Disappointed with AVIC F900BT

[Johnno]

I have had my AVIC F900BT installed for 6 months here in Australia. It has been quite reliable but has 3 issues that really upset me. I have read through the posts on this forum for the last 6+ months and it is clear that I am not the only one experiencing the first 2 problems anyway.

1. Right side speaker audio sometimes very soft when using ipod. I have just ordered a new ipod cable but based on all the posts, some people have said it solved their problem but others said it didnt, so I am not holding out a lot of hope.

2. Mic audio with Bluetooth is way too soft. Most people at the other end cant make me out unless I shout into the mic. Ridiculous. I have used 3 different phones - a Motorola RAZR V3i, a HTC Touch HD and now an iphone 3G S. All have this same problem, although I hacked the firwmare of the Motorola to improve mic gain and it made a lot of difference. Now my beloved iphone is next to usesless with bluetooth. I am going to try a different mic. The location of my mic should be fine - its on the steering column and aimed directly at my face from about 1.5 ft. I had a Motorola car kit installed before this with the mic in the same spot and it was absolutely wonderful, so I know there is a serious problem with the Avic.

3. When dialing a number from contacts I get no ring tone with the iphone or the HTC, but I did get ring tone with the RAZR. Also with the iphone when I touch a contact to start dialing it sits there for a few seconds before it says its connecting - even though the phone of person I am dialing has already started ringing.

 

I have the the 2.0 firmware installed. On the Australian Pioneer website there is no bluetooth firmware to download so I must assume I have the latest version.

 

I am an experienced electronics technician and I must say that these issues disgust me with a reputable brand name product like this. If I dont resolve them I will put up with the problems as long as I can before finally upgarding to a next gen unit - and it would take a lot to convince me to buy another Pioneer unit.

[Mattjin]

Dont get me started on the mic volume! I have been swearing at that since the day the unit was fitted. How rediculous that the level is so low. Surely they must have tested this in an actual vehicle and noticed that unless you put the mic 2" from your mouth it is way too quiet on the other end. Imagine if our models had Voice Rec!

 

I actually thought I was having problems because I used to have the F900BT in an Evo which is quite noisy, but a few days ago transferred everything over to a Nissan Murano which is whisper quiet, and it too has the same issues. Mic is no more than a foot from my mouth and I have to yell into it for anyone to hear me on the other end.

 

My other pet hate..... why only jump through the ipod playlist one letter at a time. Why they didnt put a quicker way to go through the list is beyond me. I have around 120 playlists on my 80Gb and you need to splend a crazy amount of time with your eyes off the road to jump to a playlist halfway through. I had a Clarion double din a few years back that would let you press the scrollbar to jumpo to roughly where you needed, but the F900BT is only one page at a time or keep tapping the stupid one letter at a time selection on the right. So 1990's!

 

Another silly thing. If you go into settings to adjust something, the unit does not jump back to your ipod control screen. You have to go back out of the menu, into Source and select the Ipod again. Why not a timeout that jumps back automatically or press menu to jumop back to your source! I found it quicker to hit the Map button then press the ipod button in the bottom right.

 

Disappointing.... hell yes! This could have been a killer headunit but is let down by stupid little things that make using it very annoying when for the most part it is pretty good.