I'm impressed with this thing. I did the install myself and had some issues - most all because I kept the stock Bose speakers. The unit has two sets of speaker outs - one for a preamp and one for straight speakers. I used the wrong ones initially and it caused low volume and the Bluetooth didn't want to work. I reworked the speaker outs and life is great.

Some thoughts -

1. Integration. The unit does everything I want it to do. AM/FM/XM/iPod/phone and even audio off an SD card. I opted for the 700 instead of the 900 or the 90 because I didn't think I needed DVD playback. I was right. The unit shows fullscreen video from the iPod and it looks great. The bluetooth phone paired right up, downloaded all my contacts and sounds great. I put the mic at my knee right at the console.

2. Convenience. I found the workaround for the bypass to allow nav programming in motion and it works like a champ. Also allows iPod video at speed, but we won't be doing that. The single button for traffic that takes the unit to the XM traffic station is great.

3. Nav. OK it ain't Garmin like the Kenwood, but it's pretty darn good. I've had it navigate me to two different never-before-visited client appointments and both times it went right to the door. It's a little intrusive in that the voice directions cut over the radio but it's only near turns and events that it gets to be a nuisance. I'm looking for a means to quiet it down.

4. Downsides -
The SD card only plays certain format MP3s and MP4s. That needs some work. The Voice Recognition isn't good. Supposedly it will take "Play the artist Boston" and fire up More Than A Feeling, but that hasn't worked right yet. Voice dialing by contact name has been hit and miss as well. I wish the phone contacts screen was easier to navigate. The time display could be twice as big and not light green.
Installation was a pain - I replaced the GM XM unit with the Pioneer XM, put it in the same place and used one of the GM XM antenna wires. It works fine, but the Pioneer unit is a tad larger than the stock so the fit wasn't as clean, and finding a ground in the back end was challenging.
There are a MESS of wires that have to live behind the unit with all the door chime, steering wheel controls as well as the OnStar and Bose module. IMHO it's worth $150 bucks to have a quality installer do the job.

5. TBD -
Now that the unit is in and working and doing what it's supposed to I'm downloading the OS and going to tear into it. There are some hacks on Avic 411 and some nice features that can be reworked. I may change some of the graphics - I like the ability to load a custom splash screen (mine's below) and I want to carry that a little farther.

 

Well that's bold talk for a one eyed fat man!

 

Got to love those Pioneer units lots of flexablity with the hacks off the 411 forum. I have a 900BT in my DD and my 90BT in the Z06 love them both. There are alot of Pioneer haters here but in my opinon the AVIC F series are far supierior than all of the other DD Nav systems.

 

what about the 45+ second boot up time

 

Come on Greg give Pioneer some credit I knew you would post to this thread......

 

do the updates make it better i am serious, i have installed a few pioneers and i love the units i think the nav could be a bit better but the boot up time kills me

they all have there pro and cons though i recommend kenwood alot but im not saying its the only one

 

I really haven't had an issue with the boot time. I get music in about 5-10 seconds. Considering the startup sweeps for the gauges take a couple of seconds and getting buckled in and going, by the time I'm out of the garage i've got tunes. A few seconds later the nav is up and a few seconds later the BT connection is set. It's not instantaeous but it's no where near 45 seconds. Maybe 20-25 for everything.

I understand the initial units were dog slow, but I've got the 2.0 update and it really seems to be fine. I'm very happy with it.

I didn't do the backup camera but my understanding is it comes up even before the music.

 

good to know the updates help

 

I installed the 900 in my C6. Does the steering wheel control work OK? If so what model did you get?

I also wanted to put the XM receiver in the same location as the GM one but did not think it would fit. Guess I need to look at it again

 

There are two steering wheel conrtrol adapters out there - one from Peripheral and one from PAC. They are the same unit.

Mine was tough to program and to stay that way. Turned out that the plug-in lead into the head unit was coming loose when everything was finally screwed into place. I taped the lead into place and it now works... sorta -

The wheel controls work for up and down volume and changing stations up and down the dial. Unlike the stock system the 1-6 button on the wheel will not change to the next preset, but it can be programmed to change the AV source. Weird.

 

I have the backup camera and when I start the car and throw it immediately into reverse the camera is on in about 6 to 8 seconds.
By the time you buckle your seat belt the camera will be ready to go.
I rarely use the camera to backup but it is handy every once in a while just to double check what is back there...

 

I love my Avic Z2. The boot-up time is a minor anoyance.

 

Old post....but....the boot up times after the 2.0 update are worlds better,

 

my reverse was instant, what wire did you grab 12v acc for for the camera? Using the reverse light will cause a delay.

Btw, the boot time is about 20-25 seconds for the 700, and about 25-30 for the 900 and 90. I had all three on a test bench and cut power, and then returned power and timed them. All three had 2.0

 

I measure in street length. It used to take until about halfway down my street before the system was usable, and now it is about when I am out of my driveway.