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Audio & StereoTechnical discussions about factory or aftermarket audio and video systems.
This is a discussion thread titled "Kenwood DNX8120 Review", within the Audio & Stereo forum, part of the Technical & Vehicle Assistance Forums category.
I am very interested in buying this unit - but I was wondering if you have a dvd playing or video - can you have the nav running in the back ground? - or do you have to restart the nav every time u start up a dvd? Also is it easy to swtich back and forth - between the two?
Thanks
The nav stays running in the background no matter what you do (dvd,ipod,usb etc)...works great.
heres the photos I promised you. Most of the other pics I covered in my original post, but that got pushed back pretty far so I'll just wrap it up here.
I think I showed this already, but this is the finished amp rack before I put the back seat in.
Heres a few of the Kenwood in action:
Nav: Nav is amazing. Very fast, great graphics, easy to use and accurate.
ipod: ipod interface is great. Scrolling thru songs is extremely fast and the album art work is a nice bonus.
This is the main menu screen, I have my skin set to "water", but they also have "fire" and "carbon fiber" backgrounds.
A shot of the Metra kit. Lighting in the truck wasnt so hot cause it was getting late and the taking a shot with the flash washed everything out, so the detail isnt all there, but you still see the fit and finish of the Metra kit. I think it looks much nicer than the Scosche kit, which I have also but the Scosche kit didnt fit very good on the bottom.
Thats about it, all the other pics of the install are in my other post. If you want anymore please let me know.
That is a great install. Looks great. Also, the LCD color scheme matches extremely well with the blue and red on the climate control dials below. After looking at this a lot more, it looks much better than the factory OEM equipment because it is clean and maps well with the climate control buttons. The factory unit is too darn busy with all those hard buttons and the circular dials. Thanks!
The 8120 supports voice dialing...but you have to press the button on the 8120 and then speak the word at the beep. I've tried it and it works ok. I don't think there is a way to have it do anything else by voice. But the capability for voice wouldn't be a stretch for them to add into future software versions.
So, it does not allow voice command input of setting up a route destination, etc. then? Hmmmm. Maybe I should stick with the factory nav. Oh...decisions decisions. My factory NAV on my Infiniti M35 has been superb, and I love the voice command for use of the GPS (it will do a bunch of commands, but those are the only ones I use, but they are very helpful vs. manual text entry of destination, etc.). So, looks like I lose voice command for everything except manually input phonebook tags, and I lose call control from the steering wheel. Trade those two things off for much better media integration and control with the Kenwood, and increased theft risk.
Hmmmm...what to do, what to do.
Finally, not sure the future software revisions would be so helpful. In theory, one would think that we could just flash with the card slot as they do for the navigation maps. However, it appears from other reading I have done that the "certified" software update had to be done back at a tech center or something (meaning the unit had to have been pulled....yuck)
That is a great install. Looks great. Also, the LCD color scheme matches extremely well with the blue and red on the climate control dials below. After looking at this a lot more, it looks much better than the factory OEM equipment because it is clean and maps well with the climate control buttons. The factory unit is too darn busy with all those hard buttons and the circular dials. Thanks!
Its funny you mention the color patterns, I thought the same thing when I put it in. It does match very well with the climate controls, and I love the sleekness of the unit without all the knobs and hard buttons that the OEM has.
On a 10 scale, I give the Kenwood a solid 9, only because I havent read the manual all the way thru, so there are still a ton of features I'm not using yet. I like to push buttons first, then read the directions later to figure out how to undo what I just did, lol.
How do you guys find the radio reception on the 8120? I've found that several stations that were normally clear on the stock radio are fuzzy in some spots on my trip to work where normally they were clear. To me the reception seems a little weaker than stock? How do you guys find yours?
How do you guys find the radio reception on the 8120? I've found that several stations that were normally clear on the stock radio are fuzzy in some spots on my trip to work where normally they were clear. To me the reception seems a little weaker than stock? How do you guys find yours?
Thanks
Same here. The one station that I listen to on regular radio is a bit fuzzy in spots that were clear with the old one, but being that I rarely listen to regular radio anymore it doesnt bother me.
Same here. The one station that I listen to on regular radio is a bit fuzzy in spots that were clear with the old one, but being that I rarely listen to regular radio anymore it doesnt bother me.
Jumbojet nice pics of your system, and I agree about the agree button...
As far as the delay... It does take about 8 seconds longer to start up then my old DDX6019, but now I just remote start the truck while I am walking to the truck and it's ready to go.
The other thing I am not liking is when I am playing my music LOUD and then hit the button that drops the volume(almost to mute) then turn the truck off everything is good. Problem is, when I start it up The Kenwood does not memorize the almost mute button and starts LOUD. Freaks me out! For safety too, I don't like starting my truck and hitting 6500+ watts at volume 32... LOL. DDX6019 didn't do this...
But I do like the upgrade. I drove from Portland to Seattle bumping the whole way and bluetooth headset and Garmin worked perfect.
Re: Can the Nav Run in the background?
Linear Mode
