# Pioneer Avic F900BT



## fredridge (Jan 17, 2007)

*ok, just got this thing installed and want to give a few brief thoughts*..... I have had about 25 minutes of actual play time and most of that was connecting my phone and transfering some info.

Got my box in from crutchfield....bought the unit and the ipod cable
*
initial thoughts $50 for an ipod cable and it already has USB, you have to be kidding.....
*
opened the box and at the top is a small brown box with all the wiring and connectors, microphone and gps sensor...also has install manual and a few other documents, but I don't think it came with an owners manual...looked everywhere and can't find it......that is really, really annoying....and I think it just didn't have one. ipod cable came in separate bag

*install -*

for the most part it was really easy, no extra brain to mount, everything is self contained......all the connections to the unit come in quick disconnect form, except one, the USB.....I will talk more about that in a bit

I figured I would wire everything and then just drop in the unit.

I downloaded the instructions for factory nav install and began

removed the w200, dash and guages. mounted the GPS unit behing the guages on top of an A/C vent right under the dash. just a peel and stick for a little metal piece and then the sensor is magnetic - this thing has a ton of cable and could be placed almost anywhere in a car

I then ran the mic through the dash and up the D/S pillar and mounted it to the visor.

I then soldered the wiring harness and heat shrinked and then connected it to the car...now, first little annoyance is not all wires are in main harness - for example remote turn. there is a speed sensor wire in the harness for the factory nav, so tapping in to that was easy.

I didn't do a rear camera or extra video out or in other than ipod

I then ran the brake wire down the center and then decided to put the ipod cable in center console - this is where the ipod cable became really annoying. *The cable uses the USB and and R/L/V rca's and the way the cable is designed is really dumb. the rca's are really long, but the USB is short*.... so I couldn't run the cable until I installed the stereo because the USB is permanent on the back of the unit - this will also be annoying for any service or change.
*
Highights

Pros*

1. fairly easy install
2. nice looking unit
3. includes flash based Nav, USB, SD card, 1/8 input, and crappy ipod cable. 
4. seems feature packed, nice EQ (need to research more)
*5. Optical out (for future use)*
6. music starts pretty quickly, nav can take a bit to boot
7. nice clean sound
8. easy access to fuse on back, not sure if this is same thing that was problem before. it is 10amp


*cons*
1. IPOD CABLE design
2. control knob button could stick out a little more and is sometimes touchy
3. A bit slow to respond to commands - first nav system, so I could be off
4. not so great in glare - limited experience
5. Voice command sucks, so far worst one I have ever used- we will see if I am doing something wrong or need to move the mic or something.


it has a ton of other features you can look up, and so will I, especially if I get a manual


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## veloze (Jul 2, 2007)

Fred: Nice review. I looks this unit has a lot potential. Maybe one day when I get tired of Alpine and will pull the trigger on this Pioneer HU. The HU looks really nice & sexy, and I like the GUI icons. How is the SQ in comparison with the other HU that you had in the past?

Here's a pic,


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## woodynlily (Jun 19, 2008)

*Mucho problems for Pioneer F series*

Ordered one last week and just recieved this email regarding order status.

Also look at this site if you want more info on these units

http://avic411.com/forum/viewforum.php?f=31

****************************************************
To Our AVICF90BT Customers:



We just got out of a meeting with Pioneer. They informed us that they are aware of some of the issues that have surfaced with the AVICF90BT and are working on a solution. Unfortunately, this happens sometimes when a whole new product platform is introduced. They will not ship the new units out until they are updated. We should get a new ship date from Pioneer by Friday. We will update you as soon as we here from Pioneer.



If you recently received an AVIC90BT from us we will either send you a software update to fix the issues or exchange the unit, depending on what Pioneer finds. If we need to do an exchange, it will need to be done within 30 days of the date of purchase. Since you have time before we get close to the 30 Day mark, keep using your unit until you here from us.



If you do not want to wait for an updated unit, keep in mind that any AVIC90BT's that you may see floating around out there are the original units, not the newer, updated units, so they will have issues. Some of the dealers out there with the AVIC90BT in stock are unauthorized dealers. If you purchase from an unauthorized Pioneer dealer, you will not be able to get the updated software or an exchange unit from Pioneer if that what it takes to fix the issues.



We will be contacting you again soon.



Thank you for your patience.



al-eds.com Customer Service


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## fredridge (Jan 17, 2007)

that stinks.... the 90bt is only a hundred more than the 900bt- but the only differences I saw were it included the $50 ipod cable and higher voltage outputs


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## fredridge (Jan 17, 2007)

quick update

1. I forgot to mention that the fan on the back of the unit is pretty loud, when sitting quietly can be heard easily.


now after 7 hours of driving

1. speakerphone works pretty well, but I need to adjust my gains as it doesn't seem to have the output the alpine did.

2. the nav is great, still a little slow, but works pretty good and pretty easy to use

3. the ipod is stil a pain, it reloads all the information for voice control everytime the radio turns on so takes forever to completely load.

4. still haven't figured out voice command, needs a button for just that.


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## fredridge (Jan 17, 2007)

well, I just called crutchfield today and it is going back.... I was going between the cheaper eclipse 2210p and the kendwood.... I ordered the kenwood.. added bluetooth and ipod as well...so same features as the f900 for about the same price.....we will see how I like it... if not it will go back and I will try something else.....gotta love crutchfield

again, the voice command is absolutely useless for making calls and the way the avic does the contacts is horrible..

those were the biggest reasons I ditched it,, I could have lived with how slow and other glitches, but all combined I don't think it was worth the grand

I think it has some good features, but need to work out a number of glitches.... another big one is not pausing audio when announcements come up.


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