Sony XNV-770BT install complete (almost)

Love the console vault. Where did you get it?

 

Good write up! This is the unit I have had my eye on for my Taco. I have a Pioneer Z3 in my GTO and the navigation is awful and overall functionality is slower than piss.
With the iPod hookup, does the HU control the ipod? If so, how responsive is it?

 

Las Vegas...where else

http://consolevault.com/

I believe the HU controls the ipod, and displays cover art and whatnot as well. Haven't used that hookup yet, because I can't find my nano.

One think I don't like is the bluetooth phonebook. When you type it only takes the first letter, so if you are looking for "Mueller" you have to type the '"m" and the scroll through all the "m's", as opposed to being able to type" Mue..." quickfill: really dumb as hell when you are driving.

 

My pioneer is like that navigating the ipod or searching XM/Siruis channels. That pisses me off so much. The phone book I could probably live with.

 

Turns out the ipod cable would not reach to the console, so I rerouted it to the glovebox instead, since there isn't much room in that cubby hole, and the cable didn't bend very easily because it is thick. Actually, the cable reached, but the video connection cable did not that hooks into it. If you got a short video cable extension it would work, I am sure.

I just left it where it is for now in the glove box, since the truck is now alarmed.

Also, the hu was so hard to get in position because if all the wires back there. My alarm installer cleaned it up for me. What he did was tie wrapped several of the wires and harnesses together, in long loops, and then wrapped the shit out of them with electrical tape until they looked like a black snake, He did this in two different clumps so it looked like two black snakes. That compressed the mass considerable and the hu went in a lot easer.

 

novataco
Very nice writeup. I am looking to install a new HU and now that you have had yours for a couple of weeks I would like to know how you like it. I am looking at Sony and Kenwood, trying to make up my mind on which one to get.
Thanks in advance.
Bill

 

Hi All - great posts on here. I have the same Sony xnv770bt that i just installed in my new taco. I used the Metra kit and it was painful to get the unit to fit right. Based on what ive read here ill be getting the scosche for next weekend. I got the Metra because I liked the textured finish which matches the stock piece, but the fit was so painful I’m willing to sacrifice that.

Nova - your write-ups are extremely helpful, when i open mine up again (hopefully later today) I’m going to do some adjusting of the wires based on what you said. I was wondering if you ever tackled the SWI-PS install for the steering wheel controls? I'm going to try later today if i get a little time.

Also - not sure if this will work for you but on my blackberry i have a voice command button, I hit it by mistake last Friday and found that it routes the prompt through the headset, so to dial out i just say "dial john doe mobile" and boom the unit dials. It’s more a feature of the phone but may be a viable workaround for the contact list limitation. Now that i found that i use it exclusively so i don’t have to take my hands off the wheel to dial out.

 

It does, full control of the ipod through the head unit. and its pretty responsive, although sometimes the touch screen doesnt pickup my touch the first time - im told there is a calibration for that but havent found it yet.

 

You will find its very hard to get it to fit straight and flush (very hard to even get the unit the fit with all those wires behind it). You will probably run into the same problem with the Scosche kit. I had not installed my SWI-PS or the backup camera by the time I had the alarm installed, so I had the installer finish those for me. They were struggling to get the unit to fit square and flush too, but what he did that worked well was he organized the wires into two runs, one going right and one going left. He bound them very tightly with electrical tape, so that it was like two black snakes. That compressed a lot of the mass of wires into two more manageable bundles, and the unit fit a lot better after that. Before, I had it like a birds nest.

Regarding the voice command on the Blackberry, I use it all the time now, or I will bring up the contact on the phone. The contact list on the unit is largely useless, unfortunately. The voice command works very well, even understanding hard to pronounce names (when the spelling looks nothing like the pronunciation). On the bluetooth phone menu of the hu, the "voicedial" button links to the voice dialing on the phone, so you can access it right there on the head unit.

The touch screen doesn't work so well in the corners. I used the calibration feature and it did not seem to help.

Sorry I am late to reply on this. Personally I would go with the Kenwood. The GUI on the Sony needs a lot of work, and thus it is incredibly annoying, although I am getting used to the limitations, and it looks like the GUI on the Kenwood is much superior. Kenwood has Garmin support instead of Tom Tom. I like the Tom Tom navigation but I am sure the Garmin is as good or better. One super annoying flaw in the GUI is that when you are scrolling through artists when using the ipod, is you cannot jump to a certain letter, you have to click on page after page after page. I think the Kenwood has a finger scroll like the iphone, so a quick flick of the finger will cause the names to start rolling by rapidly. With the Sony, you have to click each page, so good luck getting to an artist whose name starts with "J" or "K", as you might have to click through 15 pages to get there. Once you get to that artists, and then into on of his albums, you cant go back one level to look at songs on his other album: you have to start from "A" again....just unnaceptable. Really poorly thought out by Sony. Its also extremely distracting while driving to do that, which is the opposite of what its supposed to be. Its supposed to be easy and convenient. So I pretty much shuffle a playlist composed of all the songs on my ipod and leave it at that.

 

I live in Minneapolis, MN and it gets really cold here in the winter. My question is does the touch screen work good in cold weather? I am debating on buying this unit for my vee-dub but if i can't use it till my car warms up what is the use, you know.

 

Hwy GTI Guy, I live in chicago and havent had any problems with the screen being unresponsive at all.

It has its quarks, but that isnt one of them.

 

Reading some other posts it looks like the Reverse indictor wire is behind the driver's kick panel, red/white wire, easy to get to. This helps the GPS understand that you are backing up and also can automatically post your rear video when you go into reverse. This appears to be in addition to the power cable requirement for the rear camera. Some other installers used this for their power, but my Pioneer unit wants ACC power so that I can choose to see my rear camera feed while driving down the highway, etc.

It appears the VSS/Speed Sensor wire is located near the inside fuse panel, a purple/white wire.. Not yet verified, but it is what I am reading here.