Why you shouldn’t buy a Pioneer AVIC HD3 navigation…

I am a “lucky” owner of the navigation system AVIC-HD3 produced by the vendor Pioneer.

First of all, when I bought the device it was in its original package. That means: brand new, no damages, nothing to criticize. At first sight the device suggests quality, stability and a good  developed software, but after using it for a while I felt myself in a trap.

The only thing the device is good at is “good looking”. This good looking and animated user interface is the trap for the customer. Today, when I would have the opportunity to buy a new navigation system my one and only answer would be “TomTom”. Nothing else! But this is another topic,….

Well, back to the nice device AVIC-HD3. What is the reason to not buy any navigation system of the vendor Pioneer?

This device:

• is not able to sync correctly
  • The minimum amount of time it needs for synchronizing is about  5-10 min. The worst case was: I reached my destination and it still tried to sync. And yes, the GPS signal quality was well!
  • The synchronizing algorithm the developers used makes me sometimes giggling, while driving to work. Instead of using the incoming GPS data for jumping to the correct location, the device “guesses” and “corrects” to the next possible street in the map. That’s a  kind of “trial and error” syncing 🙂

• cannot store radio stations permanently
  • Hell yeah, the device can show me the current title of a song, playing on the radio. I am able to store that title, pressing 5 sec a button, but why can I not store the frequency of the radio station instead? Any cheap 10 years old radio can do that. But not such an expensive device? Why?

• is not able to learn routes
  • In the configuration menu a setting called “learn route” exists. I wanted to be sure and read the manual. Yes, it was what I assumed. Before starting to drive I turned the feature on and before I drove back I turned it off. Normally it should prefer the new learned route for the way back home. I was not surprised, when I saw it preferring me the old, stupid way. I thought: “hmm, maybe it needs to learn every direction separately”. Stupid idea, but why not. I tried it with the same result. My conclusion is: It seems to be a dummy button, just for pressing and hoping.

• has a really bad menu structure
  • Even an IT guy like me has problems while browsing the settings. Many important settings are hidden under sub-sub-sub-sub menus and are located not logically. Normally a well developed interface must provide an intuitive and simple usage.

• cannot transfer MP3 files directly
  • The device can play MP3 files from CD but when you think about transferring them to the internal HDD. Good idea but no way! You have to burn your MP3 files as an AUDIO-CD and let the device rip it again into the internal HDD.
• is too expensive for the less (not working) features it provides
• cannot calculate an alternative route without using motorways
• needs a Bug-fix, which is still not available

Finally, why should someone pay so much money for such a device? I made a mistake don’t do the same!

Maybe there are other AVIC-HD3 owners out there. You’re welcome to add your opinion regarding this device.

~ by Ferhat Akgün on 05.October 2009.