Mixman Posted July 7, 2014 Report Share Posted July 7, 2014 Since neither my wife nor I own an Iphone, Carplay doesn't really mean much to me, I wonder what else will be included in the firmware upgrade coming soon.I am trying to decide between an Alpine X008 and the 8000NEX and The Alpine already has full Idatalink compatibility. I have read here that the Pioneer will not, but will have some Idatalink compatibility.......How much? I would like to know. So far, the Alpine has a larger screen and Idatalink compatibility. The Pioneer has more features, a better interface and can be had a lot cheaper. I am a Pioneer fan but what this firmware upgrade will be is putting me up in the air about choosing between the units. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
joemamma1954 Posted July 7, 2014 Report Share Posted July 7, 2014 That is the million dollar question. Only pioneer knows that one. One can only hope for the features that will take advantage of these head units capabilities. I think we are in beta 1, of the Pioneer NEX firmware. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
MarketSqHero Posted July 7, 2014 Report Share Posted July 7, 2014 There's a few things I'd like to see changed such as splitting the USB ports so they can be on separate interfaces (Digital AV for USB1. USB mode for USB2 etc), things related to AVICSYNC which should hopefully be released such as custom PIOs, speed cameras, fuel prices etc), also a few bugs that need squashing such as sorting of directories on SD cards, random reboots, saved trip data not showing correctly. All in all though, apart from a few bugs it's a pretty stable unit. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
DP3343 Posted July 7, 2014 Report Share Posted July 7, 2014 There's a few things I'd like to see changed such as splitting the USB ports so they can be on separate interfaces (Digital AV for USB1. USB mode for USB2 etc), things related to AVICSYNC which should hopefully be released such as custom PIOs, speed cameras, fuel prices etc), also a few bugs that need squashing such as sorting of directories on SD cards, random reboots, saved trip data not showing correctly. All in all though, apart from a few bugs it's a pretty stable unit. That it has to be in a special mode for "digital av" is the dumbest thing in the world. The USB port in this configuration does nothing for the iPhone but provide power. You could charge it directly by the battery and the radio would know no different. The second USB especially has no reason to be locked out of iPod connectivity. That's just bad design. Then that the Bluetooth stops working the second you plug anything into the hdmi. It's not the USB. Try it. Unplug the lightning port from the digital av and plug it into your phone. USB iPod won't work but Bluetooth will fine. I actually use the second USB to use Bluetooth audio while charging when I don't feel like using Appradio. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
forcedfedbug Posted July 9, 2014 Report Share Posted July 9, 2014 MixmanThe Alpine already has full Idatalink compatibility. I have read here that the Pioneer will not, but will have some Idatalink compatibility.......How much? I would like to know. So take this for what it is but a tech from idata posted on another board that the nex radio will only support factory items when paired with the maestro dohicky. This means no gauges for the nex this year. Maybe next year radio's will have gauges. he also brought up that the nex does not even support the idata link yet. this firmware is supposed to come out with the car play firmware or maybe the one after. What that really means is anyones guess. I myself will either get next years radio or go with a kenwood that supports the gauges today. If car play is more important then the gauges function or you dont even use the idata adapter then I personally like the 4000 now. Ron Quote Link to post Share on other sites
deuce189 Posted July 10, 2014 Report Share Posted July 10, 2014 It'd be nice if they could do something to allow us to play protected movies off of our iphones. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
MarketSqHero Posted July 10, 2014 Report Share Posted July 10, 2014 I haven't tried as I don't own any protected movies, but what happens? Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Mixman Posted July 10, 2014 Author Report Share Posted July 10, 2014 Mixman The Alpine already has full Idatalink compatibility. I have read here that the Pioneer will not, but will have some Idatalink compatibility.......How much? I would like to know. So take this for what it is but a tech from idata posted on another board that the nex radio will only support factory items when paired with the maestro dohicky. This means no gauges for the nex this year. Maybe next year radio's will have gauges. he also brought up that the nex does not even support the idata link yet. this firmware is supposed to come out with the car play firmware or maybe the one after. What that really means is anyones guess. I myself will either get next years radio or go with a kenwood that supports the gauges today. If car play is more important then the gauges function or you dont even use the idata adapter then I personally like the 4000 now. Ron Yeah, that's what I was referring to when I mentioned the NEX units will not fully support the Idatalink Maestro this year. What the limited support is going to be I would like to know. Even without the firmware upgrade it supports almost all standard factory controls, at least on a GM vehicle. So as far as Idatalink I am not sure the firmware upgrade is going to ad that much more......unless they pull a rabit out of the hat and fully support the Maestro. I would like to try a newer Kenwood, but man are they just painfully slow, especially the 991HD. Slow boot, slow menus. My thought is when driving, you should have your eyes on the road more and less on your Nav/Receiver. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
hella356 Posted July 10, 2014 Report Share Posted July 10, 2014 Hopefully once an update becomes available, some of the folks here who are versed in Android will be able to find some way to alter the firmware to provide enhancements. Being able to raise the 15,000 files/1,500 folder limits would be sweet. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Kolenka Posted July 10, 2014 Report Share Posted July 10, 2014 I would like to try a newer Kenwood, but man are they just painfully slow, especially the 991HD. Slow boot, slow menus. My thought is when driving, you should have your eyes on the road more and less on your Nav/Receiver. Even the 991HD is painful? I remember some folks gushing about how Kenwood was going to solve world hunger the performance problem with the 991, versus the 990. A shame, since having Garmin nav was a definite plus at times. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Spankey Posted July 10, 2014 Report Share Posted July 10, 2014 Yeah it looks like the 991HD is still painfully slow. That was one of my biggest gripes about them. Takes awhile to change album artwork from iPod. Can only switch songs once the artwork is loaded. The boot time was horrendous. The only real positive for Kenwood is Garmin. Coming from a Kenwood to the 8000NEX is like night and day. Do I miss my Garmin. Not really. With Carplay the Pioneer units will only be better. Also the album art from SiriusXM is nice..although I will most likely be canceling do to O&A. There are still some issues with the Pioneer but nothing earth shattering or things that won't be improved with a firmware upgrade. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Mixman Posted July 10, 2014 Author Report Share Posted July 10, 2014 Yeah a saleman actually recomended the 891HD saying it's faster. It does seem to be too. With all of those features they have crammed into the the 991HD they forgot to upgrade the processor. So for me, this year, it's between the 8000NEX and the Alpine x008U. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Spankey Posted July 10, 2014 Report Share Posted July 10, 2014 Other than a bigger screen I don't see the Alpine having anything over the 8000. I'll take the capacitive screen, XM artwork, flac support, and faster processor. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
jhren Posted July 10, 2014 Report Share Posted July 10, 2014 I have the Kenwood DNN990HD. Aside from boot time and losing Navi locations too frequently, I'm satisfied. It has some audio tweaks that the NEX units are seriously lacking... and audio performance was my main objective. I don't have a problem with album art from my iPod... sure, it could display faster, but I don't have to wait for art to be displayed before switching songs. Bought it way before the 8000NEX was released... but I now have the 8000NEX, which is going in my other vehicle as soon as I get a chance to do all the dash customization required to get a d-din unit in. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
forcedfedbug Posted July 11, 2014 Report Share Posted July 11, 2014 Mixman, Here is the email I received from Idata sales when I inq'ed about a radio for my car. its a 2012 beetle. Unfortunately, the only choices you have for radio that will retain what you have in your car now are Kenwood (2014 DNN, DNX, and DDX with HDMI) and Alpine 2014 Navi models (INE-957HD, X008U). The Pioneer NEX series radios are listed as compatible but Pioneer has not yet released the update for the radios to make them work serially with iDatalink. That says it to me none of them work with idatalink yet? He may have been refering to them working serially specific if they can work another way with GM. Ron Quote Link to post Share on other sites
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