Alpine Blackbird PMD-B100

I just installed my blackbird yesterday. I was having a bit of trouble with the TR-7 bypass along with using the blackbird. The bypass works fine with my w200 alone, but with the blackbird it wouldn't work. Someone told me not to connect the parking wire from the blackbird dock and it solved the problem.

Navigation is awesome. It does take a few seconds to re-route somtimes and if there is a street coming up within the next couple hundred feet that may come up as a possiblity to take, you will miss it, but its not so bad, it will still redirect you using another route.

Searching for places is great, though some of the categories to search for are too broad. For example, if you want just movie theatres, you can't just type in movies, you have to go to Entertainment and search for movie listings yourself.

Directions are accurate, though make sure you stay on roads or near a road. I dropped my brother off at UC Santa Barbara and was walking through the campus with my cousin and it wouldn't really pick up signals as we walked, but that could be due to the trees and not being near any roads. Other than that, its great for directions and accurate.

It is very accurate and VERY easy to use. Learning curve is seriously about 5 - 10 minutes (if that). Only trouble I had was getting the wires from the head unit inside the dash to where the dock is in the glove compartment. Wasn't too bad, I just had to drill a hole through the glove compartment and it looks really clean. I wanted to maintain use of my glove compartment so I didn't create a baffle or anything to mount it flush. I will post pictures shortly.

Overall, I will rate the blackbird a 9/10 because of the fact you cant search for specific places or get a more define search. Plus for the ease of use and accurate directions. I got the unit pretty much at a steal with nearly all the accessories and it was really worth it.

To sum it up:

PROS:
- Easy to use
- Accurate directions
- Somewhat small and can fit in pocket
- Can be used as an mp3 player (great combo if you wanna try a new route going out on a jog)

CONS:
- Can't get a more define search (can't search Movies, must go to Entertainment and see what listings show up)
- Rerouting takes a few seconds (may miss an immediate street, but will reroute and get you back on track)