Customer Reviews

Kenwood DNX6140 Wide Double-DIN In-Dash Nagivation with Built-in Bluetooth USB/iPod Direct Control/DVD Receiver-6.1-Inch

5 star:		(8)
4 star:		(3)
3 star:		(2)
2 star:		(2)
1 star:		(3)

 

 

I had this unit profesionally installed in my Porsche Cayman and the custom installation is a very good fit. The navigation system is very easy to use - if you've had a garmin (that is what it is based on), you pretty much do not need to read the manual - it is very intuitive and accurate. I've driven about 2000 miles with it and I like the large bright display - it is easy to change directions and detour on the fly. It does not have voice commands, but the touch screen is easy to use.
I have also used the bluetooth with my Razr phone and have not encountered the problems stated in the earlier review. The microphone is placed near the rearview mirror and only the front speakers come on when I'm talking on the phone - the unit shuts off any music that you might have playing. I use the touchscreen to dial a number and it works well - the folks at the receiving end have no problem hearing me.
There is also an ipod adapter that is in the glove compartment - once hooked up all controls are on the touchscreen - it is easy to use and works well. If one puts in a DVD / CD that takes precedence over the ipod unless you instruct the unit otherwise. I leave the unit to power up when starting the car and it automatically shuts off when the engine is off. I haven't used the XM stations as I do not subscribe to that service but the FM stations pull in fine using the standard antenna that came with the car.
All in all this is a very good unit and I am very happy with it.

The Kenwood DNX6140 head unit is amazingly useful and easy to use. I looked a long time before ordering my first DNX6140 from Crutchfield, which I installed in our '05 Toyota Sienna. I was so impressed that I ordered a second unit (the DNX5140) from Amazon (at a better price) and installed it in my Toyota MR2. I liked the two of them so well that we installed another DNX6140 (also purchased from Amazon) in our VW Passat. The only problem now will be having to buy three map updates each year or two, since Garmin doesn't yet offer a multiple unit map upgrade.

Pluses include the proven Garmin navigation system, which I was already familiar with, and which influenced my decision to buy the Garmin over some other non-Garmin units. The audio system is excellent, with all the inputs, outputs, and adjustments you could possibly need. It sounds GREAT! I also installed Kenwoods CCD-2000 backup cameras on all three cars, and find their backup camera display on the head unit an excellent safety feature. Also, the backup screen comes up very quickly after starting your vehicle, which was not the case with a previous backup system I had installed. FM and AM performance is top notch. Tone settings are individually memorized for each function (DVD, FM, iPod, etc.) Oh, the iPod interface is excellent, this is actually my favorite feature. The DNX6140/5140 controls your iPod remotely so you can keep it safely stored out of sight. It includes all iPod functions, and displays album artwork on its screen.

Finally, the Parrot Bluetooth interface is excellent. It mutes audio and routes your call through your cars front speakers (adjustable,) and its steering wheel column mounted noise canceling microphone sends out good voice quality to your caller. It can be set to auto answer after a ring or two, and you can program in auto-dial numbers.

Note: The Kenwood DNX5140 is virtually identical to the 6140, except that it doesn't include the Parrot Bluetooth hands-free option, at a lower price. I put a DNX5140, with Kenwoods KCA-BT200 Bluetooth adapter in my Toyota MR2, and it turned my DNX5140 into a DNX6140 but for a lower price than the the 6140.

The Kenwood DNX6140/DNX5140 are both EXCELLENT units!

Hard to figure out a rating. I basically really like the unit; it looks and sounds great, Garmin NAV is unbeatable. That all gets 5-stars. But Kenwood seems to have spent all of their time and effort on the details and left out the basics. I think it's great that you can change the panel color by adjusting the red/green/blue levels, but to adjust the volume on the NAV system requires digging through several menus. I've sent 3 different messages to customer service to get explanations on things which should be pretty obvious but aren't. User-friendliness rating of 1-star, instruction manual would get 0-stars.
I installed the unit myself in a 2004 Mitsubishi Eclipse. Best Buy wanted $300 more for the unit and about $250 for installation. Very simple process but I'd definitely suggest buying a car-specific wiring harness kit (I got one from Crutchfield). I ended up only having to cut two car wires to get almost everything working (I don't have the rear camera): one splice for an optional steering wheel interface and one to the parking brake switch under the console. If we decide to sell the car, we can throw the old radio in, reconnect those two wires and be good-as-new in about 20 minutes. The antennas for the NAV and XM ran unbelievably easily behind the steering wheel, through a removable fuse panel and up through a seam to mount on the dashboard at the base of the windshield. No issues with getting signals at all.
The sales info from Kenwood indicates that the unit is XM-ready, Sirius-ready, and HD-ready. What they don't tell you is that it's only ready for one of those three as they all use the same port. Don't expect to access XM and HD.

This unit is so much fun....I have everything hooked up (XM, IPOD, Navigator, Bluetooth, etc.) except for the rear camera. The controls are easy and I'm glad there's a volume knob. I just wish they had an adaptor for my 09 Vibe to hook up the steering wheel controls. Make sure to hook up the Navigator antenna on the outside of the car or you could have problems getting the satellite signal.

Just installed Kenwood DNX6140 in the car along with a flip down monitor for back seat DVD viewing. My prime usage is during road trips and weekend driving, kids get to watch DVD in back while we listen to iPod/itouch in front and NAV displays the direction. The handsfree phone was a plus. So this unit does all that, has tons of features but the manual and user interface is a bit confusing. The NAV is garmin - simple to use and there is a analog NAV button to switch to it any time you want. Handsfree is parrot which is also pretty easy to use. The thing works beautifully with iphone (both for phone and music) and
also with my itouch (displays playlist etc). If you are using it along with flip down LCD screen in the back, you need to select "dual zone" which is under audio menu when you have the source select screen.
Kenwood would do well to actually publish a higher level "normal use cases" book so people can use the common features they want to use. Otherwise, the product seems to have all the features that are needed - has the looks etc.

Spending this kind of money on a car stereo and navigation system, I was hoping that I would really be impressed. I am not. I think this could be a much better product.

Some background, I use this in a Honda Pilot, with a backup camera installed. I mostly use the backup camera, navigation, radio, and IPod features. I am a woman, probably above average with technology, and particular about how things should be. I am also a mom of an infant so I don't have 30 minutes to spend figuring out every little thing.

What I like about this unit is that I can do all of these things through the one unit. But I do have lots of complaints.

Overall, I find this unit to be unnecessarily complicated. It's not easy to find anything you want to do. Basic features are often hidden, or they are on a tiny button, while some other feature is huge.

In general, tiny buttons are a huge problem with this. And the touch screen is difficult to work with while driving. I don't want to look away from the road to make sure I'm hitting the screen in the right place. Good thing I also have the buttons on my steering wheel. I use them a lot.

It is totally impossible to use the IPod interface while driving. The buttons are super tiny. And you have to scroll through all of the Artists to find the one you want and then select the album, etc. And the buttons for this feature are excrutiatingly small (with lots of unnecessary buttons all around wasting space that could be used to make the important buttons bigger). Also, you can not do things through the interface that you can through your IPod like select an artist with multiple albums and then play all the songs by the artist randomly. Also, you can not control your IPod while it is plugged in. So, out of extreme frustration, I have taken to setting up the music playing on my IPod and then plugging it into the Kenwood and it will continue playing things as I have preselected them. If I want to change my selection, I unplug it, set it up on the IPod, then replug it in to listen.

The navigation is also a pain. I have on a couple of occassions wanted to go somewhere and to take a certain main road to get there. I live in New Jersey so the shortest route is not always the best route. I still have not figured out how to make this thing give me directions using a certain highway. I think this may be possible but I have not figured out how yet. When I'm in the situation, I just don't have 30 minutes to sit and play with the thing trying to figure it out. I have read the instructions and tried doing it and have not had any luck yet. Also, you have to be very specific about the address. Like if the Kenwood thinks that the road is called by its name then it won't know what you mean if you give a route number for the road. Just seems very inflexible.

Another HUGE complaint of mine is that the clock on this thing is tiny and I mean tiny, not small, tiny. It is in the upper right hand corner of the screen... so far away from the driver. Isn't it obvious that once this thing is installed you lose the clock that came with the car, which is usually in the car radio, so you need a decent clock on the thing. Instead, I am always squinting at the red lights trying to figure out what time it is.

Finally, and perhaps most importantly, the sound quality on this is so so, not fantastic. I've had better sound in simpler stereo systems and I also upgraded my speaders and got a sub-woofer when I had this installed.

So, all in all, I am unhappy with this. I spent a lot of money to have this system installed and I wanted to be wowed by it. But I am not. At best, I am okay with it. At worst, I am extremely frustrated by it.

Overall a nifty product.

Pro:
Great integration via Bluetooth with my iPhone. Awesome phone sound quality, both thru speakers and also for folks on the receiving end of the phone call.

Neutral:
Just an FYI, GPS functionality is not as complete as that on my Nuvi 255W. It still works well, though. Garmin said this is planned.
I had to buy two upgrades for the maps, one for my Nuvi and one for the Kenwood; they would not let me upgrade both sets of maps with one upgrade purchase.

Con:
Kenwood service is perhaps the worst I've experienced with a major consumer corporation; we were very unpleasantly surprised.
1) Kenwood cable to connect to the iPhone has a very loose connection and keeps disconnecting (iPhone docks with all other cables fine, so assume the issue is with the Kenwood cable). "Support" from Kenwood site consisted of an inane letter asking me to upgrade iPhone software (which is current). Must be computer generated response to e-mail or an untrained person. No response to further requests for help.
2) HD radio module was awesome while it worked, but quit working 2 months in. Again, no response from Kenwood yet.

I just installed mine today and I can see I will really like this radio. I have the Sirius radio and the GPS is on point. Bluetooth works really well too. It does take time to get used to but once u get it u should feel real good having it in ur car. Only thing I don't like is the start up time which can be like 30 seconds but if that is not the problem then this will do the trick. I also added 4 Kenwood 6x9 exelon speakers to do my system justice and man let me tell you. This is expensive (broke college student)but I need my sound and it was well worth it. Oh yeah, I don't have an ipod but I will comment later on how it sounds playing the usb songs.

Update: The usb works great! you can see the album skins which is nice. I don't think it gets better than this for the price too. I will eventually get the back up cam to finish it off but for now this thing works beautifully. DVD is clear and sound is amazing.

Cons: should have came with free traffic updates but that's just me.

After a time-consuming install (mainly because I am a perfectionist and I take my time), this unit is great. Installed with an Ipod adapter, PAC-SWIJAC, and a backup camera. The Garmin navigation and Parrot bluetooth work fantastic and the backup camera is a sweet addition to my pickup. 6ave electronics have great prices and quick shipping. Such a departure from my factory stereo. A local stereo shop wanted this much just to install a backup camera and I got it all for the same price (of course, I had to install it myself). You won't be disappointed with this system.

We love this product so far. It is a little sensitive in that it won't play the Ipod on the Ipod setting but on the "video" setting. Took us a while to figure that one out! The bluetooth is AWESOME. As, of course, the Garmin product. All in all everybody who sees this is envious!