) so its next to impossible to read when you got the top down and its a sunny day. The time is displayed in like size 10 font so I have to wear a watch.

Instructions for the install might as well be in chinese. (for nubes like me it can be a problem but for pros its probably not a hassle)

Kinda difficult to navigate around and find the options and tracks you want (I need to read the instructions but im a nube although the instructions are well written)

Pros:

BT hands free works well (will probably save me a fine one day and pay for the unit anyway). Although you have to place the microphone carfully or your friends cant hear you properly. I like the idea that the BT is built in and you dont have to buy it as an "accessory" that cots heaps of extra money! The phone book didnt sync properly with my nokia mobile so have to type them in manually (very time consuming).

i pod connectivity works well (can be difficult to navigate).

USB is ok (its an "extra accessory" you have to buy and its a bit slow 20 sec before you start playing some tunes from a fully packed 4Gb thumb drive).

So far it sounds good half way up on the volume and its plenty for me but its a tiny car.

Overall im happy with it

Good on you for putting up a review of it.

Thanks for the review.

seems that the whole facia is out on your dash where the headunit mounts

the display being hard to read in daylight may be due to the dimmer being on, on the headunit.

as for the features being hard you did by a 8950 which is in the higher end of the scale for pioneers headunits. its not a newbie style headunit. hense why you prob need to read the instructions. then 4950's and down are pretty much the easiest to opperate and basic models.

20 second for a 4gb thumb drive to load up is good. thumb drive itself could be a cause of it being slow but i dont think thats slow for 4,000,000 bites of info.

but all in all the 8950 isnt the newbie type headunit it is more advanced then the basic entry level headunit from pioneer.



but anyway still good to see a review even though in my opinion its not a very good review. but good to see one put up.

true, the 8950BT is a top end unit, but what makes a unit top end or low end is not whether it is for newbies or pro's, it is on the features it has in the unit. i assume that is why he purchased the unit, because it had the desired features. just because a unit is more expensive/has more features doesn't mean it should not be user friends/easy to use. one thing i usually hear about Pioneers is that they are more difficult to navigate than other HU's.

a review is a crytical evaluation of something. thats exactly what he has done. he critically reviewed the unit how he sees it and gave his oppinion on it. perhaps you might want to put up your own review if you think this one is not up to scrath?

I've installed a few of this units.

Very good head unit in my opinion. Sounds great, lots of functions and features. I do have to agree that the display is a bit too small.

And alot of phones have trouble of sincing with the head unit in regard to the phonebook. The trick is to select all contacts and keep sending them to the head unit. You need to do this a few times as some phones, eg. Nokia's, can only send 10 contacts at a time i think. We used this method on my mates DEH-P8950BT and it worked.

Well done with the review though.