Howdy Fellas! Well I am on F150 Online for those on there they recommended coming here lol. I have never upgraded stereo components in a Vehicle but I just got stationed in 29 Palms California where I leave for on the 22nd and have a 10 day leave before that. So to cut to the chase, my dad whent out and bought an AVIC-F900BT for my birthday and xmas combination. Is this thing touchscreen? What all can I expect! I am very excited just very new!! I bought an I-Pod cable for it, along with the extra Antenna for the Navigation, what else should I buy? I am having it professionally installed and called the shop they have the wire harness, and the casing for my Dashboard. Thanks for all your help!

~Phil

"Semper Fi"

alright man, first thing's first...

the antenna for the F900 is provided in the box, so if you bought another one, take it back.

next, it is touchscreen, and once it's fully booted up (take a look at some other threads for the boot up problems) it's a really nice unit. however, there are some other small flaws that just have to be dealt with until a new update comes out. there are some people on here who are customizing their units but unless you know your way around windows pretty well i wouldn't recommend you try it for yourself.

also, there's a bypass available to play DVDs while driving. sometimes if you ask the installer who is doing the work for you he can do it for some money on the side, or if you feel comfortable, you can do it yourself. it's relatively easy, and there's info on other threads about that too.

good luck, and don't be afraid to ask questions!!!

oh, and if they have all the necessary parts, there's nothing else you should have to buy, unless you want add ons like HD radio or satellite.

Return it and get a Kenwood 5120 or 8120 if you can, you'll be much happier with one of those as your first indash navigation unit.

Also, you'll probably want to add a PAC steering wheel adapter to either one if you have factory controls on your wheel.

I dont' want to be a buzz kill but the unit has issues so be prepared for that.

Yeah, its touchscreen

First things first, bypass this MF asap! (see link below)

http://www.avic411.com/forum/viewtopic.php?t=15663

Bypassing allows you to do all sorts of dangerous activities while driving like watching movies, setting new routes; etc

The iPod interface is iffy, Apple recently upgraded some of their firmwares and for those effected the unit cannot be controlled anymore by the F900BT

The bluetooth is hit-and-miss. My phone (Moto ROKR z6m) is obnoxiously loud with no way to turn down the volume. Other phones work better; others do not work at all.

Boot time varies; this particular issue doesn't bother me but for others it leads them to put their fist in the screen. Mine takes 45 secs to boot but music starts playing within 5 seconds of turning on, so its fine for me.

You have the F900, so it'll play DVDs, DivX movies and MP3s on DVDs or CDs

This unit supports HD Radio, XM and Sirius but it DOES NOT support XM or Sirius traffic services, thats really all there is else to buy for it really.

Not sure why you'd buy a second antenna, it'll only fit one

Pioneer has released one update for the unit so far; I'm done holding my breath for another, but we'll see.

Well I bought the antenna on eBay so I guess I have to eBay it back and try to sell it for at least some money back . I didn't buy the unit, my dad did, and I don't want to tell him that its not the right one and return it, he was overly generous about this gift. It is getting professionally installed, and same place that puts 5% tint back on my front (illegal as well lol) because I had to have it stripped to pass NC state inspection. They know how to install and bypass it, and already told me that they have done a few F900BT bypasses, I mentioned that they were the new ones, and he said to move the mute wire, after looking over the forums seems to know what he's talking about. I hope I don't seem stupid with this stuff lol. Now as far as the antenna is concerned how powerful is it? would it be better to mount it on the roof of the truck or on the dash? Its a lifted 01 F150...thanks for all the help so far guys great forum!

~Phil

"Semper Fi"

Oh yeah, and I don't have steering-wheel controls. I don't think the 01 F150's even had that as an option!? lol. I have a Blackberry World (hopefully it works with the HU) I'm still pretty excited, never thought I would ever be getting a High-Speed Low Drag-system like this...As far as speakers I'm not updating those for a little while, but my stock HU is screwed (won't play CD's when heat is on spits back out CD's was a great unit, but 103k miles whose expecting better) I don't update my iPod anymore due to apples stupidity when it comes to headset volume and user control. I have the first generation Nano (hopefully that works too!) and I expect it will be better than my FM transmitter.

~Phil

"Semper Fi"

The antenna is plenty good enough. I would worry with about it. This unit is a great unit but it is flakey at times. The units were released in july and immediately halted due to horrible bugs in the software that left the unit near unusable. Most of the serious issues have been worked out but it is still a little temperamental at times. Most of the cool features include being able to talk to your ipod and bluetooth phone and tell them what to play and call. This feature works about 50/50. Some report ipod works great but not phone and vice versa. Overall I think you will be happy with the unit.

Return it and get a Kenwood 5120 or 8120 if you can, you'll be much happier with one of those as your first indash navigation unit.

x2

Both my GPS and Sirius antennas are inside the car and I do not have any drop-out or interference issues.