I've had video in my box for a while now, and admitted i haven't been to many shows.
However I dont see any reason to hoard my sources.

I recommend over-seas video
http://stores.ebay.com/Audio-Image-Electronics
I have never found a less expensive source for video screens
Examples:
7" Rearview - $189
8" Sunvisors - $179 (yeah that's plural, ya get both)

 

Nice, And thank for the info

 

Does the rearview monitor come with the camera?
And Is it hard to install?

 

There are setups that come with cameras.
I installed mine, but when i took it to a friend to have the rest of the video sources installed, he rewired it for me
My camera was $50, but you can definitely find them for less

 

I think those are really ugly

 

nice. one day i'll get some visors. and maybe do the rear view cam thing.

 

VERY NICE!!!

 

I thought I should share my experience with Audio-Image electronics... If you read like a 56K modem, skip to the cliff notes (bottom)...

About 2 months ago I ordered a set of stand alone headrest monitors from them. I thought it was a great deal, 2 monitors w/ 2 inputs each, wireless headphones, a remote for adjusting the settings etc. Everything was fine, I got a tracking number, it took several days for them to actually release the shipment to UPS but when they finally did, the shipment arrived 2 or 3 days later. Not bad for Hong Kong to the U.S.

That's when the problems started. The product I received was different than what I ordered. What they sent me were 2 screens that had the headrests attached. That would have been fine with me, because they were still 7" widescreens, except that they were attached to grey fake-leather headrests and I have black cloth material in the xB and they would look totally dumb. I know because just for grins, I mounted them. Eeew. Yuk!

Anyway, I sent an e-mail through the auction site and explained the mistake. Blah blah blah. Days went by, no response. Sent another message, nothing. Well, I was reading their feedback and they have alot. Alot of it is good but I was looking at the bad. It seems like the people who complained said the products arrived broken, incorrect, didn't show up, they returned damaged product and received nothing etc. Well, I should have read the feedback first and that's my bad but even still, their percentage is good and I might have bought anyway.

Finally after a week or so went by and, hearing nothing, I grabbed the packing slip from the shipment and looked up the contact phone #. I had to wait for them to open up (HK is about 15 hrs ahead of us) so about 5:00 p.m. I called. I got a machine so I kept trying and finally talked to someone. They spoke english and I explained my situation. I gave them my contact info and they setup a pickup and UPS came and got the package. The person I spoke with was very nice and very helpful. I did this and waited for the right product.

Okay, so I thought I should also tell you that I get bored easily. Maybe I have ADHD or something. Anyway, I was waiting for them to get back to me after the first e-mail I sent them as I mentioned above. This is before I finally got ahold of them and returned the product. Still with me? Okay, anyway, I hooked up the screens because I wanted to see the quality etc. They looked alot like the screens that were pictured in this guy's post:
https://www.scionlife.com/forums/vie...330&highlight=
(this is a good write up on how to DIY headrest LCDs by the way!!)
So anyway, they were so-so. They were much like the cheap electronics you get from the flea market. The menus were horrible. You could tell that english was not the first language of whoever programmed the on-screen menus. The manual that came with it was even worse. Okay, I understand, try to explain something technical in a language other than the one you speak. I 'got it' but they would benefit by sending their product and the manual to an english speaking editor. It was like they had the Chinese to English dictionary sitting there and they LITERALLY tried to translate that way. Everything was very literal or just plain wrong. For example: If they wanted to say "To toggle between inputs" it would say something like "For adjust to different watching, do press button mark P.P." Huh? Okay, and there is a 'game' that you can play, oh my gosh, do not buy it for the game. Those games you get in the happy meal with the crappy graphics and such, those games totally rock compared to the game on these screens. About the overall picture quality for T.V. DVD etc, quality is passable. You're looking at a small screen anyway so it would be nice to have the sharpest picture available and these are not that. I don't know much about that though so I would look at the specifications and compare if I were you.

Okay so where was I, my wrong product was received. They told me that as soon as I gave them a tracking number that they would ship my correct product. Yeah, okay, that's a lie. They waited until they received the product and it was the next day, they sent me a tracking #. Then I waited a few days for them to release the shipment. I think they use a courier or something that only picks up every few days. Then I got my shipment a few days after that.

Good news: Right product this time
Bad news: The bezel (mounting bracket) on one of the screens was cracked across the corner. Here's a couple photos:


I really like these screens and they seem to be much better quality than the last (wrong) ones. I'll go into product detail at the end.

So this last part really stinks. This is a couple of months later and I still have the cracked frame (which I was able to repair, sort of, with some krazy glue, some 1000 grit sandpaper and patience). They told me a long time ago that they were going to just send a replacement frame. I followed up twice and still no frame. I haven't hammered them about it. I still believe that if I send e-mails to them every day for the next several days that *maybe* someone will respond but I'm not 100% sertain that I will get my replacement frame in the end.

Okay. Here is the summary:

Product: I've seen 2 products offered by this vendor.
The first one (headrest attached) was cheap looking, had silly printed text " 7" TFT LCR Color Monitor" etc. The on-screen displays were in bad english and overall I thought the picture was just so-so even after adjusting color, contrast, brightness etc. The adjustable headrests that they were mounted on looked fine and they were adjustable so I would guess they would fit a lot of different cars. Smart design there.
The second product (stand alone monitors) were very nice. They looked to be much better quality and not as cheap looking. The surface is a brushed metal, clean and free of text. The cover over the IR transmitters is tinted plastic, looks okay but you can still see the LEDs inside. The sound quality on the wireless headphones is passable. There is a constant very light static in the background and is only noticable when no audio is playing and the environment is quiet. I didn't see this as a show-stopper. The audio from my source is line level and I had the volume all the way up on the headphones and it wasn't that loud. My kids watched a movie last week on a long car ride though and they were happy with the volume even in the kinda' noisy xB. They also included a bracket for attaching it to a wall or whatever. A little cheap and would probably break if adjusted frequently but good design and probably fine for a semi-permanent install. I didn't use them though because I mounted mine in the headrests. The manual was better for the stand alone units but it was obviously for the wrong product.

Customer Service: Over e-mail: stinks. When you call them (in Hong Kong), you will have much better luck. Alot of their feedback says they're not responsive or ignore you. I doubt these people called and I don't think they give their number on their auctions. I have found them very helpful each time I called (though it costs ME money every time I do).

Shipping: When the product actually ships, it's quite fast. I think they courier to the shipper every few days so it could easily be a week or more until you actually receive anything. You do get a tracking number though. Also, the boxes that they ship the product in do not provide enough padding to protect the mounting bracket during shipping. Even the other monitor that wasn't damaged has some stress marks on it. One drop on the wrong part and they would have been damaged too.

Overall: Would I buy from them again? That's the big question. On the one hand, their product pricing is damn competitive. The quality is all over the place though. I will say that if I was going to get more stand-alone headrest monitors, I WOULD use Audio-Image Electronics again. I was happy with the quality. In fact, I might even risk buying other products from them even given my experience but I would keep my expectations low. In most cases, you get what you pay for so don't expect high-end electronics if you're paying bargain basement prices. Personally, I'm torn. I want screens all over the place in the xB now that I have mine in. I can't see paying a few hundred $$ each to get them in though. AI Electronics is cheap and what I ended up with is a decent couple of monitors that I plan to get a lot of use out of (after I spent a little time to fix the broken one). I still would like to get the replacement though. Still waiting... I would recommend them but I would also be wary of some of their products. Work with them over the phone, IF YOU DO HAVE A PROBLEM avoid e-mail unless they ask you to e-mail them when you call. I had to send photos of the wrong product and of the damaged product when those things happened. When one of the customer service people gave me their direct e-mail address, they were very very responsive. There is the time difference though so expect 1 day for each e-mail each way. Kind slow as far as that's concerned.

If you have any questions, please feel free to PM me. I think I've blathered on long enough here.

 

Holy jeez, do I get the prize for longest post ever?

 

I honestly respect criticism, it is helpful in pushing me to do more and better with what I have done so far.

Just saying "dude that is so rockin" only praises my ego.

Oz, i agree they are not custom and could easily have a better look. But they were (ahem) cheap and easy.

I feel for ya, Poet. I too have had negative experiences with the chinese imported products. However I feel that there are redeeming factors when it comes to these products. If it breaks, or gets stolen, we knew before-hand that it was a cheap product. Therefore the failure is cheaply replacable, or the theif got away with something wont be able to pawn it for much.

If i could get equipment at wholesale prices, i would always, but chinese imports are close to that price. Admittedly I have a tendency toward the cheap, but if it works much like the american-standard of mega over-priced product, who cares if its not "name-brand"

 

True dat man. It's all good.

 

I recommend mobilevideo123 on ebay. I got 7" monitors for $50 each.

 

I also would just like to add that www.mp3playerstore.com has all of the same products as the ebay seller mentioned in this post. The products as far as I know are listed at the same price and I believe this company may be based inside the country somewhere. I have had a few friends purchase monitors from there, not expecting much from the service and quality side of things, get completely surprised at the amount of satisfaction they had with the service and product quality. I think I will end up ordering my screens from there, I just want to find a review on the specific product I am looking at first.

 

holy ____ you like to talk alot

 

^^^ Whoa, are you guys rude enough? U want to diss people go somewhere else. I usually don't like to post such massive posts but in this case, I had alot to say, so sue me.

 

Ok, anyway. Back to topic.

korbendalis, not only is your screenname from one of the best movies ever made, your xb looks sick inside!!

Dude! Your mirror monitor looks PERFECT. I've wanted one for a while--I went a little dark on my tint, haha.

Was the install as easy as you say?

Where is the camera actually mounted?

 

I tried to purchase something from this seller. However, they never shipped my item and I opened a dispute with Ebay/Paypal and a month later I got my full refund. Be careful if you are going to order from this seller and make sure you use paypal because they offer you the protection of getting your money back if there is a problem.

 

One thing you have to remember is yes these screens are cheap and theres a reason the picture quaility is usually pretty bad and the screens burn up after awhile. If you ever put one of those screens up to an alpine or something of good quailty there is a huge difference. Just because its cheap doesnt mean its a good deal.

 

But like I said, I have seen my friends screens and they were all the Innovatek brand like this seller has. The picture was good and one friend has had his for 3 years with no issues. He plays it everyday.

 

The screens probably look fine when theres nothing to compare them to. i have an alpine in dash and two head rest monitors that are good ones but not up there with alpine and other really good companys and you can see a major difference in quailty