gordongl450

My wife and I decided on the aftermarket Vizualogic system because we wanted dual DVD players and the ability to load DVD's on top at the players. They are covered with official MB-Tex so they look fine. They play great and come with 2 sets of wireless headphones, although my 3 year old son uses wired headphones right now.

The button on the bottom right gets held down for a second or two to turn it on. Then when on a light tap of the same button changes between two submenus. Then the other buttons contol the regular Play/Stop controls on one submenu or other options on the second submenu.

My son can't properly use the submenus yet so we have to control the player with the remote control from the front seat which requires some contortion trying to get the IR sensor on the front of the player to pick up the commands from the remote. That is a problem right now, but when he is older and can understand the sub-menus it won't be a problem.

The second problem is broadcasting the audio through FM modulation doesn't work well. Whe we are trying to control the player from the front seat the only way to know what is occurring at the player is to listen to the audio over the FM modulation. It's not great but it works.

They have an AUX input on the player front and the game port input (Ext AUX) are wires that come out from under the passenger seat if you want to use them.

I'll have another post with pictures to show the submenus.

Gordon

gordongl450

Tapping the power button gives the two submenus.

gordongl450

The nice thing about the system is that the two players are independent or linked together. The players can both be playing seperate DVDs. Or either one of the players can be selected as the master to play to both screens.

The game port (Ext AUX) can also play to one screen or both. Although the game port play to both sets of headphones it does not play through the FM modulator.

gordongl450

Be advised that the 2007 and the 2008 factory installed DVD systems are the same. One DVD player, one DVD source at a time.

GL Fahrer had a definitive sounding post a few weeks ago that stated that in 2009 the factory RSE system will be Dual DVD Players. I wonder how MB will implement that. I guess it will be quite similar to the Vizualogic system without the need for the FM modulation. The audio feed should be direct which will be much better.

cjh.

Looks nice. Very familliar...I have those exact screens. I like the Vizualogic screens much better than the stock MB ones. Where are those A/V cords plugged into?

gordongl450

cjh,

The vizualogic system has wire connector/control box that the installers shove somewhere into the inside of the back of the front seat. I have never actually seen the connector/control box. But that is what the game port wires connect to and then they just hang under the passenger seat.

Gordon

abcdef

Gordon - Thanks for sharing the information regarding the aftermarket dvd system. I am planning on adding this same system to my GL.

We have a discussion going on the other site regarding the use of the Automatic audio selector switch which would allow the DVD audio to be played through the GL's speaker using the aux port even if you have the factory ipod installed. This would work better than the FM modulator. See the link below.

http://www.benzworld.org/forums/gl-c...or-switch.html

gordongl450

abcdef,

Thanks for the link to that other thread. Very interesting. I have my local installer looking into this also. He has not contacted me yet. I would love a direct audio connection from the vizualogic.

jbondox

I am not digging the wires under the passenger seat. the game port can be plugged in on the front of the screen if need be. just my opinion though, I look at it like this, keep it factory looking, how much time is the game played, and when the game isn't played, can it look clean, as in no wires.

oknish

Gordon - the fit and finish of these look really great down to the stiching.

Just one clarification - factory RSE has one DVD player but has 2 additional sources as well. These additional sources are independent so, for example, one person can watch a DVD while other can play a game. Or both can play a game, or both can play separate games (will need 2 game consoles).

gordongl450

jbondox,

I had the wires pulled out from under the passenger seat just to show where they are if you wanted to use them to hook up a game console. Normally I have them tucked under the seat and you don't even see them.

oknish,

Yes, I get your point about the ability to play another source to either screen with the factory RSE option.

There were two things that I liked about the Vizualogic system. The first it can play 2 different DVD's simultaneously. Second, the DVD player is not under the rear seat on the right side, the DVDs load on the top on each player.

We took a long beach trip where we had the rear passenger-side seat folded down to get more cargo space. My son was in a car seat behind the drivers seat. My wife, passenger, could easily change DVDs in his player while we were driving. With the factory RSE DVD player in the being under the rear seat, it would have been very difficult to change DVDs for my son while the truck was on the road. I believe I would have had to stop and get out of the truck and do it by opening the rear passenger side door and reaching under the folded down seat.

Admittedly, this cargo situation is infrequent, but I thought about this senerio a head of time because the reason for buying this truck was to take fun road trips with my son. We travel with a lot of stuff and there will be times when I have that rear seat folded down over where the factory RSE DVD is placed. Therefore, I opted for the Vizualogic system, which by the way, my dealer arranged for the installation, so it was in when we picked up the truck.

It will be interesting to see how Mercedes Benz implements the dual DVD capability in the 2009 factory RSE option. GL Fahrer said that was in the plans for 2009.

Gordon

oknish

I agree, Gordon, that top loading ability of Vizualogic is definitely a great plus over the factory RSE.

Stumblefoot

Boy... isn't that the truth. We couldn't believe it when our rep showed us where to load the DVD's. It'll be fine for us, because our little girl is 8 and pretty self-sufficient, but what a pain that would have been just 2 years ago.

I feel for you Nish. Lots of stopping on those road trips I'm sure in order to stop the "change the movie Mommy!" chant coming from the rear seat.

oinick

I had one of these systems in the 2006 LX 470 I ditched for my 07 GL 320.

I agree that they look great. They are easy to put a DVD in from the top slot. And it is great that you can watch two DVDs at the same time or watch the same one on both screens. The wireless function of the headphones is superior to the wired headphones of the MB system because you can add more wireless headphones and everyone can listen.

Now I will tell you why I like the MB system better. The picture on the MB screens is simply in another class relative to the Vizualogic system. The image is much, much better and clearer. This is especially true when the image is sent from one DVD player to the other. There is often some interference in the "slave" screen in the Vizualogic system.

In the MB system, it is easy to hook another DVD player to it if you have people that want to watch more than one movie at a time.

As for the headphones in the Vizualogic system, they really run through batteries quickly -- my daughter seemed never to be able to listen because the batteries were dead. This is why I prefer the MB wired headphones, which are made by Bose and sound great.

All considered, I prefer the MB system. Even though the DVD player in the MB system is hard to load and only two people can listen privately via the wired headphone.

In the Lexus, you could watch the DVD on the nav screen, however, which was really cool if you were sitting still.

gordongl450

oinick,

You wrote:

"The picture on the MB screens is simply in another class relative to the Vizualogic system. The image is much, much better and clearer."

I respect your opinion on this and maybe some of your experience on this, but I am an audio-visual enthusiast. Basically a pixel, is a pixel, is a pixel. Unless you can find some data that says the 7" LCD screens in the MB system has more pixels then the 7" LCD screens in the Visualogic system; there is no way you can say that the MB screen are in "another class and much, much better and clearer". The electronics and be slightly different and that can cause slight differences in quality, usually refresh time, but "another class, and much, much better" is a stretch without data.

I can't find any data on pixel density for either of the systems, but I'll bet they are the same and I wouldn't be suprised if they buy the actual screens from the same supplier.

Have you been able to compare the new Vizualogic A1250 system side by side with the MB sysytem with the exact same DVD playing simultaneously and all the contrast and brightness at their neutral settings? I have not been able to do that? But now that we have had that discussion I am going to try.

Gordon

BlownV8

What did the system cost installed?

oinick

Absolutely not. I have not been able to compare directly the Vizualogic to the MB system. I did not mean to imply that I had done that. I am simply saying that I used to have a Lexus with the Vizualogic system in it. In the judgement of this reader and his twelve year old kid, the MB picture is better, and I do not have to worry about replacing batteries in the headphones.

This is not a personal thing, and I think the after market systems work fine. They are not directly comparable. I think the MB system is better but
that is only my opinion. The Vizualogic system is very good too.

I can't see how it is likely to make a bad decision here. Good luck and I am sure whatever you decide will work great.

oknish

You will laugh at my low-tech solution, Stumble My daughter who is 18 mo old watches her Baby Einsteins from the main DVD drive. Since those DVDs have a repeat play menu setting, she can watch one DVD over and over again. Please don't tell her

For my son, we use a portable DVD player stuck below the front passenger seat and run the AV cords to one of the inputs. So when he wants a change, mommy just pulls the portable out and swaps the DVD. The power outlet in the rear of the center console (below A/C) comes in handy to run the portable.

But, yes, MB could have come up with a better place to locate the DVD drive.

oknish

gordon and oinick - come to Vegas in Oct with your GLs and we can do a true side by side comparison

Stumblefoot

As they say in those guinness beer commercials... BRILLIANT!!!

Stumblefoot

Now that would be a hoot. On Saturday evening, after the day's festivities, rather than going to see Blue Man Group, we could all meet and sit inside Gordon's and Oinick's GL's comparing and contrasting the picture quality of the two systems. We're all so drunk on GL Kool-Aid, that we'd probably do it too!

Gordon, I don't know where you're from, but Oinick, you better starting revving up that GL, because it's a long road trip from Chattanooga to Vegas.

Would love to see you both there!

gordongl450

Hey Everyone,

I actually wanted to drive to the Vegas get together with my wife. I think it is a great idea. My wife thought I was nuts! But, unfortunatley, I have to be in a business meeting in Baltimore that weekend.

In terms of the DVD systems, lets be honest, it is about convenience and keeping the kids happy. Watching movies on a 7" screen in a car is a low fidelity situation with any system, that's the bottom line. I am just happy there are auto systems out there, it's cool technology.

Thanks for the discussion. Have a great time in Vegas, be safe!

Gordon

jbondox

I compared both before, they seem equal. also a side note on the vizualogic installation if you so are inclined to do it yourself. run the wires for the headrest screen to the front outer corner of the seats, then add the extension cable to it. that when a tech has to pull the seat, you won't get the wires messed up. Also you can add the box, above or below the radio, add a small RCA to stereo mini jack and plug in the glove box, radio shack has a 3' one for $5.99

Also if you are going to split the audio between it and the iPod, and don't have the NavTv iPod interface with the AUX input, then the wires will be right there for you. The factory iPod blows because it isn't on the command. further video out for the front command is right there also.

midnightz

Thanks to many who posted and share their knowlege. I'm about to place an order for 08 and am convinced that I will install aftermarket DVD system and Nav-TV to display DVD on the COMMAN screen.

I am not planning to order the Ipod integration module since I've read that the Automatic Audio Selector Switch (AASS) replaces it.

What inputs (RCA, audio, video...etc) are factory installed in glove box if I didn't order the Ipod module?

Will I find the AASS installed in the glove box or is AASS a MB accessory that I can order through my dealer?

Thanks.

jbondox

why don't you just get the navtv ipod module, it displays both on the cluster and the command. also if you do a video on the front command, try the x164 from them first, it will work on only a select few, but if you have rear camera installed already from the factory, then it will work for a video interface for the rear screens