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OSUV

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Posts posted by OSUV

  2. Poor FM Reception with Z1?

    in General

    Posted

    My mistake, I guess that I never really learned what that feature was for because I saw no need to use it. I saw it when I was briskly browsing through my Z1 features the other night. Thank you for quicky correctng me. We don't want bad infrmation on here. Especially if its critical in nature.

  3. I spoke with Pioneer today regarding Z1's Woes and Fixes

    in General

    Posted

    PaisanNYC, Nice parody. Pretty funny stuff right there.

    -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

    bajateam2, I agree with you about Steve Jobs' iron fist. Apple does not = aftermarket. Try rounding up all of the needed components to build your own Dual Quad PowerMac. Not nearly as easy nor as cheap as building a powerful PC. Apple likes to keep everything under lock and key.

     

    And I agree that product design companies do pay attention to customer feedback.

     

    We should also keep in mind that Pioneer is a Japanese based company and their technological way of thinking may not be in line with that of the American consumer; meaning that, lower case letter editing, for example, may have not crossed their minds as being an important factor in the AVIC-Z1 simply because their language does not distinguish a difference between upper and lower case lettering.

     

    So until someone has told them that this feature is important, they may have never considered it an issue. This is just a small example.

     

    Let's face it, all companies are money and growth driven, at least the successful ones are, and how can a company grow and continue to sell its products if they don't know what it is that it's customers truly want, or want improved. Does this make sense to you?

    -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

    jimmy303, jaytrey & Itchy thank you very much for the words of encouragement and itchy, I will certainly ask Pioneer the next time that I speak with them about the possibility o adding SIRIUS traffic to the Z1. I am a SIRIUS fan myself and this would be a very nice feature to have.

     

    Beyond AM....Beyond FM....Beyond XM....SIRIUS Satellite Radio!

     

    That one's for you PaisanNYC :twisted:

     

    Cheers Everyone! 8)

  6. installation help

    in General

    Posted

    Hey jaytrey,

     

    If you have a double din stereo opening and have appropriate mounting depth, you can install this yourself. I will be more than glad to talk you through it over the phone whenever you're out in your vehicle working on the install. You can call me or I can call you. I don't pay for long distance (digital phone service) so we can talk for as long as required. Just send me a personal message with your phone number and let me know when your AVIC-Z1 arrives.

     

    Trust me, you can do this yourself :D

     

    Cheers,

     

    Kevin

  7. I spoke with Pioneer today regarding Z1's Woes and Fixes

    in General

    Posted

    This aftenoon I spoke with Ray in customer service at Pioneer in Long Beach, CA. He was a very friendly gentleman but with limited knowledge.

     

    We discussed the flaws of the Z1 and the upcoming improvements, or lack there of for the Z2. Ray stated that customer service is limited when it comes to issues regarding improvements that were made to the Z2 over the Z1 and that their knowledge base will not be very effective until they have actually received the Z2 from Japan and have been able to thoroughly test and play around with it. He further stated that engineering is the department that focuses on improving their products and are the ones that take suggestions and forward them on to the design department in Japan. But he then went on to say that engineering in California doesn't discuss matters with the consumer public. So I further probed by asking "How can someone like me get informtion to engineering with regards to improvements that I would like to see made?" Ray then stated that I would have to open a case file and explain what improvements I would like to see made. So we did this over the phone and the file is now open.

     

    I first asked Ray if lower case letters could be used to edit titles in the library as well as in phone book entries and he said that he was pretty certain that this could be done. He then placed me on hold for 10 minutes while he went to find out. Upon his return he stated that as of now it could not be done and that there is no sign of that having been changed for the Z2. I then said to Ray "It's amazing that this feature is available on a $19.95 cell phone but not on a $2200 navigational unit". Ray chuckled in his friendly foreign voice and explained that there is a lot more to designing this kind of feature in a nav unit than it is to do the same in a cell phone. He said that it would essentially require revamping the entire system. But stated that it is not out of the question for next year's Z3, or whatever it will be called next year.

     

    This became suggestion number 1 in the case file. Next, I recommended better navigation, specifically improved re-routing after taking a wrong turn and more accurate ETA times. Following this was improved IPOD reaction time, colorful SIRIUS channel icons like those of XM and finally, the ability to save MP3 files to the hard drive.

     

    Ray went on to say that the Z2 is basically complete other then minor tweaking and that any of my suggestions would not be considered until the drawing board was open for next year's model, which has not yet occured. He did offer words of encouragement by telling me that engineering doe take suggestions and criticisms quite seriously and that one or all of these issues could possibly be resolved in the Z3.

     

    He also went on to say that the Z1 will definitely have the ability to be upgraded to the Z2 and that this upgrade will not be made available until the Spring and will most likely be simultaneous with the release of the Z2, which is slated for April 1, 2007. He was not sure of the cost nor how the upgrade will be delivered (disc or download) but it will most likely be on a disc. The upgrade will be primarily be weighted on the new an improved TeleAtlas mapping.

     

    Lastly, I asked Ray if he was familiar with AVIC411.com and he said that he was and that he and others have and still do browse it from time to time. I asked him of the possibilty that someone from Pioneer could be made available to do a scheduled chat session to discuss various topics and issues and Ray regretfully stated that unfortunately their legal department would not allow this to happen.

     

    So, there you have it. Obviously, I do not yet know what we will benefit from, if anything, as a direct result from my conversion with Ray, but at least I have been given the opportunity to explain our issues of concern.

     

    And for whatever its worth, I now have a case number and will contact Pioneer on a regular basis for updates to this opened case file with the hopes that Pioneer will listen to me and it's loyal customer base, now and into the future. I will post feedback whenever new information is obtained.

     

    Cheers,

     

    Kevin

  13. Is it possible to type using lower case letters?

    in General

    Posted

    Tonight I was editing song titles that weren't recognized by GraceNotes but I could not find a shift key on the QWERTY keyboad to type in lower case.

     

    Is it possible to type a mixture of upper and lower case letters in a title or must I type in all CAPS only?

     

    The owners manual shows lower case letters being used in the screen shot examples. That kind of sucks if I can't type lower case letters because using all CAPS does not allow me to read the full song title when viewing in the music library.

  16. Poor FM Reception with Z1?

    in General

    Posted

    You know,

     

    I have read about this problem before in previous posts and as I recall, one person used an antenna amplifier and it resolved his problem quite well.

     

    I gotta tell you, the FM reception on my Z1 is FANTASTIC. I mean, I can hardly change one digit of the tuning without getting a station in. I don't even have enough memory slots to save all of the channels that come in clearly. I was amazed at how much better my FM reception was with the Z1 over my stock radio.

     

    I guess I'm just one of the lucky ones.

  18. A good idea for theft recovery of your Z1

    in General

    Posted

    tillithz,

     

    I don't want to get into a pissing contest with you because I'll win. But your last post just ignores everything I've said previously. I am not trying to have it both ways.

     

    First of all, you are trying to group all thieves as a whole. A car thief is not stealing a car for the radio. And a radio thief is not stealing a radio for the car. Two thieves, two different goals, two different levels of talent and expertice.

     

    For example, a car thief is most likely a much more knowledgeable person then a radio thief or a hub cap thief. A car thief is probably an adult, with some level of knowledge, who plans to steal the vehicle to have it chopped and then re-sold, while a radio thief is likely an iexperienced teenager who steals the radio to either put it into his own car or to trade it in order to satisfy his drug habit, for example.

     

    Like Ducatiby stated so wisely, some thieves are smart and some are dumb.

     

    And your statement that many car installers were once thieves and burglars is asinine. Many??? That's crazy. I want to see your supporting statistics. Are you just speculating or do you actually have reliable data to support that statement? If so, could you please post those stats on this forum for all to see? Hell, you probably couldn't even get a job as an installer at a Best Buy or Crutchfield without a background check.

     

    And then you said "many people know about tracking systems". Oh really? Let's see a show of hands. How many of you forum members here know about tracking systems? How many of you know how large a tracking system must be in order to be effective? I see only one raised hand. Oh it's your hand tillithz.

     

    Well tell me something tillithz, have you ever heard of active Radio Frequency IDentification also known as active RFID? Radio Frequency IDentification is an automatic data capture technology that uses tiny tracking chips affixed to products. These tiny chips can be used to track items at a distance--right through someone's purse, backpack, or wallet.

     

    Many of the world's largest manufacturing companies would like to replace the bar code with these "spy chips," meaning that virtually every item on the planet--and the people wearing and carrying those items--could be remotely tracked. There are two types of tags: "passive" (no independent power source) and "active" (containing a battery or attached to one). Depending on a number of factors (antenna size, RF frequency, environmental conditions etc.) a passive tag can have a range of anywhere from 1 inch to 40 feet. Active tags can have a read range of miles or more. Most tags being considered for use in consumer products are passive.

     

    You can read more about RFIDs here:

     

    http://www.spychips.com/faqs.html

     

    Look tillithz, I mean no disrespect when I say this but you are probably one of the most cynical people I ever corresponded with. What I mean by this is that you seem to have a very high level of skepticism and pessimism and it shows in many of yur posts. Also, your mind is very narrow in that you feel that what you know (or think you know) should also be what others know. I honestly think that you are a very intelligent person, but please don't assume that everyone else shares your level of intelligence or your viewpoints.

     

    Theft is inevitable. It will happen to most of us at sometime in our lives. I'm not saying that my idea will protect your nav unit, all I was trying to do was offer an idea that may aid in the recovery of your unit in the event that it ever did get stolen.

     

    Thanks again to all of who contributed in this thread.

     

    Cheers,

     

    Kevin

  19. A good idea for theft recovery of your Z1

    in General

    Posted

    It never ceases to amaze me, all of the various perspectives that a post can generate. Not only was this thread informative, but it was also a quality form entertainment for me to read what you have all written.

     

    Now, my thinking when I came up with this idea was that not all thiefs will steal the car. In fact, most won't, unless that is of course their profession. It takes a lot of automotive knowledge and careful planning to steal today's generation of cars.

     

    Not so long ago, in my area we had a spree of vehicle break-ins and the car stereo seemed to be the number one item that was stolen from these vehicles. I believe it was around 24 stereos over one weekend. Now, did anyone get their stereo back? I don't know, but if the thief had booted up my unit and saw a disclaimer like the one I had written, perhaps he would have been returned it, using his girlfriend to get the reward. Maybe she would call me up and say "Hey, I found your Nav System in a trash can at the mall...how much is the reward?"

     

    For every scenero there is a counter scenero. What one thief thinks may not be what another thief will think.

     

    Hey, do we have any thieves on this forum that can maybe comment on this topic :twisted: ?

     

    jimmy303, you mentioned "...you may end up with a thief tossing your $2000 head unit into a lake because he's afraid he's being tracked.

     

    So, what do you think he would do if the disclaimer wasn't on the bootup screen and consequently, there no contact number? Do you really think that your chances for recovery would have been better?

     

    And tillithz, your comment really surprised me. First of all, have you ever heard of OnStar? If they can track a vehicle with a tiny antenna, then I ask you, why couldn't a stereo be tracked and located once it had been powered up? Now I'm not say that this technology is here yet but do you really think that it's an impossibility? I'm sure that it's already in the works. And I'm sure that it would be offered as a subscription service like OnStar is and furthermore, if the amount was reasonable, I'm sure that I would sign up for it.

     

    Also, most thieves, in my opinion are not very smart, and if I, as a thief saw that disclaimer I would have thought that it appears so professional that only the product manufacturer could have input such a disclaimer. And why in the world would the manufacturer lie about embedding a tracking device?

     

    Thanks again to everyone who responded. It's much appreciated. Oh and...GO BUCKEYES!

  20. Back Up Cameras

    in General

    Posted

    Yes,

    The Z1 will switch to rear camera when shifting into reverse (Be sure to have your reverse wire of the Z1 installed correctly).

    Some cameras are regular image, some are reverse image and some give you the choice of configuring to regular or reverse image. Which is what I recently bought.

    Be sure to buy a camera with the better CCD type lense, and not the cheaper CMOS type. A 1/3" CCD lens is better than 1/4" CCD.

    Be sure to get 110 degree or better viewing angle. 120 degree is ideal.

    Look for 380 lines of resolution or better.

    Finally, look for a camera with night vision, these will have LEDs around the lens. 10 LEDs or more will suffice. The more the better.

    Also, some cameras have microphones built-in for outside sound, I'm not sure how or if this feature would integrate with the Z1 but I just wanted to mention it so that you know what all is available out there.

    I hope this information helps you.

  22. installing a Z1 in a DTS Cadillac

    in General

    Posted

    Are you referring to the wiring harness adapther? If so, although the wiring harness adapter does make things easier, you won't need this if you have the wiring schematic, which would be found in a 2006 Cadillac DTS shop manual. Just splice your wires in.

     

    I'm convinced that there are few cars that the Z1 could not be installed in, provided that the din-size opening allows it.

  23. A good idea for theft recovery of your Z1

    in General

    Posted

    I noticed in past posts that people were worried about they're Nav units being stolen so I had an idea that may help in aiding the recovery of your head unit if it ever did get stolen. :idea:

     

    If you do the hack of changing your bootup image, you could add a small disclaimer message at the bottom of your image using MS Paint or PhotoShop etc.

     

    Your message could read:

     

    ATTENTION: This navigational system has an embedded tracking device to aid in its recovery in the event of theft. If found, please call (555) 555-5555 immediately for a reward. Property of John Smith

     

    Or makeup your own disclaimer. Anything to hopefully entice a thief to return it. If he thinks the unit can be tracked, he may be more apt to seek the reward rather than try to use your nav unit. Click here to see an example of one that I made up to use for my Z1 bootup screen in my Ford Explorer:

     

    http://www.esnips.com/nsdoc/a9c41dcf-8a ... 2a9de27f4f

     

    Notice that my image is the correct size for the Z1 screen.

     

    I know that some of you may feel that this will detract from the beauty of your bootup screen but it is still less obtrusive than all of the wording on the original Pioneer bootup screen and besides your beautiful bootup image won't really matter if your Z1 was stolen and never recovered, would it?

     

    Again it's just an :idea: I had. You can take my 2 cents for what it's worth but I'm going to do it.

     

     

    Thanks 8)

     

    Kevin Moloney

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