( 42 reviews )
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Posted: 08-12-2009
This is not a review about installation. I had the Best Buy Geeks do it and they were great; placed the microphone exactly where I wanted. My worries about the promise of the unit's feature set just melted as the installer hooked it up and quickly set the migration of my iPhone 3G phone book, the hands-free bluetooth telephone, the stereo bluetooth audio playback, the iPod control via USB (from iPhone) and the AUX input hidden in the glove box. Aside from a wiring harness, no additional parts were needed. I supplied the Pioneer iPod interface cable (though you can use a good spare one) and a Monster 3.5 mm stereo mini-jack to mini-jack cable. As others have reported, when you plug in the iPhone 3G via USB the phone display will show a message about compatibility and that you can switch iPhone to Airplane mode. Ignore or say no and your iPod control works perfectly. Additionally, the iPhone charges when connected this way though other users have had varied results. I keep an additional Griffin charger plugged into the dash's 12V power port and use it when I have the iPhone playing in bluetooth mode. The sound via stereo bluetooth is nearly as good as via the USB dock connector. You'll never get any compatibility message on your iPhone display when you're in bluetooth audio mode. My unit was manufactured in May 2009 (this information is located on the unit or box). This was before iPhone 3.0 software was released. The manufacturer does not promise 3G hardware or 3.0 software compatibility so one should not be too annoyed with the brief display message. It just works otherwise. There's a small guide provided to get started. The full user guide is downloadable. I printed it at FedEx Kinko and put it in a binder in a storage area behind the passenger chair. If I need to I'll pull off the road and have fun reading about some obscure feature. The controls aren't too difficult. I mean, the installer got it up and running without ever having installed this unit beforehand. Much of what folks find too hard or frustrating should be done while parked off the road.
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Posted: 07-11-2009
I've always enjoyed the double din units but don't have a vehicle to put it in,soooo.........i came up with the idea to use it in my bedroom,I also liked the price. using a 12v adapter,a 23in HD flat screen TV,a pair of bose speakers,a little rewiring and presto chango! one hell of a sound system. The pioneer FH-P8000BT is the bomb,now i can watch tv,get calls(BT is great)all from bed.
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Posted: 06-29-2009
Good: Sound quality is good, but I'm not as picky as some are. It has lots of options for sound so if you are picky, you can customize it to your set up and speakers. The interface is driven mainly with the big knob. It takes a little time to get used to, but it does make sense. I recommend that after getting it, sit in the car in your driveway and just go through the manual. It works with my iPhone. It paired via bluetooth and downloaded my address book. When I get a call the music/radio stops and then shows the number and caller on the iPhone and stereo display. Audio quality is a little better than that of the speaker phone. I have my phone mounted on a arm attached near the stereo. I can still use the other portions of the iPhone while playing music through the stereo. It's also cool that you can turn stereo ipod control off and use the ipod/iphone itself as controller. I can turn my iPhone towards my wife in the car and play a video podcast that she can watch and I can hear. There are some things that I think pioneer made a mistake on this unit. Bad: There is NO play/pause button on the unit itself. You have to go to the remote and there it's not labeled play/pause but "pgm." So you have to go looking for the remote when you go through the drive-thru at a fast food joint. I think that any car head end that requires the use of the remote is poorly designed. What is funny is that this unit isn't cramped for space so it could have easily have one. The random function is quirky. If you're already in a playlist on the ipod or in folder of mp3s and you press the random button it takes you back to the root level and randomly plays from there. You then have to navigate back to your playlist where the songs them play randomly. Also it always switches to iPod/usb when you plug the the iPod in. Sometimes I just want to charge my iPhone and listen to the radio. Sound Retrieve mode, It's supposed to make compressed audio (mp3/aac files) sound better. The only difference to my ears is that the song sounds like it has more low end. The EQ can do that as well. I didn't buy it for that feature so I's not a big deal either way. It doesn't make it sound worse. But there is no reason that it should have a button on the interface. Either you want it on for your mp3 or you don't. You wouldn't constantly be turning it on and off. It's already in the audio menus where it should be. I wish I could remap its function to be a play/pause. These are minor things but you run into them everyday and they mar what would be an otherwise outstanding stereo.
