OK here is my review of the Pioneer AVH-P4200DVD. I bought it a few weeks ago and had it professionally installed in my 2009 Yukon XL. I wanted to give it some use before I wrote a review so I could give it an honest review. I know many people including myself use these reviews to make the deciding decision if they are undecided between a few different choices. I am not going to go into much detail around the interface options because the internet has plenty of info and videos already on that. I am going to tell more about how each of the modules work. So here we go.
Obviously I got the head unit, but I also got The Bluetooth module (CD-BTB200), the HD Radio Module (GEX-P20HD), The Sirius Satellite Radio module (CD-SB10 & SC-C1), Backup Camera (ND-BC4) and the IPod Touch/IPhone cable (CD-IU200V). Basically I got every possible add-on module, minus the navigation (AVIC-U220) which is not even out yet. I will go into each of the modules and explain.
Bluetooth:
Connecting your phone to the unit is pretty painless. Turn discovery mode on the phone and the unit immediately picks it up. Once the phone has been set up the first time, it is a breeze. The only thing that is needed, is the Bluetooth needs to be turned on, on the phone. The head unit automatically picks it up when it is close. It connects very fast, usually within a second or two. The factory Bluetooth would take around 30 seconds. The module comes with a microphone that I had mounted by my rear view mirror. The sound from the call comes out the cars speakers. Voice quality sounds great on both ends I have been told. Better than the one that came with the vehicle. The Bluetooth interaction between the unit and your phone is nothing special. You can press a button on the unit to register you phone so you can see missed call(s), incoming, outgoing and that’s about it. The caveat to that is that the phone has to be paired to the unit when the call actually came, or it shows nothing. So in my mind, it is kind of pointless for almost $200. If you have a stock one with your vehicle (both units still work the stock and the Pioneer one, I can pick which to pair with), keep it, if you don’t then buy it because driving while holding a phone sucks. Second part of this module is it does do streaming audio via Bluetooth. I have a Motorola Droid, so when it is paired I switch it to Bluetooth audio, open up my Pandora app and let it rip. Sound is good, but this is fully dependent of your phone signal.
HD Radio:
If you listen to radio this is a must. The sound quality is so crisp and so clear, even the AM stations. I have heard some misconceptions about HD radios not being able to broadcast a station that has not converted to HD. False and untrue. The stations that don’t have an HD channel sounds like it does in your vehicle today. You can really hear the difference between the HD and regular. When you select a channel it comes out standard as it does today, then after a second or two, you see on the screen the signal changes to HD and the sound is night and day on the same station.
Sirius Satellite:
I have had a Sirius subscription for 4-5 years now and could not think of life without it. If you don’t have satellite radio, I recommend you go the XM route. Yes they are two in the same now that they merged when it comes to what you get in regards to programming but not when it comes to your wallet. If you go the XM route, you only have to buy one module, the GEX-P920XM. If you go the Sirius route you have to buy the Pioneer module (CD-SB10) and the Sirius Connect module (SC-C1). I went the Sirius route because I signed a long contract years ago so I had to stick with them. The unit, when connected to Sirius, shows station, artist & etc. This is the thing on the radio that gets listened to the most. I feel it is a must have if you buy this radio.
Backup Camera:
Well……it’s a backup camera. Nothing special here in terms of what it does. The picture is great on the units screen in any light conditions. Pioneer sells another backup camera (ND-BC20PA) that is almost double the price that is supposed to have better resolution, better at night, parking assist and yada, yada, yada . I am backing up out of my driveway or into a spot. I don’t need assistance with that and if I did, I should probably not be driving backwards. I can’t compare the two because I never used the other one, but I can pick out a leaf on the ground at night behind my vehicle, in great detail, so I can’t imagine needing any more detail than that. I am glad I got this with such a big vehicle because it is good to see behind you at a lower level. If I had a car I would not have gotten this because I don’t see the point.
IPod Touch/IPhone cable:
I did some homework before I got this one by downloading the head unit’s manual off the Pioneer web site. Pioneers web site says the one to buy with this unit is the CD-IU50V but the manual says the CD-IU200V. I went with the CD-IU200V and it works just fine. I did mine a little different. I have an extension on the unit then plugged the cable (CD-IU200V) into that, then wired it to the inside of my center console. The reason I did that is for USB thumb drives. This way I can unplug the CD-IU200V USB part and plug in a thumb drive. I tried with a 16 gig thumb drive with mp3′s, pictures and videos on it and they all played as expected. Using this cable with an IPod/IPhone is great. I have an IPod Touch and I plug it in and put it in my center console. Everything is controlled from the head unit. The touch on the unit is very responsive. The only point of this cable is to play videos. If you have zero intentions in playing videos, don’t buy this. Just use the one that comes with the unit. That will play all of your music without the need to buy anything else. The video playback is great. It depends on the quality of the video save on your IPod of course. A few goofy things about this cable, or maybe it has to do with the software? Sometimes when I connect my IPod it charges it…..sometimes it doesn’t. Occasionally it shows the message saying that this part is not compatible with the unit. Once in a while the menus lag from screen to screen when the IPod is attached and I am trying to go into playlists or search artists, and sometimes it is so quick and snappy.
SD Card:
The manual says it only supports SD cards that are maximum of 2 gb in size. I tried a 16 gb SDHC card at it worked flawlessly. Same with the thumb drive, that was 16 gb also. So this is another option if you don’t have an IPod or want to keep DVD’s in the car. It’s just another way to keep additional media handy.
DVD:
It acts pretty much like todays DVD players at home allowing one to adjust angle, language and subtitles (if available on the DVD). The picture is amazingly clear. Sound coming out the speakers sound great. I put the Nine Inch Nails Beside You In Time DVD in and I felt like I was at the concert again. It is a great part of this unit.
CD:
No idea. The manual says it plays them but I can’t remember the last time I actually went out and bought one.
A few things that someone would need to know before buying. If you want to keep your steering wheel controls, you need to buy a module for that. If you have OnStar or want to keep the car chimes (blinker, door open etc.), you need to buy an additional module for that but it is not as cut and dry as that. If you have a Bose system, you need a different type of module. While this unit does provide dual zone functionality (i.e. video screens in the backseat), you will need to buy an add-on module for that too.
The sound is just what you would expect to come from Pioneer…..great. A few things I have run into that cause a little concern. About a week after I had the unit installed, it started rebooting constantly. I mean it rebooted for two days straight. I was unable to listen to the radio, watch a video, play my IPod, or use the Bluetooth for two days. I did a factory reset and that did nothing. It did that for two days then just stopped. I called the place that installed it and told them what was going on. They said to bring it in so they could take a look at it. Took it out, rewired everything, looked at the unit, said it did not seem like anything was loose or broken. The installed does not believe it is the actual head unit that is the problem. He thinks it is because so many modules are in play, that one might be causing the problem or the combination of all of them is the problem. About 3 weeks after it started up again and stopped. I am going to have to chalk this up as this thing needs a software upgrade if/when that becomes available to get out the bugs. No reason this should be happening within the first two weeks of owning it. While his diagnoses was clearly just an assumption after years of installations, I ask if this is the case why make something that needs all these modules if they don’t play nice with each other? One other thing I would love to see in a software refresh would be station labeling on your presets. Now it just says Preset 1,2 ,3 etc. It does this for Sirius & the HD radio. When I search my presets, I have no idea when it shows them in a list which is which so I just end up cycling them which defeats the purpose.
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Pioneer continues to have great sound qualityl A few things take a little getting use to but I have not found it necssary to look in the manual to figure out how to do something. No issue with dropped calls even before the software update. GPS and Ipod control all in one unit for a great price. I am very happy. Got exactly what I expected. OK GPS (as good as the Garman I had), Good radio with lots of options. I added a GEX-P920XM XM Satellite Tuner from Ebay and so far everything is working great.
I put it in my two front doors (doubled on the outer and inner panel) and the rear hatch door. I still have a bunch left so I might do more but it takes so long I don’t know if it’s worth it. The first door took like 3 hours until I got the hang of how to do it and how to get the doors off. I can’t say this isn’t a good product, it obviously does make a difference in the sound but I don’t know if it really works in my car. I probably won’t know until I get new tires since I still have the stock, which have been said to be obnoxiously loud. I put this in my 2001 Toyota supra and I honestly can’t tell if it made a real difference. Sure it seems like the road noise is duller. The wind sound isn’t as harsh but did it actually improve anything? It sounds like it got rid of some of the higher pitched road noise but the low dull roar still gets through, which might just be because of the tires.
