So i have money to burn in my pockets, and i want to get GPS navigation.. but have no idea what's out there. I KNOW i want double din design, and not those silly screens that flip out, but some of them don't play DVD movies though. right? not sure if that's really important, but.. what do you recommend?

I have about $1000 to spend.. maybe a bit more if it's really worth it. I could also look into buying used.

 

i have the avn 5435 eclipse. its selling for about $999 right now at super autobacs but thats w/o install. try searching the forums, there is a thread about double din for the tc

 

I have the Pioneer AVIC-D2. Got it for 950 off ebay recently - that seems to be the going rate. It's a great unit, especially if NAV is what you're after - in some cities (including up here in Seattle) the maps are amazing - you can zoom in tight enough that it shows peoples' garages. It doesn't play DVD movies but it's easy to unlock so you can use Nav on the go. You can hook up an external DVD player (people often us playstations). It supports XM and Sirius, including XM Nav Traffic if you like. Very happy with it.

 

i thought you couldn't unlock the AVIC's anymore? how did you unlock yours? isn't it gyro based now? or am i confused?

 

They change it on basically every model. The D2 is easy. There is a wire that is supposed to attach to the ebrake, so it can tell when you have it set. Ground that. Done alone, I think it gives you an error or something, but there is also an empty pin in the harness. Pull the wire that would raise the electric antenna (if the tC had one) and push it into that slot. Ground it and you're done - it's easy and since there is an extra wire that works in the harness already, you don't even need anything extra!

 

haha the avn 5435 model you can just tap the wire into a grounding area and you're good to go. the only problem with the eclipse that i have is that when you play mp3s.. its really SLOW at selections (but thats 'normal' according to the user manual) other then that, it rocks

 

Yeah - I've been quite happy with the performance of the Pioneer - i don't miss playing DVDs but if you would, you'd probably want to go Eclipse. I didn't like the screen on the Eclipse when I saw it so I went with the Pioneer. They're all pretty nice though. See if you can find a place to play with them both and see what you like.

 

yeah i got the d1 and downloaded the d2 nav disc...both nav are exactly the same...only diff is discs....so you might be able to get the d1 for 200 less...you can also hack in and change the jpeg start up pics and background pics too..very happy with it...w/dvds i figure if i cant watch it then no one else can either..

 

Look for the Kenwood DDX6019 + KNA-G510 Navigation unit. It goes for about $1100 on ebay. Kenwood sound quality + Garmin Navigation won't do you wrong.

Pioneer's sound quality is..... bad....... and their navi head units will run you up around $1500'ish

 

C'mon krdshrk - everyone seems to like the brands they have but nobody is going to believe you if you say things that are demonstratably false. If you go to eBay right now, I'm sure you can find 5 auctions selling the AVIC-D2 for $950. I bought mine there about a month ago - I'm sure nothing has changed. As for the sound quality, part of it depends if you're going to add an amp and replace all your speakers. I think mine sounds great. I don't especially like how they implemented the EQ, but it's just because it's not that user friendly to adjust - not that it can't be done. Also, most people don't buy the Kenwood setup because to get the Nav, you have to buy the two boxes (and mount one under the seat) unlike the Eclipse or Pioneer setups. Let the man choose what he wants, but don't feed him slanted information.

 

Although the out of your price range....the AVIC-Z1 is very nice. I just had it installed.

For your price range. I'd go with the Eclipse 5435. I have an AVN30D for sale on here which is the commercial version of the 5435. Send me a PM if you're interested. It's a great nav.

 

Can't go wrong with Eclipse!!!! Great NAV, ease of hookup, and sound is awesome, and you can watch DVD's, even while driving, (BUT NOT NAVIGATING, DVD drive is for both DVD Movies and NAV DVD, so one or the other) and if you do go with the AVN5435, which I highly suggest, there is a thread on here to download the most up to date NAV DVD(1.4) rather than spending the $320 to buy it. But hey it is going to be your system.[/img]

 

alpine w200. retail is $1000 from authorized dealers. easy to install, plays dvds and every format u can think of except bluray and hd dvd. looks and sounds very good. best ipod interface if u decide to do it. best upgrade i did to my car. u can add a alpine blackbird and dock to hook up to the display for $800 authorized. it is also portable so u can carry it anywhere. for more info check out www.alpine-usa.com

 

Check out hte valor Nav NVG-670WT double din head unit it offers more features than any other competitor with a three year warr. I use this in the Scionpro Taxi.
www.scionpro.com click on Da Shop and go to audio video. Or try the DDA660 WT it is Nav ready and includes dvd/mp3/touch screen/S/d card slot/voice command /blue tooth/ and i-pod just to mention some of the features. You can add the Nav module anytime.

 

thats what i use entire carpc setup cost me 1200 and you get much more than just navigation... you could go for a lower end system (no obd2, no bluetooth or wifi, and get make one for under 1000

 

very impressive too much work involved for me tho. im sure it paid off for you.

 

how come AVIC D1s are so slow? I touched button, and it takes about half a second... LAGs..
but i like how they displayed map better than Eclipse 5435.

 

Before you go off flaming me for "false information", i'm just going with what i've seen in stores. I'm not a pioneer fan and don't look for them exclusively on ebay. Retail on the AVIC-D2 is $1500.

 

Eclipse AVN6600!!!

Its as close to OEM as you can get, great features and the iPod capabilities are absurd!

 

Eclipse's nav is horrible at least on the AVN5435.

My wife and I use Navigation extensively. If we're on the road, we want to be able to find things quickly and easily. The problem with the 5435 (not sure if it sucks as bad on other model) is that you can't just do a cursory search for, say, Car Washes within 10 miles.

Or Mexican restaurants, or anything else for that matter. It seems you HAVE to at least have something to search for in the name. That's EXTREMELY limiting if you're out in places you know nothing about.

I have the Alpine Blackbird, and it's almost as heinous as the eclipse at least as far as how inaccurate it is while driving. They are fixing that in an ENORMOUS dvd-based update that updates the OS, nav program and everything. Supposedly it was all rewritten from scratch because of all the people complaining about it.

For those of you who HAVE a blackbird, the update just started shipping friday, so I should have mine any day now.