Thinking about upgrading my navi and i was wondering if Pioneer AVIC-F500BT is a good navi.. I am leading toward on-dash vs. in-dash, since i am planning to get a new car...

 

From what I have read -- same navi engine as the in-dash version (F700/900/90) it's a good to very good navi with it's own deficiencies at times, and generally speaking, not as good as the Garmin engine/maps, however, those who use it generally state it is a good navigation system.

my concern is that it's rather a big and bulky on-dash unit .. it is priced nicely now, int he $200-250 range and has some multimedia capability, however, I think i'd rather have a 5.0-5.8" Garmin unit which would be more sleek, more money, yes, but improved capability (advanced lane-changing, advanced maps, etc). You'd have to spend about $500 for a similarly sized Garmin.

I definitely agree that if you're not planning on keeping the G... don't go in-dash as it'll be more thief prone, more money $$, and kinda a waste as it probably won't increase re-sale value all that much.

 

avic411.com for more readings on the pioneer units...

 

I was really on the fence between the ease of the F500bt vs a JDM DD.

One thing that bugged me, you can use a hardwire mount, but not all the needed wires use that harness, such as the BT mic.

secondly, another common problem, even when hardwired (I'd think even more so without hardwire), the F500BT is bad about resetting when the car is started. It will begin to boot, then as power cuts out, it will do a soft reset. Rather than a 10-15 soft on boot, your looking a full soft reset of 30-45 secs (or more). Clearly, there's some issue between ignition and power wires. I think a capacitor would probably cure that if your unit had the issue, but its something to consider.

 

Thanks peterubers for your acute insight... I decided to purchase garmin nuvi instead of pioneer on dash unit.. I still love the big touch screen of the pioneer but i after reading various reviews, I decided to purchase nuvi..