Whoa...these are highly competitive in both price and features...integrated Bluetooth, Tom Tom navigation, etc. And the Sony OEM iPod cable is only $30

Check these out:

http://www.sonystyle.com/webapp/wcs/stores/servlet/ProductDisplay?catalogId=10551&storeId=10151&langId=-1&productId=8198552921666269908#additionalImage1%22

http://www.sonystyle.com/webapp/wcs/stores/servlet/ProductDisplay?catalogId=10551&storeId=10151&langId=-1&productId=8198552921666269888

Interesting. Sony seems to have stolen the AVIC naming convention...Sony XNV-770BT vs Pionner X710BT

Tom Tom is nice, but their AV Mode is TERRIBLE!

Yeah...

Tell you what...I just received Crutchfield's holiday catalog and there are a TON of new in-dash navigation and AV systems that compare VERY favorably to the Pioneers...and none of them use MSN Direct...LOL.

You guys HAVE got to look at that catalog (don't buy from them, of course, given how overpriced Crutchfield is...). The paper catalog is just a great reference for what's out there.

These navis do look nice but there is one deal breaker for me, no VR.

Good point....I hadn't caught that, actually.

Hands-free is the way to go...hard to do hands-free without VR.

These navis do look nice but there is one deal breaker for me, no VR.

Man...looking at the Sony's again...

Just realized they come with FREE map updates for the first year, and are something like $80 after that (compared to Pioneer's $120).

AND...they have traffic information based on ACTUAL TRAFFIC SPEEDS collected from over 6 million drivers rather than just relying on posted speed limits and traffic reports. They call it "IQ Routes." Sounds a lot like the traffic speed scheme used for the ones made by Dash out in CA. I've been screaming about in-dash units not having ACTUAL traffic speed data for years...they're finally catching up with the possibilities here. This traffic and re-routing technique will run circles around Pioneers...which lose all traffic capability when MSN Direct goes silent in Jan 2011.

Man...if the Sony's just had VR, they'd be the HANDS-DOWN winner here. Nothing else from Pioneer, Kenwood, Alpine, Eclipse, JVC, Dash, etc. would TOUCH these things if htey also had VR.

UPDATE: Just realized that the live, reality-based speed and traffic IQ Routes solution is the TomTom traffic solution...the Sonys use TomTom as the navigation software (just like Kenwood uses Garmin).

Also keep in mind they always look better on paper then in reality. Features often don't work as described. We know that all too well with the likes of Pioneer and Kenwood so Sony is likely no different.

Also keep in mind they always look better on paper then in reality. Features often don't work as described. We know that all too well with the likes of Pioneer and Kenwood so Sony is likely no different.

Yeah...we'll see if they live up to the promise and potential here.

By the way, I know you've seen me talk in here about how Kenwood decided to use Garmin as their navigation solution. Well...you'll notice Sony went with TomTom for these units.

On both cases, my friends and family can get in my car and immediately know how to use these units from the passenger seat (or if they borrow my car). The problem with the Pioneer/iGo/whatever navigation software is that it's so unlike any of the mass-market navigation software that nobody who sat in my car could ever use the D3...and my buddy is noticing the same thing with his X920BT. Everyone is like "how do you use this darn thing?"

By the way, the higher-end Sony is available on eBay for as little as $900! And the smaller screen one is available for $750. Wow...this is getting pretty compelling...

Man...looking at the Sony's again...

 

Just realized they come with FREE map updates for the first year, and are something like $80 after that (compared to Pioneer's $120).

 

AND...they have traffic information based on ACTUAL TRAFFIC SPEEDS collected from over 6 million drivers rather than just relying on posted speed limits and traffic reports. They call it "IQ Routes." Sounds a lot like the traffic speed scheme used for the ones made by Dash out in CA. I've been screaming about in-dash units not having ACTUAL traffic speed data for years...they're finally catching up with the possibilities here. This traffic and re-routing technique will run circles around Pioneers...which lose all traffic capability when MSN Direct goes silent in Jan 2011.

 

Man...if the Sony's just had VR, they'd be the HANDS-DOWN winner here. Nothing else from Pioneer, Kenwood, Alpine, Eclipse, JVC, Dash, etc. would TOUCH these things if htey also had VR.

 

UPDATE: Just realized that the live, reality-based speed and traffic IQ Routes solution is the TomTom traffic solution...the Sonys use TomTom as the navigation software (just like Kenwood uses Garmin). The fact that the Sony traffic info is based on ACTUAL speeds being reported anonymously by all TomTom/Sony users is REALLY interesting. Should be MUCH better than XM NavTraffic, MSN Traffic, and even FM-TDS. I'm impressed...

UPDATE #2: The higher-end Sony is available on eBay for as little as $900! And the smaller screen one is available for as little as $750 or so. Wow...this is getting pretty compelling...

Yea if you were in Europe iGo would be the one.

UPDATE #3:

Holy crap...the Sonys appear to have voice-recognition dialing for phones. Take a look at page 41 of the manual at THIS link...

It works if one's cell phone supports Voice Tags, which many do.

From what I've read, there are two kinds of voice tagging. One version is when you can record YOURSELF saying your contacts' name and store the snippets as part of the contacts themselves on one's phone. The other kind is when the phone's OS just creates a tag based on the words in the contact name.

A Sony online chat rep just seemed to confirm my interpretation.

I think I just found my next in-dash GPS system! I'm puzzled why they wouldn't highlight this on their webpage. They don't even MENTION voice dialing as a capability....weird.

Probably because it may not work well. Seriously dude, I would demo one before I sank my money into it.

If thses are like everything else Sony makes they're going to be orphaned and not supported in 3months when they release their next gen navis. It never fails with Sony stuff, theyre worse than Apple in this reguard.

If thses are like everything else Sony makes they're going to be orphaned and not supported in 3months when they release their next gen navis. It never fails with Sony stuff, theyre worse than Apple in this reguard.

Hmm...dunno.

Holy cr-p! You're the FIRST member of these forums?!? I think I just heard trumpets sound...it's like a rare item showing up in a MMORPG.

Hmm...dunno.

 

Holy cr-p! You're the FIRST member of these forums?!? I think I just heard trumpets sound...it's like a rare item showing up in a MMORPG.

Yeah, maybe Jason could change the group to something different than "members" and give it a purple color (like his is red) lol.

Anyhow, I don't want a big tom tom in my dash and the AV screen looks like it's from the 90s.

Hmmm...I agree the AV screen is a little less modern on the Sonys, but when driving, isn't that what some people would prefer (not saying it's better than the AVICs...just saying less clutter means less to take your attention off the road)?

By the way, I just read those Sony's have a feature almost EXACTLY like MusicSphere....Sony calls it SenseIt or something.

Has anyone tried this unit yet?