Pioneer AVIC-D1 6.5 in. Car DVD Player
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Similar in Car DVD Players
- Included Units: In-Dash Player, In-Dash Monitor
- Supported Media Types: CD-R, CD-RW
- Number of Audio Channels: 4 Channels
- Aspect Ratio: Widescreen (16:9)
- Screen Size: 6.5 inch
- Touch Panel: With Touch Panel
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Excellent Choice for Double-Din In-dash Nav
Pros
Large, beautiful screen Very intuitive navigation interface Interfaces with all Pioneer accessories
Cons
Audio controls a little lacking Bad EQ options and low preout voltages
Recommended it?
Yes
The Bottom Line:
A very cool unit and probably priced the best in its class. Navigation is strong but audiophiles might want to wait until next year.
Being one of the fortunate individuals to have a car with a double-din dash opening I've been searching far and wide for a stereo that will fill that opening and look like OEM equipment. Most dual-din CD players are insanely gaudy - covered with a sea of plastic and oversized buttons. After deciding this was not for me, and being tired of staring at the cheap plastic pocket under my Pioneer 8600MP head unit, I decided to check out the dual-din LCD market. The AVIC-D1 was the "catch of the day" after I looked at several units.
After comparing prices, features, sizes, and configurations of double-din LCD/Nav units from Pioneer, Eclipse, Alpine, Kenwood, etc. I decided on the new-for-2005 AVIC-D1. After using the unit for a few days, I'm glad I did.
First, the low points. Like many of the new in-dash video units, the AVIC-D1 cuts out video from the AUX source while the vehicle is in motion. For those of you wondering, no, the "ground trick" doesn't work anymore. The AVIC-D1 uses it's internal motion sensors to tell it if the vehicle is in motion - and if it is - bye bye AUX video (audio is still available) and bye bye to several complex navigation functions. Granted this is a safety feature, and it's against the law in most states for any video source to be in plain view of the driver, but what happens when you can't afford to spend a ton of money on external LCDs after dropping $1600-$2000 on this unit and your passengers want to play a PlayStation 2 game during a 4 hour car trip?
Another thing that I disliked about this unit was the poor EQ. Coming up from the $500 (now $300) Pioneer DEH-P8600MP, with a BEAUTIFUL EQ and high 4V preouts, I was sorry to see that this expensive unit has Pioneer's standard 3-band "Hi/Med/Low" EQ along with some sad 2V preouts. The loss of audio quality from my old unit to this new unit is very VERY noticeable.
Third, I'm disappointed that this unit doesn't have the native ability to play DVDs. There are two optical disc slots in the unit - one for your Navigation DVDs and another for audio CDs. This is nice because you don't have to swap Nav discs with audio CDs, or worst case scenario, not be able to listen to an audio CD while Nav'ing. The only bad thing is - you can't play MP3s burned on to a DVD like you can with the Kenwood unit, AND the DVD drive that's for Nav discs won't play DVD movies like it will with all of the other decks I looked at. Bottom line - you'll need an external DVD player or a PS2 or something if you want to watch DVDs with this unit. This is a major downfall as far as I'm concerned.
The positive aspects of the unit are definitely there though. The unit is more OEM looking than any of the other units I looked at. There are no buttons that are lit insanely bright or are crazy colors. The only chrome on the front of the unit is on the small 5-way directional controller knob in the lower left corner (which is NOT a volume knob BTW). A lack of rotary volume knob was a surprise... they could have easily made this multi-function knob a rotary knob like they did with the 7-way knob on the right side of the 8600.
The touch screen is very bright and responsive. I find that sometimes I have to push a little harder than one would think on the face to get it to respond, but it seems to be higher resolution than most of the other units I looked at. The user interface is definitely better than the Eclipse AVX-2404 unit... it's more functional, easier to use, and it looks better.
The AVIC-D1 has navigation built in, which all of the other units I looked at do not. Navigation is an option with the Kenwood DDX-7015, but an expensive option. The only Eclipse deck that has navigation was $500 more than this deck at my local retailer, so the Pioneer definitely wins in the price category.
Audio quality is good. The built in DSP functionality of the Pioneer unit is good. This same functionality is available as an add-on to the Kenwood DDX-7015 at additional cost. The AVIC-D1, because it includes no internal DVD player, has no internal 5.1 decoder. Any 5.1 channel decoding will have to be done through an external add-on box from Pioneer.
The unit's strong point is definitely it's navigation abilities. There is a lot you can do with the navigation... it knows where you are at all times via GPS, so you can tell it you want to find any local fast food place, gas station, sit-down restaurant, ATM/bank, police/fire department, etc. in the area and it'll give you a list of them, let you choose which one you want, and then take you there. The navigation is all voice so you don't have to take your eyes off the road - the unit attenuates your music and chimes in with a woman's voice telling you where to go. The voice doesn't seem intrusive or harsh at all... it's very soothing and isn't at all annoying.
The GPS is fairly accurate, and as of the time of this review the maps are so accurate it's scary. I was able to see local roads around where I live from a top-down view that I didn't even know were there. Directions are usually the best available, with the option to avoid expressways, toll roads, fairies, etc. The backgrounds of the unit are customizable (think wallpapers), but it would have been nice if Pioneer would let us add our own custom JPG backgrounds like the AVIC-N1/N2 can. Maybe in a firmware upgrade in the future?
Another feature that's available with the help of an add-on box is XM's NavTraffic. This will alert you to traffic situations like road construction and backups in real time and will route you around them. This isn't available in all cities but is getting more and more popular. Definitely a cool feature that will make you feel "luxury car'ish" in any car that the D1 is mounted in.
Basically the unit is a powerful navigation mechanism with a decent audio player. For the price I would have liked to have seen more thought given to control of audio. A 13 band EQ like the 8600 would have been excellent on this unit, and 4V preouts would have been a lot better than 2V. The AVIC-N2 got 4V preouts - why shouldn't the D1?
I think they're going to clear a lot of these problems up with the AVIC-D2 next year. If you want a solid nav unit right now that looks good and you just can't wait, I say go for the D1. If you're really heavy into audio quality, I'd wait for the D2 next year, as it's sure to feature a better EQ (hopefully), and definitely will get the 4V preouts. For the price there's no reason that an AVIC-Dx should be behind the AVIC-Nx at all. Hopefully next year Pioneer will take user feedback like this into account and come up with a better product for those of us willing to entrust them with a $1500+ purchase.
Don't get me wrong - the unit is solid, looks good, and performs well. The navigation is extremely easy to use and extremely helpful, but the audio controls are "enough," but could be a lot better, especially for the money. Overall I'd still have to say that I recommend this unit. I like the way it looks, and once I got used to it (2 day learning curve approx.) I can now navigate the unit without thinking.
After comparing prices, features, sizes, and configurations of double-din LCD/Nav units from Pioneer, Eclipse, Alpine, Kenwood, etc. I decided on the new-for-2005 AVIC-D1. After using the unit for a few days, I'm glad I did.
First, the low points. Like many of the new in-dash video units, the AVIC-D1 cuts out video from the AUX source while the vehicle is in motion. For those of you wondering, no, the "ground trick" doesn't work anymore. The AVIC-D1 uses it's internal motion sensors to tell it if the vehicle is in motion - and if it is - bye bye AUX video (audio is still available) and bye bye to several complex navigation functions. Granted this is a safety feature, and it's against the law in most states for any video source to be in plain view of the driver, but what happens when you can't afford to spend a ton of money on external LCDs after dropping $1600-$2000 on this unit and your passengers want to play a PlayStation 2 game during a 4 hour car trip?
Another thing that I disliked about this unit was the poor EQ. Coming up from the $500 (now $300) Pioneer DEH-P8600MP, with a BEAUTIFUL EQ and high 4V preouts, I was sorry to see that this expensive unit has Pioneer's standard 3-band "Hi/Med/Low" EQ along with some sad 2V preouts. The loss of audio quality from my old unit to this new unit is very VERY noticeable.
Third, I'm disappointed that this unit doesn't have the native ability to play DVDs. There are two optical disc slots in the unit - one for your Navigation DVDs and another for audio CDs. This is nice because you don't have to swap Nav discs with audio CDs, or worst case scenario, not be able to listen to an audio CD while Nav'ing. The only bad thing is - you can't play MP3s burned on to a DVD like you can with the Kenwood unit, AND the DVD drive that's for Nav discs won't play DVD movies like it will with all of the other decks I looked at. Bottom line - you'll need an external DVD player or a PS2 or something if you want to watch DVDs with this unit. This is a major downfall as far as I'm concerned.
The positive aspects of the unit are definitely there though. The unit is more OEM looking than any of the other units I looked at. There are no buttons that are lit insanely bright or are crazy colors. The only chrome on the front of the unit is on the small 5-way directional controller knob in the lower left corner (which is NOT a volume knob BTW). A lack of rotary volume knob was a surprise... they could have easily made this multi-function knob a rotary knob like they did with the 7-way knob on the right side of the 8600.
The touch screen is very bright and responsive. I find that sometimes I have to push a little harder than one would think on the face to get it to respond, but it seems to be higher resolution than most of the other units I looked at. The user interface is definitely better than the Eclipse AVX-2404 unit... it's more functional, easier to use, and it looks better.
The AVIC-D1 has navigation built in, which all of the other units I looked at do not. Navigation is an option with the Kenwood DDX-7015, but an expensive option. The only Eclipse deck that has navigation was $500 more than this deck at my local retailer, so the Pioneer definitely wins in the price category.
Audio quality is good. The built in DSP functionality of the Pioneer unit is good. This same functionality is available as an add-on to the Kenwood DDX-7015 at additional cost. The AVIC-D1, because it includes no internal DVD player, has no internal 5.1 decoder. Any 5.1 channel decoding will have to be done through an external add-on box from Pioneer.
The unit's strong point is definitely it's navigation abilities. There is a lot you can do with the navigation... it knows where you are at all times via GPS, so you can tell it you want to find any local fast food place, gas station, sit-down restaurant, ATM/bank, police/fire department, etc. in the area and it'll give you a list of them, let you choose which one you want, and then take you there. The navigation is all voice so you don't have to take your eyes off the road - the unit attenuates your music and chimes in with a woman's voice telling you where to go. The voice doesn't seem intrusive or harsh at all... it's very soothing and isn't at all annoying.
The GPS is fairly accurate, and as of the time of this review the maps are so accurate it's scary. I was able to see local roads around where I live from a top-down view that I didn't even know were there. Directions are usually the best available, with the option to avoid expressways, toll roads, fairies, etc. The backgrounds of the unit are customizable (think wallpapers), but it would have been nice if Pioneer would let us add our own custom JPG backgrounds like the AVIC-N1/N2 can. Maybe in a firmware upgrade in the future?
Another feature that's available with the help of an add-on box is XM's NavTraffic. This will alert you to traffic situations like road construction and backups in real time and will route you around them. This isn't available in all cities but is getting more and more popular. Definitely a cool feature that will make you feel "luxury car'ish" in any car that the D1 is mounted in.
Basically the unit is a powerful navigation mechanism with a decent audio player. For the price I would have liked to have seen more thought given to control of audio. A 13 band EQ like the 8600 would have been excellent on this unit, and 4V preouts would have been a lot better than 2V. The AVIC-N2 got 4V preouts - why shouldn't the D1?
I think they're going to clear a lot of these problems up with the AVIC-D2 next year. If you want a solid nav unit right now that looks good and you just can't wait, I say go for the D1. If you're really heavy into audio quality, I'd wait for the D2 next year, as it's sure to feature a better EQ (hopefully), and definitely will get the 4V preouts. For the price there's no reason that an AVIC-Dx should be behind the AVIC-Nx at all. Hopefully next year Pioneer will take user feedback like this into account and come up with a better product for those of us willing to entrust them with a $1500+ purchase.
Don't get me wrong - the unit is solid, looks good, and performs well. The navigation is extremely easy to use and extremely helpful, but the audio controls are "enough," but could be a lot better, especially for the money. Overall I'd still have to say that I recommend this unit. I like the way it looks, and once I got used to it (2 day learning curve approx.) I can now navigate the unit without thinking.
