- Average user rating: 3.0 stars out of 23 reviews Back to product review
- My rating: 0 stars
Full user review
-
11 out of 13 people found this review helpful
4.5 stars
"Welcome to the future."
Pros: everything
Cons: only standard pcm cds will import, price with features is staggering
Summary: I just spent 4k on this puppy and have had it for two days. It truly is amazing. There are some caveats - you can only import pcm cd's, not mp3 or data cd's - if you forget to connect your lead to your parking break, you might accidentally be able to see DVD's on the main screen whilst driving, which is illegal - and the lack of a security mode for something so costly is annoying.
Now to the reasons why I love it:
It's fully customizable. The eq on sound alone is amazing. I've never had anything with as many sound options (music studio mode, dynamic theater, living room, actors stage) and each band of the eq is adjustable.
The hard drive is great. No loading DVD maps for you, you'll be sporting down the road in style listening to your favorite music.
Ipod control - flawless on screen manipulation (and it charges your Ipod, too).
rear view camera - fisheye is a little weird at first, but it's visable day or night, and you can do a twin view to see behind you, and what's on the map simultaneously.
Voice recognition - a little weird at first, but very usable. Once you learn the vocabulary of the system, you'll be set. I've been very surprised that it recognizes some streets by voice (Gulano for instance) on the first pass.
Navigation - wow. In combination with nav traffic, it's amazing. Drive buy a blockbuster, see a videotape on the screen. Touch the videotape, and a green phone pops up to call the blockbuster using your bluetooth phone. It has a phone book of the world in here. Type in the name of a restaurant, and it shows a narrowing list as you type, including distance from your location. Type in a phone number to anywhere, and it pulls up the address. In some ways, this is a stalker's dream. Who needs internet access when you have this. You can use voice recognition to change route options, avoid freeways, etc. This is my first nav system, so I may be a bit star struck, but I can't imagine anything being better than this (3D display even changes from a cloudy blue sky day background to a starry night one when your lights are on - sweet!).
Bluetooth - not availible yet. The options in the manual are pretty stellar. You can pair up to 5 phones with the z1. It displays information on the screen when folks call, stores your phonebook, and might even do your taxes.
DVD playback - looks fantastic on the main screen. I wasn't sure if it would let me view it - documentation has been confusing - so YES, you can see DVD's on the main screen. Just be sure to connect your parking break lead, or you'll see a warning everytime you turn on your car that it's incorrectly installed, and you'll be able to see DVD's while driving, which I'm SURE nobody wants.
All in all, this is the future of automobile technology. With some annoyances like only 44k cd's will import (but don't worry, just burn your MP3's to a regular CD and that will work fine), and lack of security mode (some fold up inside the dash), it's not perfect, but with only 2 days of use, I've barely scratched teh surface.
One last thing - the sound manipulations and customization is easily overlooked, but STELLAR. I've never had anything manipulate sound like this, and I own a post-production company. It's like giving your car a brain.
I have to go back to the garage and play with this some more. If you can afford the high price tag - GET IT. You won't be disappointed.Updated
That parking brake thing mentioned before? Doesn't work. SO no, you cannot view movies on the main screen while driving, no matter what you do. Lame.
Also, some regular CD's don't import either. Unless you burn the CD exactly as it is listed in the CDDB database, it won't import it. How very 20th century. The hard drive was a huge sell for me, but let's face it, who buys complete albums these days in a world of iTunes music? Incorporating such limitations into the hard drive is a HUGE, STUPID move. Pioneer, are you listening? Leave the copyright infringement protections to Apple and the recording executives. I feel like I bought a laptop that only plays LP's.
I just got back from a trip to Los Vegas from Los Angeles, and discovered the hard way that not all road information is up to date. Several roads and highways in Eastern CA have been destroyed, but you wouldn't know it from the Nav screen.
