i've been planning an upgrade of my 07 CS's stock headunit and have followed the various install stories here with great interest (thanks everyone!). i really like the overall decent look of the Avic D3 using the japanese double-DIN adaptor; and will definitely insist on having a good old fashioned volume control knob on whatever gets installed.
my installer is all ready to go, but this weekend the following came out at CES which looks like it might be worth waiting for (cited release date: "spring").
what do you guys think? it looks like it is a major step up in interface design ((be sure to look at the high res photos with the ipod interface):
CES 2008: Pioneer takes on SYNC with LINC - Autoblog
alas, no info on pricing, yet.
-aw1
I too am eagerly watching CES for interesting things. I saw the F500BT, the "issue" is that it apparently integrates with your factory unit and is a remote (wireless?) device. I don't want something else floating around the cockpit. Personally I am hoping for a AVIC-D4 or something, but we'll see.
Chris
Nice find, but I'm looking for a replacement for the factory fitted stereo really. I have a portable SATNAV attached to the wind screen (shield?), a Hands free Bluetooth kit wired into to the speakers and a rubbish CDR24 headunit. I'm looking for an all-in-one solution that does not involve mounting anything else onto my dashboard!!!
It does look good. I imagine it wont be long until we see a replacement for the D3 with similar functions and interface.
Ideally, I want to keep my song library on my phone (be it an iphone or whatever), get in my car, use the interface on my Stereo to play all the songs on my phone and accept calls. ALL via bluetooth, so I don't even have to take the phone out of my pocket. Yes, I know the phone will need a decent battery and large amounts of memory! I do not want to mount any other devices to do this. If anyone knows of such a device it will have been made in Heaven by Angels.
The closet solution I could find is to wire an iphone up to the D3 for tunes and connect via bluetooth for calls.
Unless anyone has a different idea? Sorry, do not mean to high-jack the thread!
I was under impression that D3 bluetooth interface will allow you to play music also (avoiding the need to connect the phone).
thanks for sharing your sentiments!
re "multiple parts floating around in our cabins" - i agree that what we need is a replacement head unit with this type of front-end. my first read of the press release left me hopeful that the "pioneer install kit" would perhaps be a double-din "backend" for the F500BT but after my excitement about this settled a bit i concur with you that this is not what is being offered. having a backend for it with the ability to pop-off the "mobile" portion would be nice but (for me) not be a hard and fast requirement. i'd rather have a single console with a ultra-clean look and a quality UI, and the current offerings still disappoint a bit in this regard. perhaps the design underlying this new unit will soon be replicated into upgraded versions of the regular full unit avic's! does anyone here know if pioneer has been pushing major upgrades to their double din nav decks mid-year (after CES but well before the next CES)?
re "keeping your phone in the pocket" - i'm an iphone user as well and agree 100% with your desired usage model. as i'm sure you know the iphone does NOT yet support stereo playback over bt (most speculate that the hw is capable of it, and that a new bt profile to support this will be forthcoming - one can hope!). once (and if) it does then all we need is an ability to charge the phone (only if needed/when running low on batt) but no other wiring - and as you say the phone does not need to sit in any cabin visible cradle. this is what i'm holding out for...
tim,
i'll hold off on the D3 a bit longer in the hope that a major upgrade to it is coming soon... but don't let that stop you!
btw, one more tidbit on BT integration for both stereo playback and cell phone use: i've heard a claim recently that even the best A2DP BT profile streaming transfer (in place of the wired audio connection from your phone) can only deliver at most 96kpbs equivalent quality - in other words the quality of music playback would be somewhat compromised in the "keep my (i)phone in the pocket while driving" usage model.
also, supposedly it is NOT possible to run both the A2DP profile SIMULTANEOUSLY with the regular profile for calls - the BT connection can't (apparently) support bidirectional transfers (stereo music, plus other party's voice, plus outbound microphone audio).
if true this pretty much prevents our preferred scenario from ever working via BT.
-aw1
