Pioneer Z130BT Navigation or Kenwood DNX9980HD

[BPRescue]

Pioneer Z130BT Navigation or Kenwood DNX9980HD

Hi all,

I am looking for an aftermarket Navigation system for my 2011 Tundra. My first GPS was a Garmin GPSMAP60CS, to which I still have. I use it for hiking, camping, boating, etc. It has Topo maps as well, so I see all forest service roads the regular GPS’s do not. I do have it setup in my tundra, but with the Tundra taking on the new role as family vehicle, I want something nicer for extended trips. (I will still keep the Garmin) That said, I have grown a bit spoiled with the factory Nav in our Honda Odyssey. Nice and large, clear, with nice turn by turn direction per screen and voice. In short, it Rocks…

I am a bit surprised to learn that in terms of navigation systems, that Navigation isn’t necessarily the priority, and there is little detail as to compare. My Tundra came with the factory radio, but I really like the USB for music, and the Bluetooth for phone, so that is something I will add. I have an iPhone, but to be honest, for now, the USB works good enough.

The above said, I have grown fond of Garmin, I like the way I can use the handheld, push data to the computer, or back to the GPS. I have also grown acclimated to the 2D maps of this unit, and the Honda. Now the Honda would show interchanges or intersections in 3D and show you which lane to choose. I liked that. But I admit, today when I look at the Kenwood the map looks like a game of sorts. It seems the data, being street names, etc. is not as easy to read, and they pay more attention to 3D oddness, or cute icons that take away from the utilitarian side. I have not been able to find a lot of detail, but it appears you can only customize the screen so much. One item I liked about the Honda, is the right third of the screen showed the next 3 turns, with the left side showing the map. It also showed the distance at each segment, and it appears both the Kenwood, and the Pioneer fall well short of this, potentially showing just one turn. It seems confusing.

Looking at the pioneer, I think I actually like the clean lines of the map better. It looks like more of a classy type GUI, also moving into the map I am accustomed to seeing. It’s not busy, but instead crisp, easy to read with little “fluff”. It concerns me being Pioneer however. Do they write their own mapset, or is this done by someone else? I thought I read “Magellan” from somewhere, but I can’t confirm. If that was true, I just may lean towards the Pioneer.

Though Garmin is a leader in portable GPS units, I don’t know how that translates into Kenwood, and if the Kenwood houses all the standard mapsets, specs as the Garmin Nuvi’s, etc. I also admit, the Nuvi, or new style 3D maps I see on these garmins now seem like a lot of cute fluff that tends to confuse, or feel gimmicky. Am I wrong here? Is it a matter of growing acclimated to it? Knowing this is Garmin, I am almost afraid to buy anything else for fear it won’t be as good.

Its irritating that the reviews touch more on AV, than the Nav. Does anyone know good places to review the actual Navigation of these? For me, I am buying the Nav 1st. I’m not a kid; I don’t need the bumpin, so as long as music quality is decent, I am happy. Love to use my iPhone for voice, and music, but will readily accept the USB since I just leave it in at all times. HD radio sounds interesting, but I likely would never use Pandora, or the other Apps. Oh, but I would like a DVD as to push video to rear screens for the kids… Finally, it has to work close to stock and look stock. I have steering wheel controls, and a rear camera; I would like for them to integrate...

So, hopefully I get some Pioneer and Kenwood guys on here. I would like to hear your opinions…

Thanks!!!

[The Doctor]

I have the pioneer BT120 (last years), my wife had the new Kenwood, they are both great. Comes to user interface I like the Pioneer, wife agrees.