Can someone with Eclipse experience answer a few questions regarding the AVN 5495?

1. Can I use my steering wheel radio controls on it?
2. How is the brightness at night with it. The pic's I've seen
show the units as quite bright in the dark and I'm concerned
it would be too bright for my taste.
3. Will the brightness auto-dim when the headlights come on?
4. Can it drive my stock speakers or is it required to replace the
speakers as well? I would eventually upgrade the speakers, but
may not be able to afford all the upgrades at once.
5. It has a hard drive option - What capacity is it?
6. Will the nav system work without the nav disk if the hard drive is
installed or does it still require the nav dvd with the hard drive.
7. How does the LCD stand up to the cold?
8. Is the LCD contrast/brightness strong enough to be seen well during
a bright day?


Thanks for any info you can provide. I very impressed with the installation shown by Tun2One
https://www.f150online.com/galleries....cfm?gnum=5149

 

1. Yes (I believe), you have to get the...wow, memory blank. There is a steering wheel control addon that retains the steering wheel controls for your 5495, unless it was for another nav unit. I can't remember the name but its under $100.
2. 40gb, 10 is dedicated to the navigation I believe. I really have a memory blank right now, really bad, sorry. I could be wrong, but the 40gb is for sure I think...or was it 30...omfg I am annoying myself.
3. It is on the hdd, so you don't need a nav dvd.

Hope I have helped in the least bit, the next person can clarify the rest.

 

1. You can use your steering wheel controls. I purchased and installed the Pac Swi-x setup for about $60. Easy install and you can program your 4 buttons anyway you like. You will have to purchase the Eclipse remote seperately though, because this is what the Pac Swi-X learns from.

2. Completely adjustable brightness and contrast. The pictures make it look worse than it really is. I am using the factory settings.

3. Yes. No need to worry about it being annoying.

4. It will drive your speakers just fine. It has the same power as the factory head unit and the power is cleaner as well. I never did have mine set up this way, however, because I added two amps and new speakers pretty much at the same time.

5. 30 gig hard disk. 10 gigs are devoted to the nav. No Nav dvd needed.

7. No idea - never heard of this type of problem.

8. I've never had a problem seeing the screen. Even with polarized glasses.