Pioneer Avic-Z110Bt 7-Inch Flagship In-Dash Navigation A/V Receiver With Dvd Playback & Bluetooth

User Reviews about Pioneer AVIC-Z110BT 7-Inch Flagship In-Dash Navigation A V Receiver with DVD Playback and Bluetooth

My main unit for comparison here is the AVIC F90BT, their previous flagship.
This one is faster to boot, more responsive, and more feature-filled.

There's still a few minor bugs:
If you don't "OK" the navigation warning before your phone connects, the voice control is messed up until you turn it off and on again, it's fairly easy to miss this if you have the unit on iPod or FM when you turn it off.
Just like the F90BT, sometimes browsing the iPod by artist letter gives you no results for letters that definitely have artists under them.

The voice control of nav is great for the categories in it, "Find nearest Sears" brings up a list of the nearest Sears very well, the directions are good, and the prompts are very good too, using pre-recorded numbers and such to tell you exit numbers without going to a robotic voice.
Voice control of iPod is similarly good, the best in the market. "Play artist The Hanslick Rebellion" does exactly what you'd expect it to, as does "Play Album Zetacarnosa". -- Nearly perfect, minor bugs though.

The unit performs just as advertised. Although a little time consuming to install, the features are well worth the trouble. I've had it a month and still discovering bells and whistles that amaze me. They call it their "flagship" model for a reason, it is a top-of-the-line piece of hardware that will give you complete enjoyment. The only slightly disappointing feature is the voice commanding. It can get a little lengthy and a little frustrating trying to input GPS information. I was a little hesitant to spend this kind of money but now I am so glad that I did.
-- Pioneer AVIC Z110BT

This unit is a disappointment. The bluetooth is bug ridden, it no longer will support gauges that my old avic d2 showed giving you a separate speed to verify your speedo and when an incoming call is answered it only lowers the music but does not mute it which makes the call impossible Pioneer released this before it was ready. Hopefully they will offer an upgrade which I will begrudgingly pay for -- Dissapointed

Here is why I like it:

* Reverse camera available almost immediately after starting car
* Radio starts about 5 seconds later while unit continues to boot
* expecting it to be upgradable to Pioneer AVIC-Z120BT 7" In-Dash Double-Din Navigation CD/DVD/MP3 with Pandora iPhone streaming later this year
* Quick booting, very responsive
* Looks great, no out of place knobs, completely touchscreen minus some small buttons on the bottom.
* Msn Direct. Many people like to complain it is only available until Jan 2012. While this is true, if you buy now, the cost is very little after averaging it out over the life of the unit. Hopefully Pioneer will have something else ready by then.
* Dead reckoning. Haven't hooked up my speed wire yet but people seem to like so I assume I'll like it too.
* Voice recognition /blue tooth seems to be hit or miss with some people but I find most people like it, and it works well for me.

Biggest problems I think are really with the GPS maps. Street names are not always labeled while driving. Can't upgrade....very little customization as far as I can tell. I haven't used IGO but I'd imagine if would feel like a downgrade compared to it. The unit also runs windows automotive which is not hackable in the same way units running CE are.

Another downside are somewhat costly modules if you want to add to your unit. Some things you may want to add which include additional purchases are

* Steering wheel controls
* MSN Direct (not sure but may not be able to combine with HD Radio or Sirius)
* HD radio
* Sirius / XM
* IPOD connector (NOTE: For me, music streaming from my ipod seems to work well using the standard IPOD Usb cable)

Ultimately, I wanted something that booted up relatively fast, was responsive, had traffic, not too expensive, and something that wouldn't stand out from the rest of the car and I'm happy with my choice.
-- 2 months later: very happy with my purchase