Cancelling D3 for Kenwood DNX7100

[ls400_fan]

What pretty much seals the deal for me in regards to Kenwood vs. D3 is how each does POIs.

 

Sure, the AVIC has twice as many POIs, but guess what? You don't know how far you from them. They are not sorted in any kind of distance order. All you can do is a "vicinity search." Another great feature is the Kenwood has the option of a QWERTY keyboard.

 

I will say the interface on the Kenwood looks "cartoonish" but oh well, those other things are more important to me. Plus i have to admit that upgrading the Kenwood will be cheaper in the long run.

 

Just my opinion though. I'm going to go look at both again but i think i'm going to go with the Kenwood.

[silkjones]

Go ahead and go with the Kenwood. You won't regret it!

[el1117]

Well, I was the one who originally started this thread. I have used the Kenwood for 2 days now. It took about 4 hours to get everything done and wires hidden the way I wanted. It turned out to be a real clean install. I have pics and will post them later tonight or tomorrow.

 

 

I agree about the UI. I think Pioneer's UI looks a little more friendly, but once you spend a little time playing around with it, it's a cinch.

 

Besides the fact it has dual zone for the kids, the USB option is great. I have a 1.0GB thumbdrive I'm going to use for MP3's, pictures, etc. The SD slot will be great for those ($175 cheaper than Pioneer) map updates. It still has the IPod option, plus a TV tuner option.

 

As for the Garmin navigation. Come on, it's Garmin....need I say more?

 

 

Again, I am by no means knocking the Pioneer. I just love some of the extra features the Kenwood has, probably number one...not having to put in a navigation disc. After using the Garmin navigation today while still listening to cd's and XM I am sold!! Pics to follow......

[zoomzoom]

In for pics

[hd54321]

Can you PLLLLLLEASE do a video of the Kenwood UI? Especially the iPod portion of the UI? Thanks bud.

[silkjones]

If I did a video for you guys, how do I post it?

[Klaus]

Add me to the list of converts to the Kenwood DNX7100. One reason I decided to go with the Kenwood is that Pioneer is now toying with Z1 owners that have bypassed their units. If the Z1 owners update their units the bypass no longer works. I didn't want to possibly face the same issue with the D3 down the road. It may never have happened, but I didn't want to take the chance.

[archiea]

yes can someone post a video of theinterface on youtube or something? its amazing how disproportionate the amount of reviews there are for the D3 vs the kenwood....

[I8urevo]

Has anybody thought about the vehicle dynamics display of the Pioneer. That, to me anyway, is a pretty cool feature to have even if its not all that useful to everybody....

[iamddn]

I like the Kenwood unit okay. I selected the DNX7100 so I could use the theoretically use a DVD while navigating. While I can do this, I do not because I do not feel like getting a huge ticket. I ended up getting a disc changer anyway so I can store my CDs, so the only real advantage is that I can change CDs in the dash while navigating.

 

DNX 7100 Pros -

 

Navigation really works perfectly. I cannot imagine that the Panasonic can work better.

 

Lots of features, but see below

 

DNX 7100 Cons -

 

$400+ cost difference

 

Serious issues with the GUI which is non-intuitive and down right distracting and virtually impossible while driving. Also, I really wish I had a volume knob. Changing volumes is downright tiresome on on the Kenwood. Likewise, you cannot change any functions without pressing the screen, leaving fingerprints

 

Also, the use and install manuals are horrible and not meant for consumers. You can access a pdf on CR to preview. Most features are not explained, and I put in multiple calls with Tech support at Kenwood just to access basic features

 

Terrible XM radio interface that does not allow direct channel selection. Instead you need to scroll through channels using arrow keys.

 

Many features are not useful -dual zone would seem to be useful but actually results in an audio mess where you cannot hear in the back or front. For the same money, You are better off getting a D3 and a secondary DVD system with wireless headphones, since kids cannot really watch movies on the dash anyway.

 

Seriously muddy audio. I suspect that the Kenwood outputs less power than advertised. I am ordering an external amp, but this further increases the cost difference between the DNX7100 and d3

 

DNX 7100 is not as attractive after installation because the unit sticks out from the dash about half an inch to allow face to open and close - the D3 appears to be more flush mount. I really wish I had the D3 selectable lights after staring at the DNX 7100 blue leds for a month.

 

 

By the way, the new Kenwood Ipod controller (IPX300) works great, so don't let negative reports of the old IPD controller (IPX500) be your deciding factor.

[rising_suns]

I think with the pioneer only the necessary streets are labeled. IS THIS CORRECT?

 

The D3 seems to label most main streets (depending on your zoom level) but excludes lesser secondary streets. You may be thinking of the 3D view, which is essentially useless on the D3.

 

-Davide

[qtn2x]

A lot of people have written reviews on the Kenwood DNX7100 and have given many pros and cons. I'm surprised that no one has ever mentioned anything about the speed the unit lists mp3s files off of a DVD or CD media. I personally own this unit and love everything about the unit, except for one thing, which I think is a dumb design. Going through a list of songs on a CD/DVD media is very painful and slow especially when you have more than 50 songs in a folder. Keep in mind that I only filled up 1/5 the capacity of the DVD media. When you press "FOLD" to tell the unit to display a list of folders and songs, the unit would display the first 5 songs (songs 1-5) on the screen (which is perfectly fine), and if you want to see the next 5 songs (songs 6-10) you would have to press the scroll down (downward triangular shape) button, BUT here's the catch. Instead of displaying the next 5 songs instantly all at once (like all other units I've tested), it displays ONE by ONE and the lag time between each is about 0.2 to 1 sec. In other words, it would display song 6..lag..song 7...lag...8...9...10 etc. Imagine you have to go through a list of 100 songs or more, it could be frustrating. What frustrated me the most is that a big name like Kenwood would design a bad feature like this, a very frequently used feature to those who listens to mp3s off of a burned media. I know there're ways around of not having to use this feature, like breaking down the list of songs into folders, use ipods, or usb drive (list of songs is much faster, btw), but I still want to be able to quickly navigate through a list of songs on a burned media since this is what I use a lot, and I'm sure other people too. I had to make sure this is not a faulty unit therefore I called up Kenwood and crutchfield and they confirmed that this is the nature of the unit. I still didn't believe that because I still gave Kenwood the benefit of a doubt. So, I went to an electronic store called Audiotronics to test out the DNX7100 display unit they had there and only to find out that it did the same thing. I put the same mp3 disc into other displayed units (such as Alpine, Pioneer, even Jensen) at Audiotronics and I was able to navigate through the list of songs quicly and easily, and I was wondering to myself..why not Kenwood? I still love this unit as a whole, especially the navigation and usb read, therefore I'm going to keep it and will play most mp3s off of an ipod or a usb drive instead. I know I might be a little too picky and some people might find this to be normal, but to me being able to navigate through a list of songs on a media quickly is important, especially when u fill up the DVD+/-R with 4gb worth of mp3s.

[FF2MOE]

I am also debating between the two. There are a few more things to consider:

 

Kenwood:

 

 

 

I have not confirmed this, but i heard the navigation gives detailed street listings and names of streets in the area your traveling (even if not part of your route) as your driving. so a familiar street could show up as your navigating. I think with the pioneer only the necessary streets are labeled. IS THIS CORRECT?

 

 

THIS IS CORRECT!

[del842]

I had a DDX8017. I was extremely disappointed with that unit. The face rattled, the buttons rattled, no wallpapers, crappy menus. The iPod control was absolutely HORRIBLE!!!! I just was not as pleased with that unit as I was with the Alpine W200 I had. Unless Kenwood seriously revamped their iPod compatability I would never even think about owning another of their units. I understand that the DNX7100 has the plain no frills menus too with no option for different wallpapers. Just some wierd textrues.

[idbl_fanatic]

I heard that you can add your oen wallpapers to it.