The Eclipse AVN5435

For my latest road trip to a friend's wedding in Nashville, I decided to enlist the help of the Eclipse AVN5435. This all-in-one stereo features DVD, CD and navigation capabilities all packaged into a double-sized, 4" high unit. The CD and DVD players, each with their own slot, would keep my two passengers happy on the 10-hour drive, and the navigation would keep me on track and informed as we ventured into new territory.

The AVN5435 fit nicely into my 2000 Camry's large stereo location, and unlike most in-dash pieces, there was no external navigation box or "brain" to mount elsewhere in the car. The installation was simple and straightforward, more so than most in-dash navigation units. The only extra connections were running the GPS antenna to the trunk, grounding the DVD player to the parking brake, and tapping into my car's speed-sensor wire under the passenger's side dashboard. Once installed, the Eclipse looked like it was a factory piece of equipment, and the big 6 1/2" touchscreen put a world of entertainment at my right hand.

A Polished Sound

I immediately noticed the improvement over my factory car stereo when I turned on the power and tuned in to my favorite local radio station. My Camry sports the stock speakers, but the 15 watts of continuous power provided by the AVN5435 still made them sound great. Plus, I had much more control over my sound thanks to the built in equalizer, the ability to set the "sweet spot" anywhere in my car, and a number of effects to change the sound of my music.

The equalizer can be set to flat or to one of five custom presets. The settings can be tweaked to fit any style of music, so it was easy to find the perfect sound for our varied musical tastes, including hip-hop, country, and rock. Once we found the best possible EQ settings for each style of music, the AVN5435 allowed us to store those settings and recall them quickly when swapping CDs.

The equalizer offers five preset curves and the option to build your own sound and save it in the stereo's memory.

For added realism, Eclipse gives you five different environmental settings, Concert, Live, Cathedral, Club, and Theater, to change the acoustic characteristics of your music. I only tested these out a couple of times, but I was impressed at the way the Concert setting gave that grungy venue vibe to a live recording of a Sublime show, making me feel more like I was in the mosh pit instead of the cockpit of my grocery-getter.

Five different effects add character to your music.

The position selector allows you to move the best listening position in the car around with just a touch. The crosshairs automatically center on the position in the vehicle you select, whether it be on the driver or in the center of the cabin for everyone to enjoy. The difference was noticeable on my factory speaker setup, so I'm sure aftermarket speakers and amps would really ramp up the change.

A single touch puts the "sweet spot" where you want it.

The Eclipse did a great job handling CDs burned with MP3s, and I never had a problem getting to any of my music files. All I had to do was select the file I wanted from the touchscreeen, and the AVN5435 opened each folder quickly, without the lag that some receivers have when searching for songs. You can add external amplifiers to make full use of the 24-bit digital to analog converters for full, rich reproduction of your music.

An Atlas in Your Dash

When we hit the road to Nashville, we knew where we wanted to end up, and that was about it. The AVN5435 made the endless stretch of highway a little more exciting. After punching in our hotel's address, the Eclipse gave us the quickest route, as well as a number of alternatives. A split screen view allowed me to follow my progress on a map on one side and keep track of my next few turns on the other. The screen also displayed the number of miles left to each turn, as well as an estimate of the time left to my destination based on my position and speed.

A split screen lets you keep track of overall progress and upcoming directions.

Along the way, the points of interest feature came in handy when stopping for food and gas. The restaurant feature displays many popular fastfood and chain restaurant icons, and smaller venues are represented with the flag that corresponds to the nationality of their fare.

Once we hit Nashville, we never needed to ask for directions to anything. The AVN5435 gave me a number of options for searching, such as address and type of business, and highlighted the distance and estimated time to these locations. We searched for department stores when we needed to grab a few items left behind in Virginia, and the Eclipse got us to the nearest store without difficulty.

Points of interest are clearly displayed with familiar icons.

The AVN5435 came through in the clutch when a massive chunk of metal wedged itself into my tire. I had no idea where I was at the time, much less where to find a good place to buy a new tire. A quick search for garages had me back on the road in less time than it would have taken me just to find a repair shop.

The AVN5435 is equipped with two disc drives: one for the navigation disc and DVDs and a separate drive for CDs.

Movies on the Road

The AVN5435 not only kept us on course and entertained during the many miles of highway, it also delivered when the car was parked. The slot for the navigation disc doubles as a DVD player, so when the car was turned off and the parking brake was set, it was movie time.

The DVD menu pops up with a touch of the screen.

Images on the screen were clear from any angle, and a special coating kept fingerprints from ever becoming an issue. The adjustable viewing angle did a good job of fighting glare inside the car, but a few instances of direct sunlight washed out the picture. A good tint job would definitely fight this; it also depends on the placement of your car's stereo (the Camry's is high and centered). The menus were intuitive and easy to navigate, and after about 20 minutes of wandering around and learning the buttons, I was confident enough to skip through the screens to find what I wanted.

The AVN5435 offers a lot, so it would take a while to truly know where everything is, but Eclipse does a good job of covering what you need to know in the two included supplement guides (one for audio and another for video). This kept me from constantly having to thumb through the rather thick instruction manual, and directions were clear and well illustrated.

Final Thoughts

Thanks to the AVN5435, I never felt uncomfortable driving in Nashville. While exploring new cities is a lot of fun, it can also be intimidating when trying to drive on unfamiliar streets. The AVN5435 also allowed me to make adjustments to my route on the fly, so I never had to extend my trip by stopping, pulling over, and typing in a new destination. I also was impressed at the accuracy of the maps on the navigation disc, as I never found myself searching for a street or turn that wasn't there. Everyone in the car was also impressed when we used the unit as a DVD player. The only gripe came from the backseat, and that was for the lack of a remote. While one isn't included, it is available separately, and it would have come in handy when trying to sit in the back and watch a movie.

There was no compromise in sound for having all the great video features. The AVN5435 was more than powerful enough to make my stock speakers sound better, and there should be enough on tap to supply juice to most aftermarket speakers. One feature I really loved was the quick search for the six most powerful stations. Driving through so many small, unfamiliar towns quickly put us out of range on more than one occasion. The quick search feature kept the tunes flowing strong for the entire trip, and we were never without a signal for more than a few seconds.

Down the Road

The AVN5435's benefits don't just stop here. In my short time with the AVN5435, I made big plans for our future. I would have loved to have taken advantage of the optional rearview camera that activates whenever the vehicle is put in reverse. It would certainly make parallel parking on my many trips to Richmond and Washington D.C. that much easier.

For even more music, the Eclipse 8-disc CD changer adds a huge library of tunes, a feature that would allow me to throw plenty of music in the player in one shot for the next long road trip. This Eclipse is also compatible with SIRIUS satellite radio, so I can listen to my favorite radio stations all over the country, or add a HD Radio tuner for the highest quality over-the-air signal. With the three sets of preamp outputs, I can send a front, rear, and nonfading 5-volt signal to my amps for a powerful, cinema-like sound system. A video-out line gives me the option of adding a monitor for the back-seat crew. I'm thinking that with all these options, I can make it to San Francisco before I even need to get out of the car.

The AVN5435 has plenty of features, but if you want more, it's available. Depending on your wants and needs, Eclipse makes add-on equipment like a back-up camera, cd changer, HD and satellite radio tuners, and more.