psklenar

i hope it helps! pat----

perhaps a solar powered car fan? pat----

I don't need the BT features (car is too noisy with sunroof & windows open - which is how I usually drive), so I went with the Kenwood DNX5120, HD Receiver and Garmin FM Traffic tuner. Not needing BT, I got what I DO want for less than the F900/F90 would have cost me without the HD Receiver. Screen size is between Pioneer F series and Kenwood 7120/8120 ... very comfortable to me. Love the USB MP3 playback. DVD playback is very nice (considering it's on such a tiny screen compared to my 50" main display in the house ). I like being able to set the NAV subsystem to work while moving

No problems sir, and I don't know that you need to re-do it. I really appreciate the video as it is. I guess I was just proving that I really was paying attention. Again, thanks for taking the time to record and post it! pat----

FWIW, your phone was connected at 1m 45s.. Still not very quick, but better than the 3m 15s you indicated at the end of the vid. Thank you very much for sharing it! I can't wait to see if the expected firmware update fixes the known issues and speeds things up. pat----

mikeinnj, Using the GXM30, does XMNavTraffic get you all of that (Traffic, Stock, Weather) or do you need the full XM plus XMNavTraffic to get those things? Thanks, pat----

QA = Quality Assurance pat----

And the price difference between the 900 & 90 is only $100, not $300. pat----

capper, With careful mail-order shopping and self-install ... I haven't seen it that cheap, but I'd imagine it's findable. But if you need to have it installed for you, that means buying from a local retailer and while many of the non-big box stores will offer a discount, most charge MSRP or darn close. I like the 8120, but ... the 5120 still has a larger screen than the F series and I have no use for the built in bluetooth of the 8120 ... it's paying more for something I'll never use. mikeinnj, Excellent news! thanks for the quick report on the Kenwood! pat----

Don't forget Two Year Warranty for the F90BT vs One Year Warranty for the F900BT. pat----

8120 costs significantly more than the F90. I have no interest in BT/Voice Control (open windows and sunroof don't make for a good speaker phone environment. I'm not going to be using external amps. I'm therefore giving serious consideration to the DNX5120. It plus the Garmin FM Traffic antenna will be about the same price as the F90BT and have a slightly larger screen than the F90BT. It'll support USB, Ipod, satellite and traffic. pat----

Thank you sir! And it really does sound like things worked out quite well for you. T'is good to hear. pat----

Crutchfield listing of differences between 5120, 7120 and 8120 pat----

mikeinnj, I think I saw a post from you earlier that you had previously had a Kenwood DNX5120? If so, if one didn't need the BT, doesn't have an iPod and doesn't mind the slightly smaller screen compared to the DNX8120 ... do you think the 5120 and Garmin FM antenna would be a decent option to the F900/F90 & MSN Direct? The prices would be in the same ball park. ... Thanks, pat----

If not "perfect" ... is there ANYone who's at least satisfied with an F series? pat----

"Beta"? "Before retail"? Interesting. Tweeters *DID* tell me they didn't expect to have any until early/mid July, but I saw one in Action Audio in Newington Friday and they are purely a retail sales and installation shop. I suspect they'd be a bit ... unhappy ... to find out they had a "beta" unit on the shelf. pat----

That $100 difference gets you: + 4V pre-outs (only useful if your'e going to use outboard amps) + Includes iPod cable ($49.95 separately) + 3D POI's on Nav Maps + Double the warranty (2yr vs 1yr) So, since the cable is $50, that means the 4V pre-outs, extra year of warranty and the addition of 3D POI's costs you an extra $50. To my mind, the extra warranty is worth that $50. I will not be using any outboard amps, so that's worthless to me and the 3D POIs ... pat----

Reading through the rest of the threads in this "Releasing in June" section, the general concensus seems to be that it's flakey as all get out. I didn't ask about it because I won't be using it. A speaker phone in a car at speed with the windows down and the sunroof open ... simply isn't going to work. I use a headset and feel no need to change. pat----

flinkazoid, Thank you so VERY much! I really appreciate your taking the time to address each of my quesitons. If the MSN Direct actually works, it sounds like the many issues being reported with the F series may not affect me. hmmm .... Julius, Yes, I've read that review. I've also seen mixed reviews on Amazon and Crutchfield, although the positive reviews seem to outnumber the negative ones on those sites. I've also read some good reviews of the DNX8120 on CarAudio.com (I think that's the site) and on a few vehicle specific sites that I found via Google. pat----

Okay, so we're hearing about all these different issues with the initial release of the F700/F900/F90 and I'm seriously considering going with the Kenwood DNX8120. But ... One of the reasons the F series is attractive to me is the MSN Direct traffic with the built-in antenna ... in order to get live traffic on the DNX8120, I'd have to add the Garmin FM Traffic antenna ($130-ish) or their XM Traffic antenna ($250-ish) ... so the F90 for $1200 plus MSN service or the DNX8120 & antenna for $1730/1850 plus Garmin or XM service. That's a big price premium. The MSN Direct site and the Ga

Agreed. I'm VERY interested in your comparison of the F series vs the 8102 Mike. Thank you! pat----

I'm looking at these two units as well. The F90BT/F900BT uses MSN Direct to get traffic info for $50/yr or $130 for a lifetime service (actually not guaranteed after 2012). It looks like the DNX8120 has two options ... XM NavTraffic or Garmin FM. From what I can tell, you have to buy an extra $120 antenna for the Garmin FM Traffic plus a $60/yr service. The XM NavTraffic costs $10/mo by itself or $17/mo with XM Radio but you need a roughly $200 - 250 antenna (Kenwood GXM30). So ... at $120/yr plus twice as expensive antenna, does the XM NavTraffic provide anything that th

The direct link to the F90BT manual was posted by VBLUE42 Monday evening in this thread: http://www.avic411.com/forum/viewtopic.php?t=15664. Page 177 explicitly states that it supports both SD and SDHC cards. Page 188 explicitly states that it supports "Version 2.00" of these cards and has a max of 8GB in FAT16/FAT32 formats. Now interestingly enough, the specifications for SDHC v2.00 is supposed to support up to 32GB according to the SD Card Association. Either Pioneer has explicitly truncated the supported memory or they put 8GB in there because that was the largest readily avai

I thought Sirius and XM were merging? Won't that mean identical content regardless of which listening technology you use? pat----

I apologize. Upon reading http://www.sdcard.org/home/ I see that plain SD supports only up to 2GB and that anything larger is SDHC. According to http://www.sdcard.org/about/sdhc/, SDHC supports upto 32GB, so I'm puzzled why Pioneer would artificially limit the useable card size? Or, if they are supporting the specification properly, how they can limit it to only 8GB? pat----