Home > Consumer Reviews > Kenwood DDX8019 6.95" Double-Din In-Dash DVD/WMA/MP3 Receiver
Kenwood DDX8019 6.95" Double-Din In-Dash DVD/WMA/MP3 Receiver
Average Customer Rating
(1.0 out of 5)
Amazon Customer Reviews
Most Helpful First | Newest First | + Share1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:
This unit looks good in the store but don't be fooled
(1 out of 5) by Tim Epperson on Feb 29, 2008 (Sherwood, AR USA)The Function / Video buttons are VERY confusing. Sometimes one button
performs the same function as the other and sometimes not and it never
makes sense. You have to cycle through screens of options that are not
installed. This takes time and is very frustrating. Having to punching
these buttons really show how poorly the user interface is laid out.
I also added the Bluetooth and Navigation modules. The GPS module is great. However, if you are buying it for that then just buy a Garmin GPS with bluetooth. It will serve you better than that combination in the DDX8019 and save you about $400.
The bluetooth phone module KCA-BT100 works well as a phone. The bluetooth interaction with the phone works very well and the phone plays well with the other applications. They all mute when the phone rings. However, the documentation that comes with it doesn't match the DDX8019 and the DX8019 documentation is slim on things like how to use the phone book. My phonebook is greyed out and there is no mention of this "feature" in either book. The manual literally says, "use your phone to transfer you contacts". The end... no more.
iPod integration is implemented extremely poorly. I listen to podcasts a lot. The podcasts are sorted alphabetically not chronologically like they are on the iPod and iTunes. So you have no idea what podcast you have already listened to unless you know the names of them. When you are watching a video podcast and turn off the car, it will not start back up. You have to leave the video podcast screen then come back. Scroll through all of you podcast and select the one you were listening to. Speaking of which, this also happens when you start the car while watching a video with the car off. There are other units out there that "survive" the starting of the car.
And this is screwy...every time you plug your iPod into the DD 8019, it turns on the "Repeat All" setting. So unless you want this feature turned on permanently, you must turn it off EVERY TIME you disconnect it from your car!
The Kenwood website is minimal. You can download the user's manual (see above) or register you unit. That's it. Also, you can't download the user manuals for the add-on units. Where are the FAQ's, software updates, etc. that come with an expensive piece of electronics like this?
The USB port is very functional if you only want to play music. However if you want to see video or photos you have to burn them to a CD/DVD. How easy would it have been to make this work for the USB too? I personally don't have a CD burner attached to my digital camera. The USB port is used to upgrade the software too and works well for that purpose (see below).
At last, an upgrade NOT!
After owning the unit for about two weeks, Kenwood posted an upgrade for the iPod interface on their website. I was excited to see this. However, it only added support for older iPods (not for newer iPods--touch and iPhone). Other than that, all of the quiks still exist.
I am at v1.0.9. The only thing I noticed is that now, I have to hit the TEL button up to four times before the telephone screen will show up. The good part is this is consistent with ALL SCREENS so it doesn't matter if you are driving down a bouncy road.
On the plus side, the upgrade process was easy and worked seemlessly. In short. This unit cost too much for the number of user interface problems. I hope there are more software upgrades in store. Kenwood should stick to amplifiers and receivers.
performs the same function as the other and sometimes not and it never
makes sense. You have to cycle through screens of options that are not
installed. This takes time and is very frustrating. Having to punching
these buttons really show how poorly the user interface is laid out.
I also added the Bluetooth and Navigation modules. The GPS module is great. However, if you are buying it for that then just buy a Garmin GPS with bluetooth. It will serve you better than that combination in the DDX8019 and save you about $400.
The bluetooth phone module KCA-BT100 works well as a phone. The bluetooth interaction with the phone works very well and the phone plays well with the other applications. They all mute when the phone rings. However, the documentation that comes with it doesn't match the DDX8019 and the DX8019 documentation is slim on things like how to use the phone book. My phonebook is greyed out and there is no mention of this "feature" in either book. The manual literally says, "use your phone to transfer you contacts". The end... no more.
iPod integration is implemented extremely poorly. I listen to podcasts a lot. The podcasts are sorted alphabetically not chronologically like they are on the iPod and iTunes. So you have no idea what podcast you have already listened to unless you know the names of them. When you are watching a video podcast and turn off the car, it will not start back up. You have to leave the video podcast screen then come back. Scroll through all of you podcast and select the one you were listening to. Speaking of which, this also happens when you start the car while watching a video with the car off. There are other units out there that "survive" the starting of the car.
And this is screwy...every time you plug your iPod into the DD 8019, it turns on the "Repeat All" setting. So unless you want this feature turned on permanently, you must turn it off EVERY TIME you disconnect it from your car!
The Kenwood website is minimal. You can download the user's manual (see above) or register you unit. That's it. Also, you can't download the user manuals for the add-on units. Where are the FAQ's, software updates, etc. that come with an expensive piece of electronics like this?
The USB port is very functional if you only want to play music. However if you want to see video or photos you have to burn them to a CD/DVD. How easy would it have been to make this work for the USB too? I personally don't have a CD burner attached to my digital camera. The USB port is used to upgrade the software too and works well for that purpose (see below).
At last, an upgrade NOT!
After owning the unit for about two weeks, Kenwood posted an upgrade for the iPod interface on their website. I was excited to see this. However, it only added support for older iPods (not for newer iPods--touch and iPhone). Other than that, all of the quiks still exist.
I am at v1.0.9. The only thing I noticed is that now, I have to hit the TEL button up to four times before the telephone screen will show up. The good part is this is consistent with ALL SCREENS so it doesn't matter if you are driving down a bouncy road.
On the plus side, the upgrade process was easy and worked seemlessly. In short. This unit cost too much for the number of user interface problems. I hope there are more software upgrades in store. Kenwood should stick to amplifiers and receivers.