I bought an AVIC-F700BT from Crutchfield and received it this week. But it's still sitting in the box instead of in my dashboard, because I'm paralyzed by all of the negative feedback here. You guys have scared me out of this product.

So maybe you experts can help me figure out if there's something better.

The story is that I just recently bought a car without in-dash nav, for the first time in a while. I've always used factory systems, never any of the aftermarket.

What I want is, I thought, pretty simple: good touch-screen navigation, excellent bluetooth phone integration with voice activation that will work with my iPhone and my wife's Sony Ericsson phone, and a good AM/FM radio. Video playback is totally unnecessary, but music playback from an iPhone/iPod or memory card (USB/SD, don't care) would be a nice plus. The other thing is that I'm partial to the idea of having a real volume knob on the unit, rather than tiny little up/down buttons.

It seemed like the F700BT had it all and more ... in fact, the only negative I could come up with was that it doesn't seem possible to cue the voice activation function via the wired remote (i.e., my steering wheel button), rather, I'd have to press the button on the unit itself. If that was the only negative, I'd be a happy camper.

Unfortunately, based on what I'm reading on these forums, I'm not going to be a happy camper if I install this thing. Should I exchange it for the DNX5120? It definitely isn't as sophisticated, and it's not clear to me if the Kenwood bluetooth add-on thing can do voice dialing or phonebook transfer with the iPhone.

Is there nothing on the market that has the meager capabilities I'm looking for? Should I just stick with the F700BT?

Stick it in and try it out for a week or so. See if you like it. No one can decide that except you.

Good thing is, you bought it from Crutchfield. I buy most all of my car electronics from them. Sure, you pay a little more than what some folks are getting them for, but their customer service is second to none. They have one of the friendliest return policies around. Anywhere.

If after a couple of weeks you don't like it. they'll take it back. I think they'll even pay for shipping.

So give it a spin, the only thing you have to lose is the time installing it.

The Kenwood 5120 + BT module does indeed feature voice dialing and should have zero problems with the iPhone. It uses Parrot just like the Pioneer units do.

Some pics of my install before I downgraded to the F700/F90, and then upgraded to the Kenwood 8120.

I returned mine AVIC-F700BT too back to Crutchfield. I read so many negative commons about this unit, I also called Pioneer support...they don't have ETA for a firmware patch, so, I returned it without bother install it. I only have 30 days time frame, My unit still new in box when I return it today. I am possible get the Kenwood 8120 since it has almost everything just like the Pioneer. I am going to wait for a few months and if Pioneer fix the problem I will get the it.

I can't return mine and not happy about that. I like the Kenwood