Customer Reviews:
Showing reviews 1-5 of 25
 Not a bad unit overall July 24, 2010
George R (san diego, ca United States)
I've been using F500BT with a Pioneer AMP, backup camera, iPod for the last two years. Overall it's a nice unit - it is portable (you can take into a different car, but it's not meant to be operated off of battery.
I've integrated my unit fully into the car with the optional ND-G500 amp, so all of the navigation prompts and phone calls are actually made through my car's stereo. The sound quality of the Navigation software is avarage, but the music sound from iPod is excellent. Navigation itself is fairly responsive, accurate and detailed. It's not as polished and user friendly as Garmin's software, but it does a lot more than garmin units. In fact, there is a whole world of custom features, functions and looks designed for these units. Currently my unit has more custom apps than the stock ones. It will warn me about red light cameras, warn me when speeding, show me detailed map information, car's speed and a lot more.
Generally I'm quite happy with the unit, but I do have a few gripes: it's really hard to make it show a name from phonebook and not say "unknown" when you call someone or if someone calls you. This used to work for me, but now it doesn't. The screen could be a bit brighter (when sunlight hits it directly and you are wearing sunglasses the screen can be a bit hard to read).
Other than that - fantastic unit for a great price.
The main cradle sits in my SUV where i use navi 99% of the time. But when we need to take my wife's car - i just unplug the unit and use it with the suction cup mount.
 Pioneer AVIC-F500BT Touch Screen Problems April 4, 2010
Yakov Fisher (Philadelphia, USA)
I am very disappointed with the unit and Pioneer in general. The interface is fantastic but the sound is crippled. The GPS signal is always dropping out - it takes 5 min to pick up a signal. TOMTOM less than 30 seconds. The unit can be hard... Touch screen stopped working. Obviously as the unit is totally reliant on the touch screen,the unit became useless. Reset can solve this problem but not when you are en-route.
 400.00 Brick February 4, 2010
Darick F. Harriger
0 out of 1 found this review helpful
Being the die-hard Pioneer fan I decided to buy Avic500bt about a year ago for my single din late model Dodge Durango.
The Installation was quick and easy. This unit does everything. Built in Bluetooth, voice dialing, Ipod connection (additional cable required), Navigation.
The unit did nothing but impress me the first couple of months I owned it. It was easy to use, very impressive looking sitting up there on the dash and when you have it bypassed you can use any of its navigation or video features while driving.
Okay, so after about two months I had my first problem. The unit would no longer charge its removeable battery. This is where a MAJOR design flaw comes in. The unit will not work if it can not charge the battery meaning if the battery goes bad for whatever reason you have a brick. I called Pioneer and was told the battery was not covered under the warranty and I needed to order a new one which costs 50.00 and another 10.00 for shipping. Ok well that was cheaper than buying a new unit and I did love the way it operated so I went with it. About 7 or 8 months later the new batter was no longer charging. The only way I could get the unit to work was to bring it in from the car a few times a week and keep it on the charger overnight. This would "reset" the battery allowing it to power up when in the car. I am sure the unit acts like this because of a battery memory effect that takes place when you use the unit on your short daily"around town" drives. Now you would think the unit was designed for this because it integrates your phone and ipod which most people use everyday.
Anyway, last week the unit locked up while I was driving. Now this does happen once in a while with this unit but usually all you have to do is push the reset button on the back and it will restart. Not this time. I have spend hours troubleshooting the device and have finally come to the conclusion that it is dead. Now I have a brick that is out of warranty.
This is the third navigation unit I have owned from pioneer and I will not own another. Out of the three, only one lasted more than a year before needing to be sent back for a repair.
When you spend this kind of money on one of these things you expect higher quality than this.
On the higher-end models like the AVIC-Z2 the unit is great feature-wise but this too has been back to pioneer twice for repair. Luckily I can uninstall it from the vehicle myself so I don't have to pay for this each time. Also, keep in mind with most pioneer navi systems the destination arrival time in the navigation is usually wrong. It generally takes you about 2/3rds of the time it says it will for you to get somewhere which is frustrating.
Pioneer Navigation F series future Bricks? August 1, 2009
Marilyn Martin (Las Cruces, NM USA)
1 out of 2 found this review helpful
BEWARE
I was very happy when I bought my F series Navigation unit until it died during a Pioneer recommended upgrade.
Go to AVIC411 forum and you will see hundreds of others are stuck with dead F series Nav units.
Pioneer wants you to pay to have it removed, then shipped and tested on their schedule, which is backlogged by high demand.
Just warning you that this may be just the beginning of the expense of an F series unit.
When it works its good. When it doesn't ....
 A Hidden Gem! July 21, 2009
Stas Rosenboum
1 out of 1 found this review helpful
When this unit first came out a little over a year ago the price was definatly outrageous to even think about it at around $700. However being relatevely in the shadows of the big boys like Garmin, Magellan and Tom Tom Pioneer was forced to dramatically lower the price in order to stay in this market. I gotta say that this is the best GPS I have owned (previous garmin, magellan and navigon owner) by far. Before I continue with the review, the compact lovers may stop reading here because a huge 5.8" dispaly in an even bigger shell makes this quite a space hugger. However is space in not in issue with you then continue on. This thing is a loaded with features like blue tooth, video player, and anything else you can imagine. The only major feature that most GPS nowadays have is a FM transmitter which this unit lacks. The maps are georgeous, with great info on screen and 99% of the time it actually sends you in a right direction (can't say that about most other units). Another negative would be a long cold boot time, which could take around 15 - 20 seconds.
Overall this is the best bargain for around $200 you will ever find.
Showing reviews 1-5 of 25
|
![AmazonBasics Quilted Case for Small Electronics Including Cameras, Mobile Phones, GPS Units (Black) [Amazon Frustration-Free Packaging]](http://images.amazon.com/images/P/B002VPE1YS.01._AA75_PU_PU-5_.jpg)
