IMPRESSIONS AND INTERFACE REVIEW

I was and am quite pleased with the Avic-D3.  It is not the "perfect" solution for me as nothing could be, but for the price it can't be beat.  To get a similarly equipped setup from any other manufacturer you would be at a minimum another $500 in the hole, realistically more.  Without further ado I'd like to break down the different interfaces/functions and offer a bit of opinion of each..

NAVIGATION:

Navigation with the Avic-D3 is decent.  It does not do text to voice so other than highways and interstates it does not announce road names.  It does however show you a nice blow-up of the intersection you are turning at and clearly shows the road you are turning on in the upper left hand side of the screen, along with the road you are currently on at the bottom right.  I will not lie, I don't think the navigation on this unit is as good as several of the standalone units I have messed with.  That said, it gets you from point A to point B and looks decent doing it.  There are several cool bells and whistles available including speed, turning force, current relation to the ground, etc.  

Most people slam this deck because it only has one DVD slot.  In order to calculate routes the navigation DVD has to be in the player.  Once you've set your route you can remove the navigation DVD and listen to CDs, watch DVDs, etc.  For someone that will be using the DVD slot a lot yes, I can see this being a nescience and unacceptable.  For me, who listens exclusively to the iPod and Sirius radio there is no problem at all. I leave the navigation DVD in the unit and forget about it.  Pioneer was able to control the cost significantly by only having one drive and not needing a motorized face plate.  I personally applaud them for it as I appreciate the lower price and don't need the additional drive.

The absolute worst way you can test a GPS is by having it take you somewhere that you already know how to get to.  The GPS' point is to take you to a location you did know how to get to.  No, it may not take you every short cut, and it may even take you slightly out of the way, but the bottom line is that it gets you there. In that regard I can honestly say the D3 has not failed me yet.  I am not going to go on more than that in regards to navigation as I honestly believe the opinions will vary greatly person to person based on their expectations and previous experiences.  Suffice to say that it works and the interface is pretty speedy considering it is DVD based.

Destination Selection Screen of Navigation.

The Map Screen and Highlighted Route at .5 Mile Scale

The Vehicle Dynamics Screen (Mutiple Options)

AUDIO SOURCES:

I am really pleased with how intuitive the menus are and how freely you can get from screen to screen.  It takes a few days to grow comfortable with it and learn the little short cuts, but once you do it's really logical and very nice.  Below you'll see the audio source selection screen.  Notice that the "M-CD" (changer) and "XM" are grayed out.  I don't have them and it doesn't allow you to accidentally click them only to get a black screen.  Disc is also grayed out because I have the navigation DVD in the player and there's nothing to listen to on it.

IPOD CONTROL:

This is the bright spot of the Avic-D3.  The iPod interface is first rate.  You can utilize the device pretty close to the same way you use you're iPod.  Simply plug in the iPod cable and throw the iPod in your glove box, center console, under the shifter console, whereever.  The D3 charges the iPod and serves as a complete controller.  I utilize play lists primarily but you can also search by artist, album, genre, the works.  You can playback iPod video on the D3 but you have to actually select the video on the iPod itself.  When in video iPod mode you control the iPod directly.  I've also found this is great to let the passenger hold the iPod and select whatever songs they want.   The only drawback to the iPod interface is that when you're scrolling thru a list the items don't show up until you stop scrolling.  This is a pain on long lists because you have to stop frequently to see where you're at on the list.

D3's iPod Interface

CLICK HERE to see the radio tuner, Sirius controller, and video interfaces...