Does anyone have experience with the Eclipse AVN7000 head unit?

Here's a link to it on Crutchfield:
http://www.crutchfield.com/S-FI6Iv6Z...0&tp=144&avf=N

Is this unit worth the $1,600 dollars that it costs on www.cartronixplus.com?

I want in dash nav and MP3 playing ability, but I'd rather not spend so darn much! The JVC KD-NX5000 is much cheaper, but the screen is too small. The Kenwood in dash unit looks like it requires another box and I don't know where I'd put it. And the Pioneer AVIC-N3 puts so much crap on the screen that you can't see the map! Also, it looks like the Pioneer unit requires you to put the nav discs in to use it. That's a no-go at this station! I wanna listen to music while using the nav, and have the nav mute my music to tell me to turn. Is that too much to ask?

What to do... what to do... ?

 

Well, I guess the point is moot. I just won an ebay auction for one. Once I get it, I'll post a review.

 

Well I got my Eclipse AVN7000 head unit installed on Monday.

Is it cool? Hell Yeah!

Is it Crutchfield $2,000 cool? Nope.

Is it eBay $1,400 cool? Nope.

Is it eBay $750 cool? Yeah, I guess so.

Pros: nice 7" screen, only 1 DIN, sounds great (with stock amp, speakers and subs), 20 gig internal hard drive holds nav data so you can listen to CD's while getting Nav

Cons: clunky user interface, not very configurable, won't read data DVD's, you can't copy your MP3's to the 20 gig drive, only takes 128Mb Sony Memory Stick (128Mb!!! What good is that?), Nav data is from 2005 and there are NO updates available!!, my neighborhood/city is NOT in the Nav data!!

My initial impressions from owning this head unit for a few days are that it is over priced, lacks features and polish. I'm generally pretty disappointed with this head unit, especially compared to my car-computer that's in my eclipse. Nothing beats a car-computer for configurability, flexibility, options and features.

 

Hi, I'm also very interested in that unit. I have some questions for you if you have some time:

Would you be able to post some pics of the headunit in your car? Closed and Open?

Is there another unit you would now rather have? How does the color scheme look? It has blue back lights, correct?

Did the sound improve from the stock speakers? Did you try to use the headunit's amp to see if that would improve the stock speaker's sound?

As of now it is the only unit I know of that is 1 din with a hard drive based navigation all in one. It also has a 7" screen and time alignment which I like.

Thanks,
Dave

 

Check these guys out they do Eclipse and with give you the straight poop. Solid team of people.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=itwNUS5h3E4

 

I have the Kenwood KVT-M700 with DV4100. A few years old but has all the features you're looking for and looks factory to boot. That is all.

 

Hey Dave, I don't have pics handy, but I will try to post them before I put my baby in its winter condom this weekend.

The Eclipse AVN7000 has switchable blue or red backlight. I have mine on blue. Since neither match, it doesn't look bad, but it won't fly if you plan to show the car.

Initially I was very disappointed with the unit. I still am, but now I am more used to it. Unfortunately, I can't recommend any other units to replace it. There's not much available for a single DIN with nav, and I don't have any experience with any of the others. I briefly considered installing a CarPC. I have one in my other car that I put together and installed myself. Of course, I like it a lot better, but I should, since I designed it myself.

You can get a pre-made single DIN car computer with pop-out 7" touch screen for about $1,500 from www.mp3car.com. Check in their store for the "Stage 3 Car Computer Full Package Deal." One thing to note is that there is more stuff to mount somewhere in your car than just the single DIN. So you would end up mounting the "PC" part of it in the trunk. It's not very big 8.3" x 10" x 2.2" but it is a concern if you don't want to mount things back there. The nice thing with this unit is that it does nav, mp3's, movies, and just about anything else that a normal PC can do. With a 120 gig hard drive in it, you can store a lot of music. I'm not sure, but I think you can tether it to your cell phone and use the internet, like you might do with a laptop.

I'm strongly leaning toward doing that next summer when I have some more cash.

As far as the sound goes, I don't think it changed. Since I'm wired into the factory amp, I am still getting bass frequencies through my door speakers. The guy that install my system said I didn't need bass blockers, but I think he's nuts. I bought them and will put them in next spring.

Good luck with your search! Whatever you do: DO NOT PAY $1,600 for the Eclipse AVN7000. It's not worth it. Old nav data is a MAJOR fault if you ask me. The data in the unit is from 2004 (nominally 2005), and there are NO updates for it! And when I called Fujitsu (Eclipse) they told me that they don't plan to ever update it. Now that's some nice customer support! It's good to see that they support their products after they're out the door. Then they have the audacity to charge you for an update disc (like $300) in you own one of the newer nav head units. Sheesh! I'll never buy another Eclipse head unit if that's the way they treat their customers.

 

Thanks for the reply and the suggestions. I would only be interested in the unit if I can pick one up for $1k or less. I'll be on the lookout for some pics.

Thanks,
Dave

 

Well, I didn't put my car away last weekend. It rained all weekend, and I didn't want to trap all that moisture in with my car. So I'm putting it up today. I snapped some pics last night. Sorry, they're kinda blurry. The exposure was long because of the lighting - or lack there of. But I figured you'd want to see it at night with the lights on.

The one thing I noticed about the red/blue led switch is that it doesn't change the color of the numeric readout on the face of the head. It remains blue regardless of what color you select for the buttons and dial. That's kinda stupid. Here's those pics I promised. Note how the blue may not match the green dash, but it does match my blue Motorola phone charger!

 

Very nice, but darn Chrysler for not putting in a double-din slot. You can't adjust the HVAC with the display up!

 

Thanks for the pics. I also wish the car had a double din opening as it would make the decision much easier.

At this point I'm going to stick with the stock unit as I like being able to leave the top down on my roadster and not have to think about people eyeballing my stereo. If a nicer unit comes out with all of the features I'm looking for I'll readjust my thinking.

 

Not a bad idea, waiting. I'm sure someone will come out with a good unit soon. All the TomToms and Magellans out there, you would think one of the stereo companies would get together with them.

 

Kenwood actually has Garmin for their GPS software.

My Pioneer may not be as accurate in arrival time as others but there are more POI (nearly double) than that of the Kenwood unit with Garmin software. I thought about getting the Kenwood unit but I'd rather have a more map-like display.

http://reviews.cnet.com/car-gps-navi...?autoplay=true

 

I know it's been almost a month since this discussion occurred, but I'm very interested in this topic. I enjoyed the CNET review of the Kenwood unit, but would like to know more about the other mentioned Kenwood product, which I think is a newer generation device.

I understand that the Crossfire, having a single-din console, limits options for stereo replacements. I'm curious to know if the Crossfire "imposes" any other limitations on installation of a DVD/CD/Stereo/GPS systems with 7" flip-up display? What about these units (no discernible brand-name) listed on eBay, from Hong Kong? Are they compatible? I guess what I'm asking is: what brand/model would you install if you had say $2000 to spend and wanted the best, updatable GPS and stereo system without re-design of the dash/console? Thanks for your suggestions...

 

I recommend that any of you interested in a 1-DIN DVD/CD/Bluetooth/NAV system with 7" flip-up screen checkout the Valor NVG-720W device at www.valordvd.com.

The device is cheaper, super screen resolution, requires only a wire harness to install in Crossfire (no install kit), is Bluetooth ready, IPOD compatible, accepts rear camera, uses SD card to hold GPS data in a separate NAV-SYS box.

Just bought one; waiting for it to arrive. I reviewed many systems -- Pioneer, Kenwood, etc. and liked the Pioneer AVN7000 except that its GPS data is on a CD disk. I'm planning to have Car Toys install it for me next week. Ask me more about it in a week.

 

Be interested to see your reaction as not much on reviews on the web, considering this unit has been on the market for some time.

Valor:
http://tinyurl.com/8r5mll

Review:
http://tinyurl.com/9uslwg

Amazon + Review:
http://tinyurl.com/8henwa

 

In my experience Valor / Jensen is more of a "cheaper" brand.

Garmin isn't going to go anywhere. Kenwood uses Garmin technology.. infact the entire navigation for Kenwood is by Garmin. It's like having a portable garmin device on your flip out touch screen....

I may be a bit bias, but I went to the store and looked at Clarion, Pioneer, and Alpine headunits. Sure, Kenwood might have an extra box or two (which is easily hidden..!), but the Navigation cannot be beat in my opinion (garmin).

I have an older in-dash that actually matches since none of the new ones do (they're all black), but the newer ones have a lot of features (including playing video off of your ipod!!)

 

Have you looked to see if the GPS antenna connection in the Crossfire will plug in to the back of the Kenwood?

 

No idea, i'm thinking no.. Garmin has it's own antenna that plugs into the box.. have a picture of the stock GPS antenna? I could compare it

 

Should that reason alone be anyone deciding factor. Using this logic we shouldn't have bought a Chrysler Crossfire. Actiually it is this reason why people stay away of this car thus passing on such a misunderstood product.

I don't bow to brands... if it's good it's good.. if it's bad then it's bad. I don't car what label is on it. Perfect example is this Eclipse that goes for 1600.00 and how poor of a value it truly is.