Well, im pretty hooked on the Avic-z1. I've done an excessive amount of research on it and it really seems to be the way for me to go. However, its price tag still makes me cringe a tiny bit. Other than eBay and potential scammers, I've found it for a solid 1645.00 / free shipping from onlinecarstereo.com. But I keep reading posts about people buying it for hundres less, from 1300-1500. Soo naturally, I start looking at cheaper alternatives, wondering if the Avic is really worth the extra 800+ over an Alpine IVA-W200 (with option to add a Blackbird down the road). Other than the voice recognition and HDD I dont see many other features that justify the extra dough. But prove me wrong, please. lol Because I'd just die of happiness if I could control my music with my voice! (HDD only, i know..)

Is it worth it ladies and gentlemen? From what I can gather... I'd say it is. But I'd like the input of current owners. And if anyone could point me in the way of an even cheaper store with at least a 1 year warranty (like onlinecarstereo.com) then please! please please do. lol All ive dug up with searches are mostly sites that no longer have the unit in stock, or turned out to be scams.

Btw... this site is great. Seems like a real cool community, not as much e-thuggin goin on here. Which is rare! You guys have a lot of useful info, and some very helpful members. Thanks in advance.

Well, im pretty hooked on the Avic-z1. I've done an excessive amount of research on it and it really seems to be the way for me to go. However, its price tag still makes me cringe a tiny bit. Other than eBay and potential scammers, I've found it for a solid 1645.00 / free shipping from onlinecarstereo.com. But I keep reading posts about people buying it for hundres less, from 1300-1500.

Most of us paid more than $1500 for it. Even in it's best days it was $1500+ for most people. Some paid in the $1900 - $2250 range.

Soo naturally, I start looking at cheaper alternatives, wondering if the Avic is really worth the extra 800+ over an Alpine IVA-W200 (with option to add a Blackbird down the road).

Well the W200 doesn't have a nav system. It will take one, but you need to pay $1100 more for the nav add on.

Once you pay that and find a place for the nav add on, yes, the W200 is a very nice system.

Other than the voice recognition and HDD I dont see many other features that justify the extra dough. But prove me wrong, please. lol Because I'd just die of happiness if I could control my music with my voice! (HDD only, i know..)

Yah, and only with CD's ripped to the hard drive. You can't just throw every MP3 you have collected on the drive.

Is it worth it ladies and gentlemen? From what I can gather... I'd say it is. But I'd like the input of current owners. And if anyone could point me in the way of an even cheaper store with at least a 1 year warranty (like onlinecarstereo.com) then please! please please do. lol All ive dug up with searches are mostly sites that no longer have the unit in stock, or turned out to be scams.

I think it is, bluetooth which the W200 has I believe.

It's good, I love mine. There are pluses an minuses with the Z1. Ipod access is slower than the alpine. Some people have weird nav routing issues (I haven't). The hard drive is convenient if your music is purchased CD's. If you have a bunch of "stolen" MP3's then it's not so convenient.

I was between the Eclipse 6600, Alpine W200+nav and the Z1. The eclipse didn't have as many features as the alpine or pioneer. And the alpine was more expensive and was 2 units to install. The Z1 fit all in my dash. It has more features, but has a few negatives and things people would like to see changed. But overall it's pretty good.

Btw... this site is great. Seems like a real cool community, not as much e-thuggin goin on here. Which is rare! You guys have a lot of useful info, and some very helpful members. Thanks in advance.

Thanks, we try to make it friendly and helpful.

Nice breakdown. Thanks. You're definitely the resident go-to-guy judging by my short period of lurking around. Glad you were so quick to reply.

So tell me... Whats your opinion on the IVA-W200 + Blacbird w/ Dock? Instead of their overpriced add-on nav system. Since that will equate to about the same price?

Also, it has just come to my attention that this unit is back ordered nation-wide. Might you know of any reputable online retailers that may have some in stock at a good price? If not, I may lean towards eBay or the alpine unit. lol This is such a tough decision! But I guess im damn lucky if this is my big concern, lmao.

The alpine setup with the blackbird doesn't have nearly the nav capabilities as the Z1. Its basically a rebadged Magellan with a gigantic docking station (don't forget to add that $200 to the price of the blackbird which I think is down to about $500.) Less POI and slower routing than the Z1. Now that the echo problems are fixed, it also seems the bluetooth is better on the Pioneer than the Alpine because you get so much on-screen information.

The alpine setup with the blackbird doesn't have nearly the nav capabilities as the Z1. Its basically a rebadged Magellan with a gigantic docking station (don't forget to add that $200 to the price of the blackbird which I think is down to about $500.) Less POI and slower routing than the Z1. Now that the echo problems are fixed, it also seems the bluetooth is better on the Pioneer than the Alpine because you get so much on-screen information.

NOIRtist, not to post "me too" like some "brain dead AOL-ed"... but yah, what he said.

And sorry, I don't know any place to buy one. I haven't bought a Z1 in months.

Does Alpine or Eclipse have a website like this one? Because this website has helped me out a ton. I could not have done the complete install of my Z1 system myself without the aid of the good people at AVIC411.com. This website alone is a reason for buying the Z1.

Good luck with your decision, but I think you've already made up your mind. Now break out that credit card and go buy it.

Cheers,

Kevin

lol Thanks guys. I've def got some thinking to do. I just found this Kenwood unit as well in my search for Avic-Z1's (Kenwood DDX6019). And apparently Garmin makes the nav add-on (KNA-G510). All totalled to about 1000-1200 for both... basically I lose the voice recognition and HDD. But this option would allow me to add the navi later and finish my system now. DAMN this is tough.

I may have to bite the bullet and get the Z1 anyway, just for the nifty voice recognition system. Is it really that useful would you say? I mean how often do you really use it? Or is it not as practical as one might think?

Either way, my research continues!

I find myself using the voice recognition more and more each day as I learn what the Nav can and cannot understand. I used voice recognition a lot when I used Co-pilot GPS on my laptop before buying the Z1.

The hard drive is another huge plus. It's nice that I can pop in a new CD and the Z1 starts recording, labeling and organizing all the songs while I'm listening to that CD. And now I never need to put that CD in my Z1 again. It's now all on the hard drive. And I can select by album, song, artist, genre or most played. Essentially I have a jukebox on wheels with all of MY favorite music and no longer need to carry my bulky CD case with me.

Cheers,

Kevin

Not to mention you can borrow friend's CDs while driving and keep a copy for yourself without them even knowing

I have no experience with the Z1, but Alpine has the new PMD-B200 coming out that docks into the new W205 double din. The W205 will have an MSRP of $899 while an Alpine rep on another forum has told me the PMD-B200 will retail for $399.

That looks like a nice combo. But doesnt that monitor look like it sticks out crazy far? Plus, I cant wait 5 months for this. lol

The w200 did stick out kinda far. Looks like that one is the same. Any specs on that nav? Or is it just the regular old blackbird?

I love that the Z1 has a hard drive. When I visit friends houses I ask if I can download there new cd's into the avic while I am at there home and dont even need to leave with them. Also When I purchase a new cd I rip it into the avic and then put the cd in my other car. I love not having the clutter of cd's in my car. most of my music is on mp3, but it will usually rip it after burning onto a audio cd. You just need to manualy enter the track info after. having your music on the hard drive allows you to make custom play lists as well. I do use my voice recognition feature and find that it is close to 100% acurate with me.

Check the software you are using. I'm using Nero 6, and it took the information from the mp3 tags. You can also change it by right-clicking on the song, selecting "properties", and manually entering/changing the title and the artist. You can even change the title/artist of the CD itself. You might want to create playlists after that, but I haven't even bothered since the CDs I burn are pretty much categorized.

That's a bummer about the limited AV voice commands. When I tried out the Acura I thought it was really cool that you could say "XM Channel 112" and it would switch to that channel (whether it was a preset or not). Neither the Pioneer Z1 nor the expensive Alpine Nav unit seem to have that capability.

I wonder if they will add any voice commands in the Z2. It seems like that would be only software dependent.

my avic z1 finds cddb's from my backup audio cd's that i used in my regular cd player and its a nice feature even if i don't have CD TEXT on the disc it tells me the song names some of my back ups are all the way back from 1998 and they are indian music cd's and it still finds the names perfectly so far and rip them on the hard drive it rips them pretty dam quick me myself i don't use my voice recognition that much because my mic is hidden behind my dash and it acts like a r-tard if it can't recognize me but when it does work its a charm i too did compare with that kenwood you are looking at and i had to go with hard disc drive capability and not to mention the bypass im not sure if it works on the latest z1's but u don't have to buy a PAC for the dam bypassing watching dvd's not too sure about the other models (alpine, kenwood, eclipse) the navigation is excellent reroutes in seconds if i miss a turn it gets me back on track very quick all in all im very happy with it considering what i paid $1525 for unit and about 200 for install $50 for my pac switch for my steering wheel controls its a great navigation system though it works for what i bought it for -- not getting lost lol and then some BUY DAT $|-| l T

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