AVIC-F700BT

[Colton92]

Has anyone seen this or installed it in their car? What do you think? Is it a good choice for a after market in dash navigation?

[tarek]

I was just doing some research on this topic yesterday and today to try to find out more about the Pioneer F series. I strongly suggest you check out the avic411.com forums and there's a wealth of information there. If you're considering the F700BT check out this thread: http://www.avic411.com/forum/viewtopic.php?t=15669. A lot of owners of the F700 pitch in and there's a good discussion about the F series vs the Kenwood 5120/8120.

A quick summary from what I've gathered so far. F700 has a LOT of show-stopping bugs (random freezing and/or crashing while looking up POIs, taking 3-5 mins to load up when the car is turned on, numerous bluetooth problems, etc). A lot of the owners of the F700 seem ready to return their units.

Advantages over other units: Voice activated ipod controls is supposed to be really cool. MSN Direct seems neat. Very nice looking interface and slick GPS maps.

Disadvantages over other units: Bugs bugs bugs (as mentioned above). Apparently in the F700/900 you'll sometimes have to press the interface twice before it registers (even tho it chimes the first time). And even without that bug, Kenwood's interface is still more responsive. Kenwood's GPS is Garwin so it's super accurate, much more so than the F series. Much more complicated bypass procedures (Kenwood you just ground the parking brake). The Kenwood 8120 absolutely BLOWS the F90BT out of the water feature wise, but the F700 is more comparable to the Kenwood 5120.

So unless you really really want the voice activated ipod stuff and MSN Direct, check out the Kenwood 5120/8120 (depending on your price range). I gotta say tho, the voice activated ipod stuff seems really cool....wish the 8120 came with it

[Colton92]

thanks for your input i will check out that forum and the kenwood

[rjdmmfl1]

Has anyone seen this or installed it in their car? What do you think? Is it a good choice for a after market in dash navigation?

if you are stuck on getting one of the "F" series units... please wait a while... all of their units have bugs when they first come out, they eventually work them out with firmware updates!! Gve it a couple months or so before you purchase it!

[Colton92]

if you are stuck on getting one of the "F" series units... please wait a while... all of their units have bugs when they first come out, they eventually work them out with firmware updates!! Gve it a couple months or so before you purchase it!

Hey Doc you got the D2 right what would you suggest getting a D2/D3 or getting one of the new f series??

[rjdmmfl1]

No, I HAD the Avic D3, the D2 is a completely obsolete unit... it doesn't even play DVD's!

I now have the Kenwood DNX-8120

[carjnkie22112]

Has anyone seen this or installed it in their car? What do you think? Is it a good choice for a after market in dash navigation?

I just bought one a week ago and im happy. i might do the Pioneer Avic f700bt bypass from here http://www.underground-secret.....html

[bronson96792]

NO!!!! You shouldnt need to pay for bypass instructions, i have a f900 and the bypass was fairly simple go to avic411 and do a search there they tell u how to do the bypass that guy should be slapped for selling free information!!! thats a bunch of

[RobPaulson]

I own a F700 and have it installed in my A/C right now. I had faith in pioneer that they would fix this asap, but they have failed me miserably and I have honestly lost alot of respect for the company because of this product. I am very disappointed in its functionality. Here are some of the things that DRIVE ME CRAZY still, after owning it for about 4 months now.

1. I paid premium price for it because i got it when it was still relatively new on the market, the price has since dropped dramatically and i STILL do not have a fully functional unit.

2. My phone does NOT work at AAALLLLLLLLL with the bluetooth. I have a samsung sch740 (verison alias). They say it is a phone specific issue, which is an ABSOLUTE cop-out considering my phone works with EVERY SINGLE OTHER bluetooth unit i have tried with ABSOLUTELY NO PROBLEMS. I replaced my BOSE head unit with this, and LOST phone functionality

3. Ipod is very finicky, can disconnect randomly, or if it is not plugged in before the unit is powered, or after it has completely powered up.

4. Overall Lag of the entire unit. There is a good 2-4 second reaction time for any press/action, twice as bad if you use the steering wheel controls. Avic411 offers a process to remove the beeps, which they say reduces the delay, but its a placebo. I removed the beeps and there is still SERIOUS delay on my unit.

5. Nav takes a good 3-5 minutes to be usable. If you need to turn your car on and enter in an address or destination, you better not be in a hurry, cause your gona be sitting there warming your seat up for a few minutes until the unit is usable.

Those are the things that erk me, the bluetooth is a real deal breaker. The only reason i still have and use this unit is because if i tried to sell it, I would be out a good $600 =/ I paid 750 for it (that was cheap when i got it) and ended up costing me 1100 after all the modules and install costs. The unit goes for like 400-600 now on ebay so ya . . .

Conclusion . . . get a kenwood dude, dont even fox with this unit, its bad news.

THE ONE GOOD THING!!!!!!!It runs on windows CE, if you are into hacking at all, it is a very customizable unit. Although you are still very restricted by the units core flaws until they release the updated firmware that I've been waiting for since the last one in july (I think), which is what BROKE my bluetooth functionality!!!! Currently this is the last hope I am clinging to as I have a degree in computer science and engineering, I have customized some of my own unit, but there is nothing that can be done from an average hackers perspective to fix core issues.
Modified by RobPaulson at 1:02 PM 10/30/2008

[rjdmmfl1]

Yeah, 2 b honest, I have not recommended a single pioneer unit to anyone in a hwile, especially not the F series.... right now, kenwood has that area on lock.... Pioneer tried to compete with the wrong company .... it focused on the sync, and it should have been focused on what kenwood was doing!

[RobPaulson]

Yeah, 2 b honest, I have not recommended a single pioneer unit to anyone in a hwile, especially not the F series.... right now, kenwood has that area on lock.... Pioneer tried to compete with the wrong company .... it focused on the sync, and it should have been focused on what kenwood was doing!

ya i severely regret not seeking your and apple's advice on this before i did it . . . freakin impulse buy cause i thought it was such a great price at the time. huge mistake.

next update was rumored to be coming out last week . . . it was a no show, so I am hoping its just around the corner, i check avic411 every day lol

[bronson96792]

they released update 2.00 http://www.pioneerelectronics....nload

it boots up a little faster and the touch screen responds way better than b4. i have a 1st gen iphone and the bluetooth is decent on my phone

[RobPaulson]

ya i severely regret not seeking your and apple's advice on this before i did it . . . freakin impulse buy cause i thought it was such a great price at the time. huge mistake.

next update was rumored to be coming out last week . . . it was a no show, so I am hoping its just around the corner, i check avic411 every day lol

I TAKE IT ALLLLL BACK!!!!!!!!

Pioneer just released 2.0 and it fixed EVERYTHING i did not like about the unit, A+, time to get-to-hackin w00w00!!!!! FINALLY getting what i paid for, I cant wait to play with it this afternoon!!!!!!!!!

[rjdmmfl1]

this is a TEST
Modified by rjdmmfl1 at 6:03 AM 11/11/2008

[nyxboy]

Damn, I hope it isnt that bad as you guys say I bought it few months ago but since I then started to think about buying an a/c it is still in it's box months after and I didnt get to try it yet. Im still waiting for my own a/c and was looking forward to install it. Hopefully now in april09 they've made good updates.