hrosenberg33
Passed Driver's Ed
- Location
- Ottawa
This is a short review of the Pioneer AVIC-F7010BT which has been installed in my car for the last week now.
The AVIC-F Series has received a lot of negative press and reviews due to slow start up times and slow response times so I was a little hesitant to get this unit. However, most of the negative press came prior to the 2.0 firmware update which improved a number of the issues with these units (although they are still far from perfect). Nonetheless after much reading and realizing that this unit had all the features I wanted I went ahead with the purchase (I purchased this unit off of a member here (Edward@Wagen-Wheels.com - great communication and a good seller in my book).
These units come with a range of features (with the F500BT being non in-dash all the way to the top model the F90BT). My specific model features the following (and here is a link to the Pioneer website for a more detailed description http://www.pioneerelectronics.com/PUSA/Products/Navigation/In-Dash/AVIC-F700BT?tab=B):
5.8" Screen with a Multi-directional button and just three other hard buttons, Map (gets you to the map screen), Menu (gets you to the main menu) and Eject (obvious).
The GPS software it uses is IGo and I believe the maps on all the current units are from 2007 (another issue some people have with this unit as well). These are of course upgradable at a cost or through sneakier ways on the internet.
The unit is capable of playing from the following sources:
FM/AM
XM/Sirius - tuner required, the one that I go for XM is GEX-920XM (cost 120$ Cdn shipped from ebay)
CD - for CD/USB/SC it can play MP3's, Mpeg-4, WMA, Itunes AAC and from what I have read DivX although I'm not 100% certain on that one.
USB
SD Card
IPod - you can connect it to the USB plug, but to get the nice IPod interface an extra wire is needed. I don't own an IPod so I did not get this.
HD Radio
It also has Bluetooth which comes with an external Mic.
Installation:
Now I will gt booed in a forum like this but I paid to have it installed as I just did not trust myself to do this right. I had it done at Future Shop (equivalent to BestBuy in the US) and it cost 310$ Cdn after tax (150 Nav, 60 XM Tuner, 60 Steering wheel controls). I purchased all the equipment I needed so all they had to do was the install, below all the parts I purchased for this install.
From In-Car Express (155$ Cdn shipped)
1) Connects2 CTSVW002 VW Stalk Adapter Lead
2) Connects2 CT23VW01A VW Golf Double DIN Fascia
3) Connects2 CTPIONEERLEAD Universal Stalk Lead For Pioneer Units
4) powered antenna adapter
I have to admit, they did a very good job on the install with not a single scratch and everything was in full working order when I picked it up. The antennas (GPS and XM) were placed on the dash over the top dash vent. Reception for the GPS and XM has been stellar in that position, so no complaints. One issue with having Future Shop do the install was that I did not ask them to do the by-pass so that the all the features can be used while driving (you cannot enter an address while driving unless you have the bypass, only POI's, Favourites, Recent on History).
Here are a couple of pictures of the unit installed:
The Connects2 kit fits very well, with only a very small space at the top and bottom (I would say 2mm) which makes it looks ALMOST OEM. The colour is also just off, such that only if you look really hard do you notice the difference between the OEM dash and the Connects2 fascia.
In regards to the unit, as with everything there are positives and negatives so here they go:
Positives
Feature Rich Unit for the price
Highly modifiable and Customizable - as it is based on WinCE OS (check AVIC411.com for tonnes of hacks and mods), you can change the button colours, map colours, voices, add/delete POI's, etc.
Great sound - compared to the VW OEM HU there is a big difference in clarity
Almost OEM look - with Connects2 double din
Intuitive interface
Steering Wheel Controls - kudos to the Connects2 people as it is awesome to have all your OEM controls despite changing the HU
Negatives
Slowish startup - (although MUCH better than what you will read, specially prior to the 2.0 firmware update) - from my timing of the unit it takes 8-10 seconds for music to start playing (from AM/FM/XM/CD sources, apparently IPod can be slower), ~30 seconds for the Nav to be good to go and 45-60 seconds for the Phone to connect
Not OEM - obviously it will never look as clean as OEM but you know what you are getting into if you purchase anything other than the RNS, etc
Below are some more pictures in the different screens like menu, maps, FM/AM, XM:
Overall, I am very happy with this unit, the look of the whole install and the Connects2 SWC's. That's all I have for now and I hope that helps someone out who might be considering one of these units in their GTI. If you have any questions please feel free to ask. I will try to update this in a few months to give a more long-term review/thoughts on this unit.
HR
Addendum: Of note, Pioneer is releasing a new version of the F-Series with new maps and supposedly firmware updates (which the current units should be able to use as a 3.0 firmware update) which will likely help with start-up/load times. This is yet to be 100% confirmed though, but it's supposed to happen this month.
The AVIC-F Series has received a lot of negative press and reviews due to slow start up times and slow response times so I was a little hesitant to get this unit. However, most of the negative press came prior to the 2.0 firmware update which improved a number of the issues with these units (although they are still far from perfect). Nonetheless after much reading and realizing that this unit had all the features I wanted I went ahead with the purchase (I purchased this unit off of a member here (Edward@Wagen-Wheels.com - great communication and a good seller in my book).
These units come with a range of features (with the F500BT being non in-dash all the way to the top model the F90BT). My specific model features the following (and here is a link to the Pioneer website for a more detailed description http://www.pioneerelectronics.com/PUSA/Products/Navigation/In-Dash/AVIC-F700BT?tab=B):
5.8" Screen with a Multi-directional button and just three other hard buttons, Map (gets you to the map screen), Menu (gets you to the main menu) and Eject (obvious).
The GPS software it uses is IGo and I believe the maps on all the current units are from 2007 (another issue some people have with this unit as well). These are of course upgradable at a cost or through sneakier ways on the internet.
The unit is capable of playing from the following sources:
FM/AM
XM/Sirius - tuner required, the one that I go for XM is GEX-920XM (cost 120$ Cdn shipped from ebay)
CD - for CD/USB/SC it can play MP3's, Mpeg-4, WMA, Itunes AAC and from what I have read DivX although I'm not 100% certain on that one.
USB
SD Card
IPod - you can connect it to the USB plug, but to get the nice IPod interface an extra wire is needed. I don't own an IPod so I did not get this.
HD Radio
It also has Bluetooth which comes with an external Mic.
Installation:
Now I will gt booed in a forum like this but I paid to have it installed as I just did not trust myself to do this right. I had it done at Future Shop (equivalent to BestBuy in the US) and it cost 310$ Cdn after tax (150 Nav, 60 XM Tuner, 60 Steering wheel controls). I purchased all the equipment I needed so all they had to do was the install, below all the parts I purchased for this install.
From In-Car Express (155$ Cdn shipped)
1) Connects2 CTSVW002 VW Stalk Adapter Lead
2) Connects2 CT23VW01A VW Golf Double DIN Fascia
3) Connects2 CTPIONEERLEAD Universal Stalk Lead For Pioneer Units
4) powered antenna adapter
I have to admit, they did a very good job on the install with not a single scratch and everything was in full working order when I picked it up. The antennas (GPS and XM) were placed on the dash over the top dash vent. Reception for the GPS and XM has been stellar in that position, so no complaints. One issue with having Future Shop do the install was that I did not ask them to do the by-pass so that the all the features can be used while driving (you cannot enter an address while driving unless you have the bypass, only POI's, Favourites, Recent on History).
Here are a couple of pictures of the unit installed:
The Connects2 kit fits very well, with only a very small space at the top and bottom (I would say 2mm) which makes it looks ALMOST OEM. The colour is also just off, such that only if you look really hard do you notice the difference between the OEM dash and the Connects2 fascia.
In regards to the unit, as with everything there are positives and negatives so here they go:
Positives
Feature Rich Unit for the price
Highly modifiable and Customizable - as it is based on WinCE OS (check AVIC411.com for tonnes of hacks and mods), you can change the button colours, map colours, voices, add/delete POI's, etc.
Great sound - compared to the VW OEM HU there is a big difference in clarity
Almost OEM look - with Connects2 double din
Intuitive interface
Steering Wheel Controls - kudos to the Connects2 people as it is awesome to have all your OEM controls despite changing the HU
Negatives
Slowish startup - (although MUCH better than what you will read, specially prior to the 2.0 firmware update) - from my timing of the unit it takes 8-10 seconds for music to start playing (from AM/FM/XM/CD sources, apparently IPod can be slower), ~30 seconds for the Nav to be good to go and 45-60 seconds for the Phone to connect
Not OEM - obviously it will never look as clean as OEM but you know what you are getting into if you purchase anything other than the RNS, etc
Below are some more pictures in the different screens like menu, maps, FM/AM, XM:
Overall, I am very happy with this unit, the look of the whole install and the Connects2 SWC's. That's all I have for now and I hope that helps someone out who might be considering one of these units in their GTI. If you have any questions please feel free to ask. I will try to update this in a few months to give a more long-term review/thoughts on this unit.
HR
Addendum: Of note, Pioneer is releasing a new version of the F-Series with new maps and supposedly firmware updates (which the current units should be able to use as a 3.0 firmware update) which will likely help with start-up/load times. This is yet to be 100% confirmed though, but it's supposed to happen this month.
this wouldn't be an issue.