Best double din nav/xm/bluetooth/etc...

[F0RSAKEN]

Which is the best on the market right now? The Kenwood KW-NX7000 is getting really good reviews, but many people here went with the Eclipse, so which has the best options, layout, and performance? Preferably with either 2 drives, or a HDD....

Id trust your guys opinions over those of car audio installers such as Cartoys lol.

[jamisobe]

I have the double din Kenwood DPX301 running four 5.25 speakers and a sub amp. No navigation, but it will do everything related to sound including sat radio, HD, and run a changer. Very clean install.



Kenwood DPX301 CD player with MP3/WMA playback at Crutchfield.com

[Waggoner5]

I run the Kenwood you mentioned and really like it. You can load TOPO maps to an SD card which was a big plus for me.

[Darwalk]

I have the Kenwood DNX-7100 in my daily driver (an FJC) and I want the same unit in my LC soon. I travel for work, so it helps tremendously. I have the bluetooth, and iPod hooked up to it as well. Love it....

[maybe_a_80...]

Here's another idea if you don't need video capability -

get a nice stereo deck with CD player and auxiliary input jack on the front.

you can hook your ipod/zune into the auxiliary input.

go buy a pioneer inno portable XM device. it comes with a ton of accessories for $199 (after rebate) at xm.com right now. you can plug it into the auxiliary port as well. the advantage to this over buying a stereo unit with xm technology built in is that you can take the inno into your house and hook it up to the home stereo.

for the monthly subscription fee, mind as well be able to listen to your satellite radio everywhere you go, inside and out.

[Corbet]

I'm in the middle of this research project too.

So far Kenwood is looking like my choice. As Gary mentioned, you can load topo's on SD cards. I'm not really interested in having yet another electronic device (separate GPS) cluttering up the truck. Kenwood is the only unit I've found so far that can do this easily.

[jditom]

I went with Eclipse since this is what Toyota/Lexus uses and I was use to it on my 04 LC and my wifes RX. Looks and works great. Make sure what ever you get it has the option to tilt out. Since our Ddin location is to low for good visibility the tilt out makes a world of difference. It is impossible to see most of the time with the screen flush in the dash.

http://forum.ih8mud.com/80-series-te...ation-etc.html

[pete the puma]

the kenwood 8120 is a new peice just out and is a fine unit. built in bt,nav, ipod(video), usb two aux video in, b/u cam in, fr/rr,sub out, selectable video out( for rear screens),sat radio controls, ext relay outputs the list goes on. the digital time alignment is a very nice feature for the tweakers.

[supercarrera]

The cool thing about the Kenwood units is they use Garmin for their navigation and that really rocks! I have an older Kenwood that I put in a year and a half ago and love it.

[F0RSAKEN]

So it is between the Eclipse AVN6620 and the Kennwood DNX7100. I can't decide.

The Kenwood got much better reviews on Crutchfield, and from what I can tell, the GPS is better on the Kennwood than the Eclipse, but it looks a bit cartoonish to me.... People complained that the GPS wasn't at a good resolution on the Eclipse, and was hard to read. The only screen shot I can find doesn't look that bad, but I can't tell. The Kenwood reviewers all say that the interface is tough to use, and everyone here says the Eclipse rocks, and has a great interface. The Kenwood has a 2.0 volt (or 3? forgot) preamp voltage, while the Eclipse has a 5.0 (what does this do?).

I need help! I am so torn! :(

[supercarrera]

The Kenwood navigation may look cartoonish, but that's the way it is to make it easier to read when you're driving around. I've seen other navigation units that are much more difficult to figure out what is going on on their maps. Trust me, the Garmin navigaion rocks. It's easy to update the maps too. For my model, no lame cds or dvds are needed. You just upload the maps or points of interest to a sd card and then insert it into the slot on the navigation unit. Let me know if you have any more questions. I'll try to post some pics in the next couple of days.

[supercarrera]

One more thing, I can switch between topos and street maps. Can you do that with the other brands? I don't think so.

[jjcobm]

Alpine 505 anyone

The GPS unit comes out so you can take it with you to another car and what not, does not come with the stereo. DVD, rear monitors, Bluetooth xm, ipod, hd radio, pretty much everything you ever wanted you can hook up to it.

The reason i like it is because the detachable gps (Alpine Blackbird) that fits behind the face and is detachable.

[Bluetribal]

A year ago the guy at the shop showed me The Pioneer AVIC-D3 that they installed in the shop owner's, son's Infinity G35. It is Very reasonably priced compared to others and very much at the top of the pack.
Here is an eBay search link.

[F0RSAKEN]

Ok, I'm leaning more toward the Kenwood deck, due to its Garmin GPS and more available options. One more question regarding the Kenwood though, it states that it has a 2gb memory, is that enough to run a comprehensive GPS system? The Eclipse uses a DVD, which if I remember correctly can hold up to 6gb of information. Will 2gb be enough?

EDIT:

Would some of you check through these spec's and tell me which sounds better? I'm trying to get unbiased opinions so I don't make a bad purchase
Kenwood DNX7100 DVD navigation receiver at Crutchfield.com

and

Eclipse AVN6620 DVD navigation receiver at Crutchfield.com

[supercarrera]

I loaded the latest entire North America maps, entire Mexico maps and some Topo maps around Tahoe onto my 2 gig sd card. It took about 1.5 gigs of space.

[AllenTenT]

Spupercarera
Are you saying yo are loading garmin map software on the kenwood?
Im about to do this but want garmin software
tks, Al

[supercarrera]

Originally Posted by AllenTenT

Spupercarera
Are you saying yo are loading garmin map software on the kenwood?
Im about to do this but want garmin software
tks, Al

Yep, I loaded Garmin software.

[TrickyT]

Originally Posted by Waggoner5

I run the Kenwood you mentioned and really like it. You can load TOPO maps to an SD card which was a big plus for me.

I'm a newbie when it comes to loading maps into a GPS, so this is probably a pretty naive question. When you say "TOPO maps" do you specifically mean the National Geographic "TOPO!" series of maps or, since it's a Garmin-based GPS that is inside the Kenwood DNX8120, only the maps that you can get from Garmin? The NatGeo maps appear to be higher resolution (1:24,000 scale) with coverage of virtually every state in the US, while most Garmin topographical maps are 1:100,000 scale except for a few select places like national parks and some state parks (places where there's not much OHV use).

[SoCal_80]

Suppercarerra - What model Kenwood do you have ? Can you give us a screenshot showing the topo map ?
Thanks!

[supercarrera]

I have the ddx6019. I bought it a year and a half ago.

I loaded the topo USA maps that Garmin distributes. I'll post a pic tonight.

[supercarrera]

Here's a couple screenshots of the Topo maps:

[aleexmaan]

I have an Alpine W505 with a Blackbird II in my car, but right now I'm living in Mexico, so I want the maps from all Mexico, can I get the maps from garmin or navteq for my Alpine Blackbird II??
Thanks.

[shane4x4]

WOW. Looks like the kenwood nav units w/garmin WILL work with my custom topo maps?? I'll still need to check for sure, but if that's the case - i'm adding the 8120 to my xmas list----TOO cool!!

[gbell210]

Has anyone had a chance to play with JVC's new KW-NX7000, which has all the goodies too and can play divx as well. The maps are Navteq maps, but not sure if you can put in topo ones, or if the interface is garmin, tomtom, or something else?

JVC Mobile Entertainment \ KW-NX7000 - KW-NX7000 \ Introduction

[Titanroll]

Hi everyone,
please excuse my ignorance, but I know next to nothing about GPS units and I'm interested in the kenwood nav HU's: being able to upload topo maps means it's also possible to upload custom garmin-compatible driving (routable) maps? Thanks.

[Wayne.KD7NAC]

Originally Posted by supercarrera

Here's a couple screenshots of the Topo maps:

Can you switch between Topo and Streets or did you just replace the streets data with the topo data?

[supercarrera]

Originally Posted by Wayne.KD7NAC

Can you switch between Topo and Streets or did you just replace the streets data with the topo data?

Yes, it's easy to switch between different maps. You go into settings and you can enable or disable the various maps you've loaded. I had to figure a lot of this stuff out on my own because the documentation provided by Kenwood/Garmin is really lacking.