e9stibi

Here is the unit:

http://www.kenwoodusa.com/Car_Entert...ideo/KIV-BT900

You can get the unit for ~ 280 USD shipped.

I installed the unit after some good input from forum members to replace a broken Panasonic CD-receiver and had the time today to play around a little bit with the "media receiver" (no CD).

Here are a couple of observations:

1. Installation was straight forward. Just replaced the old Panasonic plug with the new Kenwood plug (a little soldering required but all the color codes of the cables were the same). You can buy the matching connector but I went the budget route and reworked the installed connector.

2. Firmware needed upgrade (easy task following instructions from Kenwood website)

3. Display is generally bright and after setting it to high contrast, readability is good. This is an issue in our cars and I am quite happy with the result. Let us see how it performs in straight sun light.

4. I-pod and Zune (in my case) are easy to connect. Initial reading of my the big Zune data base (~17 GB) took quite a while (~ 2-3 minutes). I hope this is only one-time.

5. Sound is very impressive. I do not want an amp in my DE car and I was impressed (compared to the Panasonic) how much punch the build-in amps have (22 W RMS x 4). This was a very pleasant surprise and justified the buy by itself

6. A lot of configuration options (it is basically a digital sound processor) but quite intuitive to operate and configure after you get used to the basic operation.

I think there is a reason why Mr. Birch is recommending the Kenwood units. I am very happy at this point and hope that it runs stable and reliable (at the end it is another computer ...)

Silver993

I'd be interested in how well the Bluetooth calling works. I'm looking for a solution to enable me to take a call with hands free. Have you tried out this feature of your new unit?

timabe

I have the same unit. The Bluetooth calling works great. I mounted the microphone on the steering column and my callers tell me that they can hear me loud and clear.

e9stibi

I have not mounted the microphone and do not intend to do it. There is one major reason: I just do not use a cell phone while driving. It is still a distraction that can be very costly.

I did another drive yesterday and confirmed some things:

1. It takes about 3 minutes every time after turning on the unit to read the Zune files (not great but it is a lot of files)

2. The internal amps are by far the best what I ever experienced. Looks like the Kenwood line has this right. A very pleasant surprise that makes the 3 minutes a small issue ...

3. The display readability is great. I had the car out in the sun on a bright day and did not have any issues like with previous units.

Slow Guy

How about some photos of it installed?

e9stibi

Sure, here it is. As you can see, the display is still readable even under flash light from the camera.

pcarhombre

This might be a dumb question but how is the ipod/zune connected? Is there a cord that you run from the rear or the front or into glove compartment? Did you do the CD changer delete or use the connection I saw that makes the CD auxiliary? I read a review that stated something about problems resetting itself to USB every time it is turned on. Did you experience this? Supposedly, there is a delay while scrolling through song lists...something about having to wait for album art to load? I appreciate any extra feedback. This might be the unit for me even with current complaints.

e9stibi

Just have a closer look at the website link. You can download the manual which answers all of the connectivity and hook-up questions.

Short version. It has a fully supported iPod interface that even allows video playback. It is connected via the back plate USD plug (~3 ft cable) and there is a provided ipod connector cable that allows you to run it from almost everywhere in the cabin. The Zune interface does not support video. Scrolling so far was ok. Sometimes it reads for 1-2 seconds if you skip to the next song (even after the initial 3 minutes). I did not experience any delays while scrolling so far. I will post long term experiences in a couple of months.

Paul K

I bought a Motorola T505. Mounts on the visor & looks like this:



Works great- I just transfer it between vehicles.

Note: E9stibi has a very good point. Even hands-free, driving while talking on the phone can be very dangerous!

Cheers,

Paul.

SiAlan

This unit was my early christmas present to myself as well--I did the install with a buddy and I second your opinions/observations (especially the slow Zune loading-get used to it!). Otherwise amazing bluetooth (mounted on my visor), great sound.

One observation--I can't get my Ipod to show video--have you solved this? I obviously didn't connect my parking brake lead at first--but after it didn't work, I installed a glovebox mounted switch to trick it...and still no go...

Thoughts?

Avenger6

I have the non-bluetooth version, in the box ready to go in. If anybody figures out how to set up the brake switch so it will always be able to show video, please post.

Benton

Thanks for the post! I got this for Christmas as well to replace a dated Pioneer. Haven't had time to install it yet, but I can't wait.

pcarhombre

To anyone of you guys that have this unit: can you make the color a close match to the rest of the instruments? I'm kind of partial to the yellow And if you DO use the bluetooth, how is it at speed? TIA

ble2011

This seems like a nice unit. Any thoughts on using the bluetooth in a cab? If it didn't work well, I could could forgo the 900 and go to the 700.

Avenger6

Since you can load photos into the unit's onboard memory, and then display them, I plan on finding or making a real nice hi-res picture of the Porsche crest and having that be the display background.

Or pic of the car itself

or something else geeky

Anyone else thought about this? WHat ideas do you have?