Finding a suitable double DIN head unit has been an interesting process.
I really do prefer Kenwood head units, I’ve been a Kenwood fan since purchasing my first aftermarket head unit in 1997.
The criteria I am using to choose a head unit is the following:
- Must be a Double-DIN unit;
- Must play DVD movie’s and DIVX;
- Must Play MP3’s from a USB storage device;
- Rather not have a visible disk slot;
- Rather have 3 sets of preouts Front/Back/Sub;
- Under £500.
Research on various sites gave me these possibilities:
- Kenwood DDX5024;
- Kenwood DDX8024BT;
- Pioneer AVH-P4100DVD;
- Pioneer AVH-P3100DVD.
The Kenwood DDX5024 only has two preouts and has a front mounted disk slot, I really wanted a Kenwood unit but the only double DIN alternative is the DDX8024BT but at £700 its way over budget.
DDX5024
DDX8024BT
The Pioneer AVH-P4100DVD ticks all the box’s. the disk slot is hidden, when you eject the disk the front panel kicks out and slides down to reveal the disk. There are three sets of preouts for Front, Back and Sub and it play’s all the common formats and has USB etc. There is an alternative in the AVH-P3100DVD but this suffers with the same issues as the Kenwood DDX5024 with the front disk slot, two preouts etc.
AVH-P3100DVD
AVH-P4100DVD
So the P4100 it is then. The chosen unit has the ability to add a reversing camera, digital TV Tuner and bluetooth adapter later. For now I’ll be keeping my Parrot kit as I prefer the ability to use the parrot’s interface for making calls rather than looking at text on the head units screen and scrolling through an on screen phone book. The Parrot’s ability to read out the names on in the phone book as you scroll through whilst not taking your eye’s off the road is just safer.
All of the units I looked at had the ability to add a navigation feature kit on. IMHO the kit’s were way over priced. The other thing I looked at with the navigation kits was the map updates, these were v.expencive at approx £200 a go. I can see why people would go for this option if you were either insane or wanted a complete single solution but I really don’t drive in the UK very often so I’m happier licking and sticking a tomtom to my window.
You could also consider the new range of Single-DIN multimedia head units. They tend to have a motorised mechanism with a screen that slides out and pop’s up. Check out the Kenwood KVT-524DVD and the Pioneer AVH-P5100DVD for more info.
The only concern’s I would have would be around the durability of the mechanism and in particular the flexi cables. I had one of the original Kenwood MASK head units circa 2000. They were terrific units and a complete pose when someone new gets into the car and the front rotates completely to reveal the screen and controls. They did however suffer with problems where the flexi cable would wear out and render the unit useless. Every year or so would have to go back to the dealer for the flexi cable to be replaced at a cost of about £40.
I’d expect the cost of mending the mechanism on a 7” slide out and pop-up screen would be significantly higher than with a panel that just rotates.