Im looking for a comparison between head units that have navigation built in. At first, I was thinking about a Kenwood. But, when I started comparing headunits, there were a couple of things that I didnt like. Looks like the cheaper headunits require a CD to be in the drive before it willl work. The Pioneer , I think the Z-1, actually has two CD drives. One, you can keep the Navigation CD in and still use regular CD's.

Also, when I started talking to a couple of people, the Kenwood is more complicated to operate. So, I started aiming towards the Pioneer. So, looking for any articels recetnly that compared some of them.

the pioneer z1 uses a hard drive. the n-series has a shared drive for CD/DVD and map DVD. the d-series has two drives, one for CD, the other for map DVD.
the new kenwood now uses a garmin blackbox for its navigation so it should have similar features & mapping algorithms as their popular c-series and nuvis. the resolution is great as well with kenwood touchscreens. it is also very well priced compared to standard aftermarket nav units.
i think kenwood is a great choice because you can integrate most if not all the popular options out there: bluetooth, ipod, and nav. same goes for alpine.
fyi, pioneer has recently introduced the avic-d3 which should be out early next year.

The Pioneer Avic Z-1 looks like a great unit, and was mentioned as the best in dash nav system in many of the tech magazines, when it came out earlier this season. I don't personally own it, because I already have a nav in my car, but, if I were in the market, this is the unit I would purchase. For the record, the Z-1 allows for connectivity for Bluetooth, iPod, backup camera, and any other device you can think of. You do have to purchase these other connections separately. Best of luck with your purchase.


John from Boston

ANyone own the pioneer?

I have the DVA-310, and teh Alpine Gen 2 Nav system...It is OUTSTANDING...pricey...but OUTSTANDING...

I have a Z1. Like it alot. It responds so much faster than most because its HD based, music storage works very well, Ipod works well for me because I use mostly playlists but some complain its too slow if you don't have any setup, XM display is great, Sirius display is tollerable but not nearly as nice as XM, backup camera works very well--even when backing up at night, Bluetooth works well after you take the time to import all your numbers into it which takes some time. My only complaint is that I have read about the D3 and it has full speed Ipod connectivity including transferring video from one cable. I want that!!! Oh well, still a great system

I can chime in on the z1 as well. I have on in an 06 mustang. backup camera integration is good. Start up time is around 15 full seconds (which can seem a lot longer when you're waiting for it). only bummer is no hd radio module. we have the xm nav traffic module with traffic data and that has really worked out well in sacramento.

feeding the head unit cd's to be recorded is kind of a pain, but the girlfriend loves it. (with the kenwood, you take the hard drive 'cassette' to your computer and load it up.)

I'm getting ready to put another full unit into a conversion van and am torn between the kenwood and the z1, because I kinda want dual zones in the RV, but will probably stick with the avic-z1.

Also, the z1 seems a little more customize-able. I was able to make a really nice background for her radio which matches her mustang quite nicely.

Can anyone compare the two Alpine units (the 310 is the head unit, but it requires either the $1700 DVD-based nav module or teh $499 Blackbird, connected with a docking cable from Alpine as well. The Blackbird doesn't have capacity for voice recognition which the other one does, but the price difference is of course huge. If the voice recognition is anything like that in the Acura OEM system, it would be great.

What's everyone using on the pioneer units to use stock steering wheel controls? That was one reason I went w/ the alpine d310 over the pioneer units.

eclipse avn 5435 here and it ROCKS. 2 slots: 1 for cd/mp3 discs and the other for dvd/nav disc.

the 5495 (step above) has 2 slots and a hard drive.

sound quality and control is amazing.

also, eclipse makes the nav units that are OEM for Lexus

Too bad (given my preferences) eclipse doesn't seem to have voice recognition and control.

Typically the SWIPS from PAC. I think there is a soundgate one too but I don't remember the model number

What's everyone using on the pioneer units to use stock steering wheel controls? That was one reason I went w/ the alpine d310 over the pioneer units.

Too bad (given my preferences) eclipse doesn't seem to have voice recognition and control.


The pioneer really doesn't either :D

I get in more arguments with the head unit when I try to use the voice control.

What's everyone using on the pioneer units to use stock steering wheel controls? That was one reason I went w/ the alpine d310 over the pioneer units.
there's a convenient steering wheel remote by Pioneer (CD-SR100 / CD-SR11) which you can "tie" on the steering wheel and requires no wires. it seems to work with all pioneer units including the nav ones.