Reviewer: David Elsmore from United Kingdom
Posted on 03/29/2013
Unit was well packaged for transport.
Install is straight forward.
Unit operation
The buttons on the steering wheel do not control the D5161.
Unit information appears on the LCD screen between the speedo and tacho.
Unit dims when side lights are used and reverse camera comes on when selecting reverse gear.
GPS sensor picks up a good signal, I placed it behind the A pillar shroud attached to the pillar with the magnet.
FM and AM radio reception appears good, will investigate further on the move next week.
Bluetooth Phone
Unit connected quickly to HTC Mozart and downloaded contacts.
Would be nice to have a search function, scrolling through 60 contacts to get to 'Home' is tedious.
Making calls is easy enough, caller is clear through the speakers.
Bluetooth A2DP
HTC Mozart connected to unit via A2DP successfully, no stutter, sound clear. Control buttons worked.
Would be nice to have an EQ button to change bass/treble.
Apple connector
I passed this into the glove compartment. Worked well, song details appeared on the D5161. Buttons on screen controlled the Ipod.
USB connector
I attached a 16GB, to the front USB socket via cable provided. File structure shown on screen, buttons search and scan contents of stick.
Same as SD card interface numbers 2-3.
When no codec found for videos there appeared to be no back option. Only the hard buttons 'Home' and 'Mode' moved you away from a blank screen and you have to select the USB option and wait for the unit to scan the contents of the stick before continuing. Not cool.
SD Card
2gb class 4 and 8gb class 10 cards tried, unit showed file structure and played mp3s.
Like the options down the side to select different file types music/video/pictures.
Did not play mp4, avi or divx files (no codec available).
Radio
Would be better if it showed the station name, not the frequency on FM.
Reception is good.
Searches for next station if signal is weak. What would be much more useful would be for the unit to move to a stronger signal for the station you are currently listening to.
Using the spy glass quick search button is good but it appears to replace all the stations you have already selected as presets. This is really annoying. Most radios store quick searches on a separate band.
If the signal is strong you cannot turn the volume down far enough when the engine is off.
General comment: I believe the Mondeo, as many other cars have, has a Canbus signal that tells the radio to get louder as the revs increase; this is a great option to have enabled so you do not have to change the volume manually every time you change speed (this is annoying me slightly).
Would love integrated DAB as I miss the choice of programs since I changed cars.
Software Menus
Easy to navigate a round the software settings.
Like the Main Menu with moveable icons.
System Settings
Some of the toggle titles are a bit vague ie 'parking boot' for Reversing camera activation.
'Headlight' control did not work until the toggle had been toggled off and on again.
Audio Settings
'Interface 1' acceptable equaliser control, but steps are quite large for the standard speakers.
I think that the EQ settings can be forgotten as I appear to be pressing the 'EQ' and selecting 'Rock' when I have not changed to another Eq setting previously.
Love the way you can move the sound round the car with 'Interface 2'.
Video Settings
All simple here.
Navigation/GPS Monitor/ Time/Language Settings
Straight forward.
Steering Wheel Settings
Works very well.
Touch Screen Calibration
Easy to use, could use a larger 'OK' to confirm completion, suggest replace 'OK' with 'Return to MENU' so you know to press the screen.
LED settings
Fine as it goes, a greater choice of colours would be nice, and brightness control. Different level of equipment I know but the last after market radio allowed almost limitless colour and brightness control.
Startup Logo
Like the Ford Logo appearing on startup, very OEM.
Background
Easy to use, nice choice of options.
Have not tried setting my own background.
Status Region Icon
I like the option to switch off screen on dark roads. Would be a nice option to be able to set the brightness level of the screen when you switch the headlights on in the settings. The screen is a little bright for me for night driving and using the GPS.
Remote control
Works well when you hit the IR receiver window. My daughter (11) likes it as it puts her in control. However a less crowded remote with a few simple buttons would be more practical and easier to learn/navigate. It must be remembered though that I am not a teenager and life is not too short to learn a new remote! What would be a real selling point would be control via an App on your mobile, though the selection of WinCE system as the operating is not a good one for this type of innovation I believe.
Summary
In general the D5161 is a nice unit to use with plenty of connectivity options and reasonable sound quality.