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Hi All.
Just thought I'd add my 2 bobs worth in here.. After an eternity of deliberation I went for the Kenwood DDX-5032 Head Unit with Kenwood/Garmin GPS unit. My main reasons were local support and pretty good mapping, USB/DIVX/non-dvd based mapping. No tilt-screen to jam, large enough buttons on the front to be usable and a volume knob !! yp analogue volume knob ...since humans are analogue i figure thats better (my opinion only)
What it does :
Bluetooth : Auto recognising both mine and my wifes phone and pairs up automatically. It can also play music from phones etc ?? and upload phonebooks, SMS Voice Activatied dialing. It is clear and loud enough in the car and sounds "normal" for the caller
Rear Veiw camera: auto activates when reverse is selected and also will activate by front panel button. is clear enough to see what your running into !
Rear Seat headrests: Can Play IPOD or DVD or DIvx to rear headrest whilst listening to the radio / ipod / whatever AND running the navigation. Can also play the ausio for the headrests through the rear only speakers if required.
IPod/USB Interface: This is via a cable which tails out into the glovebox (in my case) Plays IPOD Music and Video no probs..Navigates the IPD really well.. I have a Ipod Classic 160G. But I AM NOT an IPOD fan .. Also plays USB no probs...takes a while to Index and then comes up a bit like the Ipod in that you can select Artist/Album/Genre...etc etc. ( I have 1/2/16Gig USB Sticks.
Navigation ..Seems to work OK but the TTS mis-pronounces some of the street names.. kids think its hilarious !! POI's downloadble from manyplaces inluding poidb (not sure if i can link in to other websites but ask the boys at google and they will point u in the right direction !
Now the weird thing is kenwood says that it does not support USB hubs attached to its one usb connection.. So I tried it ... first hub (belkin 15 in 1) didnt work... methinks it SHOULD.. so I tried a SWAN 4 port hub...USB 2 Gig Stick attached and IPOD attached.. well I can play video to the rear screen from the Ipod and usb music to the front of the car also ... Bonus
Steering wheel controls : this is achieved by using a SWI-JACK interface and works - satisfactory ... It has a little half second lag in switch depress but it works ..
Sound quality is much better than stock unit. Now I have a Head Unit with essentially a 100+ Disk CD/DVD changer (called an Ipod)
Costs:
$3000 got me the following:
DDX-5032 (head Unit)
KNA-G431 (Nav Box)
SWI-JACK (Steering Wheel Interface Box)
KNA-BT200 Bluetooth Unit
9.2" Headrest Monitor from Johny (ebay mobileseller)(note these are NOT dual IR transmit capable)
3 x Zylux IR headphones
Installed - took about 6 hours ... watched the whole time to make sure the car didnt get damaged: (obsessive i know)
Once I figure out how to post photos I will throw up a few !!
Regds
Alan E
Brisbane
Just thought I'd add my 2 bobs worth in here.. After an eternity of deliberation I went for the Kenwood DDX-5032 Head Unit with Kenwood/Garmin GPS unit. My main reasons were local support and pretty good mapping, USB/DIVX/non-dvd based mapping. No tilt-screen to jam, large enough buttons on the front to be usable and a volume knob !! yp analogue volume knob ...since humans are analogue i figure thats better (my opinion only)
What it does :
Bluetooth : Auto recognising both mine and my wifes phone and pairs up automatically. It can also play music from phones etc ?? and upload phonebooks, SMS Voice Activatied dialing. It is clear and loud enough in the car and sounds "normal" for the caller
Rear Veiw camera: auto activates when reverse is selected and also will activate by front panel button. is clear enough to see what your running into !
Rear Seat headrests: Can Play IPOD or DVD or DIvx to rear headrest whilst listening to the radio / ipod / whatever AND running the navigation. Can also play the ausio for the headrests through the rear only speakers if required.
IPod/USB Interface: This is via a cable which tails out into the glovebox (in my case) Plays IPOD Music and Video no probs..Navigates the IPD really well.. I have a Ipod Classic 160G. But I AM NOT an IPOD fan .. Also plays USB no probs...takes a while to Index and then comes up a bit like the Ipod in that you can select Artist/Album/Genre...etc etc. ( I have 1/2/16Gig USB Sticks.
Navigation ..Seems to work OK but the TTS mis-pronounces some of the street names.. kids think its hilarious !! POI's downloadble from manyplaces inluding poidb (not sure if i can link in to other websites but ask the boys at google and they will point u in the right direction !
Now the weird thing is kenwood says that it does not support USB hubs attached to its one usb connection.. So I tried it ... first hub (belkin 15 in 1) didnt work... methinks it SHOULD.. so I tried a SWAN 4 port hub...USB 2 Gig Stick attached and IPOD attached.. well I can play video to the rear screen from the Ipod and usb music to the front of the car also ... Bonus
Steering wheel controls : this is achieved by using a SWI-JACK interface and works - satisfactory ... It has a little half second lag in switch depress but it works ..
Sound quality is much better than stock unit. Now I have a Head Unit with essentially a 100+ Disk CD/DVD changer (called an Ipod)
Costs:
$3000 got me the following:
DDX-5032 (head Unit)
KNA-G431 (Nav Box)
SWI-JACK (Steering Wheel Interface Box)
KNA-BT200 Bluetooth Unit
9.2" Headrest Monitor from Johny (ebay mobileseller)(note these are NOT dual IR transmit capable)
3 x Zylux IR headphones
Installed - took about 6 hours ... watched the whole time to make sure the car didnt get damaged: (obsessive i know)
Once I figure out how to post photos I will throw up a few !!
Regds
Alan E
Brisbane
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