I'm thinking about possibly getting a Kenwood DNX7100 for my car, but I'm wondering if I bought everything minus the GPS antenna it would be ok to use the satellite antenna I have from my free satellite radio. Not sure if they're the same but I found a decent deal on this receiver.

 

i had the DDX-6019 with the Kenwood GPS unit GNA-510

i absolutely loved that unit. the garmin maps are easy and accurate, i would suggest using the kenwood nav unit on kenwood products

 

I actually have the Kenwood DNX7100 in my Xd, and you definately have to have the gps antenna as the gps and satellite radio signals come from different satellites, and the antennas are not interchangeable....Excellent system to have on the Xd though! I have just the system with stock speakers, and the sound quality is amazing.

 

I was disappointed by the in-dash GPS experience with my previous rides, so I'm sticking to the portable Garmin units now, plus I like the steering wheel controls and the relatively stock look of the premium Scion HU.

Hopefully Kenwood's software is different, but it's pretty much the only one that I haven't tried. Pioneer and most of the factory units were borderline unusable when it came to actually finding places and ways to get there.

 

not the kenwood unit. it uses garmin maps, and those are the best and easiest to use nav units available

 

Oh yea thats right, the steering wheel controls. I don't want to give those up Guessing that the Kenwood, or any aftermarket unit probably won't work with the controls.

Where's a good place to stick the GPS antenna other than the roof? I'd really like this unit but maybe now I'd be better off with a separate unit to keep the steering controls. Hmm..

 

you can get a wire kit to retain stearing wheel controls.
I preffer the avic d3 over all indash nav... i have put one in 3 of my rides and love them to death. 2 kenwoods have crapped out on me in the last 5 years so I am kinda affraid of them.

 

the kenwood units i've used have been fine for as long as i've owned/used them.

i don't like the pioneer units because you can't watch DVD's on some models.

on my old xb i had 2 head rest monitors and was always entertaining friends and students in my ride [i volunteered as a Junior High school leader for my church and had j highers in my car every event we had, and they loved the ability to watch movies on road trips]

 

it is only a few well placed wires to allow the pioneer systems to play dvds driving. it will even pop up directions you pre loaded overtop of the movie in the corner and mute the audio to tell you directions aswell.

 

i don't think that's true. pioneer got smart to that bypass and made their safety system some sort of rpm based or gyro based mechanism so it "knows" if the vehicle is in motion.

 

well its 100% true cause I have it and so do a crap ton of my friends. heres how to bypass the gyro.

ground parking brake just like all bypassing of these.
take the mute wire and pull it out of the slot it is in and pin it into the slot directly abouve the mute wire that is empty.
after you re-pin into the new slot ground that wire aswell and enjoy your movies a 100 miles per hour without and warning screens or extra steps. she is good to go.

 

Pioneer is smart in many ways. They let the workarounds "leak" to the general public since they know that people will stop buying their stuff if they can't bypass safety features. So usually with a drop of solder or an extra pin on the harness one can circumvent the safety lockout features.

 

oh, cool, i didn't know that. well, i still like the kenwood garmin unit. it's easy to use and easy to update so it's always accurate

 

Yeah, my Kenwood unit is wired up to the steering wheel controls, so I can scroll through my ipod, change volume controls, fast forward or rewind a movie, and skip through a cd. My NAV antenna is mounted at the very front center of my dash, and the satellite antenna is mounted right behind my antenna on the roof. The nav antenna is almost unnoticeable and looks like it's a sensor for a climate control system where it sits. The unit also has packages for a backup camera and a handsfree bluetooth kit for phones. This unit also has Multi-Zone control so that when I get tv's in the headrests, it can be set up so that people in the back seats can watch a movie or play a video game while the ones up front can listen to music, or any other combination of setups.

 

Now that's pretty damn impressive. Is that a double din Kenwood? Details please

On everything - steering wheel control adapter, iPod, nav ...

 

(only in america!! every other country has in-car internet that will even read you your damn email! for some reason, americans cant focus on the road and listen to a computer at the same time. hell, most people around here cant even change their radio station without running into something)

 

Yes, it is in a fact a double din in-dash, that's embedded into the console just like the stock scion system. It also has really small buttons across the bottom, so from afar it just looks like a flat screen in the console.

 

Omg 91DA9 you practically sold me on the Kenwood lol. I was having doubts with the Pioneer that was posted in here. How or what exactly did you need to get the receiver to be controlled with the controls on the wheel?

 

Mine was purchased on my lease and the shop SoundWerks here in Phoenix wired it all up, and I believe they just had to buy the right harness to get it all hooked up...You can give em' a call or probably call Kenwood to see what you need to do.

 

has anyone had one of the touch-screen GPS' for a while? i've always wanted one, but i've heard horror stories about unwarrantied damage from normal use after 1-2 years on the touch-screens / horrible fingerpring smearing with no real remedy. any input?