Customer Rating: 
Summary: really like it but...
Comment: I bought the dnx5120 on Saturday at Best Buy for $850, and they installed it and the ipod adaptor for about $230 (I wouldn't even know where to begin to install myself - like, how do you get behind the stereo?). Anyway, I have a Mazda Protege5, and a big FYI, the Best Buy website said the 5120 would NOT fit in my car, but the Best Buy installer told me he could make it work, and he was right, it fits perfectly!
I mainly bought it for the navigation. I wanted a permanent nav system with a little larger screen than all the portables I was looking at. I'm happy withe the Garmin system!
The rest of the UI seems a bit quirky, but it's manageable once I programmed my 3 favorite stations. I just wish it had a few more hard buttons for the stereo controls.
My iPod does NOT connect properly - I have a 4th generation ipod classic (20 gigs, monochrome screen). It plugs in and plays music from the ipod to the car stereo, but I have to control it all on the iPod, not the stereo interface - in fact, the stereo interface says "disonnected." This isn't a deal breaker for me because at least I can still connect the iPod without those awful transmitters, but I sure wish it would work as advertised.
Next to myiPod not connecting properly, my other disappointment was that the navigation system does not have any Traffic Update options - when the packaging said "optional" I thought that meant, I could opt to buy a subscription, but it doesn't, apparently it means you can opt to buy a Receiver and pay more to install it and pay even more to subscribe :(
I contacted Garmin and Kenwood, and learned that the only traffic receiver that is compatible is the GTM-10 receiver for the TMC traffic service. The XM and MSN Direct traffic services are not compatible with the DNX5120.
I ordered the KCA BT200 bluetooth adapter and the GTM 10 Traffic Receiver, and I'll edit this review once I get them installed.
Overall, I love the big nice screen and navigation, and the stereo is a nice upgrade from my factory model. Even though my ipod doesn't connect right, I'm still happy to be able to plug it in anyway. I highly recommend this if you're like me and don't like the portable nav systems hanging on your dashboard tempting thieves.
Customer Rating:
Summary: Awesome Stereo
Comment: Kenwood DNX5120
I June 5, 2008, I purchased and had Platinum Audio in Corona, California install my DNX5120. I have had Sony, Alpine, and Kenwood stereos prior and have experimented with iPod connections to these stereos. The stereo's killed two of my iPods. The DNX5120 broke all the rules and really exceeded my expectations as far as the iPod interface. The integration is clean, easy to understand, and faster to use than the iPod itself. Here is an example. I have countless artists on my iPod. Using the scroll wheel it take time to scroll through the artist until letters come up and to be honest with you, it takes me a least two tries to land on the right letter. Using the DNX5120, I can scroll down by multiple artist and even click on slide bar to go half the way down my list or all the way down. All this at the speed of just pressing button and not waiting for the iPod or the stereo to catch up.
The navigation is dummy proof. I have used the BMW, Toyota, Magellan, Tom Tom, and Honda navigation and the DNX5120 blows them out of the water. It does not get any easier than this. I have read that it takes a long time to start up. I don't see that problem. Once I start my vehicle, the Kenwood screen appears for about 5 seconds and I am off to the races. After all, it is not good for the vehicle if you start and immediately drive.
I don't have any complaints about the stereo. Here are some things I really like;
* Knob for volume. It feel sturdy and I like touching the screen less than I have too
* Clean font, easy to read
* Quick/easy/instant access from user interface to navigation and back
* Easy to understand hierarchy of menu
* Garmin Nav. is easy to use and easy to upgrade
* No need for second DVD box for nav.
* Excellent GPS signal quality
* Ability to watch iPod movies on screen
* USB connection...I like putting my on photo as a background
The bottom line is the shop did an outstanding job the installation and the DNX5120 works better than what I had expected. When you put this stereo in perspective, it is combining a tuner, a DVD player, an audio iPod, a video ipod, XM, and CD/MP3 player together into one unit with none to little glitches. And if you are an Apple fan like myself, this works perfectly with the iPod.
That is my two cents and five out of five stars......
Customer Rating:
Summary: Awesome Kenwood, easy install!
Comment: I bought this DD Radio with alot of apprehension. However, it worked out great. Was a simple install and it looks great in replacing the factory radio. The USB cable and a thumb drive works great also, I have my music on the thumb drive (4GB in my setup) and I can take it into work and use the thumb drive there for music also. I also bought a Plug and Play adapter for my siruis setup, and it works great with the radio. DVD is great easy, and is easy to MOD for use while driving. Navigation is Garmin, and is easy to use and it talked loud; like having a back seat driver (LOL), so I changed that right away. Being able to change your background is cool, and the USB makes it a snap. Highly recommend this product.
Customer Rating:
Summary: Great but not perfect, but what is?
Comment: I came from a Pioneer D3. This unit does some things better and some not. The D3 is also an older unit. Obviously the Garmin Navigation is the way to go. They make the best portable units, same applies here. The audio/video UI is not the greatest I'll admit that. I liked the D3 better. That being said the 5120 has a better Sirius interface and I believe HD Radio is too. It can show much more info at a time instead of hitting buttons to scroll through. That and the flash based navigation is what made me change. Having to put in a disc for navigation is just plain silly. Installation for add-ons was also easier with the 5120. No power required for the bluetooth or satellite boxes. Just plug in the communication cable, pretty simple. I'd have no problems recommending this to a friend. It does everything good enough.
Customer Rating:
Summary: good product, some flaws
Comment: The main advantages of this unit over similar units are (i) nav data not DVD-based or hard-disk-based, everything is on flash memory; (ii) name-brand nav (Garmin) and name-brand bluetooth add-on (Parrot), unlike off-brand hardware/firmware on other competing units; (iii) no retractable screen so fewer moving parts to fail.
Basically this is a very good and useful unit. The nav is well-designed and works well. I do have some complaints:
(a) Even though everything is in flash memory, startup is slow. You will be halfway down the block before the nav is ready, and two blocks away before the bluetooth unit has paired with your phone. I have been told that competing units are even slower, so maybe this is an improvement, but technology still has a ways to go. Certainly no reason for pairing to take this long, my old radio paired almost instantly.
(b) Awful interface (except the Garmin part, which is fine):
--The front panel buttons are completely non-intuitive; try figuring out how to turn the whole thing off and on, or how to turn off the radio playing in the background when using the nav. You can get used to it, but it's inelegant to say the least, and if you lend your car to someone, they'll never figure it out.
--The onscreen menus are a complete jumble, and the manual is incomprehensible. (I consider myself to be technically savvy; I installed the system myself.)
--The mp3 menu is awful, for example you can see tracks sorted by album or artist, but you just have to know how to do it because it is far from obvious. You need to push a button mysteriously marked PLIST. You have to do it again each time you start the car.
--The Bluetooth interface is poorly designed, for example you can choose a number by voice commands, but you can't actually voice dial...you have to look at the screen and touch the 'dial' button to complete the dialing process.
(c) If disconnected from the battery, all the settings are lost, and this can cause more problems than just loss of radio presets. I realize that after installation the unit shouldn't normally lose power, but if you take it in for service and they disconnect and reconnect the battery, the backup camera (add-on) stops working!
I thought they cut the cable somehow, but actually the default setting of the Kenwood DNX5120 is to ignore the backup voltage signal. You have to go in and change the setting back. (There is a way to save the settings in nonvolatile memory and restore them, but this has to be done manually every time...why not save all settings in flash memory automatically?)
Summary: really like it but...
Comment: I bought the dnx5120 on Saturday at Best Buy for $850, and they installed it and the ipod adaptor for about $230 (I wouldn't even know where to begin to install myself - like, how do you get behind the stereo?). Anyway, I have a Mazda Protege5, and a big FYI, the Best Buy website said the 5120 would NOT fit in my car, but the Best Buy installer told me he could make it work, and he was right, it fits perfectly!
I mainly bought it for the navigation. I wanted a permanent nav system with a little larger screen than all the portables I was looking at. I'm happy withe the Garmin system!
The rest of the UI seems a bit quirky, but it's manageable once I programmed my 3 favorite stations. I just wish it had a few more hard buttons for the stereo controls.
My iPod does NOT connect properly - I have a 4th generation ipod classic (20 gigs, monochrome screen). It plugs in and plays music from the ipod to the car stereo, but I have to control it all on the iPod, not the stereo interface - in fact, the stereo interface says "disonnected." This isn't a deal breaker for me because at least I can still connect the iPod without those awful transmitters, but I sure wish it would work as advertised.
Next to myiPod not connecting properly, my other disappointment was that the navigation system does not have any Traffic Update options - when the packaging said "optional" I thought that meant, I could opt to buy a subscription, but it doesn't, apparently it means you can opt to buy a Receiver and pay more to install it and pay even more to subscribe :(
I contacted Garmin and Kenwood, and learned that the only traffic receiver that is compatible is the GTM-10 receiver for the TMC traffic service. The XM and MSN Direct traffic services are not compatible with the DNX5120.
I ordered the KCA BT200 bluetooth adapter and the GTM 10 Traffic Receiver, and I'll edit this review once I get them installed.
Overall, I love the big nice screen and navigation, and the stereo is a nice upgrade from my factory model. Even though my ipod doesn't connect right, I'm still happy to be able to plug it in anyway. I highly recommend this if you're like me and don't like the portable nav systems hanging on your dashboard tempting thieves.
Customer Rating:
Summary: Awesome Stereo
Comment: Kenwood DNX5120
I June 5, 2008, I purchased and had Platinum Audio in Corona, California install my DNX5120. I have had Sony, Alpine, and Kenwood stereos prior and have experimented with iPod connections to these stereos. The stereo's killed two of my iPods. The DNX5120 broke all the rules and really exceeded my expectations as far as the iPod interface. The integration is clean, easy to understand, and faster to use than the iPod itself. Here is an example. I have countless artists on my iPod. Using the scroll wheel it take time to scroll through the artist until letters come up and to be honest with you, it takes me a least two tries to land on the right letter. Using the DNX5120, I can scroll down by multiple artist and even click on slide bar to go half the way down my list or all the way down. All this at the speed of just pressing button and not waiting for the iPod or the stereo to catch up.
The navigation is dummy proof. I have used the BMW, Toyota, Magellan, Tom Tom, and Honda navigation and the DNX5120 blows them out of the water. It does not get any easier than this. I have read that it takes a long time to start up. I don't see that problem. Once I start my vehicle, the Kenwood screen appears for about 5 seconds and I am off to the races. After all, it is not good for the vehicle if you start and immediately drive.
I don't have any complaints about the stereo. Here are some things I really like;
* Knob for volume. It feel sturdy and I like touching the screen less than I have too
* Clean font, easy to read
* Quick/easy/instant access from user interface to navigation and back
* Easy to understand hierarchy of menu
* Garmin Nav. is easy to use and easy to upgrade
* No need for second DVD box for nav.
* Excellent GPS signal quality
* Ability to watch iPod movies on screen
* USB connection...I like putting my on photo as a background
The bottom line is the shop did an outstanding job the installation and the DNX5120 works better than what I had expected. When you put this stereo in perspective, it is combining a tuner, a DVD player, an audio iPod, a video ipod, XM, and CD/MP3 player together into one unit with none to little glitches. And if you are an Apple fan like myself, this works perfectly with the iPod.
That is my two cents and five out of five stars......
Customer Rating:
Summary: Awesome Kenwood, easy install!
Comment: I bought this DD Radio with alot of apprehension. However, it worked out great. Was a simple install and it looks great in replacing the factory radio. The USB cable and a thumb drive works great also, I have my music on the thumb drive (4GB in my setup) and I can take it into work and use the thumb drive there for music also. I also bought a Plug and Play adapter for my siruis setup, and it works great with the radio. DVD is great easy, and is easy to MOD for use while driving. Navigation is Garmin, and is easy to use and it talked loud; like having a back seat driver (LOL), so I changed that right away. Being able to change your background is cool, and the USB makes it a snap. Highly recommend this product.
Customer Rating:
Summary: Great but not perfect, but what is?
Comment: I came from a Pioneer D3. This unit does some things better and some not. The D3 is also an older unit. Obviously the Garmin Navigation is the way to go. They make the best portable units, same applies here. The audio/video UI is not the greatest I'll admit that. I liked the D3 better. That being said the 5120 has a better Sirius interface and I believe HD Radio is too. It can show much more info at a time instead of hitting buttons to scroll through. That and the flash based navigation is what made me change. Having to put in a disc for navigation is just plain silly. Installation for add-ons was also easier with the 5120. No power required for the bluetooth or satellite boxes. Just plug in the communication cable, pretty simple. I'd have no problems recommending this to a friend. It does everything good enough.
Customer Rating:
Summary: good product, some flaws
Comment: The main advantages of this unit over similar units are (i) nav data not DVD-based or hard-disk-based, everything is on flash memory; (ii) name-brand nav (Garmin) and name-brand bluetooth add-on (Parrot), unlike off-brand hardware/firmware on other competing units; (iii) no retractable screen so fewer moving parts to fail.
Basically this is a very good and useful unit. The nav is well-designed and works well. I do have some complaints:
(a) Even though everything is in flash memory, startup is slow. You will be halfway down the block before the nav is ready, and two blocks away before the bluetooth unit has paired with your phone. I have been told that competing units are even slower, so maybe this is an improvement, but technology still has a ways to go. Certainly no reason for pairing to take this long, my old radio paired almost instantly.
(b) Awful interface (except the Garmin part, which is fine):
--The front panel buttons are completely non-intuitive; try figuring out how to turn the whole thing off and on, or how to turn off the radio playing in the background when using the nav. You can get used to it, but it's inelegant to say the least, and if you lend your car to someone, they'll never figure it out.
--The onscreen menus are a complete jumble, and the manual is incomprehensible. (I consider myself to be technically savvy; I installed the system myself.)
--The mp3 menu is awful, for example you can see tracks sorted by album or artist, but you just have to know how to do it because it is far from obvious. You need to push a button mysteriously marked PLIST. You have to do it again each time you start the car.
--The Bluetooth interface is poorly designed, for example you can choose a number by voice commands, but you can't actually voice dial...you have to look at the screen and touch the 'dial' button to complete the dialing process.
(c) If disconnected from the battery, all the settings are lost, and this can cause more problems than just loss of radio presets. I realize that after installation the unit shouldn't normally lose power, but if you take it in for service and they disconnect and reconnect the battery, the backup camera (add-on) stops working!
I thought they cut the cable somehow, but actually the default setting of the Kenwood DNX5120 is to ignore the backup voltage signal. You have to go in and change the setting back. (There is a way to save the settings in nonvolatile memory and restore them, but this has to be done manually every time...why not save all settings in flash memory automatically?)
Kenwood DNX5120 6.1-Inch Wide Double-DIN Indash Nagivation with USB/iPOD Direct Control/DVD Receiver Reviews: Page 2 of 2
1 | 2 |
1 | 2 |