Please help me with this if u guys can!

I Just got the D3 installed on my 2007 Cobalt and everything was fine. Reason i picked the D3 was price of course. I Really wanted the Z2 but i figure i would be ok ... but now, i have some leaning to go to the z2.

First, the switching between DVDs and music cds is a pain in the azz, another thing, i would really like to burn my music inside the hard drive, and/or i wanted to have the CDDB database so i could pick the music by the name, voice control sounds cool, but can you guys tell me how it works and if it really works well.

Now as far as the navigation, i read somewhere that the Z2 is more accurate and inteligent, so i want to know , how does that really work. I Got pissed of using my nav yesterday, comming from 60 km north of toronto, canada, and the nav told me to get off one freeway and merge into another ( 400 to 401 if you familiar with the area) but, i saw it was heavy on traffic so i took another exit, called blackcreek. The first i would say 10 km of the BlackCreek drive is still like a freeway with speed limit of 70 or 90km, so as soon as the unit realized i didnt get into the other highway it told me to make a UTURN. Can you imagine an U TURN in the middle of the friggin freeway ? Gzz......

So a friend told me that the Z2 learns the way i drive, so if i set up to go to my house and it would give me that i have to come down the 400 and then go to the 401 and then i got out another exit, it would learn that i like to go out that exit and next time it would gimme that route, instead of trying to make me go back and u turn and get me into the route it selected to me.

I tell u something took a while until it gave up and showd me how to get home with the path i choose.

Now, i have read a lot that these nav units are not as great as the garmin or tomtom's one and have their problem, well, i guess nothing is perfect, but since i own a D3 now i now the cons and goods about it, so I WAS HOPPING that you guys, owners of the Z2 could gimme a light and tell me what u guys think of yours unit, what are the goods and bads, and if i should switch to the Z2, now that the mod is available

So thx for any reponses to this thread, i really like the forum and i hope i can contribute one day

Fred

You are better off with the d3 my friend. Why do you need it to tell you how to get home when you already know the roads?

i was testing the unit.

I do lots of estimates and i often go to places i have never been before.

So first i was wondering if the z2 is any bit better then the d3 in terms of nav. And second, i wanted to know if the features that the z2 have over the d3 works fine, are in any manner realiable ( like the voice commands ) and what you guys think overall about the Z2 over the D3.

Thats it

Thx again!

Get an ipod, solves your disk problem. The voice command works fine, rarely used it though. The nav has a couple different views that are nice, but not $1000 nice. Guidance seems fairly similar, although after reading on here, apparently the ETA on the D3 is more accurate

I too bought the D3 two week ..and exchanged to the Z2 units.....It's just a better unit. the maping I think it much better the D3... GET THE Z2 AND YOU WILL BE HAPPY-MAN.... THAT WHAT I DID... I took my D3 back to shop..and pay for the differnt...That about $1,000 more...I hope this help you.

i also started with the d3 and was quickly annoyed with the changing cd's all the time so i upgraded to the z2 and have never been happier. the voice command works ok but there has to be no noise espescially if you are trying to make a phone call. you need to speak slow and very clear. but so far so good. i suggest that you also invest in the 6 disc dvd changer i originally got it because i have kids. but it has come in handy even when the kids are not in the car.

so it seems that everybody that gets the d3 gets tempted to get the z2, but i really like whtcrxghst idea's of getting an ipod to make it as my hard drive. I then could put every media that i have ( mp3s and DVDS ) and also have everything organized in albums, artists and stuff wich is way better then track 1 , track 2 etcs, cuz we D3s we dont have the cddb.

It would cost me half the price of updating to the Z2 and then i could leave the map dvd inside all the time

I REALLY WANT to get convinced of GETTING THE Z2, because i think that of course its a more feature unit, but im this guy that likes to have have always the latest version of all tech gadgets, so PLEASE ....

Tell me, what are the features you guys love and use most on the Z2's that the D3s cant offer

CONVICE ME PLEASE

Z2 + iPod = Choke me first!

The iPod is slower than molasses when using the Z2 to find music. Plus you talk about using it for ripping DVD's onto. You would need to switch from the dock connector to the headphone jack to get video to the Z2. The dock does not pass video to the Z2.

Oh, and the voice command works, but it is simply faster for me to press buttons then deal with the lag in the lady.

I had a Z1, but D3 is a better choice for me because of the ipod functionality. 99.9% of the time I listen to ipod, xm, or sirius. I keep one or two movies on my ipod in case I want to watch one, which never seems to happen so I rarely have to take out my nav disk

I to considered the Z series before I made my purchase. I am an electronics madman and I usually get the top of the line of everything I find. However in this case the D3 was better for my needs. Mainly the ipod interface. It really works well on the D3 and is very slow and unintuitive on the Z series and there is no direct video support as there is on the D3. The bluetooth option for the D3 works nearly flawlessly. Now that is saying a lot for this option because Pioneers previous tries at BT left a little to be desired and that includes for the Z series. The BT option for the Z is practically useless, its a shot in the dark as to weather you will have the problems that most have had with it. As I understand the voice command on the Z series is a little hit and miss as well. You also get customizable illumination buttons on the D3 and not on the Z series. Apparently the Sirius display on the Z series is lacking and is better on the D3. And apparently the Z series can have a hard time working on very hot days. I have not had any problems due to heat on my D3 yet. The one thing that would be cool for the D3 is the learn function that the Z series has but I can live without it. So I guess it just depends on what you want out of the unit. If you have an ipod or plan on getting one and would desire good bluetooth capabilities I would say stick to the D3.

It seems to me, what it really comes down to, is which way you're going to use it most often... more for iPod or more for navigation. If you travel a lot and are going to use it more for navigation, go with the Z2. If you're going to use it to listen to your iPod, stay with what you've got.

I fall inbetween and that's what made it difficult... but I wanted a great nav system without having to switch disks all the time... so I ended up with the Z2. I also have an 80 gig iPod for ALL my music, so yes, it's a bit frustrating at times in that arena since it's slow to find artists in big libraries... but I've figured out ways to make it quicker and get around some of Pioneer's stupidness by taking advantage of smart playlists in iTunes and on the iPod.

My stepson is considering an aftermarket radio for himself and I've pointed him more towards the D3 because of the iPod thing... he RARELY travels and will mostly use it for music and video. The nav to him would be secondary.

Thx everybody!

I Now can make a safe decision. Im sticking with my D3.

As CXRabbit mentioned, its really the way i use it more and well, i guess u can say its pretty balanced bet nav and musci but def is more music, but i really think that the ipod will put an end in my problems.

The main thing is that i hate switch the dvds, but with the ipod im going to stick all the music and videos inside it, and ill just control everything from the D3. Im going to get the cable to hook up on the back of the unit and place the end on the glove box or some place hidden but easy to access ( DUH GLOVEBOX ) , this way i can leave the nav dvd inside all the time, and i dont have to go to my ugly cd holder to change cds and stuff.

Thank god the d3 have good realitionship with the ipod

I Really reallly appreciate all your comments, top comments that helpd me all the way through my decision

U guys rox!

Fred

I have a D3 with Ipod and bluetooth, Nav disc is almost always in the slot, and I listen to Ipod a lot, everything is fine, bluetooth reception is not good with my iphone. any suggestions?

As an alternative to an iPod, you can get the USB adapter and hook up a USB flash drive or even better, a portable hard drive to it, probably in your glove box. I'm not sure what the maximum size the hard drive can be, but I recall someone posting here that it can be up to 250 gigs?

I'd rather go that route, as the USB adapter is around $100, and you can get a fairly large portable hard drive for $100 or so. So you'd get like 3 or 4 times the storage capacity of an iPod for a lot less money. And it might solve the problem with the iPod's slow seek times too, but I don't know really about that one.

The interface on the USB adaptor has gotten very, very bad reviews

As an alternative to an iPod, you can get the USB adapter and hook up a USB flash drive or even better, a portable hard drive to it, probably in your glove box. I'm not sure what the maximum size the hard drive can be, but I recall someone posting here that it can be up to 250 gigs?

 

I'd rather go that route, as the USB adapter is around $100, and you can get a fairly large portable hard drive for $100 or so. So you'd get like 3 or 4 times the storage capacity of an iPod for a lot less money. And it might solve the problem with the iPod's slow seek times too, but I don't know really about that one.