pharm

should I go with a kenwood after market or the stock (alpine or sns200)?
How hard is it to install the kenwood?
Does it integrate with the speakers and the driving wheel controls?

oreoremix42

Aftermarket! most of the time you can save a lot of money and get a much better product!!!

1stOne

Except you have to make custom brackets to fit one into the tC! Its double DIN high, but not wide. You have to use a dash kit for older Scions, modify it, and then fab brackets for the deck to sit. Its not a super simple task, but do-able.

I have an Alpine INA-W900 that I installed the other day, but it sticks out to far and the dash kit doesn't work right. Its out of the car right now but we are fabbing something up this weekend for it.

I'd say if you haven't bought the car yet, get the Alpine OEM with Navi. We don't get that option in Canada (yet), but its the same as you'd find in the aftermarket Alpines, just OEM installed and fit.

pharm

In States, we have to dish out $1200 for the Alpine Nav that dealers sell. Add in $300 for blue tooth and you are up to $1500. In Canada blue tooth is standard, in States its an option. (Just to clarify for our Canadian friends like 745L)

My dilemma: dealer stuff are expensive and crappy, after market is a lot of hassle and might not work the way it should.

1stOne

I'm well aware of how they are spec'd. But remember, where it is standard doesn't mean we aren't paying for it.

The Blu-Logic is "OK". It works really well, but I can totally understand your delema wanting Navigation.

You could look into a Parrot system for the OEM Navi since it is an Alpine radio. Just a thought. If we offered a Navi here, I wouldn't have bought aftermarket to get what I wanted.

The new Kenwood units are fairly nice in the aftermarket. The best suggestion I can offer is wait until I get mine installed and I can hopefully do a small write up on the installation. It's close, but not perfect, and thats the only issue.

midtowndesi

i hate the markup on dealer-installed navi systems... and i also hate the fact that, even when you buy something aftermarket, there are so many limitations in terms of media...

a few years ago, when i got my 06 scion xb, i bought a tablet laptop that i used for the 4 years i had the car. i used it for navigation, movies, music and it was the perfect solution!

i had made a mount for it and it held it perfectly. when i would park the car, the tablet came off of the mount in like 2 seconds and i kept it under my seat. the mount came off too and the car looked completely stock when parked.

many people didnt like the soultion (doesnt look stock/screen is too big/etc etc etc) but it did everything i wanted it to. :D

biglilsteve

iTrader: (2)

come on now...garmin.

dos_techie

I got the SNS200 installed on Sat. and I like it a lot. Love the bluetooh feature.

jizz4scion

i agree aftermarket gives you much better product...and most times if you are already upgrading to aftermarket its easy to install subs and speakers at the same time

jizz4scion

did you install this yourself? what nav system is this...This looks very useful

deaddawg

I dislike factory navigation.

DermalsNmohawks

Screw aftermarket navigation, just use your cell phone. Be careful of data/roaming charges tho.

P33kAb00B

Or get an aftermarket touch screen unit with Appmode (like Alpine & Pioneer) and use your phone's GPS on the unit. That's what I'm going to do with the Pioneer AVH-X5500BHS.

Works for iPhone only for the moment. Shouldn't be too long before Android users are able to do it.

jizz4scion

so you can stream your GPS from phone to radio? Are you using Google Maps? cus iPhone 5 took Googlemaps out if I am not mistaken..

P33kAb00B

Yep.

Basically, you "sync" your iPhone with the unit.

This will allow you to stream music, make/receive calls, and use the touchscreen of the unit as if it was your phone. The Pioneer AVH-X8500BHS is currently the only model working with iPhone 5 and not all apps are working. Thanks Apple for the new lightning port... If you have an iPhone 4 or 4S, everything is working.

Take a look at both AVH-X8500BHS and AVH-X5500BHS, compare them, make your choice!

http://www.pioneerelectronics.ca/POC...s/AVH-X5500BHS
http://www.pioneerelectronics.ca/POC...s/AVH-X8500BHS
(take a look at the "APPS" tab to see all you can do!)

They are well reviewed and will bring your actual speakers to life compared to stock unit. There are alot of features, including GPS fuction through an iPhone.

The AVH-X5500BHS will get a firmware update this spring, as per Pioneer's website, in order to work with the new iPhone. The incompatibility is not Pioneer's fault but Apple.

You could go with Alpine but you will get less goodies and smaller screen for a non-navigation unit.

Anyway, I'm getting the AVH-X5500BHS as soon as my car is back on the road. I'll probably get it from http://www.sonicelectronix.com/ with a price match from http://www.hookedontronics.com/. Sonicelectronix will send you the a free dash kit and 4$ harness or the opposite, anyway, that's a good deal.

Hope this helps.

jizz4scion

How much this go for? Is this kind of like the "mirror link"...so basically your phone is projected onto the radio?

P33kAb00B

You can control your phone through the head unit.

Let's say you want to stream a video from youtube to your radio, you can! You use the touchscreen of the unit as it was your phone when plugged in with all required cables.

hunterovarmy

soooo... my alpine head unit didnt come with nav... however, i heard that all is required is some cd that they use to update it with nav... i am wondering if there is a cd that someone might now of that we could obtain in a less than legal way

P33kAb00B

What is your Alpine headunit model?

hunterovarmy

its the stock upgraded one mentioned here