- Garmin navigation system, radio, DVD-R/RW, DVD+R/RW, CD, CD-R/RW, MP3/WMA/AAC, MPEG1/MPEG2, iPod, USB, HD/SAT radio-ready, Bluetooth-ready receiver
- 4 x 50 Watts maximum power with two 2V preamp outputs
- 6.1-inch TFT LCD touchscreen display with 480 x 234 pixel resolution
- Includes direct iPod connection, USB music streaming, front panel A/V input; add Kenwood adapters for SAT/HD Radio and Bluetooth
- One-year limited warranty
It doesn't change how good this radio is, but I just wanted to make sure no one was basing their purchase on an incorrect statement.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
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......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.
Now, on to the various bits and pieces of the unit and accessories:
I love the GPS, it's like the suction cup Garmins with a bigger screen. You can even interface it to a computer using the mini-usb plug on the back, just like the standalone garmin units. Using this connector you can swap out the voices, customize it etc. I have read where some people plug in a cable and leave it somewhere accessible so they can reach it easily without pulling it out of the dash. However, this is also where the GTM10 traffic receiver plugs in, so it diminishes the usefulness for me. Nonetheless, this isn't even an advertised feature, so I can't hardly fault them for not making it more convenient to use. The "official" method of updating maps and firmware is to use CD's / DVD's in the unit's drive, and this works well. One thing to note, however, if you receive a unit that has garmin firmware < 2.5, if you are upgrading to 2.5 you have to unplug the GTM10 traffic receiver or it will freeze up during upgrade. I thought I had bricked my unit, but found some hints online and managed to get the thing upgraded by temporarily unplugging the traffic receiver. Ironically, V2.5 actually fixes the problem where it hangs on firmware update when the traffic receiver is plugged in. I would highly recommend the GTM10 unit if you live in the coverage area. It's really cool to be able to have your gps take you home and route you around car wrecks and such. Also, it's easy to add custom POI's using a burned cd (or usb connector in the back).
The bluetooth: I like the way the bluetooth sounds (mic placement is key), it connects reliably. The whole hands-free-to-shift-and-steer-and-talk-yet-not-commit-vehicular-homicide feature is nice too. And it is kind of neat how well integrated it is with the phone. I see the battery strength, the signal strength etc up on my display. My blackberry 8830 (sprint) syncs fine, the phone book syncs fine, everything works the way it's supposed to. (If anyone is having issues with their bluetooth connecting to their blackberry etc, make sure you're on the latest firmware of both the deck and the bt unit itsself.) And now the bad: Voice dialing. My blackberry actually has very competent built-in voice dialing system. When I use my motorola earpiece, I can hit the button on it and say "dial so and so mobile" and it usually gets it right. However, the kenwood / parrot unit completely bypasses this functionality and replaces it with its own subpar system. Subpar is overly generous even. It's truly horrible, to the point where it's unusable. To voice dial, you have to: first record yourself saying the person's name. Then, after you have that person recorded as a voice dial preset, you have to hit the button for voice dialing, say the name, cross your fingers and hope it recognized what you said, then if all goes well it shows you the person's name, then you have to select the number, hit the button again to dial. It's far less accurate than my blackberry and I didn't even train it. It's easier just to use the 6 preset buttons they give you on the main screen . Less button presses overall, too bad they only give you 6. Still though, I like having my bluetooth integrated with my stereo, I like having the volume cut when I take a call automagically, I like not having to drive down the road wearing my earbud, or worse yet forget I have it in my ear and walk into the store and be "that guy".
Sirius: This interface is actually very nice. I will recommend that you switch to the 2 line display so that you can see the song info etc on the same screen with the presets. But this works great, very well integrated.
iPod interface: Poifect. One suggestion though: Make sure you leave the cable to where you can easily pull out the USB connector for use with thumb drives etc.
Sound: The unit sounds very good, much better than my factory deck (though that's not saying much). It even has a parametric EQ! That being said, it might be more usable if it had some low / mid / high knobs somewhere on the front (as someone else pointed out), but hey, if you're truly into tuning your sound, 3 band parametric EQ is nothing if not tunable. Not to mention complete overkill, but I digress... 99% of the population is going to look at "Q" and go "wuuuh?" Also it looks as though it has a built in xover, though I haven't dove into these features since I'm not using external amplification.
