Home > Consumer Reviews > Alpine Blackbird II PMD-B200 - GPS receiver - automotive

I bought this GPS unit about 8 months ago to use with the IVA-W205 head unit that I've had for about 10 months. I love the clean OEM look you get by having the unit dock inside of the stereo and that was really the main reason I went with Alpine, that and I've always loved Alpines products. I got the Blackbird when it had just been released and there were hardly any reviews of it. I should have waited for more reviews because I find a lot of people experiencing the same problems I'm having. About 3 months ago I started losing signal while driving, it seemed as though left turns would make it better and right turns would make it worse. So I thought it was either the external GPS receiver connection to the stereo or the docking connection between the GPS and the stereo because taking the GPS out and using it always worked fine. I had the stereo and GPS installed by a shop so I took it back to them. After they did some troubleshooting they determined that the head unit was faulty and swapped it out with a brand new one - something they surely did not have to do, they could have just sent it back to Alpine for repair and I would have been without a stereo for who knows how long. That seemed to solve the problem, at least for a while. Now instead of losing signal intermittently, it sometimes takes 2, 5 or 20 minutes to find the signal and start tracking my location. Again taking the GPS out of the unit solves the problem and once it lock onto the signal and put it back in everything works. It seems to only happen the first time I use it after it has been off for a while. Here are some other issues I have with it:

1. About 1 out of 20 times you start it up, you'll get a flickering white screen, meaning you'll have to take it out of the unit and hit the reset button. (A common problem).
2. Also about 1 out of 20 times you have a route set it decides to reboot it the middle of it and when it comes back on your destination is gone and some of the setting go back to there default, like the zoom level and the map view.
3. There's no way to set a route and save it. You can only save a destination and the way it takes you there may not be the fastest way, like avoiding known traffic areas.
4. If there are two somewhat equal ways to get somewhere and you choose to go a different way than it has picked for you, it will continuously reroute you, back tracking for miles after you've passed the way it wanted you to go.
5. You can not receive traffic information while its docked in the stereo unless you install an antenna Y fitting, which it does not come with.
6. I have been unable to find any map or firmware updates through Alpine or even where they would be if there were some.
7. The few times I've used the GPS outside of the stereo the battery life had been pretty short, 1 to 1 ½ hours is about it.
8. The nag screen at every start up gets very annoying.
9. When switching from any other source back to the Nav, there a delay of about 5 seconds where you can not use any functions until the source screen goes way. Switching from Nav to any other source there is no delay.
10. The ability to insert a SD memory card to listen to music is cool and easy to navigate through but any time it reroutes or thinks you've gone off course the music is paused while it figures it out.

Other than these items it's not the worse GPS unit but the price is too high for what you get. I guess you have to pay a premium for the clean look.

was not reliable. had to reboot constantly. it is very bulky and will not easily fit in a bag or pocket. same price as a low end laptop!!!! get a tomtom one 3rd edt or anything else but dont buy this.

Ok, the gps works fine in my car, I rarely have to reboot and it's really no big deal when I do. I really like it when it can find where I want to go.

The problem is the attributes and features are way out of date (as of 5/13/09). There are so many times when I want it to take me somewhere and it's not in the database. I've called Alpine customer support to ask about an update and they keep telling me that "there is one coming". They sound a little agitated. I think they've given up on this product.

Update 11/22/09 - Nothings changed from my May review. Bummer.

Got it when it first came out last summer, so far ive had to reboot it maybe 5x in the last year. never had it reboot by itself. Works great in the alpine reciever, BT works good with my samsung phone(sucked with my LG). Have not tried the FM TX, or the SD music.
It seems to be using the Navtec 05 maps, I wish I could update that. And the traffic I had major issue with since it could not get a good signal with the HD radio module installed, so it was pretty much worthless if you use HD, unless you want to add another ant.

I too bought this GPS unit about 14 months ago to use with the IVA-W205. First off everything worked fine ( dock and roll), Bluetooth link with my blackberry were great. After about a year ( when warranty was done) I started having problems. I checked Alpines site for firmware updates and or map updates --- Nothing. I have gotten all problems listed by others in their reviews. After having unit fixed by Alpine for an additional [...] bucks ( still no map updates). So every time I turn the unit on I get prompted to "update my maps". I really believe Alpine has no plans to provide an update. After spending over [...] bucks total for this unit i have to say I made a mistake. Alpine cost so much compared to other brands and I must say that I am not pleased with after purchase support. Alpine states on their web-site that this units maps are upgradable via a USB port. So i just have to wonder whats wrong as they continue to put out new more expensive products and wont support something just over a year old. So plan to get this unit in hope of finding places close to you and you do a search for the closest "Starbucks" be prepaid to get one in another state.