Just purchased a new head unit for my H3. The Kenwood Excelon XXV-05V 25th Anniversary DVD player with 7" monitor. It has everything I need and then some. It is a 1 din unit and it has a flip out screen. It has a DTS and DIGITAL DOLBY Decoder built in. Which is great. I didnt want to have a gap in the radio housing. So I went and purchased the Alpine SBS-05DC. Which is a center channel speaker. This is a perfect match, cause now the head unit and the center speaker can now fit in same space where my 2 din GM stock radio is. Here is a link to check out all the features this system has. As well as the Alpine center speaker. Best part is that its XM radio, GPS Nav., and Ipod compatable. Heres a pic of the unit. Once I get the items I will post another thread on the instalation with pics.

http://www.kenwoodusa.com/products/L...k3=106&pr=1856

http://www.crutchfield.com/S-IenSCLyPEcx/cgi-bin/ProdVi...ch=Alpine+SBS%2D05DC

http://www.crutchfield.com/S-IenSCLyPEcx/cgi-bin/ProdVi...05V&search=XXV%2D05V

Just purchased a new head unit for my H3. The Kenwood Excelon XXV-05V 25th Anniversary DVD player with 7" monitor. It has everything I need and then some. It is a 1 din unit and it has a flip out screen. It has a DTS and DIGITAL DOLBY Decoder built in. Which is great. I didnt want to have a gap in the radio housing. So I went and purchased the Alpine SBS-05DC. Which is a center channel speaker. This is a perfect match, cause now the head unit and the center speaker can now fit in same space where my 2 din GM stock radio is. Here is a link to check out all the features this system has. As well as the Alpine center speaker. Best part is that its XM radio, GPS Nav., and Ipod compatable. Heres a pic of the unit. Once I get the items I will post another thread on the instalation with pics.

http://www.kenwoodusa.com/products/ListProduct.aspx?k1=2&k2=31&k3=106&pr=1856

http://www.crutchfield.com/S-IenSCLyPEcx/cgi-bin/ProdVi...ch=Alpine+SBS%2D05DC

http://www.crutchfield.com/S-IenSCLyPEcx/cgi-bin/ProdVi...05V&search=XXV%2D05V

I had that in my Wrangler. With the screen out it blocked the air vents no big deal but here are some things I found annoying for a $2k car stereo.

When playing DVD's or MP3 CD's if you change the sound source say to the radio or Sirius it keeps playing the DVD or MP3 Disc so you come back to your movie after listening to Hair Nation or Raw Dog only to find the credits rolling or your back to the intro screen. Same with CD’s.

It’s a touch screen right? Well not all the time. If you play a DVD you cant hit the play button on the screen you cant even hit the play button on the unit. You can only start the movie from the remote.

The screen layout looks like it was thought up by a 2 year old. Really poor use of space.

During the day the screen can at times be hard to see. Watching DVD's is next to impossible.

All in all it was an impressive stereo. Don’t get me wrong I enjoyed it very much but for that kind of money I would have liked to have seen something a little more intuitive.

<BLOCKQUOTE class="ip-ubbcode-quote"><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-title">quote:</div><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-content">Originally posted by Surferjo:
I had that in my Wrangler. With the screen out it blocked the air vents no big deal but here are some things I found annoying for a $2k car stereo.

When playing DVD's or MP3 CD's if you change the sound source say to the radio or Sirius it keeps playing the DVD or MP3 Disc so you come back to your movie after listening to Hair Nation or Raw Dog only to find the credits rolling or your back to the intro screen. Same with CD’s.

It’s a touch screen right? Well not all the time. If you play a DVD you cant hit the play button on the screen you cant even hit the play button on the unit. You can only start the movie from the remote.

The screen layout looks like it was thought up by a 2 year old. Really poor use of space.

During the day the screen can at times be hard to see. Watching DVD's is next to impossible.

All in all it was an impressive stereo. Don’t get me wrong I enjoyed it very much but for that kind of money I would have liked to have seen something a little more intuitive. </div></BLOCKQUOTE>

LOL! I will agree I do find the screen layout (desktop) graphics look a bit horrid. Also by not having a sun roof(I wish I did though)and having my windows tinted I should enjoy the screen even in the day. You say you had yours in a Wrangler? Like a soft top? I could see how hard it would see the screen if you had the top down or something like that. Also I would'nt have the cohonies to put something this expensive in a Wrangler (i.e. a softtop) The top or side plastic windows would be slashed and the radio gone. Even if I had the detachable face plate in hand. In my last SUV I had a Clarion DVD in dash player and I had to operate the controls thru the remote, so using the remote won't be an issue with me. Boy, I sure do appreciate your review on the radio and your comments.

If your front windows are tinted you will be in much better shape then I was.

When I had the top down the screen was pretty much gray, I couldn't see anything.

As far as security goes, when I had the soft top on I usually left the doors open and took the faceplate with me. Most car thieves know if they don’t see a face place its just better to move onto the next car. Also I would rather they just opened the door and go in rather than slicing through my security by saran wrap soft top.

After having the Kenwood I have decided that I’m going to get the Eclipse AVN5495. Same price but it has a built in HD and has NAV standard. With the Kenwood you looking at another $800-$1000 for NAV.



If you really wanted a pop out unit the Pioneer ACIC-N2 DVD has every thing the Kenwood has plus NAV and its about $600 cheaper.

<BLOCKQUOTE class="ip-ubbcode-quote"><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-title">quote:</div><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-content">Originally posted by Surferjo:
If your front windows are tinted you will be in much better shape then I was.

When I had the top down the screen was pretty much gray, I couldn't see anything.

As far as security goes, when I had the soft top on I usually left the doors open and took the faceplate with me. Most car thieves know if they don’t see a face place its just better to move onto the next car. Also I would rather they just opened the door and go in rather than slicing through my security by saran wrap soft top.

After having the Kenwood I have decided that I’m going to get the Eclipse AVN5495. Same price but it has a built in HD and has NAV standard. With the Kenwood you looking at another $800-$1000 for NAV.



If you really wanted a pop out unit the Pioneer ACIC-N2 DVD has every thing the Kenwood has plus NAV and its about $600 cheaper.

</div></BLOCKQUOTE>

I checking this new unit out from Jensen.

http://www.circuitcity.com/ssm/Jensen-Mobile-Multimedia...ccd/productDetail.do

I can't wait to get my Kenwood! I hate waiting. Anyways in the meantime I went on photoshop and created a picture of what my front panel will look like. Notice how the Alpine center speaker will mount. Its made to fit in a 1 din slot, which is perfect. And I just won a ebay item last night. A new Kenwood KVA-500 i-pod interface for $70.00 I think I will entertain a rear camera as well? Anyone have any recomends or sugestions?????

have u thought which dash kit to use ? if u haven't yet u might wanna start lookin around now 'coz I had that problem when I installed 2 DIN size units. I ended up putting one together 'coz I never had luck of finding one. BTW hopefully u really like flip-up screens, 'coz I thought I did and then got sick of it after a couple of weeks 'coz it seems to make the dash look crowded replacing it w/ a Kenwood DDX 7017 unit tom., 'm going for a cleaner look...