which Nav is easier on the install?

[darebren]

between the Eclipse and the Pioneer, for those installing them and comparing notes,, any big difference between the two respective top of the line units by Eclipse and Pioneer??

[fourfourto]

I have the eclipse and havent had trouble with it since installed in January.GPS is great make sure you instal a switch for dvd to run while driving.Rear camera is great too.You can pick up remotes on e bay cheap.

I had it installed by highly recomended installer.

[marin8703]

i have the pineer avic-z1. dont have a pic with me but i can post later. I havent had any problems with it, had it since july. GPS is accurate. Lots of features. There are 2 ways to bypass the unit depending on the manufacture date( if early build it will cost you either 30 bucks, or if you do it youself free, and if its later build the bypass is just inserting a wire and grounding it) both simple and everything is unlocked all the time, including dvd. I installed it myself, had never installed anything in a car before. Took me about 6-7 hours with breaks, some of the more knowledgeble people on here said it took them 4 hours, so you can judge teh difficulty.

if you have any more specif questins id be hapy to help.

[darebren]

i am leaning towards the Pioneer Z1, i think both are great though. i will be scanning ebay for a good deal. figure i could get one of these while i wait to sell my FX35 before getting the hummer..

[wpage]

Garmin makes the best Nav unit. Havent installed in my H3.

[marin8703]

i have heard alot of good things about the garmin units, but the bad thing with them is they dont integrate into the dash well, their like tomtom, just take up space.

[f5fstop]

Won't disagree that Garmin makes the best GPS units for the personal market, I have the 60CSX with the new Sirf III chip. However, for a road naviagtion unit you do not need the accuracy that a 60CSX will render.
Road naviagation units are designed to track to the road, so even if my Garmin shows the Pioneer unit I have is about 20 feet off, the Pioneer still shows you on the correct road. You also do not require as many channels and WAAS capability for car units.
In addition, I don't believe Garmin makes a unit that integrates into the dash panel and is also a radio head unit.

Now to the original question; I'm going to guess the installation of either the Eclipse or the Pioneer AVIC units is about the same. Adapters are required for the Pioneer install, and I believe adapters are also required for the Eclipse install. The rear camera will have to have the wires run into the vehicle to the head unit.

[Hal]

Does either the Eclipse or the Pioneer interface with the OnStar? My OEM Nav screen shows the phone number you are voice dialing and will show you the time units remaning on phone and who knows what other info (I havent used any of the other OnStar features yet).

Also is it just as easy to hook up a rear camera to the OEM unit as it is to either the Eclipse or the Pioneer?

[fourfourto]

Originally Posted by Hal

Does either the Eclipse or the Pioneer interface with the OnStar? My OEM Nav screen shows the phone number you are voice dialing and will show you the time units remaning on phone and who knows what other info (I havent used any of the other OnStar features yet).

Also is it just as easy to hook up a rear camera to the OEM unit as it is to either the Eclipse or the Pioneer?

My eclipse does not show anything when using onstar.
When using on star the eclipse screen goes black tilts in and shuts off untill you are done with onstar.No big deal No one calls me on it and I know who im calling.

[f5fstop]

Pioneer does not show anything when Onstar is working. It just shuts down to allow the converstation to go through the mike and through the front speakers.

[Hal]

what are the biggest advantages of the Eclipse, Pioneer etc. vs. the GM unit? Price? functions?

I've been very happy with the OEM unit. I'd like a rear camera though, and not having all functions while driving has not been that big of a hassle. I'm used to that, having factory nav on my Grand Cherokee also. Playing DVD's while driving has no appeal to me and no children or pets are allowed in the Hummer.

[f5fstop]

Originally Posted by Hal

what are the biggest advantages of the Eclipse, Pioneer etc. vs. the GM unit? Price? functions?

I've been very happy with the OEM unit. I'd like a rear camera though, and not having all functions while driving has not been that big of a hassle. I'm used to that, having factory nav on my Grand Cherokee also. Playing DVD's while driving has no appeal to me and no children or pets are allowed in the Hummer.

In regard to the H3, the AVIC Z1 offers a larger screen, steering wheel controls with the additional wireless remote, bluetooth capability, navigation software installed on the hard drive and you can store up to 10 gig of music on the hard drive too, and the AVIC is MP3 capable.

[kodiakz]

Z1 has better interfaces and better screen. Eclipse has much better mapping, better sound, and is more reliable. The bluetooth on the Z1 is almost useless so don't buy it for that option. Z1 will do either XM or Sirius or both, whereas Eclipse does just Sirius for now. Install is the same for either, and neither will display any info from Onstar as that is strictly on the serial II databus and not intepreted by the aftermarket head unit.

[f5fstop]

I have almost completely eliminated the echo on bluetooth. Made a funnel out of sound absorbing material and placed it around the mic. Use only the right speaker and keep it low, but still this old guy can hear it ok. This has dropped the echo to almost nothing. Or so I'm told by those on the other end.

[marin8703]

Originally Posted by kodiakz

Z1 has better interfaces and better screen. Eclipse has much better mapping, better sound, and is more reliable. The bluetooth on the Z1 is almost useless so don't buy it for that option. Z1 will do either XM or Sirius or both, whereas Eclipse does just Sirius for now. Install is the same for either, and neither will display any info from Onstar as that is strictly on the serial II databus and not intepreted by the aftermarket head unit.

i have placed the mic from the Z1 in front the instrument cluster, have both speakers on and at little over medium volume no one reports of hearing echo at any time. I use the bluetooth everytime i am in the car. The volume is loud enough to hear, and no problems so far. The bluetooth is very usefull if you can set it up to get rid of the echo, otherwise if you dont people wont want to talk to you.

when using onstar, my unit just shuts off the sound through the speakers so that you can hear onstar, however you can still use the nav unit and do everything else. Maybe i misunderstood but i think some said that the unit shuts down. No onstar info displayed on screen thou.

[wpage]

Suprised GM has no feature to integrate. My friends Honda has a nice stock Navi/Backup work like a charm...