Alright friends, I'm looking at the Pioneer AVIC-N2 as well as the Pioneer AVIC-D1. As you may or may not know, the N1 is the single-DIN type with the screen that slides out and flips up. The D1 is the kind of screen that just sits flush in the spot where the stereo is (double-DIN) and never really goes anywhere.

Has anyone installed any of these? What's the viewing angle like in, say, a 2004 X? Also, I know the stereo is set a bit in, does this mess with a flip-up screen? Anyone? I'll admit I like being able to take the faceplate off the flipping one, plus come on, it's too cool to see the thing motor out and flip up. Super cool.
Any suggestions?

DISCLAIMER: I thoroughly searched and even messaged people who posted they were getting these, with no answer. If the answer is indeed out there somewhere, I'd love to find it.

OK, I own the Eclipse AVN2454. It has been replaced in 2005 by the Eclipse AVN5435. Both are very nice units. I would not trade my AVN2454 for the world (well, maybe for the AVN5435). These are double-DIN units and the screen is always visible.

Another double-DIN unit would be the Kenwood Excelon DDX7015. I think there are a few guys on here that have this headunit and they seem to love them (SCxTerra and krzydmnd come to mind). I think they are very well designed.

I personally don't like the slide out screens. I feel they are a novelty and that novelty wears off in a few months. I much rather prefer the more "stock" look of an always visible screen. It's very clean with very few buttons along the sides. When researching for a DVD/Navi for my X, I looked at every option available, including the Pioneer units. For th money, I would go with either the Eclipse or Kenwood unit over the Pioneer. If you must have the novelty of a slide-out/tilt-up screen, then I would look at Alpine over Pioneer. The Kenwood and the Alpine require you to purchase the Navi unit separately. The Eclipse in an all-in-one unit with no components to hide. Everything is in 1 chassis.

Eclipse AVN5435:
http://www.eclipse-web.com/avn/index.html

Kenwood Excelon DDX7015:
http://www.crutchfield.com/S-VGpRZxHShpg/cgi-bin/ProdView.asp?g=62600&I=113DDX7015

Alpine IVA-D310:
http://www.crutchfield.com/S-VGpRZxHShpg/cgi-bin/ProdView.asp?g=62600&I=500IVAD310

My head unit:
http://www.cardomain.com/ride/630107/2

I have the Kenwood Excelon Double Din DVD player and recommend it... However, the navi unit is a bit pricy and you don't have many options on customizing the screen... other than that it has a great screen and decent audio controls...

I put the AVIC-D1 into my '05 a few weeks ago. Location and angle are excellent (I don't know the '04 so can't comment). Navigation software is great in many respects - the maps and directions are amanzing - the ability to search for addresses and places of interest are not so great (for example if you want to find directions to the nearest Best Buy you can key in the name and it will pull a list of locations but the list will be in an order other than geographical distance - so you'd have try out each to see which is closet). All-in-all the nav is good but not as good as some factory navs I have used.

D1 does not play DVD movies - only DVD roms (the N2 plays movies).

D1 does not have customizable backgrounds - N2 does.

D1 has a DVD slot separate from the CD slot - N2 shares one slot (so cannot alter DVD route without putting DVD in and taking CD out).

Hmmm what else. I think the N2 has multi-source capability - nav in front while movie playing in rear.

There are a few other differences. I think feature wise the N2 beats the D1 but the D1 looks better in the '05 X (and is a few $$hundred less).

With all that said, I highly recommend you DO NOT BUY the N2 or the D1 unless you are primarily interested in the nav because the audio functionality leaves a lot to be desired.

To change bass/treble etc. you have to push a 5-way toggle in - it must be pushed in directly in the center - if it is slightly up/down or to the side it will cause the song to change - I rarely was able to do this correctly.

It is also difficult to do something simple like set play mode to random on a CD - again requires multiple button pushes beginning with the dreaded center push on the 5-way toggle.

Song titles on Mp3 discs load very slowly - makes it difficult to scroll down to say the 30th song on a disc.

iPod integration is laughable - I can't even go into how bad this is.

xM integration is cool but the logos for the station are hard coded into the operating system (and not upgradable) so if stations change (and they will) the logos become less than useful.

I could go on and on.

Yesterday I bought an Alpine CDA-9855 to replace the D1. I am planning to swap them out in the next few days. I will definitely miss the nav but am hopeful that the audio functionality will be worth it.

Good luck -

For those that do have these GPS screen head units, what extent of off-roading do you do? I looked into the GPS units and was worried about holding up under 4x4 conditions on a long term basis. I would worry about the hard drive or the screen itself, in them going bad after a lot of off-road usage. I am hoping if they do hold up, to do a single din install GPS screen install and a CB either above or below the GPS head unit.

I also have the Kenwood Excelon DDX7015 double din and Navi unit. Love it. The screen has multiple angle preferences for viewing. Kenwood no longer makes that model though. The new model, DDX8017 is coming out this month. Same unit with some upgrades like a port for an Ipod. Here is the link to download the pdf file for the DDX8017 and some photos of my install in my 04.

Kenwood DDX8017 Info

int411, do you think you can post a pic of your install of the D1? I was thinking about getting the exact same setup with the xm and ipodn interface, although I keep reading horrible reviews about the pioneer ipod unit. Maybe I'll wait for the next model to come out. Thanks.

Unfortuantely, I have yet to go offroading in my X. I am of no help to you

No prob holding up on the beach or mud/swamp conditions. The stock electronics(dash components,lights,etc) on the X seem no more or less delicate and they hold up. As long as you don't soak it. If you DO float a lot...maybe some submarine electronics are in order.

Wow guys, this is my new favorite bulletin board, what a wealth of information you've all shared, thanks!

It sounds like a true double-DIN setup is the way to go; in truth I did not know that all of those were available or even existed. The "coming soon" Kenwood DDX8017 seems particularly sweet, I noticed the old unit is on clearance at Crutchfield, so maybe that's good news.

I neglected to say one thing I am very very interested about (and kind of touched off this whole adventure) is iPod integration: I listen to my iPod about 80% of the time I am in the X, or whenever I am not listening to Red Sox games or CD's. I haven't really heard anything good about the Pioneer interface outside of the kid working at Best Buy, who assured me it was "sweet," so your comments do help out a lot!

Navigation would also be great, as I do not have the best sense of direction in the world, and it's kind of something I've always wanted; to drive around in a Mapquest-style sense. DVD's is secondary, as in it's somewhat important, but not crucial.

A lot of these units are very nice, but it seems the NAV unit (such as in the Kenwood) do push the price up a bit; the Crutchfield catalog has a "great offer" in which you can get the nav unit and the head for "only" $2199-something.

So allow me to elaborate: iPod connection is key, nav is highly desired, and oh yeah, I want to look cool!

When's that DDX8017 coming out?

well if you have deicided on the double DIN unit (good choice by the way), then I would recommend either the new Kenwood DDX8017 and buy the separate navi module, Or go with the Eclipse AVN5435. The Kenwood has the Ipod port and the Eclipse has A/V inputs, so either way it is easy to hook up your Ipod. The Eclipse is going to retail at a dealer for about $2000 and it's an all-in-one unit, including navi/dvd/cd/mp3/fm/am/sirius. I'm kind of biased for Eclipse. Either way you go, you'll be very happy with your purchase.

Here\'s a post about the AVIC-D1 in the GPS/Geocaching forum.

That member seems to be very happy with the AVIC-D1.

int411- what is so bad about the iPod integration with the AVIC-D1?

Very interesting. It appears there are a few new units coming out that are worth a look such as the aforementioned Kenwood DDX8017 and the Alpine IVA-D310. The 8017 looks pretty cool, I must say. It's also nice to see that review XPLORx4 linked to above; I had not yet heard much of anything too great about the D1. I did try messing around with it at Circuit City the other day and it was a *little* clumsy at first; but this may be due to the setup at the store. Who knows?

This seems to be the time of year they start "releasing" new things; is this so?

I'll post a pic of the D1 tonight (assuming I can figure out how to attach a picture).

Re the Pioneer iPod integration, in the D1 and N2, the interface is the same as that for a 6 disc changer. It would take much time to list all the problems but for a start:

1. I could not figure out any way to shuffle - maybe I am missing something but considering my level consumer electronics experience if I can't figure it out then it is way too difficult. This is a huge problem because everytime you choose a category to play (see #3 below) it starts with the same song and continues through the same song order - this makes it highly unlikely that you ever get to hear song 200 in a playlist.

2. You can only choose to see the text for either the playlist, song title, artist, album or genre AND THIS IS LIMITED TO 8 CHARACTERS! And changing what is displayed from title to say artist is an incredible task and quite difficult to figure out.

3. There is no way to play all songs on the iPod - you can only play within a playlist, artist, genre, or album - so now way to just play randomly through your collection unless you have a playlist that has all songs in it

4. There is no equivalent to the scroll wheel on the ipod, once you choose a category to play in (see #3 above) then you can scroll within that category using the up/down buttons but it takes quite some time to get through even a small number of items.

5. The screen view is completely ho-hum (at least on the N2 you can import your own backgrounds to spice things up!)

6. The instructions are a joke - not sure why they waster their time printing them.

I think they rushed something to market as quickly as they were able to do so. Unfortunately there does not appear to have been any user testing involved.

Pioneer does have what looks to be a better interface on the 5700 but that is a flip up screen which I just don't care for.

I heard the Clarion (also flip up screen) has the best ipod interface.

I am planning to install the Alpine tonight - I am hoping the ipod interface is better but am not expecting much. If it stinks then I am going to go back to running the ipod through the Aux input and controlling through the ipod touch pad ( the on great benefit to this is that you can rate songs - which I have not seen on any OEM interface).

I suspect in the next 12 months things will change dramatically - looks like to new Kenwood discussed above has already taken the doubdle-din to a higher level. I can't wait to see it in action (and may end up replacing the apline with it if it comes out before my 30 day return period expires!)

I've been trying to learn about the differences between the Kenwood 8017 and 7015, and I ain't found much. Here's what I surmise from their literature:

USER INTERFACE
The 8017 is going to have a better graphical user interface which they've thoughtfully decided to call "GUI" as opposed to the 7015, which uses something called "OSD," which I am not sure what it means. The literature seems to be excited by the fact you can control DVD by touching the screen.

SOUND
The 8017 has both SRS Auto (sound?) and DSP, which we all know will make it sound supersweet, but that much more super sweet than the 7015? Who knows? It also has gold-tipped inputs/outputs/or something. Whee....

WHEN?
Crazy Bob of CRazy Bob\'s is saying July. Which is in a couple of weeks.

Outside of the initial impression that the 8017 makes, I am not sure if it's worth the wait (plus the couple hundred dollars more it's bound to be). My guess is it will cost the original price of the 7015 ($1499?). I do wonder if the GUI will extend to the iPod interface. But I do thank you guys for the double-din recommendations, it is influencing my thinking. I've also read double-dins are harder to steal, which is excellent news on the mean streets of Cambridh\ge/Boston.

GUI - Graphical User Interface
OSD - On Screen Display

They are making hype about being able to touch the actual menu items on a DVD menu instead of having to use arrow keys to navigate to the menu item. This is handy when queing up a DVD. If your passengers are going to watch a LOT of movies in your vehicle, then this could be a good thing to have, but not necessary.

SRS is a simulated surround sound which makes you feel as if the music is in surround sound without the actual decoding of a Dolby Digital or DTS signal.

DSP - Digital Signal Processor. This is the "hall", "stadium", "live", etc. I find these completely useless. I have never actually used these settings to enjoy my music. I don't think I know anybody who has either.

Gold plated inputs and outputs. I guess it's nice to be able to say you have them, even if you can't hear a difference.

Interesting. I wonder if it's worth waiting for the interface and SRS of the new unit, or if it's better to just get the one that everyone seems to be happy about? I went to Circuit City last night to see what I could find; they don't seem to carry Kenwood. Off to BestBuy to see if they have one set up.

What do you think; best to wait for the new one, or do you think the changes aren't worth it?

The only prob is that Kenwood no longer makes the 7015. Any units out there are just what is left from stock if you can find them. On the other hand that DOES give you the advantage of a better deal on the 7015. Other than an input for the ipod, I don't think the models will be noticeably different IMHO. I talked to Kenwood Friday and the rep said they also have a 6017 and another model that were also double din full screen units coming out, but the 8017 was the top of their line, however I can not find any other info on this anywhere and Kenwood has no literature on it yet other than what is on their site. That's all I know for now.

Bios:

The only thing regarding a release date I have found is that Crazy Bob's thing mentioned upthread which says July. The only info I can find on anything new is on their website's new Excelon page which is really just a .pdf catalog. Seems they're reworking their website (and taking their damned time on it too).

I'm at sixes and sevens as to wait/not wait. The iPod functionality is almost at the top of my list. Why can't Kenwood make a Pioneer-style all-in-one so we don't have to buy the navigation as a separate piece?

Funnily enough, if you work it all out, the previously foo-foo looking Pioneer AVIC-N2 seems better and better priced as you put together a system. Of course the D1 is as well, but both these units suffer from the supposedly horrendous iPod interface that everyone is bitching about (and I believe them). Oh Kenwood, save us!

I would recommend getting the Kenwood 7015 at the best price you can find. There have got to be some good deals. I know Crutchfield is like $200 off or something like that. I don't think the enhancements on the new model are going to make that dramatic of a difference in every day use.

To my knowledge (just to add to your confusion), Alpine has probably the best iPod interface out there, but I don't think they have a double-DIN full screen headunit, unless there is a new one out this year.

And as I mentioned earlier, the Eclipse AVN5435 is an all-in-one unit including the navi, and it has aux inputs for your iPod. My guess on price at a dealer is about $2000. I don't think you can go wrong with this unit.

The Eclipse AVN5435 looks like a nice all-in-one; and they seem to be on eBay for around 1500, which pretty sweet; but I was looking for a more integrated iPod interface. That's kind of what touched this whole adventure off in the first place (that is, before I discovered how awesome navigation, etc. is).

Now I know that everyone is unanimously double-DIN, but has anyone done the flip-out thing? Especially with the Kenwood; as it requires an external drive for DVD navigation (as someone showed above). I was thinking that could possibly work, and keep the free "pocket" of space under the stereo where I store my hockey tape and gum.

It's an Alpine 700 LCD. I moved stock fosgate unit down, repositioned emergency flasher switch over next to steering column. In the back is also a roof-mounted motorized flip down. Sound is through a digital FM modulator. Sound quality is good and never loses signal. It was the only way to keep factory unit (mainly for steering wheel controls) and still go NAV/DVD.
I have the Kenwood DDX7015 and the Kenwood 3100 NAV in my Audi, and the only thing I like about it more is the ability to control EVERYTHING. With the xterra setup, I have control over NAV and outputs to rear screen, but otherwise, the DVD changer, factory head unit, and XM must be controlled with their own remote. Wish it would all interface through the touch screen, but at least the NAV does...

wow, that looks really good..

now as far as these nav units go; how easy is it to type in an address and have the unit find that location for you? Ive heard that its sketchy (in other words, how's the mapping software?).

I can't speak for any other brand than the Eclipse which uses a Navteq map DVD.

It is all but fool proof. You can type in partial addresses and it will give you all options that contain the info that you typed in. You can also type in the name of a store or other "point of interest" and it will give you all the options available to you. I have yet to run into a problem finding anything I've looked for (barring any new places that are not on the disc that I have).

CDDiG:

Here is some more info on the DDX8017
Click CLick