Ok so last night my truck was broken in and they stole my Panasonic in-dash DVD player, Radar Detector, and Ipod.

Well I was thinking that this is a decent excuse to upgrade my HU.

I was wanting to get a factory unit with NAV, and that had the Audiophile update.

I have an 2004 F150. Will this work? where can I get those units?

 

As nice as the factory units are, your better off getting an aftermarket unit, you get more bang for the buck, you can get one that will look like its factory or pretty darn close, and the factory ones are god awful expensive the last time I looked. That may have changed though as far as price goes, someone correct me if I'm wrong.

 

Whats so awful about them?

Also from doing some checking, aftermarket stuff is not any cheaper so unless there is something disfunctional about the OEM units, Id like to have an OEM look.

The 2009 units have a builtin DVD capability right?

 

Well After looking at my wiring harness it seems that I only have the one connector.

I guess the 04 models are different.
I am thinking about getting a Kenwood DNX7120 or DNX8120

What do you guys think about those units? Any other suggestions for NAV with a kinda OEM look?

 

The Kenwood DNX8120 is a great deck. My friend has one, it looks cool and the nav is good even out here in Lubbock. I can tell you that the nav works off of NAVTEQ, the maps that Garmin use. I'm pretty sure the only difference is the face and the 8120 has bluetooth. I do want to suggest the JVC KW-NX7000. If you want to know more research it or ask Mitch. That's what I'm getting in my '99 as soon as the updated version comes out in March.

 

Paging Mitch.....

That JVC does look good, but maybe its my lack of knowledge but im failing to see what it offers over the 7120 or the 8120?

 

I know I'm not Mitch. But it does offer a better price and I have never seen a JVC just crap out. Not saying I have seen a Kenwood crap out just by personal experience JVC is top notch.

 

Oh, one HUGE thing! A detachable screen. Added security.

 

Hey 04Lariat, first let me answer your question about the factory unit, I never said they were awful, I said they were god AWFUL expensive, other than that, they are a decent unit. The reason I like aftermarket over factory is the fact you can get one with a bigger display than the factory one at a much lower cost, don't quote me but I think the last time I looked, factory units were going for around $2000 where you could get an aftermarket one for a little over a $1000. As for the Kenwood I would get the 8120, It comes with bluetooth already in it where with the 7120 you would have to purchase a bluetooth adapter for it. Both units use Garmin for their navigation. Hell, I almost bought the 8120 but I already had the bluetooth adapter for the JCV from a previous single din unit I had (now in the wife's truck) as well as the Sirius receiver for it so it only made sense for me to get the JVC, plus the JVC is around $300 less than the Kenwood, besides all that, I'm a JVC freak, been using that equipment for the last 11 years and I'm extremely happy with the one I have now. You certainly can't go wrong with the 8120 though, so if that's your preference I'd say go for it, I know I would! And btw, Tex is right the JVC uses Navtech for their navigation and the faceplate is detachable which is really sweet. The Kenwood might be a better unit but I really don't know since I've never had one, I've only played with them at the local stereo shop. They are a very impressive unit, hope this helps. And I just want to add that I am by no means an expert on this stuff, there are much more knowlegable people on here like Low e Red and KC Autosound.

 

Hey 04, how much was the factory unit you were looking at going for? I'm just curious if they've gone down in price any.

 

Stuff I was looking at on ebay was around 700 + 70-100 for reprogramming.

800 all said and done

 

Well that's ALOT less than what they were around a year and a half to 2 years ago. Thats not a bad price at all, but again, smaller screens on those if that matters to you at all. I wasn't trying to bash them or anything, I just prefered something different. Are they touch screen?

 

Honestly if I was going to spend that much on a navigation screen, I would not waste my time with the JVC KW-NX7000. For that price you could get something like the Eclipse AVN6620 where if you do choose to get another ipod to hook up, it wont be slow like the JVC. Also, I get more broken JVC radios then anything else at my work and would never put one in my car but thats just my bias opinion. Also remember you drive an F150 so anything you put in your car thats worth money can be taken. Factory or not

 

I hear ya, and your right about the Ipod on these JVCs from what I've read, they do operate kinda slow, but I wouldn't know about that as I don't own an Ipod. This JVC has an sd card slot for music and works and navigates through the menu as fast as an ipod, so for me thats a good substitute, no extra crap hanging off of it or extra stuff to hook up to it and to me that's better than having an ipod. As for the JVC stuff breaking down, I've had 4 different JVC units over the last 11 years in 2 different f150s and all of them still work flawlessly today and as I've stated before on the forum, the only reason I've gone through so many is because I keep upgrading to better units. I still have everyone of them, and 3 are still being used to this day, in the wife's truck and in the kids car. Everthing being made has a potential to break down, even the Eclipse unit, though I'm not going to start trashing those since I have no experience with them. I'm sure they are a damn fine product as alot of people on this site have them and sing their praises. Now, I don't know what the COMPERABLE Eclipse units go for but if you search hard enough online you can get the 7000 for around $825 w/ the bluetooth adapter and you can't even touch the Pioneers for that kind of money, and keep in mind I'm talking about total features available. Of course the Pioneers come with a few more features than the jvc does (I think). I've had a couple of Pioneers in the wife's vehicles, not DDs or navigation units or anything, and I just didn't care for them. If I were going to go with anything other than jvc, I would choose Kenwood, very impressive units for the money and not over priced like the Pioneer stuff, no offense to you Pioneer guys. I have 2 F150s and have never suffered a break in, I know it happens, but I'm not sure what that comment was all about and owning a 150. Any vehicle can get broken into if a thief wants it bad enough. And as TexasTech stated earlier, the 7000 has a detachable faceplate (the only doubledin on the market with that feature) so I don't have to worry about my s**t getting stolen. Of course I have to remember to take it out evertime

 

I've spent months researching all the different DD NAV units out there in attempting to figure out what I want for my 05 F-150. In the end it all came down to the detachable face as being what put it over the edge. I looked a lot at the Kenwoods, the Pioneer, Alpine and some of the Eclipse units.

I got mixed reviews from every single unit out there. It's all just a matter of preference most of the time. No matter what you choose, someone somewhere will think somethign else is better or have reasons to believe that what you chose isn't good enough.

But like I said in the end it came down to the detachable face for me. I spend 4-5 months on the road a year and need something with some good security. My JVC will be here tomorrow and I've got a Code Alarm SRT-9000 coming from KC Autosound next week too