ok, here's the final report.
had it bought: $330 with shipping
had it installed by car toys (considering all hybrid electronics, opted for pro install, in case it goes sour. warned their manager, he said - we break it, we fix it.) same time, i added subwoofer output in the trunk, so install was about $230 with tax. VAIS VML itself would have been around $100.
DO NOT INSTALL IT INTO GLOVE COMPARTMENT. i wanted to have it canceled, but easy access, planning on adding HD later. installer installed it (Velcro) onto the rear glove compartment wall. it all looked ok when i picked the car, except that car toys did not have a single usb drive to test it out. who would have thought, but... also, they did not know how to set pins on VML. whatever. by the time i was 10 minutes away, i had it all setup simply by reading manual. when i inserted usb into vml, i found that glove compartment door will not close now. so, i ended with VML velcroed to the bottom of the glove compartment door. even with that, usb barely fits when door closes. also, took much of glove compartment space out. it's a BIG box.
i hassled with it yesterday, sort of made it work, it did not want to recognize more than 20 files in a folder, but i finally got it all working this morning. same time, had my basslink200 connected.
guess, time for final impression. $560 price tag on something that is very much looking and working like maybe $100 for the piece plus install. i just can't get over this thought that it's nothing more that a usb adapter with very basic onscreen display. i understand that it is custom tailored for toyota. sounds like being
lexus compatible made it eligible for very high price tag. well, it's done.
function wise, so far, it is unimpressive. it creates additional cd changer type display on nav. it has to have at least 2 folders to function. then you have a choice between folders and between files in folders. i have used, so far, only basic skip/up/down controls. i think, there's way to see the files list, so far, i could not get there.
the audio mode button is supposed to switch between cd changer-cd changer 2, which is VML unit-fm1-fm2-am. so far, there's a major lag now with all this. yesterday, it was showing mode selection on display, does not today. sort of have to wait and guess what is playing - cd or VML MP3. guess, i'll just take cd-s out to remove guesswork.
on my book, it is not worth the money, period. maybe i should have spent more time looking for usb toyota adapter, or something. or just called cartoys or fry's and asked for that. does not look like 300 bucks, does not work like 300 bucks in times when electronics are cheap and adapters are all over and for everything. also, like i said, just imagine all the adapters you need to buy extra for ipod other memory storage.
they have tiny support forum off VIAS Tech site. i spent quite some time yesterday there, trying to figure out why vml will not recognize more than 20 files in a folder. found that it's only 2 pages forum, with only about 150 users. also, has unpleasant attitude. if admins do not know the answer to the question, it is ignored. and i have no doubt their admins are their tech support same time.
basslink did its job, and too good. now i have to tame it down to almost nothing, or it's too much bass.
well, like Othello said: the moor has done his job, the moor can retire. i'm out of here.
thank you!! appreciate good advice.
for Toyota.
Linear Mode
