tRidiot

I have this same headunit in my car. I don't utilize all the features, so I'll try to answer as best I can.

1.) I can't. Probably are some comparable ones out there, but I obviously chose this one, the same as you have.

2.) Android. Yes. I also run an S3, and this unit synced up to my phone with Bluetooth with no problem.

3.) I really don't know about this. I just took my S3 out to the car and tried to hook it up with a generic USB charging cable to the headunit's USB input I have run into my center console pocket. No dice. All it did was say "Incompatible USB". I can't really think of a reason I would need to hook my phone up to the deck, other than music, which goes through Bluetooth. Of course, I think Bluetooth sound quality blows goats, so I never use my phone for it. Same goes for using the phone over the stereo via Bluetooth to receive or make calls. I essentially never connect the phone to the stereo anymore... I don't see any use for it, myself. The headunit has an SD card slot and I have a 32-gig SDHC card in there with something like 400 albums. I don't really need any other music, so I don't bother myself with it.

4.) I dunno about this... I have a camera hooked up to mine, but it was one my installer had/uses he orders through his supplier. Can't tell you the brand name.

5.) Anything else? I dunno, man...

Some benefits/detractions of this unit over my other one in the Tahoe (Pioneer 4200 I think, coupla years older) -

-Tahoe unit takes 30-40 seconds every time I start it to read my 32-gig SD card. Not a huge factor, as I almost always use remote start and had it wired specifically to start the read at that point, so by the time I get in the truck, it's already "buffered". The new one in the Z (the 8500) buffers in like 3-4 seconds maybe. Much much faster than the older unit. This same thing happens every time you switch sources - FM, SD, XM, USB, etc. The only one slow is the SD (size-related I assume), the 8500 doesn't have a problem.

-Display on the 8500 is much busier, which I am not a fan of. It has a ton more features I have barely looked into. It pops up something saying no database is created all the time. No idea what that is. It wants to auto connect with my phone every time once I set it up the first time. Since I leave BT off for battery life and don't want it to connect, I need to look at the manual and turn that feature off.

-Menus are all in different orders, really, so that took some getting used to. Also on the older unit, the 4200, when I was surfing through menus, when I got to the album-level folder list (as opposed to the song-level list one folder level "deeper", I could touch a small arrow on the right side of the album folder and it would just play the whole album. This is gone on the 8500, have to go one level deeper to song-level and touch the first song. Not a huge deal, but a quick little timesaver I wish they would have kept. I hope that's clear... my folders are grouped as Artist-->Album-->Song. Make sense? I guess I could do pics if I needed to...

-Keep in mind, on BOTH units, for both USB AND SD... the files on the card or drive will be displayed in the order they were written/transferred. If you take your card/drive out to add a few songs or albums onto it, they will show up at the end of your menu list. This was annoying to me when I first figured it out, as I want everything alphabetical by artist and usually by album, although at the second folder level it's usually not a big deal, as I don't have more than 5 or 6 albums for most artists. And songs I try to name with a number in front so they stay in proper album order. Doesn't matter for all, but think of Pink Floyd's Dark Side or something... needs to be in the proper order to flow.

So what I did, was I made a separate folder on my computer, got all my albums in there, organized the way I liked it, each level, etc, then transferred them all at once. Now... I had to highlight the LAST folder, then Shift-click the FIRST folder to highlight everything in between and drag and drop, and it started transferring with folder A1-Z99. If I highlighted folder A1 and then Shift-clicked Z99, when I dragged it, it would start with Z99 and transfer going backwards to A1. Go figure. Just little quirks. Windows, I guess.

Personally, I seldom if ever change anything on my main SD card, so it's no big deal. But if I DO want to add something, I need to rewrite the whole card at once to keep everything in order. Takes maybe a couple hours to rewrite 32 gigs? I just set it to transfer before I go to bed. For occasional songs or albums I want to throw in there, I just use a 16-gig USB key drive. I don't really care what order the stuff is on that, because it's a relatively small amount compared to my hundreds of albums on the SD. Oh, and I use the same backup for both vehicles, so I have the exact same file structure on both the Tahoe and the Z... I just move my little keydrive back and forth for new music if I want to. But I always have a ton on tap.

<whew> Not sure if all that made sense or not... I am sure there is more. I have had the 8500 for about 4-5 months now, but I don't drive the Z all that much. It's been parked a lot with suspension problems and I have never really sat down and played with the unit in earnest... I just learn a little on the fly. If you have specific questions, I would be happy to try to sort something out or experiment with the S3/8500 combo. Just let me know.

Overall I'm happy with it. I think it's a great unit for the money and surely does a lot more stuff than I need it to. lol. Next step is adding in Navigation for $300 or so, if I can ever stop having to buy tires and guns.

Cheers!