Initial impressions of Pioneer AVIC-X920BT

I finally got and installed my 920 today. I used a scoshe dash kit to install the head unit. I also have added front and rear speakers and a subwoofer running off of 2 amps, initially off the stock head unit with a PA15-TOY IPOD adapter.

The install was not easy, but not the worst thing I have ever done. I added in the Pioneer IPOD audio-video cable, modded the wiring harness to allow on-the-move use of the video functions, and installed a SWI-PACK steering wheel control adapter. Im not going to go on about the install see AVIC411.com for more information about that. The scoshe dash kit matches the factory colors exactly, however I used the factory steel mounts instead of the plastic ones that came with the kit. As a result, the head unit sticks out of the dash a bit. This isn't really obvious unless you know its there, but it gives extra space behind the head unit for cooling. The wiring is a pain in the ass, but if you can operate a soldering iron and heat shrink tubing its not difficult. A volt meter is really useful to locate the different wires needed in the dash, especially a constant hot which is not in the stock wiring harness. Also, you need to be able to remove some of the a pillar interior pieces to run the microphone and GPS antennas.

This head unit kicks ass. Despite the internet horror stories, start up time is less than the time to get out of the driveway, it pairs with an Iphone 3GS fast, and works great with Ipod. The GPS navigation isn't perfect. It has a lot of POI's (so far Ive located anything I need), but it doesn't pick the best route to everything. The accuracy seems to be fine, unlike some reviews I have read and it has all the local roads so far. The voice guidance does not say the road name, just to turn, but it has the name on the screen.

The sound quality is outstanding. I didn't realize how poor the stock system distorted at volume until now. Needless to say, its incredible now. The adjustability of the system is great, you can adjust all the sources independently. The video playback from the Iphone is great, good quality image and sound. The interface is intuitive and well done. I have not read the operation manual yet and have figured out everything I needed without issue.

The blue tooth works fine. I paired my phone in about 2 minutes with transfering my contacts. Also, the sound quality has been good on calls, everyone I talked to said the sound on there end was good, and it plays fine through the front speakers.

Overall, I am very pleased with this head unit and would recommend it. It does seem slow when using the Ipod, just a slight delay when accessing the menus on the Ipod due to the time required to send signals and get a reply. Its not a bad but its noticeable. The stupid warning every time you start the unit is annoying. So far, no real big issues.

After the 30% discount from Amazon and the $100 rebate I paid 500 for the unit and so far its worth every penny.

 

Glad to hear they got this fixed. My 910BT was pretty slow on startup, generally 30-45 seconds, even with fully updated firmware.

I didn't have any problems pairing mine to my 3GS, but it never would charge my iphone, only my first gen video ipod, which I was aware of (change from 5v to 12v charging on the plug).

Overall it was a decent unit when I had mine, I just had little use for most of the features, since I already had a GPS unit and bluetooth just didn't appeal to me after I started using it.

I switched mine out for a 9887 in favor of 5 band parametric EQ, active crossover controls and Timing Alignment and have been much happier overall. But, I was not looking for an all in one, rather at a part that would allow me much more extensive control over my system without adding an external DSP.

Glad you're happy with your purchase, they really are good units and it ought to treat you really well as long as you take care of it.

Overall the install on my 910BT was probably easier than the one on my 9887, but alot more went into my 9887 than my 910, so I had a lot more to deal with.

 

i dont understand how you got this for 500. how much were the added accesories? adaptors, ipod, bluetooth etc?

 

I paid $626.50 with free shipping and the 30% Amazon special, still have to send in the rebate for $100 from Pioneer, I agree with the OP, I had the F90BT hacked to run X910 software and it was slow to boot this unit is fast to boot, bluetooth sounds good, I am happy for now.

 

$899 for the unit - %30 = $629 -$100 rebate = $529

So I was off 29 bucks

I paid ~$40 for the Ipod cable (use the real cable, not the ebay chinese copy!!!)
~$35 for the scosche dash kit

Sorry for the approximate numbers but I deleted the email confirmations from Amazon last week.