D3 also has DVD Video Playback with DivX support/decoder and RGB button colors (can make the buttons light up any color you wish to match any car's stock interior lighting colors), new black graphical menu interface...

Overall, it's an upgrade in my opinion for the lower retail value of $1000.

And it has a memory function like the N3 so you can store your route, and still receive navigation while listening to a CD.

I just hope the buttons have a better tactile feel than the D1 and D2. That's the main reason why I never got the D2. The Z1 was just too expensive. So I have the S1.

The D3-- I hope the buttons have a nice feel to them.

IMO, the only things that seems to be inferior are:

1. N3-like operation of CD/DVD slot (I have an Ipod for music)

2. 1/2" smaller diagonal screen-- no biggy.

The tilt function & slide down screen adds complexity and thus additional costs.

the knob-- is that volume control also? -- if so, that is another benefit--- some people, including me prefer turning a knob for volume adjustment.

Looking at the price point-- I'll get one and leave the S1 for business travel use. Of course I'll wait until after the initial rush

The D3 looks sick, I'd definitely upgrade from my n3 if I had a double din bay.

The nav disc will load your chosen route (say, a 60 mile trek home from grandma's house) into the memory, right? O.K. But on the way home you hit too much traffic on the freeway and decide to use the surface roads which will add 20 miles to your route home. Will you need to reinsert the Nav DVD for this change, or will there be enough maps info in the memory to handle the route change?

If it's like the N3, it usually loads enough maps around the originally stored route to re-route on side roads if you choose to avoid traffic, just from memory.

The nav disc will load your chosen route (say, a 60 mile trek home from grandma's house) into the memory, right? O.K. But on the way home you hit too much traffic on the freeway and decide to use the surface roads which will add 20 miles to your route home. Will you need to reinsert the Nav DVD for this change, or will there be enough maps info in the memory to handle the route change?

Yeah, that's a good question. Frankly, I don't use my CD player enough for it to be a major concern (iPod guy, here) but I'd hope that the Nav unit would load enough of the map that if yu accidentally make a wrong turn, it'll get you back on track without any hassles.

If you get off your route, it will likely have enough memory to take back to the original route. If you get too far off, you will have to reinsert. The traffic problem is different--It will not automatically re route you to side streets, only the original route

I called my local Pioneer Premier retailer (I've been a customer of theres since 1997 when I bought my DEX-P1R) and they informed me that a shipment of D3s was on order and expected to arrive in a week or two, so I went ahead and reserved one...

According to them, they are shipping from eastern U.S. distributors.

We'll see for sure when they call me to come pickup my D3.

any ideas on what retailers might have these available to them first?

I would expect Crutchfield would be pretty high up on the Priority list.

if anyone sees a legit site, please let the rest of us know

we are very interested...

I tend to agree, Crutchfield should receive some of the first shipment... They dropped the D2 quiet some time ago in anticipation of the D3.

http://www.savinglots.com/lotprod.asp?i ... patibility

That site (no clue if it's legit or not, but I know I wouldn't order from them) has the AVIC-D3 at $799 (out of stock of course since I guess it's supposed to be a pre-order) which is prob what online/street price still start out at when they do finally start shipping... $799 sounds great to me though.

There is a web site advetising the D3 "In Stock" right now. Check it out.... http://www.bestsaleprices.com/index.asp ... rodID=3270 .... I e-mailed them 3 days ago and asked how did they have it in stock if it hasn't been released yet by Pioneer? I also asked for a pic of the unit in the box!... guess what I got from them? Z E R O ...... nada...... no reply......

the CONTACT US phone # is a 718 area code number....major scammers, dont even think of ordering from them

Here's a few questions I haven't seen posted:

Since the device plays divX natively, do you think it plays Xvid?

What exactly is the "bluetooth streaming" that this unit is talking about?

Can it access my iPod as a standard hard drive instead of just a ipod?

What kind of mod options will we have for unlocking full controls while driving?

Any ideas?

1. Since the device plays divX natively, do you think it plays Xvid? Yes, of course since is will have the latest codec.

2. What exactly is the "bluetooth streaming" that this unit is talking about? It will have the ability to stream stereo audio from personal music players, and offer control of that player via bluetooth.

3. Can it access my iPod as a standard hard drive instead of just a ipod? No clue, I doubt it.

4. What kind of mod options will we have for unlocking full controls while driving? I was thinking green fairy dust with a side of putoa.

Where can I get this Putoa and how much will it run me?

I will need some putoa, too........ will gold fairy dust work? It's all I have!

well i called them and they are out of d3s and will take orders so...

Gold will suffice if you add some freshly ground windows wingdings.

Putoa is currently only available at hidden kiosk locations within randomly selected hymenbusters retail stores, as far as I know anyhow... I will let you know if I discover any other sources. I believe the target MSRP is around $1.28

I know of a few consistent hymenbusters. I will follow-up with them on the status of putoa and flux capacitors

Sweet!

any new info on the release date?

Lets talk tech: DVD's are the source for NAV data on the D3. Any ideas whether a (Pioneer) XDV-P90 DVD Changer will pass the DVD NAV data to the unit?

This would eliminate the hassle of having to swap disc on the fly.. (w/o the use of gold/green pixie dust...)

Anyone know if the detailed city map (Detailed City Map: Not Available ) means that the D3 will NOT have the nidce 3D views that the Z1 has?