Purchase of Kenwood Navigation System

[JMoney]

As tax season is here, I am looking to treat myself and my couple to a late christmas present. I have been for a while and still am lookin at different double din navigation systems for my car, and recently, have all but settled on the Kenwood dnx7100. I found this one to be the most bang for the buc. Crutchfield has this available, and it comes with a free wiring harness, antenna adapter, and dash kit, all the same components as the one many people have gotten for their navigation installations (as mentioned in the Avic Install Guide). The question I am posing to all, is aside from that kit which fits the new opening, is there another faceplate I need to buy to cover that as well, or is that it. I've noticed that in the one D-3 install I saw by Dr. FeelGood, he has the silver dash panel around his, and wasnt sure if this is just an additional piece he wanted, or is something that I will also need to purchase.

http://www.crutchfield.com/S-5...x7100

[rjdmmfl1]

J money, WELCOME TO NICO...

A couple of things...

crutchfield = $1199ebay powerseller = $796,http://cgi.ebay.com/DNX7100-KE...wItem

even with the antenna, dash kit, and wiring harness, you're still at less than $900 shipped... that's a $300 savings

Now I know some folks are wary of ebay, but when you see a seller like the one in the link I just posted with over 2200 transactions and 100% positive feedback rating, that tells you that this is a legit business with excellent customer service! and they are in Florida which means they may be able to do a local pickup!

And with the new squaretrade warranties being offered through ebay and paypal, it's a no brainer. there were a lot of crooks on ebay when they first started, but the company has almost all but gotten rid of them with their strict listing policies.

Next, in regards to the kenwood 7100, its a good unit, but I do have one mail criticism... It uses the Garmin user interface. The entire navigation software is from garmin, and their software leaves a bit to be desired from a visual standpoint. I can go on and on for days about the positives and negatives of various navigation units, but all in all, for the price, the Kenwood unit is a pretty good unit! If you want specifics, check out the thread from earlier today entitled NAVI, and follow the links I put in there.

OK, to finally answer your question, no, the silver that I have around my unit is not necessary. It is a carbon fiber dash trim kit. I got the dask trim kit because 1. I'm not a big fan of the texture used in the aftermarket radio kits.. it's a bit different from the factory texture and2. I just thought the interior of the car was a bit plain and wanted to spruce mine up a bit, but that's a personal opionion, if you like the way it looks, by all means keep it.

Oh yeah, one last thing, do you have premium package in your A/C. I ask because Scosche makes a different 07 / 08 Altima dash kit than metra for the non premium package Altimas. This matters because the non premium package doesn't have dual climate control, while the premium package does. The scoches only fits on the non prem. pack. cars.

Metra w/ interchangeable cimate controlshttp://cgi.ebay.com/2007-2008-...wItem

Scoshe that only fits analog climate controls on non prem pack. vehiclehttp://cgi.ebay.com/Stereo-Rad...wItem

[JMoney]

Thanks for the quick reply. You made a real good point about the ebay purchaseing, because that basically is one of if not the main reason why I was standoffish about buying this from ebay, or similar sites. But from reading a lot of posts, a lot of members here do in fact purchase from ebay, and it does seem to be very reliable. With that said, the other thing which I liked from crutchfield was that I could purchase an extended warranty. Now, if buying from that seller off of ebay, is this a in-store business who also has an online presence on ebay, or is it a strictly ebay company. (Not sure if you know) But with that, do you think I could purchase an extended service warranty from kenwood itself, or do you think it isnt even a big deal enough to sway me a particular way?? And I actually was lookin at the D-3, cuz I see a lot of people have been getting that, and I actually used to have a pioneer head unit in my old car, so I Know the quality, but I shaded away from that because it wasnt touch screen. But as far as the interface, I dont find it ugly enough where its that bothersome (at least I think) based off of their handheld units. The main units I have been looking at were this Kenwood, the Panasonic Strada, and Eclipse AVN5510. So if you have any input/opinions on these, I'd love to hear them as well.

[JMoney]

Oh forgot to answer your question....I have a 2.5 Non-Convenience Package. Basic trim level.

[rjdmmfl1]

In regards to the extended warranty, that's the square trade warranty i was talking about on ebay. Squaretrade is a company that does nothing but handle warranties. They treat your device the same way the manufacturer would. It's pretty darn good to! here read up on it when you have the chance!http://www.squaretrade.com/pages/

Regarding the D3, I'm not sure who told you it wasn't, but it IS touchscreen. ALL of pioneer's navigation units are touchscreen! Avic N1, N1, Z1, Z1, D1, D2, D3...

Regarding the Garmin unit...

1. if you like it, that's cool. But the pioneer units are far superior regarding their user interfaces. There are more methods by which to search for something (direct address input, vicinity search, point of interst search, phone number search, destination history, address book, return home, return to set point of interest)

2. The pioneer units offer like 5 navigation viewing modes... driver's view, wide map view, turn by turn route view, Guide view, and Rear view. Yes you can switch to a mode and look behind you while driving forward, or in the Z2, look behind you on half the screen and have a map on the other half.

3. The pioneer units offer 12 million points of interst to search from compared to less than half that in the Garmin/Kenwood units.

4. The pioneer unitshave a built in vehicle dynamics display with customizable features and skins.

5. The pioneer D3 has customizable key panel ilumination and diplay illumination, thus you canmatch the amber color of the interior of your car for a perfect factory look.

The benefits of the Kenwood include1. larger screen (6.95" vs. 6.1")*2. Flashdrive navigation vs DVD...

* I should point out that the reason the kenwood can get away with a flash drive for its navigation data vs. a DVD is because of the low number of points of interest, and extremely limited Garmin user interface.

If I had to rank various units for overall qualilty, performance and features this would be my ratings...

Avic Z2 > panasonic strada> Avic D3> Kenwood 7100 > eclipse AVN 5510

Thanks for the quick reply. You made a real good point about the ebay purchaseing, because that basically is one of if not the main reason why I was standoffish about buying this from ebay, or similar sites. But from reading a lot of posts, a lot of members here do in fact purchase from ebay, and it does seem to be very reliable. With that said, the other thing which I liked from crutchfield was that I could purchase an extended warranty. Now, if buying from that seller off of ebay, is this a in-store business who also has an online presence on ebay, or is it a strictly ebay company. (Not sure if you know) But with that, do you think I could purchase an extended service warranty from kenwood itself, or do you think it isnt even a big deal enough to sway me a particular way?? And I actually was lookin at the D-3, cuz I see a lot of people have been getting that, and I actually used to have a pioneer head unit in my old car, so I Know the quality, but I shaded away from that because it wasnt touch screen. But as far as the interface, I dont find it ugly enough where its that bothersome (at least I think) based off of their handheld units. The main units I have been looking at were this Kenwood, the Panasonic Strada, and Eclipse AVN5510. So if you have any input/opinions on these, I'd love to hear them as well.

[LongBeachCoupe]

Buy on ebay... Use an amex card for extended warranty... I am an ebay powerseller... (hookedupstang) and ive sold 5 wiis this yr, laptops and everything else all new in box (NIB for ebay searching)...

Ebay is DEF the way to go.... In addition, based on it being that much $$ for the kenwood.... isnt the Avic a better buy?

Also, ONLY WITH POWERSELLERS (or atleast i do) you can get things BELOW ebay prices... because ebay charges around 7%.. So you can always email them and ask if you can just send them a paypal.. for 7% less!