How is the unit mounted inside of that stock 2din faceplate? do you have to buy extra hardware like what would be included with a kit?

 

The faceplate kit came with all the hardware and bolts you need to mount a 2DIN or 1DIN unit. But for a 1DIN unit you also need a little pocket to put in that empty 1DIN space.

 

Quick question for all the in-dash navi guys. I have been experiencing a little bit of rubbing when my screen opens and closes. Not a lot but enough to catch my attention. I have a metra kit so maybe that has something to do with it. Im gonna take it back to circuit city when i get a chance and have them look at it. Just want to check and see if im the only one. Thanks

Joshua

 

Ok so not as slick as the other ones on this forum but I have 3 cars to use 1 nav system in. Originally I had this on the dash (bean bag friction mount) but under here is out of sight, out of mind. I hope. I stuck the suction plate thing on the front surface of the pocket next to the 12V socket. Stuck the mount to that and it sits in front of my shifter but out of the way of the cup holders. Still gets GPS signal through the dash although I may attach an external antenna. All the cables are clean cause they go right into the 12V and Aux input. This little 680 gives me real time Traffic, Weather, Gas Prices and Movie Times. It also is an MP3 player, picture viewer and my Bluetooth handsfree speaker phone. Soooo happy.

 

did u have to go out and buy the Face kit on your own or did Circuit City supply it with installation

 

And does the AUX jack still work with the NAV

 

I bought the kit from crutchfield online and it was at my door step in a couple days. If you let CC order it you will have to wait a couple weeks. To me it wasnt worth it.

No the AUX port will not work with the aftermarket Nav system. If you instal any type of aftermarket deck you will lose the AUX port. You can buy adapters for each different deck to use dang near any electronical device out there tho.

 

Do ypu ever lose the signel? And did the suction plate thing come with your nav or did you have to buy it?

 

that's the airbag light, cause he has aftermarket seats.

 

or it could be his steering wheel, whichever came first i suppose. jeez, 5 pages of replys and no one answered that question. haha i bet sox feels neglected.

 

the suction cup to adhesive adapter comes with the Garmin. I just put in right in the middle of the front surface of the front pocket. I'm a geographer by trade and have quite a bit of GPS knowledge and I can't tell you why but it always gets a signal. At most it takes half a block to find my location. The only thing I can figure is that the dash must not have a lot of metal and that it receives so many satellites that it doesn't matter. If I wanted, there is a $30 external antenna that I could put on the dash or permanently on the roof. Out of sight out of mind - I just cover it with a hat. Done.

 

Here a few pics of my current setup.





Eventually id like to get In-Dash. But this works for now.

Tyler

 

isnt it a bitch to answer your phone when someone calls and your phone is mounted there?

 

No. I always have it plugged in so when im driving and someone calls the music fades out and i can hear the person through the Car speakers. I talk hands free. Pretty cool feature.

Tyler

 

Hey Y'all, I PS'ed a few splash screens for the widescreen Nuvi's. The first is just the Fit poster cropped to the right dimensions (off the net). The second is an artists interpretation of the Honda Nav splash screen (compiled from world, stars and Honda logo in PS). Just in case you wanna look "factory". enjoy.

 

Nice. Its not an indash but it does the same as everyone elses navi systems and for alot cheaper. haha. I still havent bought the hands free kit for mine. I keep putting it off. I like the location. When its navigating does it talk to you or how does that work. If it does talk to you is that set up through the speakers aswell?

 

Had it installed for about a week. Took it out of the RSX and put it in the Fit since that is what I am driving most of the time now...

 

Eh? What?
I have installed a aftermarked headunit, and have connected the AUX port to it and it still works like before...

It depends on the aftermarked headunit you are installing; if it has a aux port on it for you to connect the original aux plug into.
I had to make a new plug on it but, that was easy, you probably find a pre-made harness that would fit the aux-plug to your headunit.

And even if you dont change the headunit and use the stock headunit and connect the nav system to the aux port, that would work too.
But in both cases, you cant listen to both the AUX port and the Radio for example. So if you have a voice guided Nav system connected to the AUX port, you can only listen to that AUX source when using the Nav system. I have built in GPS in my aftermarked headunit and the voice commands will mute any other audio source. (Pioneer AVIC-HD3BT (or AVIC-Z2 in the US))

 

Nice catch F0NIX. I was going off of my head unit. I didnt even think about the others out there. Yes if your aftermarket deck has an aux input you can tie it into your oe one but im not sure how it all hooks up. I left the instal to the pros on mine so i didnt even get to see how the aux cord was hooked up. Again nice find F0NIX i guess i wasnt paying attention when i posted that.

 

After 3k miles use I have a pretty good feel for the Alpine IVA-W205 with the blackbird II removable navigation, so I'll share my impressions. The audio is better than the OEM unit to my blasted_by_too_many_gunshots_and_rock_concert ears. 'course I could be biased by the hefty price tag attached to this unit, so YMMV. I didn't replace the stock speakers but it sounds pretty good to me. The touch feedback system is useful for making adjustments while driving and the bluetooth phone sync feature is great for safety. Screen resolution is acceptable and not hard on the eyes, brightness and contrast are good, even in direct sunlight the display is readable. The auto-dim feature works as advertised and the default blue background matches the instrument cluster well. The gps acquires satellites very quickly and holds lock through obstructions that my older "puck" type unit that fed my pocket PC would tip over on.

There are a few complaints. First, the data in the gps seems fairly out of date, on numerous occasions trying to find a POI from the internal list will not show a business that has been established for quite a while. Searching the Alpine website doesn't yield any map updates that are available and the map format seems to be a secret. While the blackbird has an SD slot, I can't find any information on what formats are supported. A couple of times the voice prompts would "chop" and make the instructions hard to understand, it didn't seem to be related to any CPU usage like a re-route being calculated so I have to assume it's a bug. Once so far, the head went stupid and would not recognize that the navigation unit was installed. I had to eject and re-insert it to get it going. That was by far the greatest annoyance.

Am I satisfied? Overall, yes with a recognition that this is a fairly complex system and some glitches should probably be expected. The removable navigation is great, being able to use it in my truck and have the bluetooth phone capability is a real plus.Also, if it or the internal HD pukes at least I'm not driving with a hole in my dash while it's being repaired. (knock on wood)

If anyone has any questions about this unit, feel free to shoot me a PM...