I was thinking about getting either a Z2 or a D3.. Anybody herd anything good / bad about them?? Why one over the other?? etc???

 

I have the D3 and it works great, the Z2 is double the price but has double the features. If I have to buy another unit it will be the Z2. The Z2 has duel dvd players, voice comands, larger screen, probably a better nav unit. Go to Pioneers web site and compare the features.

 

Personally, I've pretty much decided against the Pioneer units because of what I've read about weaknesses in their nav routings. Seems quite a few complain about the weird routes the Pioneer D3 chooses after entering in the address and choosing the route type. I'm assuming the Z2 uses the same routing logic as the D3, though I might be wrong on that.

So far, from what I've read, the Kenwood 7100 looks like a good unit....Clarion makes a good one, too....Panasonic makes one that looks interesting, but I haven't been able to read much in the way of user reviews on it to know if it's the one for me.

 

I have a Z2 and absolutely love it!!! I added bluetooth, IPOD connection and back-up camera and it works flawlessly, is easy to use and has TONS of features. I highly recommend it!!!

 

I got a Pioneer Avic z1 navi unit for his F150 and I really dislike that unit. It's loud as hell (built in cooling fan), cumbersome, and generally not user friendly IMO. I definitely prefer the ability to navigate around the unit itself of my Alpine IVA w200 unit a LOT more.

Plus, Alpine is generally considered the best option for navigation units

 

I have had both the W200 and the Z2. I love the ease of bypassing and SQ of the Alpine. But THANK GOD i bought a Z2. This is one Amazing HU. The indash nav is amazing plus with the Sir/XM/Ipod/Bypassed NAV/DVD. There are more options of things to do then earthly possible. Enjoy . Oh and the NAV routing I have yet to have a problem with.

Ryan

 

I almost purchased a Z1 from a guy locally, however after reading extensively on the Avic 411 site, many of the Z1 & Z2 has overheating problems with the hard drives. I'm sure this is an isolated problem, but Pioneer had acknowledged the issue and had been replacing hard drive under warranty. The guy that was selling the Z1 told me every once and a while his would lock up due to heat related problems, mostly at the peak of Texas summers, his unit wouldn't work until he got the interior air temp really cool.

So I passed on the used Z1, and gave up on the Z2, and now I'm leaning towards the Kenwood. It’s really too bad, as I really like the features of the Z2, as well as the ease of use. So far the guys that have the Kenwood have indicated it’s a little more difficult to navigate then the pioneer.

Now keep in mind this is after I purchase a factory Nav headunit out of a 2007 Expedition, paid to have it programmed to match my 2005 F150, purchase the lastest map version 6P , and an OEM Navigation antenna. Now, I want a Kenwood system, :santa: of course don't tell the wife, she's thinking I'm done with the electronic toys for the truck... Yeah Right, the fun will never top... However, I may end up doing alone...!

Good luck, let us know what you end up doing...

 

Pioneer just came out with a firmware update to alleviate this issue for both the Z1 and Z2. For the few that had the problem, it shouldn't be a problem any longer.
http://www.pioneerelectronics.com/pn...964374,00.html

 

Thanks TheHylandr, I heard that Pioneer was working on a fix, but had not heard it had been released.

 

I have the Z2 also. Yes, Pioneer has released a firmware update to correct the Freezing issue on startup (keep in mind that this was only on a number of Z2's and not all of them) When I was in your position the only reason I could find for me to choose the Z2 over the D3 was one thing. The Z2 is hard drive based and the D3 is DVD base, which means that anytime you want to listen to a cd or dvd you will need to remove the navagational dvd's to do this, which also means that you lose navagation unless you have a route already in progress. With the Z2, it has a 30Gb hard drive. 20bg for Navi and 10gb. So while your listening to XM, CD or DVD you can still have your Navagation. I have the blue tooth ( paid 120 for it) I have XM satellite with Nav Traffic (paid 160 for it, but boy I love it) and a back up camera. If your going to be connecting a IPOD and listening to music that way, I say shout for the D3 and save the money b/c you wont being using the drive for cd's. If not go with the Z2. I paid $1450 for the Z2 cash. I hope this helps.

Also crutchfield is offering a free Boyo rear view camera with the purchase of D3

http://www.crutchfield.com/S-B5Gnick...1_offer_text*_