OSUV

Yep, tillithz is right on all accounts. I actually thought their would be a surplus and a price drop at the end of the year but they're all disappearing because noone wants to pay the price of Z2, especially since it offers little over the Z1. If you find a Z1 for $1600 or less, you better buy it. Good luck. If I locate a good price for one, I will post it on here, after confirming availability. Kevin

Does Alpine or Eclipse have a website like this one? Because this website has helped me out a ton. I could not have done the complete install of my Z1 system myself without the aid of the good people at AVIC411.com. This website alone is a reason for buying the Z1. Good luck with your decision, but I think you've already made up your mind. Now break out that credit card and go buy it. Cheers, Kevin

You can't listen to all the live NFL and NBA games on XM can you? And next year, XM subscribers lose Nascar too. And the reception seems better with SIRUS than with XM. I started out with XM when it first came out but it was time for me to get sirius about satellite radio. And yes, I have an asshole too Cheers, Kevin

Yes, I am definitely going with a reverse image camera. I found one on eBay with 420 lines of resolution and 28 LEDs for low light. It also has an input for sound so that you can hear what's going on outside, but I'll have to see if I can somehow integrate it with th Z1 to hear sound whenever the rear camera is on and still having the option of cutting the sound and receiving just the image so that I can listen to my music while I view what is in tow. Once I get the camera and have it installed, I will provide feedback. Cheers, Kevin

Actually Rodge, It was never me hearing the echo. It was also the party I was talking to that would hear themselves echo. I agree in that it is feedback. The party I talk to hears himself due to the fact that the microphone picks up his voice from the car stereo speakers and play back throgh te mic which tells me that there must be somewhat of a delay in transmission. Also, I want to add that today, I was talking to one of my clients who stated that he could not hear me very well. So I slightly angled the mic downward and away from the headliner. He then heard me loud and clear and w

By the way Joe, which model of camera did you buy? I am definitely not buying the Pioneer ND-BC1. There are better ones out there and for less money too! Kevin

For those of you who still have the phone echo probem, I eliminated all of my echo problems last night. It's all about positioning the mic! At leaet it was for me. I called my mom and talked to her for about 1/2 hour last night for the purpose of finding the best position for the mic and the best phone voice volume level. And of course for the purpose of just talking to mom. Anyway, I discovered that the optimum placement for the microphone was up high on the trim panel above my driver side door, near my head and aiming the mic straight up in the air towards the headliner. I then

Hey ttkresurfacing, I just updated my Z1 last night with the disc and it worked fine. And I downloaded the software from this website. Why don't you call me this evening (Wed) at around 7:00 PM EST and I'll walk you through it all. I had similar problems at first but it wasn't the burned disk. My number is 419-293-9687. If you can't get me at that number, call my cell at 419-722-2103. Also, I have digital phone so I don't pay for long distance, so when you call, we can hang up and I'll call you right back to save you the bill. Also, in the future when buying your disks, try to find So

That would be cool to have only one subscription, but what would be even cooler is if this option was available for SIRIUS because, in my opinion, XM sucks. Cheers, Kevin

Pioneer has prevented a lot of CODECS from being played on their units in order to prevent copyright infringement. Don't forget, they are in the video and music production industry as well. I don't think they will ever allow most CODECS to be played on any of their mobile audio systems for this very reason. I know, it's a bummer but it is reality. They want you to BUY it, not BURN it! What plays on your DVD player at home will not necessarily play on your Z1. ALL DVD players can be designed to play some types of CODECS and not others. It's all up to the manufacturer of the player in what

Just a couple of tidbits to add. First, the Z1 does offer the option to know distance to next turn. I have only accessed it through voice navigation, but it's there and it worked. I agree with you on the address searching. I am an appraiser and frequently travel to small towns. I was in a small town today that has maybe 10 or 12 total streets in it and I couldn't get the Z1 to find any of them. Of course, with only 10-12 streets, it's hard to not find all of them on your own. Nonetheless, this town has been around for 100 years so there is no excuse for the mapping system not being able t

whtcrxghst is correct. There is no actual off on the Z1. It's more like a standby or hibernate mode, but the system is always on. Your best option is to install a cutoff switch inline with the wire that powers your amp(s).

You will see these auctions pop up on ebay every week. They are usually 1 Day auctions and eBay cancels the auctions as soon as they find out that someones account has been hijacked. Most people have caught on and don't even bother to bid on these items. A hijacked account is when someone hacks into another eBayer's account for the sole purpose of utilizing their positive feedback ratiing. If you read the auction description carefully, many times you'll see "Do not bid on this auction until you email me first or your bid will be cancelled" -or- "Don't use eBay to contact me, contact me a

cntrylvr79, When you posted the links to the pictures of those connectors, and asked if my factory connector looked like one or the other, were you referring to my factory stereo connectors? If so, it looks more like the 2nd gray connector, which leads me to believe that I'll have to access the wire from the PCM on the firewall under the hood. By the way, are the wires visible and accessible after I unbolt the PCM from the firewall? Thanks for letting me know the wire color. I appreciate it. If I'm not mistaken, I think it's pin 58. I'll have to look in my shop manual again. K

Thank you all for your imput. I took bits and pieces from everyone who responded and did some thinking. And after about a half hour of unscrewing several items in order to remove the plastic quarter panel, I exposed the cheap, ugly, wimpy looking Ford amp. The amp, which IS in fact located in the rear cargo area on the passenger side, has an input and an output harness. All I had to do was pull out both harness connectors from the amp, snip all the wires from both connectors, and join the two harnesses back together using my shop manual of course, to decipher the correct speaker wires on

I guess I know of no way to by-pass the amp and since the amp is located at the rear passenger quarter panel, I would have to route all new speaker wires from the AVIC (located at the front of the vehicle) to the rear, in order to tap into the speaker harness that I pull from the factory amp. And I just don't have the energy to do this. If I come up with a by-pass solution, I will post it here. I still have to figure out where to tap into the speed sensor. I think it is located in the PCM on the firewall. Kevin

Okay, If I do use the factory amp, would this mean that I am not using the amp from the AVIC-Z1 at all? If so, is there a way to by-pass the shitty factory amp and use the one integrated in the AVIC-Z1? Also, I read in the Ford Explorer Forum that the drk blue mute logic wire does trigger the amp and that it should be hooked up to a wire that goes hot when the ignition is on? Does this make sense? If I do this, than I am using the factory amp aren't I? Maybe I should just use the factory amp. After all, it is supposed to be a "Premium Sound" system. All of this thinking is mak

Jimmy303, I forgot to ask, if the dark blue wire is the correct wire for the amp, how do I use this wire to turn the amp on? Do I hook this wire up to the accessory hot? Kevin

By the way, there is also a second harness that I failed to mention in my first post. This second harness also connected to the factory radio. It has an 8-Pin connector and the wires are as follows: 1. Logic Mute (Drk blue) 2. NOT USED 3. Ground (Blk/Grn) 4. NOT USED 5. Lamp Feed (Red/Blk) 6. Ignition/Accsy (Yel/Blk) 7. Ground (Blk) 8. Power -Full Time (Grn/Pnk) I used pins 3, 5, 6 and 8 from this harness for the hookup of the AVIC. Jimmy303 mentioned in one of the replies that possibly a dark blue wire runs the factory amp. Is this maybe pin 1 (Logic Mute) from the factory

Thank you Itchy and Jimmy303. I will play around with this tonight and try to figure it out. Does anyone know if I can still utilize any of the stereo controls of the rear console? If so, what would be the wiring configuration? Also, where do I tap into the speed sensor on my Explorer for the pink wire of the AVIC-Z1? Cheers, Kevin

I can't get no flippen sound! I hooked everything up according to the AVIC-Z1 manual and used my 1998 Explorer shop manual to sort out the proper speaker wires. It powers up fine, I have a great GPS signal and my bluetooth module is being detected. The only two wires that I have not yet hooked up are the parking brake wire and the reverse detection wire, but I can't hardly believe that this would prevent me from hearing sound. I tried playing a CD and Local FM Stations but no such luck. The only sound I hear on ths unit is the hum of the motor. Unfortunely I crimped and heatshri

digitalfotoclub.com has it for $1547.00 with free shipping. They also have a good customer satisfaction rating.

tillithz, Your skepticism is well taken. I have been buying and selling on eBay for nearly 10 years now and fortunately, I have become pretty saavy in knowing who to trust and who not to trust. Feedback helps paint a picture about the seller, however, further investigation about the seller is still duly warranted. I can appreciate the fact that you enjoy sniffing new plastic and embrace the "perception" of perfection. I for one woud rather sniff a good buy and there is no such thing as perfection. Just read this forum! I don't understand why everyone assumes that refurbished item

Actually, you may be right or wrong tillithz. Only time will tell. As of right now, there are probably 50 or more new Z1's being sold every month on eBay which tells me that there is a current surplus. Once the Z2's are released, I will keep an eye on eBay to see if the prices do noticably drop. By the way, what does tillithz mean? Just curious. And Rodge, I certanily appreciate and understand your skepticism with refurbees, especially when you have had the unfortune of selling items that die out prematurely. However, I see the reliability issues of powertools as being totally

Yes, an extended warranty is generally a good option for a piece like the Z1, whether new or refurbed. The warranty option appeared available at checkout so I jumped all over it. I'll keep an eye open for future deals like this one. I'm sure that once the Z2 is released, the Z1 prices will start to fall and that's the time to buy a Z1 from a vendor who wants to unload his inventory. Peace, Out!