mikeinnj

Yeah, I'm no apple fanboy. I've broken more iPods than I would like to count just with daily use, but when it comes to in-car integration, it's the quickest way. The iPod is different than a standard USB drive in that it has it's own indexing table of your songs, artists, albums, etc. Where as a standard hard drive based player will be a good bit slower for controlling and browsing songs due to the head unit itself having to go through and index the file structure of the hard drive each time it is powered up. Many people experienced this problem on the Kenwoods (past and present models) where

Try apple lossless codec. Works on the ipod and plays on anything iPod compatible. There's also converters out there that will quickly convert flac files to apple lossless.

Adding one more question to the mix. Have you found the optimum image size for the splash screen wallpaper. I know that the screen size is 800x480 but when I cropped some of my wallpapers to that size in Photoshop, they come out looking a little too narrow and not wide enough to properly and proportionately fill the 16x9 screen.

Awesome review. Thank you so much for doing that. Now I am really going to have a hard time waiting for this thing. Anyway, does it still have logos for POI that overlay the maps for like McDonalds, etc? It's the little details that I get the biggest kick out of. Thanks again man, this place rules.

Thanks for the reply. Not a big deal, just wanted to know so I could wire accordingly ahead of time before getting the unit. Anyway, as for the Sirius interface, can you tell from the manual whether or not it has a custom icon for each channel or if it is just the dog logo for each channel. Thanks again and looking forward to the video tonight.

Question to Jason: Does setting AV1 input to "iPod" disable or gray out being able to choose the AV1 input from the source screen? I am asking because I plan on using rca y-adapters to source both an iPod and a 360 to the AV1 input. Most important is the 360 that I have in the trunk. The thing plays everything the iPod does, and all Divx, MPeg 1, 2, 4, WMV, WMV-HD, AVI, Xvid, and some other formats all off of any old USB hard drive or flash drive.

I talked to a guy at my local 6th Ave. electronics today, he said the 90BT should be in at or around June 10th and that they were going to be among the first ones to get the F series as they are the largest reseller for Pioneer on the East coast. ALSO, the F700BT will not be out until some time in early to mid July due to a software bug only affecting the 700. Other than that, he also said that the voice control was spot on for everything, including the iPod.

Awesome screens. So how is the voice control for the iPod. Someone else said that it was buggy on a prototype unit. Has this been fixed? Also, does the manual hint at all to having a nice icon-ified Sirius interface like the XM has? Once again, thanks so much for sharing.

Thank you so much. Been dying for more info on this. Has/Can Pioneer send you a copy of the manual in pdf to post up here? Would love to flip through it to see all the little nooks and crannies that this thing offers.

I've been dying to see those myself. So many questions it would answer. Just have to wait I guess.

I had no problem getting $625 for my D3 + BT + XM back in April on ebay. As far as other manufacturers being better than the F series right now, we don't know that until the F series comes out. BUT, we do know that you're not going to find voice recognition, bluetooth built in (AND now done by Parrot, not Pioneer), or MSN Direct or a high resolution screen, especially in the price bracket. I had the Kenwood 5120 for about three weeks until I sold it to a member here. To tell you the truth, I liked my D3 better. The Garmin nav on the kenwood was easier to find POI than the D3, and the

The thing with Pioneer is, there is no such thing as an "Authorized Reseller". If you check their site, they only specify who is NOT a valid reseller. The guys down at my local audio shop confirmed this saying that Pioneer had no official dealers.

Are you sure about the album art through video cable thing? I did not think that the album art would go through the video cable as album art is stored and pulled directly from the ID3 tag of the mp3. I had the Kenwood 5120 and if it is anything like that, it SHOULD get it from the song itself over USB. However, the Pioneer could be different. Time will tell I guess.

Sonix seems to have some great prices all around. $699 for the 700BT. http://www.sonicelectronix.com/item_13356_Pioneer+AVIC-F700BT.html $930 for 900BT, and $999 for the 90BT. Also, free install gear. I got my D3 from them a while back and they happened to have the best dash kit out for my car as well. Been very happy with their service too. Highly recommended.

Just noticed this: In the brochure for the Euro Avic F series, when using the iPod video cable, it says to go into the AV Settings and set AV Input 1 to "iPod" which makes me think that it will disable/gray out the AV1 source on the source menu, thereby making it only possible to access the AV1 input through the iPod source. Do you think that this will be the case? Either way, if it is, I'll just skip out on the iPod video cable and just use the USB part and play any video files through the 360, which supports Divx, MP4, WMV, etc.

I will be doing the same thing as you are doing with your 360 only I will be doing this with my iphone. I plan to use Y adapters on the AV input so I can use both ipod and iphone over the same input. Wow, I was thinking the same thing last night. That way, I just have to make sure both sources are not on at the same time or else it makes for a nice video show.

As far as the AV inputs go, does the rear av input get taken up by the iPod video adapter or does the iPod audio/video cable have it's own input? I'm planning on installing a 360 and the iPod and do not want to run into having to use an A/B switch.

A company called Connects2 out of the UK makes both a steering wheel adapter for your car and the wiring harness for an aftermarket radio that gives out all needed info for a Pioneer F-series (Reverse Signal/Speed Pulse Illumination/Ignition). These adapters are specially made with a chip inside the wiring adapter that interfaces with the CAN BUS to retrieve and send all the info to and fro the controls. These are also specifically for the A3 '03+, the A4 '05+, and the TT '06+. The only thing you need to know is whether or not the connector on the back of your radio is a standard iso

Tell me what year/model audi you have. I may be able to track down a steering adapter from the UK that will work for you. I ended up getting a similar one for my 07 Jetta that also gave out VSS, reverse gear, 12v ACC power, and everything else necessary for an aftermarket install. Let me know and I'll look into it.

That's what I was thinking once I took a good look through the pics. Thanks for confirming. And I am SO HAPPY to see that we can dial the POI through BT. That is what I wanted with the D3/Kenwood that I never got due to poor BT/Main Unit interoperability.

Working scroll wheel still would be cool though. Thanks so much for the pics! I REALLY hope that they fix the voice command for the iPod. It's one of my main reasons for selling my Kenwood. They better have this fixed by release, especially if the voice technology is done by Voicebox, who claims to be an industry leader in this stuff. Hopefully this was just an early prototype unit just like the one shown at Cebit 2008 and not just one off an early shipment, which WOULD reflect the final software. Fingers crossed on that one. Any comments on operating the unit? Like how to switch to the b

$50 a year after that. I'm just going to pay the one time fee and never think about it again.

So you are paying $250 for MSN Direct then. Seems to be steep since you have to pay a monthly fee too. I won't be paying MSRP for this. I expect to pay at the most about $1000 or less. Also, there is a one time fee for MSN Direct at $130. For gas prices and traffic guidance, the extra money is not that big of a deal. Hell, I'm already paying a ton of money for a nav system, I might as well go all the way with it. I plan on keeping this one until I get rid of the car.

I have to agree about the DVD part. Even with it bypassed, I never watch movies on my 5120 nor with the D3. My biggest thing about these new ones is the voice control for the iPod (I am forever trying to scroll through my 20,000 songs) and the bluetooth control as well. The MSN Direct has me sold on the 900BT though. I can't wait to read through the user manual when they release it to see what other goodies they packed in.

Bottom of page 11 on the left. Can't wait for this thing.