Magellan CPBCKUSGXXX Wireless Back Up Camera

Bought the Magellan wireless backup camera for my wife's Subaru Forester at Christmas, (Subaru doesn't seem to offer an in-dash unit, yet. At least I couldn't find one on their website.) along with the 1700 LM Roadmate GPS. I have to say that after punching a 1/2 inch hole in the body panel behind the license plate and snaking the wires up behind the trim panels, up through the hinge in the lift hatch, down through more trim panels and attaching the wires to the backup light wires.... I wish that I hadn't. The picture is OK once it finally comes on. But, the delay is unacceptable. Most times the backup maneuver is compete before the image comes on the screen. In a really tight situation, though, it is worth the wait as the view is excellent, especially on the 7" screen. It is a great safety feature! Just wish it reacted quicker. (for what it is worth: the sender for the camera is about six feet from the GPS and behind 1 plastic trim panel, as high from the power connection as the wires would reach. This minimizes the number of seats and stuff the signal must pass through.)The GPS unit: Magellan Roadmate 1700-LM is OK. I have a suspicion that most of the satelites must be re-positioned over the middle east right now. Because this unit takes several minutes to aquire enough of a signal to give us a position. Sometimes (perhaps 20% of the time) it shuts off all-together because it can not aquire the necessary signal.Some businesses are not in the inventory of the unit and if you don't know the street address and number you are out of luck. The Roadmate 1700 can't help you.When I punch in 'home' it will inevitably try to send me out of my way... by approximately eight miles. When I make the correct turns to go home it tries and tries to send me the "long" way around by telling me to take turns that are unnecessary. Very irritating! Too, bad it doesn't have a "learn" feature. This has happened on other trips that we routinely take. It has even tried to detour us onto side streets when we were already on the correct route going it the proper direction. I wonder how it will work when I go to a city that I am not familiar with... For a high end$ GPS I expected more.

If you don't have all day and lots of patience, get a professional to install this device.This video camera actually installs pretty easily if you know what you are doing. I didn't, and the instructions are minimal, so I will share what I learned. I found instructions on how to remove the interior panel on the tailgate of my Jeep Grand Cherokee online. Ten push-pins that had to be removed in a certain order. That clued me in that a screwdriver would not be enough. A $8.99 set of nylon fiberglass tools designed for door panel and trim removal helped me to pry up the panel without damaging the paint. Removing a bit of trim above the license plate with a nut driver revealed a small hole that allowed the wire from the camera to slip inside without drilling.The electrical connections are simple enough, but making a T-connection to the back-up light wires with those fancy 3M taps needed both a firm squeeze with pliers to pierce the insulation and a bit of electrical tape to keep the spade connectors from falling out. Then I bundled up the excess wiring and attached the transmitter to the tailgate frame with some more tape. Replacing the tailgate panel was much easier than taking it off. (Don't do what I did, test the complete transmitter/receiver link before replacing the panel.) Actually the hardest part was learning how to assemble the receiver cable to the 9055 GPS unit. If you did not insert the cables and the GPS mount in the correct order, the mini-usb connector could not be fully inserted and easily falls out of its socket. Since I had to learn all this the hard way, what should be a simple 60-90 minute install wound up taking me all afternoon because I removed and replaced the interior panel three times before fixing all the problems.Now that it is finished, my wife is ecstatic about how easy it is to see behind her when backing up. I am happy too. Everyone should have a backup camera!

I recently bought a Dodge Grand Caravan C/V (cargo van), and between the blacked-out glass, steel screen reinforcement, and the wall that keeps things in the back from flying up front, backing up is a real adventure. Adding a backup camera makes things a LOT easier. Once hooked up, putting the car in reverse changes your Magellan GPS from well, a GPS, to a video screen that shows everything behind the vehicle. Its jerky refresh doesn't quite give real-time (10-12 frames/sec?), but it's more than adequate to keep from running over something in the driveway, or backing into a lamppost.Yes, you can buy a similar camera for a lot less than through Magellan, but the camera is the easy part: attach it to your license plate, and snake the cable through the rubber thing that runs between the door and the main body. So, now what? You have to get the video all the way up to the driver's seat, where it matters. That requires pulling up side panels and floorboards, and will probably take all day -- if you don't break something. Fortunately, the Magellan Backup Camera is wireless. This means you only have to connect up a small transmitter to one of the backup lights using provided clips, and then attach it to someplace out of the way. At the other end, you replace the GPS power adapter with a new one with a Y-cable, and attach the receiver behind the GPS. Plug everything in and you're done!One note of caution: This camera is only compatible with a few Magellan GPS models, mostly the larger ones. It requires an A/V input. My GPS is the RoadMate 1700, which has this input.

Bought this less than a month ago. Very disappointed. The camera worked (kind of) at first, but it cut in and out constantly when in reverse. I could put up with that - it is a wireless camera after all - but clearly the transmitter and/or receiver are not strong enough. Now when the camera does come on, the picture is completely black. The picture got steadily darker over a period of 2 days, and now it is completely black. Useless. Don't waste your money.

I expected more for the price and the name. No lines for aiding in backup and the picture is jumpy not to mention delayed.

Bought this item disreguarding some of the bad comments.nothing but problems.screen keeps freezing,screen goes black or shuts down......The only solution i found was.use the original power cable that you recieved with your gps,then plug in the reciever using the cable you got with the backup camera.but personally, i wouldn't buy a wireless back up camera.only wired.