jtgs400

iTrader: (1)

Looking to move up from my Alpine iva-w200 to a nav unit with some extra features. I've pretty much researched all available units from all the common companies and I think Pioneer has the best looking nav. The Z2 looks great but the music library seems too limiting. I have several gigs of mp3s and that unit won't allow me to transfer them over. The D3 only has a single slot so I don't want to be swapping between nav disc and music disc constantly. Also another important feature I'm looking for is USB support so I can use jump drives or portable hdd to add new music without having to burn a new cd with 3-4 new songs each time.

This also rules out the eclipse line as none have any usb. Their nav is great though. Alpine doesn't seem to have an indash nav unit nor does clarion. I do have my sights on the kenwood dnx7100 though. Plays mp3/wma, divx and mpg videos, jpeg pictures and has usb. The nav on the other hand is based on the Garmin software. I heard the nav operations are top notch and very easy to use but to me the whole interface looks a little too cartoonish. I prefer the more elegant look of pioneer and eclipse nav UI.

Anybody here have any inside info on new nav unit coming out soon? I think I'm going to wait to see what the new models offer first before jumping on the kenwood which has all the features I want.

rich001

Have you thought about just adding Alpine's PMD-B100T Portable Blackbird navigation unit with their Dock (PMD-DOK1) to your IVA-W200? By doing this, you have the option of taking the navigation unit with you if you ever travel by undocking the Blackbird. Alpine also has a USB adaptor (KCA-620M, for WMA and MP3) that might suit your needs. Not to mention their iPod and video iPod integration cables, as well as satellite radio interfaces.
If you enjoy your IVA-W200, just add what you want!