Sony MEX-BT5000

Pros: Bluetooth feature works very well; I hooked it up to a 10 disk changer and an XM unit and enjoy having tons of music at my finger tips

Cons: Display is smaller than my older Sony headunit; joystick can take some getting use to

Summary: I took the plunge and bought this product because the illumination on my previous Sony headunit had gone out but I had it for over 6 years and I already owned a sony 10 disk changer so I decided to replace it with a newer Sony headunit. I looked for awhile at what Sony had to offer but didn't really see anything that caught my eye until I saw the MEX-BT5000. I really liked that it had bluetooth built into it because I use a bluetooth headset at home to talk on the phone but I often forget it when I'm going out. Plus this unit was "Sat-Ready" and I liked the look of it. I was a little nervous about how well the bluetooth function would work because I had read some negative things about it in other reviews. However, after installing the unit and setting it up, it has worked amazingly. Calls incoming and outgoing are crystal clear and the people I'm talking to say that it sounds no different than when I'm using just my phone. I was also worried that the sound of my tuned muffler would cause problems with the quality of calls but it seems to have no effect and you can turn up the voice of the caller to overcome any road noise. Also, its really cool how the unit shuts off the music it is playing when a call comes in. I use to hate fumbling for my phone while trying to turn down the stereo to answer it. I like the joystich a lot but it does take some getting use to because pushing it for a second sometimes performs a different task than holding it for a few. But I found the menus to be extremely easy to navigate around and like the overall look of the unit especially at night. My only complaint would be the display because its small and only monocolor. It has some "movies" and wallpaper which are okay but honestly, I was more into the boothtooth function. I haven't had a chance to stream music to it via a bluetooth enabled mp3 player and my particular model of cell phone can't do that but I did hook up my disk changer and XM radio to it which both work really well. I did have to by the XMD-SON110 adapter and XA-C40 unilink adapter to do this but now that it is all installed working its so nice to have so much music at my finger tips.