double din with gps

[slappa.]

hi, just bought a new work ute, and im not a big fan of the factory head deck. looking at going double din becasue of the features, ( bluetooth,gps rear parking camera)

does anyone have experience with double dins? is bluetooth quality lost?

i havnt been into any stores yet, just had a quick look through some sites. is this available in aus? or any suggestions of units here for sale? is this unit any good?

and can i buy the maps for over here?

Pioneer AVIC-Z1 In-dash DVD receiver/navigation system with 30GB hard drive and 7" video screen Bluetooth®-ready at Crutchfield.com

cheers!

[hakhawk]

that ones lsited as discontinued, look at this one instead

AVIC - Pioneer Electronics Australia

[skitzn]

hey there i read somewhere (sorry cant give exact details of where)
that alpine have one out or are bringing one out that you can take the gps out coz its portable.
ill try see if i can find it
good luck

[daron]

AVIC - Pioneer Electronics Australia

only a few car audio places are aloud to sell and install the avic hd3
vwery good systems works heaps well

ring around most places about $3,000 - $3,500 bux

also your car is single din so there are also pop out screans you can get and add nav and bluetooth

[bezz]

I always seem to be the guy backing eclipse stuff (don't care much for pioneer) but here's some more options for ya:


AVN6000

Double din, in dash, touch screen

or

AVN2210P

Double Din, with removable TomTom GPS ($1399 current tonkins catalogue)

both are available through tonkins and a few other places

[klaw81]

The AVIC models are apparently very good, but they would want to be for the price. I can't see any reason why bluetooth performance would suffer with a double DIN head unit.

Personally, I don't see the point of paying so much extra to have GPS integrated into your dash. If you want a touchscreen and DVD movies, reversing camera, bluetooth etc that's fine - you can have good functionality for about $1500 max.

A standalone windscreen mounted GPS navigation system probably has more features than a built-in one, it can be moved between cars easily, and will cost a fraction of the price. That Eclipse unit with a portable unit built in is a slightly better compromise but has its own drawbacks.

A carputer with all of the AVIC capabilities would cost much less too, but they are for enthusiasts only - you wouldn't put up with one otherwise.

[daron]

pop in to a dealer and have a look at the avics they much much more than you think
aslo has built in vehilce porocessor, gtech and heaps other cool things like g-forces and such
more accurate than a window gps as it uses cars vss wire to find it
does more than just play dvds and gps but yes ya get what ya pay for
and yes ya can buy similar stuff cheeper but not with all the features

[slappa.]

thanks for all the suggestions. yeh i guess i'll have to drop in and take a good look. dont think i wanna pay $3500 for it though....

the only reason i was thinking to go the 2din is i need hands free, i need gps, and id love reversing camera, and i think the other parked cars will too. cant see ****.

would i get anything half decent for around $1500? dont care about dvd quality..

i might look at gps seperate aswell.

cheers

[daron]

kenwood do a single din flip out screen and you can add a nav box and bluetooth module still ands up 2000-2500
just remember without a huge mod a double din wont fit in your car

[klaw81]

more accurate than a window gps as it uses cars vss wire to find it....and yes ya can buy similar stuff cheeper but not with all the features

What's "the car's VSS"? Vehicle stability system? and what does it contribute to the navigation?

I guess what I'm saying is that the price of the AVIC seems pretty steep when you add up the sum of all the features you could have seperately.

- 10Gb HDD isn't much difference to an 8Gb USB flash drive for $80 - this functionality is available on $300 head units.
- A good stand-alone brand name GPS is about $450.
- A 7" touchscreen CD/DVD/tuner is about $1500 for a very good one, or $1000 for a reasonable one.
- Head units with bluetooth start at only $500 so it's not a very expensive "component." Bluetooth as a stand-alone system is only around $250.
All up, that means the AVIC shouldn't be any more than about $2300.

Integrated GPS in particular is a bad idea in my opinion. Updates are typically very expensive and/or rarely available. Dedicated devices do a perfectly adequate job (dare I say just as good) and are easily updated with new maps and even software. Their only disadvantages are that they need to be plugged in (although this can be done semi-permanantly if you want) and tend to be mounted in highly visible areas which makes them a bit of a thief magnet.

The AVIC is a flagship model and apparently it's a very good device. Having all these components integrated into a simple touchscreen interface is excellent. I just think that even with all it's features, it's still way too expensive to give value for money.

Slappa, if you only want to spend $1500, I would suggest you look at a double-DIN touch-scren head unit for about $1200 (Pioneer, Kenwood and JVC have models in this price range) and pick up a standlone GPS for navigation. Tomtom ONE is very good value at $250, and models that "say" street names start at around $450. Budget at least $300 for a new fascia and/or mounting hardware for your new head unit - I'm not sure what's available for your model car.