Saturday, May 31, 2014

Kenwood DDX512 6.1-Inch-Wide In-Dash Monitor with USB/iPod Direct Control/DVD Receiver

Kenwood DDX512 6.1-Inch-Wide In-Dash Monitor with USB/iPod Direct Control/DVD Receiver
  • AM/FM radio, DVD, DVD-R/RW, DVD+R/RW, CD, CD-R/RW, VCD, MP3/WMA/AAC, MPEG1/MPEG2, iPod, USB, HD/SAT radio-ready.
  • 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, A/V output; add Kenwood adapters for SAT/HD Radio, Bluetooth
  • One-year limited warranty

I bought this to replace the stock head in my 2008 Caliber SRT4. What a difference. Coupling this with Polk Audio 6x9s all the way around + a 10" Sub and 200 watt amp made for a killer sound system in this little car.

Buy Kenwood DDX512 6.1-Inch-Wide In-Dash Monitor with USB/iPod Direct Control/DVD Receiver Now

this is a great all around unit

i had to upgrade after my stock headunit took a dump and couldn't be happier with my choice

the earlier complaints about this deck have now been solved and all you have to do is visit kenwoods website to get the latest updates installed (Real easy) and if your using a rear sub via the sub out connection you will have to contact kennwoods customer support # to get them to walk you thur the process.

btw calling and getting a kenwood tech is REAL easy and they are more then happy to help you. i called 3 times about different questions and got the answers every time, with little to no waiting on hold. (thank you kenwood)

the deck is fully upgradeable down the road so if you decide to add navi, satellite radio, bluetooth or hd radio ect. your covered no problem.

if your wanting to use your ipod or iphone with the new update and the use of KENWOODs KCA-IP301V cable you will be able to control your ipod thru the deck seamlessly

i am currently able to control my iphone 3g with no problems. (Video music podcasts .ect)

so if your looking for the basics with the option to upgrade you'd be goofy not to seriously consider the DDX-512

Read Best Reviews of Kenwood DDX512 6.1-Inch-Wide In-Dash Monitor with USB/iPod Direct Control/DVD Receiver Here

Purchased as a replacement for factory DD radio, great head unitIt can be upgraded to all the stuff you exactly want. It plays DVDs, no issues viewing, great sound quality with the Alpine components, Have the navigation love it to just wish you could here the radio but I guess if you need directions your focuse should be there not the music, Radio is as weak as the factory radio so no change there but good news you can always upgrade to sat. or HD radioso for the price its a great head unit with even greater potential with all the upgrades you could ever want.

Easy installtook about 15 minutes, the nav unit took longer due to running/ hiding the wires, but all turned out seemless.

Want Kenwood DDX512 6.1-Inch-Wide In-Dash Monitor with USB/iPod Direct Control/DVD Receiver Discount?

This is a good item for the price. it plays DVD's, CD's, musis and TV shows that are on your iPod. Once you get it hooked up it works great. My reason for only giving it 3 stars is the lack of information available regarding extra equipment to make it work properly. This information is not available on Kenwoods web site or Amazons product description or any other web sit I searched.

1. You will most likely need an antana adaptor. Depenting on what type of vehicle you have this could be as much as $50.00. Luckily for my GMC Sierra it was only $10.00.

2. In order to hook up your iPod you need another adaptor cable which was about $40.00. Additionally, this will not work on all iPods. I have an iPod touch which works great with this stereo. I also have an origional iPod classic that does not work even with the upgrades available on apple's web site. I took my older iPod to a local stereo store to seek help and they told me that it is simply "too old to work with this stereo". The product description for this stereo says it works with all iPods version 1.2 or newer and I have found this to be false.

3. Mounting HardwareUnless you are replacing an existing aftermarket double din deck you will also need a dash kit. The installation hardware that comes with the unit is useless for a GMC sierra. Add another $20.00.

4. This deck does not come with a remote control. This is not deceptive as the product description does not state that there is a remote included. However some movies will not play without the comand from a remote. Another $30.00.

5. If you want to maintain your door chimes and factory computer functions of your particular vehicle, you need an additional unit that plugs inline with your factory wiring harness before pluging into the deck. For a GMC Sierra this was another $189.00. You don't NEED this to make the deck work but again, not mentioned in the product description, anywhere.

Enough bashing on this unit as it does have a couple of unexpected useful features.

1. It clearly states in the instruction manual that you cannot play video from your iPod on this unit. That is not true. I watch movies, TV shows and any other type of video from my iPod touch without any problem.

2. The installation manual wants you to install this unit so that it won't play video while you are driving. This can be easily over riden by grounding the wire on that back of the deck that they want you to connect to your park brake.

Hope this is helpful because none of this information was available to me before I purchased this unit. But now that I have it hooked up, and over $250.00 additional dollars later I love this unit!!!

I just purchased this unit upgrading from my old kenwood head unit. I found out the hard way that there is some serious issues with this unit.

1. The unit is "Satellite XM/Sirius" Ready, but Kenwood has not released the cables needed to connected the unit to the Sirius unit. So basically if you buy this unit to listen to Satellite radio, you are out of luck until Kenwood releases the proper cable. I called Kenwood Usa support about this and they can't give a reason why the cables are not available, but said they should be available by April 2008. In the meantime I can't listen to my Sirius.

2. The unit claims to be able to play MP3, JPEG photos, and MPEG videos from a USB device (ext USB hard drive or thumb drive). I bought a external USB hard drive and it was able to play MP3s from it but no JPEG and no videos. I emailed Kenwood USA about this and they responded with this:

"The DNX-5120 and DDX-512 are currently unable to play MPEGs or JPEGs via USB. We are aware of this issue and currently working on a fix to solve the problem. When the fix is available, we will contact and email you the update."

So now I can't play my Satellite radio or play JPEG and Mpeg videos from my USB device! But there is more:

This is supposed to also have bluetooth with the optional BT-200 bluetooth unit. I called Kenwood and the Bluetooth add on will not be available until May 2008 according to Kenwood USA.

So I can't use my Bluetooth, Satellite Radio, or JPEG, MPEG files!

So basically if you are going to buy this unit, wait until May when they are supposedly going to have everything available. I am not a happy customer!

No comments:

Post a Comment