Replacing the DNX8120

[helotaxi 46]

Been off pursuing other hobbies and raising a little girl...

My DNX8120 is dying a rapidly accelerating death. First the XM receiver takes an intermittant dump over the last year. Then the disc transport died last month. Then some low life stole my in-car iPod. Long and the short I need to replace the HU because I'm basically down to listening to the local radio station. In a small town in the middle of nowhere, that is absolute torture.

Requirements:

Double DIN

Nav

DVD

XM capable (NOT Sirius so the new Kenwoods are out)

Parking brake lockout is easily bypassed

Good Bluetooth (the 8120 has been spotty both with the phone and with A2DP streaming audio)

Sound processing would be nice but not required.

The RCAs will probably have to be on pigtails since the mounting depth in my truck is really limited and I doubt that there would be room for the RCAs to plug directly into the back of the unit.

What's out there that's good these days? I'll be posting some of the vintage collection for sale on here and on eBay over the next week or two to finance the new HU so price shouldn't be much of an issue.

[Impious 1,476]

I'm basically down to listening to the local radio station. In a small town in the middle of nowhere, that is absolute torture.

You can get NPR pretty much anywhere in the country.....what else do you need to listen to ??

[helotaxi 46]

I threw up in my mouth a little at the NPR thing.

The one FM station in English is a country station, which isn't the problem. For every song that they play there are 5+ minutes of commercials for local businesses and another 5 min of a simple minded yokel droning on about what he thinks is worht talking about.

[Penguin4x4 1,761]

Requirements:

Double DIN

Nav

DVD

XM capable (NOT Sirius so the new Kenwoods are out)

Parking brake lockout is easily bypassed

Good Bluetooth (the 8120 has been spotty both with the phone and with A2DP streaming audio)

Pioneer aaaaand...Pioneer

[Penguin4x4 1,761]

most manufacturers are going to SiriusXM external tuners now

[helotaxi 46]

Requirements:

Double DIN

Nav

DVD

XM capable (NOT Sirius so the new Kenwoods are out)

Parking brake lockout is easily bypassed

Good Bluetooth (the 8120 has been spotty both with the phone and with A2DP streaming audio)

Pioneer aaaaand...Pioneer

That only really narrows it down a little bit. What models are worth looking at?

most manufacturers are going to SiriusXM external tuners now

External tuners have been the way of things since the beginning. Even though SiriusXM is one company the hardware and accounts are still different between Sirius and XM. Pioneer and Alpine at least still support XM. Kenwood went to Sirius only.

[Penguin4x4 1,761]

External tuners have been the way of things since the beginning.

Well of course they have, silly. I meant that most have started to use combination SiriusXM tuners instead of Sirius only or XM only tuners. Off the top of my head Pioneer is the only one I know of that still has dedicated XM tuners.

[Penguin4x4 1,761]

Clarion might have a navigation unit or two. I know JVC has a few, but most people don't seem to care for that brand.

Price range? Motorized or detachable face? Voice recognition?

[shizzzon 461]

is an Android tablet capable?

With v 4.0, you can hookup external USB devices to it such as DVD, etc...

Then you could use Pandora for all your music needs.

[helotaxi 46]

Not a big fan of the Android devices AND 3G/4G service is skosch out here so Pandora isn't reliable. I could just stream it off my phone regardless.

It looks like Audiovox makes an XM module for the newer Kenwoods (and most other radios) but I'm not finding any definitive compatibility info. I'm looking at the Pioneer AVIC-Z140BH plus the Pioneer XM module. Anything I should know about that unit? How much of a pain is the parking brake lockout? I know it was quite the process on some of the older AVIC units. Is there a particular reason to go with that unit ove the X940BT? It's about a $300 price difference online.

[Aaron Clinton 2,372]

Happy Birthday?

[helotaxi 46]

Thanks, Aaron.

[Aaron Clinton 2,372]

Thanks, Aaron.

[Frostedflakejake 148]

How much of a pain is the parking brake lockout?

The Avic z1 was extremely easy to bypass the parking brake lockout. Can't say for certain on that unit. Although I'm sure someone out there has done it. (There are a few youtube videos of people describing how to bypass that unit)

[helotaxi 46]

Watched the vids. Yep, looks quite simple. Not Kenwood simple but not nearly as bad as I was seeming to recall from previous units.

Now I think it's just a matter of deciding between the X940BT and the Z140BH...

[helotaxi 46]

Anyone on whether the z140bh is worth the extra over the x940bt?