Pioneer AVIC-N2 In-Dash DVD Multimedia AV Navigation Receiver

by Pioneer

Product Details

• Item Weight: 13 pounds
• Shipping Weight: 14 pounds
• ASIN: B0007N3IHW
• Average Customer Review: 3.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (12 customer reviews)

Product Description

Designed for installation into your car, Pioneer AVIC-N2 Multi-Function Navigation System includes a touch-screen for navigation as well as a DVD and CD player along with an AM/FM radio with optional XM capability. The AVIC-N2 provides accurate detailed route guidance for the entire United States and Canada including Alaska and Hawaii. Within seconds, the system's extremely fast processor calculates multiple routes and provides directions to any destination via electronic map and voice prompts. Powered by TeleAtlas mapping, the system uses a massive 12-million points of interest (POI) database with more than 248 different categories so consumers can search for the nearest gas station, ATM or restaurant. As users are guided along their route, points of interest are overlaid onto the map, which is particularly helpful when driving in unfamiliar areas. Easy-to-recognize brand icons are used to identify hotels, restaurants, banks, gas stations and even specific chain store locations. Composite A/V Out

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

41 of 46 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Truly the current pinnacle of Mobile Navi-tainment!, March 17, 2005

By 

Dutch Stiphout (US Naval Aviator) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Pioneer AVIC-N2 In-Dash DVD Multimedia AV Navigation Receiver (Electronics)

I purchased this item a few days ago and installed it myself. Let me start with a whole-hearted I LOVE IT!

Ok, details.

The Installation

I am not new to car stereo installs, and I thought this install was pretty easy, if longer than most. But then, there's about 5 times as much to set up, so no surprise there. I am assuming you know how to snake wires/cables all throughout your vehicle, from the battery under the hood to under your seats to the white reverse lights on the back of your car. If you've got that down, the hardest part is really just figuring out which wire on your ECU is the vehicle speed-pulse line. Other than that, it's all just busy work; a splice here, a t-tap there, and you're done!

It are a *lot* of wires, though. (Hey, what did you expect?) :)

The Video

Amazingly enough, it's visible in daylight, only becoming unwatchable in direct sunlight! The screen's display is adjustable enough such that it can be viewed in nearly any angle, and the "Wide" button even allows you to select a "zoom" level such that any movie you own will use as much (or little) of the screen as you want.

The Audio

While not as customizable or pro-audio as my last deck, the Pioneer DEH-960MP, I actually like the sound out of this one better. I still have a little tuning to do on my amps for the mids and lows, but the highs are much crisper than I could ever get out of my last deck.

The Navigation

I have no basis for comparison, but after playing with this thing for an hour or so, I had it all down pat; it's pretty easy and intuitive. As far as usefulness, well, it's gotten me around areas I already know very well with plenty of skill, so I'm confident that when I try to navigate someplace I don't know that I will be just fine.

Gripes

The intelligence of the unit in figuring out if you're moving or not is too good. I've heard about and think I like the AVIC-N1's relatively dumb parking-brake sensor better. I know it's illegal (and really just plain dumb) to watch a DVD while driving. But what about my passengers? I have the self-control to just not look at the screen, but now I don't even have that choice; the AVIC-N2 watches the speed (and, I'm thinking, its accelerometers, too) to know when I'm moving, and it blacks out the A/V, no matter how much little Billy was enjoying "The Incredibles."

(Here's a hint, though; plug the rear-display video output that's meant for an extra LCD mounted in the back seat into the rear camera video input. Then whenever you want to see a video up front while the vehicle is in motion, just view the rear-camera. Granted, it's squished to plain-old TV 4:3 because the nav map snippet still shows on the left, but it's better than nothing!)

Also, the IP-Bus is pretty much useless for some older components. Verify that any IP-Bus components you want to buy work with the AVIC-N2 before buying them! I had a Delphi XM tuner installed in my car and hooked up to my Pioner DEH-960MP and it worked wonderfully. On the AVIC-N2, I could get the audio over the IP-Bus via the "Aux" source, but I have no controls... I don't know about you, but having my XM Radio stuck on Channel 53 for the rest of eternity isn't acceptable. The newer XM tuners from Pioneer do work, though; I also bought their XM NavTraffic tuner. It hasn't arrived yet, but I'm willing to bet that it works and will be very, very cool.

Overall

This thing has got a coolness factor of, well... let me put it this way: After getting all this installed (I have an iPod and a PS2 hooked up to it, too... ) I have decided that I'm just plain the coolest person I know.

Party in my car, you're invited... :D

21 of 24 people found the following review helpful:

1.0 out of 5 stars Big Waste Of Money!, July 19, 2005

By 

Holly L. Martin "Holly" (29 Palms, CA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Pioneer AVIC-N2 In-Dash DVD Multimedia AV Navigation Receiver (Electronics)

I was so excited to get Nav/DVD in our new SUV. However, I hate this unit! You can't watch DVDs unless the car is in park. The whole point was for me to watch movies in the passenger seat while my husband drove.
Also, you have to put in a Navigation CD everytime you want to look for a new address. This means you have to remove your DVD or music CD and put in this special disc. You then have to be in park to put your DVD back in and start it again (we have screens on the headrests).
The worst part is you can't use any features of the Nav system while you are driving! I have to pull over to enter an address or find a point of interest. While my husband drove, I figured I'd be able to use these functions.
It is not user friendly. We have read the manual and still cannot accomplish tasks such as programming the radio stations!
I regret this purchase immensely. I do not recommend this system to anyone unless you are willing to put the car in park ever time you want to use any of its functions!

20 of 23 people found the following review helpful:

1.0 out of 5 stars Stop and Save your money, August 27, 2005

By 

T Blanks "TLM" (Seattle, WA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Pioneer AVIC-N2 In-Dash DVD Multimedia AV Navigation Receiver (Electronics)

I waited a while before submitting a review to give this unit a good try. I already had a portable unit (Garmin) but wanted an in-dash unit for my other car. At the time this unit was twice as much as the Garmin but it also played dvds. I was very disappointed once I got this unit which cost twice as much as the portable and more than most of the other units of the market. The biggest disappointment was that he does not guide you a fraction as well as any of the portable units on the market. The Garmin will take you right to the door of the address you put in. This unit (if it can find the address) gets you there and says "you have arrived..". But where, which side of the street, which building etc. My Garmin will take me right to my own front door and this expensive unit gets me in the area and then I am left to figure out which building (all having unique addresses) I am looking for.

The detachable controls for the unit would make you feel that you paid $200 for the unit. It feels like it is mostly plastic and that it couldn't cost them very much to make. The radio unit I had in the car prior had a great detachable unit with its own carrying case - you get no such thing with Pioneer. I thought that was a bit cheap of Pioneer not to even include a carrying case for such an expensive unit.

The interface with the unit is awkward and time consuming. When you put in an address it apparently searches in both the state of Washington (where I live) and in Oregon. I called pioneer to ask if I could just search in Washington since I didn't care about the addresses in other states at this time and when I did I could just put that state in. By the way, this is a regular feature on the portable units. Pioneer tap dances around the answer but the bottom line is - no. What can you expect from the only unit on the market where you have to put over to the side of the road and apply parking brakes multiple times before switching addresses.

I would get into the problems Pioneer has with getting its map upgrades out. Again, something I spoke to them about and you should hear the song and dance they give on that. However, if that was the only thing wrong with paying twice as much for a unit that delivers half as much as the portable units I would just complain to Pionner.

Save money. If you want a good reliable gps unit look at either the portable units or one of the other brands of in-dash ones. As for the built-in dvd players you can get one of those put in your car for a fraction of the price.

Remember you can always take back one of the portable units but with the Pioneer you have put out an extra $200 to get it installed as well so no real taking it back. I urge you to shop carefully if you are at all looking at purchasing this unit.

On a positive note, it is fun to watch the screen come out and pop up with you first turn it on. But I am not sure that the price was worth that.