In dash Navigation Questions

[Brandon DeVore]

OK a few months ago I posted a question similar to this, but im ready to buy. And before I spend the 2000ish dollars, I want to get some ideas/ clarifications/ answers from you, the people who have done this.



When I bought the sport trac the only thing I did not get in a car that I wanted was navigation. So I told myself I will buy an after market one. however all the aftermarket ones at double din sets. and Ive been told by crutchfeild that I cannot put a doube din unit in my car. However car shops says I can. So thats the first thing I need answered.



Ok what setups have people gone with? Ive been looking at the pioneer avic-d1, the keenwood 7017 with nav adapter, and the several eclispe models out there.



If anyone has put an indash navigation unit in there car, not like a magelleon or tomtom, but one that is like your stereo/head unit post here your thoughts, what you like/dislike, picture if you have one, what unit you have and how much it was to do everything or if you did it yourself and was hard.



I dont want to spend the money and be disapointed.



Thanks everyone



Brandon

 

[Jake Levin]

Brandon, I have not done it yet, but from what I understand the actual opening is 1 1/2 din. People have put a double din radio in the opening and I believe it requires some shaving of the opening to make it fit right

 

[JK II]

I have the AVIC-N2. I have it about 4 months now and feel its a great investment. The nav has come in handy so many times. I'll get a pic of it later today. I paid about $1,200 for the unit and $200 for install. They are time consuming to install. Plus the guy who did mine hooked it up so I can watch movies while driving.

 

[Gary DiPietroSr]

Eagle, I'm with JKII. I have Pioneer AVIC N2 also and it' great. To answer your question, it fits in the single din opening. Gary D.

 

[Brandon DeVore]

Im aware of the N2. however I dont want the unit only because it will block my ac vents, and i do not want to have to put in the nav disc every time i want to use navigation. which is why I want the d1 or the d2.



Does anyone know whats required to install a double din unit in? that eclipse unit is one I was looking at but im going to be doing the install myself and I dont want to have to do ALOT of heavy mods.

 

[JK II]

Basically to fit a double din you have to trim the outer edges a little.

 

[Travis Munday]

Yup, just a little trimming is all that is usually needed; although a few have installed some double DIN stuff without trimming. All we're talking about are fractions of inches, maybe 1/8" out of the hole, top and bottom.



Crutchfield is good, but they do everything "by the book" with adapters and such, if any modification is needed, they say it won't fit. Good if you plan on trading in/up or if you have a lease, though.

 

[Robert Cuenca]

scott simon, can you post more pics of the eclipse unit? is it touch screen? map pics? thanks

 

[Dale Carter]

JKII - Can you change nav items while driving? I have NO interest in watching a DVD while driving, but having nmy nav options greyed out is irritating. Do you know how he did it and do you get the annoying "parking brake incorrectly wired" message?

 

[Greg Bosin]

I'm real happy with my Kenwood DDX 7015 unit, the newer DDX 7017 has even more improvements. I'll be getting my Nav unit for it soon after I get through this next couple weeks of "Hell" at work.

I paid $75 + parts for install, it was done in 2 hours it probably taken me twice that. I usually like to do most of my work but it was money well spent this time.



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[JK II]

Dale I'm not sure how he wired it but I'm going to see him next week or so I'll try to remember to ask him. I usually play the dvds off my ps2 because you need the disk in to use the nav functions. Since I now have the center console with the screen it I usually play a movie on that and keep the nav on the N2.

 

[Dale Carter]

JKII - It sounds like he wired the PS2 through the set of AV inputs on the hideaway unit and routed to a second screen.



Are your nav options greyed out while you drive? Can you enter a phone number or address while moving?

 

[Dale Carter]

Eagle - If you go Pioneer, and plan to integrate an Ipod, check out the on screen controls. Some of the Pioneers have excellent Ipod controls, but the touch screen controls for my N2 suck tot he extent of being almost unusable. The D1, like the AVIC N2, treats the Ipod as an "External Device" and the controls are harder than Chinese algebra. he Pioners with interface that way do not emulate the Ipod on screen. Titles are displayed only up to 8 characters and navigation of anything other than playlists is almost impossible.



From www.pioneerelectronics.com -

For use with Pioneer “iPod® Adapter Ready” Headunits and AV Receivers. Compatible models include:

• Full Touch-Panel Control models: AVIC-Z1, AVIC-N3, AVH-P6800DVD, AVH-P5700DVD







The Pioneers which incorporate the Ipod, along with Alpine (check out new high speed interface for Ipods with dock connectors) and Kenwood are far superior for that purpose. If anyone can explain why some Pioneer touch screens rock and the others, especially the NEWEST flagship nav units, suck, I would love to hear the reasons. I am contacting Pioneer for info regarding updates to the N2 to N3 for this very purpose.

 

[JK II]

If the disc is in none of the options are greyed out while I drive.

 

[Dale Carter]

JKII - I would love to know how he hooked it up. The ability to enter an address without stopping the Trac is a major benefit.

 

[Robert Cuenca]

scott, do you have the sirius hooked up?