Inexpensive compact overhead DVD/LCD installed yesterday
 

For the past two weeks, I've been shopping for an inexpensive but high quality overhead DVD player that would be compact enough to fit in our Fit. The one I chose was the $499 Jensen MVB85 from Circuit City. There are customer reviews of the Jensen MVB85 here. The MVB85 has good picture quality and comes with two wireless headphones. For those who don't know, Jensen is part of the AudioVox family of companies. The MVB85 is also sold under the AudioVox brand name.

I had the MVB85 installed yesterday under the Circuit City free installation deal that continues through today (8/26/2006). As part of the installation, I had them run a cable with a mini stereo plug up to the Aux input of the factory radio. I paid another $40 for the cable and Y adapter, but Circuit City didn't charge any extra for cable installation. I had them mount the unit in place of the factory dome light. It is located with the forward edge of the MVB85 just covering the former location of the dome light. I provided the Circuit City installers with a copy of the 2007 Honda Fit technical manual. It took them 6 1/2 hours to do the installation. The installers at the Circuit City on Pershall Road in St. Louis did a terrific job.

The installed MVB85 looks super and works great so far. It looks like it has always been there. The built-in dome lights are brighter and provide better coverage than the replaced factory dome light. In addition, the built-in dome lights can be used as map lights by rear passengers. Overall we are very happy with this purchase. I will try to get photos next week.

awesome man.. iam looking to do something similar..

I might do the carputer like on my DC5 I'm just waiting on the dash kit

Some additional thoughts
 

The Circuit City installer found the Honda Service Manual quite helpful. He was very impressed with the level of detail provided. He said, "I wish I had one of these for every car I do".

Rear visibility with the screen down is not too bad. I can see the car directly behind me; I just can't see the faces of the people in it. During normal driving, with the screen closed, the DVD player does not interfere with rear visibility in any way.

The MVB85 DVD player comes with a 12 month parts and labor warranty. Two year and four year replacement warranties are also available at additional charge.

For those Fit owners who are still dating, the overhead DVD player provides a good reason to put the seats into double "refresh" mode. Who needs a drive-in movie? ;)

New Circuit City deal on the Jensen MVB85
 

Circuit City is offering a new deal on the Jensen MVB85 overhead DVD player through 9/2/2006. Installation is now back to $100 (instead of free), but the price of the unit has been reduced from $499 to $449 and they are now offering "no interest until January 2008" (aka 16 months same as cash).

any pics of it installed?

Sorry, no pics yet. Given my schedule next week, it will probably be Tuesday at the earliest that I can take pictures.

I can report that we drove about 100 miles this weekend with the DVD player in operation and it did not skip even once -- despite rough roads, speed bumps and potholes.

would this void the warranty? i suppose if u doit yourself then the warranty would be void but if you have like circuit city do the job then what?

If any parts of the car had been damaged during the installation, clearly the Honda warranty would not cover them. Likewise the Honda warrantly would not cover a new headliner if I should decide to remove the DVD player at a later time. I can't see how the DVD player installation would impact the Honda warranty in any other way. Electrically, the DVD player is a replacement for the dome light and a source of input to the Aux jack on the car stereo.

Photos of overhead DVD player installation
 

I took some photos of the overhead DVD player installed in our Fit. First, a view from the front left:
http://img175.imageshack.us/img175/5...ftfrontvs9.jpg

Second, a view from the right rear. This view shows where the wireless headphones and remote are stored. The remote is stored in a combo trash bin and tissue holder:
http://img83.imageshack.us/img83/556...ghtrearfl0.jpg

Third, a view from the rear with the DVD player closed:
http://img83.imageshack.us/img83/830...romreartx9.jpg

And open:
http://img207.imageshack.us/img207/2...romrearrl9.jpg

Finally, a somewhat blurry view of the aux input cable:
http://img96.imageshack.us/img96/954/auxinputwt8.jpg

Circuit City has a new deal on the Jensen MVB85 this week through 9/24/2006. They are offering $75 off, 15% off accessories (such as the aux cable) and no interest or payments until 2007 (aka 90+ days same as cash).

i just don't get how can they charge so much for Jensen brand, i got a much better deal with panasonic online.

It's true that there are many good deals available on DVD players online, particularly on factory refurbished units. However, not everyone has the experience, ability, tools and parts necessary to install one. It took an experienced team of Circuit City installers 6 1/2 hours to install mine from the time the car was driven into the bay to the time it was finished. The installation involved removing the visors and headliner, fabricating and mounting a custom bracket, wiring the unit, cutting the headliner and then putting everything back together so that it looks like the DVD player has always been there. Their installation is also guaranteed for life. You may be one of those people who is confident enough in your car installation experience to be able to take advantage of online deals. If so, more power to you. For me, the Jensen MVB85 with free installation was the best combination of quality, price and installation cost that I found locally.

i agree with ya ^
btw, their labor warranty is one year, manufacture part warranty is also one year(you'd have to go thru the company to get that warranty not Circuit city). You can by their extended 4 years warranty for $128. No stereo shop would warranty their work for life.

The guys in the Circuit City installation shop told me that their installation work is guaranteed for life. I don't know if that is company policy or not. Nevertheless, these guys seemed to believe it and be willing to act accordingly.

thats cool to have for refresh mode:cool:

when it's down, does it affect the vision of the rear view mirror??

BargainSeeker
For those Fit owners who are still dating, the overhead DVD player provides a good reason to put the seats into double "refresh" mode. Who needs a drive-in movie?

You mean nobody drives 70's conversion vans with wall to wall shag carpeting and a bed in the back?


Toy, he's your answer:
BargainSeeker
Rear visibility with the screen down is not too bad. I can see the car directly behind me; I just can't see the faces of the people in it. During normal driving, with the screen closed, the DVD player does not interfere with rear visibility in any way.

Nice!!! I've gotta show this to my wife... I think she might go for it.