I switched from a Prius to a Fit recently and the official Honda GPS is a step backwards in functions and quality. I love everything else, though!

What can people recommend here for a good replacement?

Needs:

- good quality GPS and Points-of-Interest
- add Bluetooth (handfree cellphone usage)
- I-Pod / Memory Stick USB link

Bonus items:

- Back-Up Camera (on the back license plate?)
- Homelink (on the rearview mirror?)
- play DVDs


After searching Fit's forums here, I found a few possibilities:

Jenson VM9022HDN:
Jensen VM9022HDN All In-Dash Car Stereo Receivers Car Stereo Receivers and Head Units Car Audio Car Audio, Video, & GPS Navigation - Sonic Electronix

Off-Brand(?) NAV kit:
Indash Car DVD GPS Navigation TV iPOD Honda FIT CITY - eBay (item 260471711554 end time Oct-03-09 02:16:16 PDT)

(has anyone used the "Car Parking Sensors" ?)

Eclipse AVN726E (top of the line?):
Eclipse AVN726E Navigation receiver at Crutchfield.com


Also, are there any items I should AVOID ?

Thanks for any direction or suggestions!

 

First off, I would personally recommend you avoid both Jensen and Dual. They may be much cheaper compared to other brands, but you really do get what you pay for. The Eclipse is a good brand. Also look for Pioneer, Alpine and Kenwood.

For the features you've mentioned, I recommend the Pioneer AVIC-X710BT. It has every feature you asked for, and is really good, in my opinion. Kenwood has something comparable, the DNX5140. But It's a bit more expensive and you have to buy a $150 module to add Bluetooth. And I think Kenwood's user interface is retarded.

As far as back-up cameras go, I've used Pioneer, Jensen, Dual, Alpine, Kenwood and Audiovox. Out of all of them, I found the Audiovox to be the best. It's around $130, I think, and can fill up a 7 inch screen with the whole picture and look very good. The others were good as well, expect for the Dual, But the Audiovox was just as good as the others as far as quality and durability goes, and cheaper.

For Homelink, the only in-dash unit that I've ever seen with it as an option was a Kenwood from 2 years ago that was something like $2500. It was ridiculous, and has 2 brains that needed to be placed, not including any satellite or navigation brains. Other than that, I haven't seen it anywhere else.

 

Thanks for the recommendations!

And thanks for mentioning the interface. The official Honda one is a bit bass-ackwards, with no "back" key or city filter on the top level.

It looks like it's more likely the Homelink will be through the rear view mirror. I'll check out the rear cam suggestions (Crutchfield has a free Boyo rear cam with select NAV systems).

 

Is it common or uncommon for the bluetooth on these aftermarket NAV systems to only bind to one cellphone, or can you bond 2-3 cellphones (as with the Prius system) ?

 

Every in-dash unit that I have experience with, Alpine, Kenwood, Pioneer, Sony, and a few others, allow you to pair up to 6 to 8 phones. Obviously, only one can be used at a time. If you have more than one phone paired, and two phones are in the car when you start it, the last phone connected will connect again. if you want the other to connect, you have to go into the already connected phone and disable the Bluetooth.

For the most part, the Bluetooth works the same on all the units that I've seen. They allow for phone book transfer, the unit will show made, received and missed calls, you can dial out through the phone book, dial pad or voice dialing. The nicer ones from Kenwood and Pioneer will transfer over addresses if you have them in your phone, and will let you go into the phone book, dial, and set a route for the address. I'm sure the nicer Alpines would do that as well. Also, check to see if you can find out what models will notify you when you receive a text message. I think only the top model from Pioneer does it, and in Kenwood I think the DNX7140 and up does it. The only one that I've heard of that can do text-to-speech and read the text to you, or display it on the monitor, was a top of the line Alpine, but I never actually saw, nor read about it anywhere. I think the customer was BSing me.

But, like I said, only the Pioneer series with "BT" in the model number come with the Bluetooth built in and ready to go. Everyone else it's an additional $150-$250.And as far as I know, Sony, Pioneer, Kenwood and Alpine all use Bluetooths modules built by Parrot, which makes some of the best stuff out there. I have a Pioneer deck, not an in-dash, with built in Bluetooth and it's freakin awesome.