For an upgrade for Z2 to Z3 is htere any advantage to swapping the drives instead of buying the CD from Pioneer other than music storage capacity (I use iPod instead)?
Does using the upgrade CD erase all info from your Z2, like addresses phone numbers etc?
Well swapping out the harddrive is exponentially cheaper, plus the update with the DVD takes about 2 to 2.5 hours. You either need to take out your HU and bench it to do the update, or waste a LOT of gas to keep your battery from dying. It's easier to take the drive out and hook it to your computer for a 15 to 20 minute update.
You can replace with a faster hard drive that has more storage as well.
Well, let me spell this out for you.
$120 for the disc from Pioneer or $130 for the HDD from Mr. Toomey and it has all the latest updates already on it and all you have to do is pull the old out and install the new one.
If something happens to the head unit that needs warranty repair, then swap the drives out again and it is ready to ship back to pioneer with them not knowing you had the updates at all.
Man this is a no brainer, go for the upgrade disk from Pioneer, they will thank you for it!!!!
With the Pioneer disk, don't you get to keep the music you have already stored on the HDD?
Simple.
Benfits of Swapping HDD
- Increase HDD space by 10/20gb more
- takes less then 3 mins to change harddrive and for the system to upgrade the firmware and maps
- Cost a lot cheaper
- Also will always have a backup of the orginal z1/z2 drive just in case your pre-loaded z3 ends up deing or any drives thats in there.
- Comes with all the tools needed to do the swap.
- latest firmware and maps (Feb 2008)
Benfits of Upgrade Disk
- Music stays on the orgianl HDD as you are only upgrading the firmware and maps
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Pretty much narrows down everything in a nut shell.
What about the saved Navi destinations, and the phone numbers you have programmed in. Do you loose those with the HDD upgrade?
I'm not concerned at all about music, but to reprogram the numbers and the name pronunciations would be a big hassle for me.
Is that info stored in the HDD or a RAM memory of some sort?
The address stuff is stored on the HDD, and your HDD would need to be unlocked to transfer that information to a HDD upgrade. The license to unlock an AVIC drive is about $45. Once your drive is unlocked, and the datta is transfered to an upgrade drive, you will never have to pay to unlock it again. Your future upgrades will be much easier without losing any data. Feel free to PM me.
Garret Tommey is the best person to contact if you need a Z3 HD for your Z2. I just have an outstanding experience of getting help from him to troubleshoot the problem with my Z2, he let me try out a new 80gb Z3 HD to resolve issue with my Z2 freezing at start up. Although the problem was not resolved he refunded my money after i returned the HD back to him.
An asset to Avic411.com
Garret Tommey is the best person to contact if you need a Z3 HD for your Z2. I just have an outstanding experience of getting help from him to troubleshoot the problem with my Z2, he let me try out a new 80gb Z3 HD to resolve issue with my Z2 freezing at start up. Although the problem was not resolved he refunded my money after i returned the HD back to him.
An asset to Avic411.com
Garret is the source.
I was going through the similar problem. I needed update for the maps (according to Z2 I drive half of the time in the field, a new division, z3 still has issues, but at least not plotting me through someones property/driveways)
I got my 80 gig lightning quick, put new HD and was done in literally under 5 mins. Sure now i have to reload all my music, and i kinda ok with that, since i had a lot of "mix" cds and organization was screwy. Now i am with clean slay, a back up drive just in case (original z2). Garret is the man to talk to. The only thing is the 80 gig is laptop HD not automotive, but i am betting i will wreck the car, unit get stolen or i get another car prior to failure, but even if it does- i got a stock spare 
Happy Holidays!
ilber