hey all, i was reading this car audio mag today and i came across a new product from panasonic. called the strada.

"The Strada CN-NVD905U is an in-car navigation / head unit that boasts a 7-inch touchscreen, 30GB hard drive, built-in DVD / CD player, NAVTEQ mapping software, and support for Bluetooth handsfree operations. The trilingual GUI also touts automatic rerouting, and if you're not already tuned into XM Radio, you can access Sirius' real-time traffic data to avoid those crowded freeways on your commute back home. Additionally, it sports "iPod video connectivity" for rear seat and front passenger entertainment"

i'm curious because i was reading the cnet review and it said that panasonic is aiming for a 1800 price range and it will launch around april (same time as z2), which seems significantly cheaper than the z2 price range of 2200. do you guys have any input on this? i'm curious as to whether or not you can upload songs. but having a 30 gb harddrive makes me think that it has to be possible. and from all the horror stories from teleatlas, is navteq better? i've been waiting for the z2, but im starting to wonder if pioneer is really the best out there. if im looking to dish out that hard earned money, i want the best.

let me know what you guys think.

looks pretty ghetto to me. The screen and icons don't look as refined as the Z1 does. There is also no mention of supporting divx. So, all in all, I don't think I will be buying that anytime soon.

looks pretty ghetto to me. The screen and icons don't look as refined as the Z1 does. There is also no mention of supporting divx. So, all in all, I don't think I will be buying that anytime soon.

If I remember correctly, there was a post a week or two ago and it was decided that based upon everything we know now, the Z2 will not support DivX.

it won't. the D3 will support it.

Yes, I know the avic z2 will not support divx. I was just saying that there is no reason to switch, because there are no additional features like divx on the other panasonic unit.

I just looked at the CNET video, and yes the UI does look kind of funky on that unit! LOL and correct me if im wrong, but doesnt the Panasonic's bluetooth adapter look much bigger than Pioneer's?

Yeah it's about twice the size. Also if panasonic keeps to their history in order to do xm, ipod, bluetooth you'll have to get an expansion module that splits their changer port to 3 different ports. Actually you'd have to get that if you want to do more than just one of those things. Worst part is that piece is 200 by itself.