Planet 9

I can't decide on the a Navi unit and was hoping those with the ones I have listed could weigh in.

Need: iphone/ipod music, navigation with text to speech, touch screen, Bluetooth phone, storage based nav, phone book upload
Nice: Voice command, full 7" screen, traffic, DVD movie
Extras: USB and SD, reverse tilt screen, 5.1, 5V preouts, HD radio

Having a Boxster, I am not sure how reasonible handsfree bluetooth is with the top down, any owners here use it?

Kenwood 9140 - Full featured but the voice command is not "free speech"
Pioneer Z110BT - New and looks like everything I need but I hear the Pioneer handsfree bluetooth is terrible
Pioneer X910BT - New unit with 3.0 software but why not just get a F90BT and get the 3.0 software for $70 more? Unit is under $700 online right now. Only drawback is the screen is slightly smaller.

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I'm in the same boat as you, looking at the Kenwood units due to the Garmin GPS used inside of them. Was waiting to see if voice on the 9140 is worth it, but may end up going with something like the 6140 instead. I don't need high end audio in my car...especially considering it has Bose speakers as the weakest link

Emperor,
Sorry to be off topic. I think I have told you this before, but I will say it again. That is THE BEST looking Boxster.....EVER.

WOW. I love the wheels. I am so tempted to get a set of those for my black CS.

What brand and model?

BTW, I have a Garmin portable for my CS and really like it a lot.

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Kevin
2007 Cayman S........SOLD.

Nevermind...I went through your gallery and found the information.

http://www.planetporsche.net/members...14-wheels.html

NICE!

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Kevin
2007 Cayman S........SOLD.

You may want to consider the new Pioneer X910 of X710. It sounds like the Pioneer voice command is better than the Kenwood. Too many options. I like the idea of getting the car and driving away, then yelling the directions to the nav. My wife's 08 Merc C350 has the command system and it is dam near perfect.

I might be swaying towards to the Kenwood 9140 since the price dropped to $1300, I really want the voice command and I am sure the Parrot BT is good....I hope.

ARCuhTEK
Thanks for the compliments, bunch of pics in my gallery and in the Boxster pics forum under SF photo shoot. Wheels are Forgestar F14 19x8.5 and 19x10 with Nitto Invo 285/30. Your Champion's look good too!

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I would go to your local car stereo place and try out the interface as well. See how you scroll through the songs, how fast the response is, etc. I wasn't too fond of the Kenwood ipod interface in the store, but I haven't seen the pioneer units to make a comparison.

There is an older Rides That Rock radio episode on this subject in our library.

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K-Man S

I have the Pioneer F900BT and really like it. It is a slightly slower boot than some, but the 3.0 patch (which puts it near the new X series) is going to fix that.

The bluetooth works really well. It cancels out noise after establishing the connection, so most people say they can hear me very well. I have the mic mounted in the top of the pillar near the top/left corner of the windshield.

The navigation is very good (uses iGo which is used by many cell phones and other systems). I like the fact you can customize it quite a bit (if you don't mind hacking into it) the spash screen is standard picture updates and then the others are image hacks into the resource files. You can even change the icon to your car driving (see the red cayman in the pictures below) if you are daring enough.

Anyways - let me know if you have any questions on the pioneer unit the new X series is suppose to be very similiar to the F900BT and F90BT.

Thanks,
Ben

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Daremoshiranai
You are probably right, I just like doing as much research as I can online first including real world users.

Ken,
Thanks, first I have never ventured into that section before.

Ben,
Thanks for detailed response. I have been reading the Avic411 forums for information and I stumbled on the new kenwood forum too. It appears the 9140 has issues too such as slow track changes with album art. Looks like nothing out there is truly bug free, ahh the world of software . Do you use the voice command function at all? How useful is it?

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I don't use it for the iPod so I haven't noticed any of the reported issues. Switching between folders of mp3s on the dvd, usb stick or sd card is fast, but I've heard about slow responses for the iPod - especially the VR catalog.

The only times I use the voice commands is for the phone (dialing and talking on it). It does a decent job and can easily switch audio sources for it. it doesn't have voice commands for the mp3s on the other medians, just the full support for the iPod voice commands to do "play artist blah..."

good luck on your venture - it definitely isn't perfect, but fits my needs well. Really depends on what features are the most important to you and finding the right unit that fits those needs.

One thing I can say is going w/ the aftermarket face improved the sound plus package and stock sound drastically!

Thanks,
Ben

I really like the way this looks! I went to a local (well known with a good rep.) audio shop and looked at this system, and liked it.

Is the trim piece you have around the radio the one being sold on ebay? If so, what do you think of the quality? I assume it is injection molded and not a fabricated piece of junk?

Regarding price, they quoted me $1,100 for the system and $150 install. When I got home I checked Amazon.com and the same radio is $657. Wow, what a difference. I called the shop and asked them why such a big price gap they said, "we charge a little more because we warranty everything for life". Huh? Anyway, if there's an alternative to the ebay trim piece I'd love to know about it.

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John

I think it's the one on ebay, but I bought it directly from the company:
Euro Motorspeed Home Page

They actually have a new batch of painted bezels that they say match better than the one I have. I will be sending just the bezel part back to get it redone. The only issue I have is that it doesn't match 100% - but it is pretty close. When you compare the top trim peice to the radio, it's not that noticable, but you do notice it when you just look at the radio trim and a/c trim. The seem pretty well made.

That price seems a little high, especially since the new models just came out that replace that one. The install price seems very reasonable though - especially if they run the mic, usb to center console, gps under the wiper area (not on the dash), and illum light wire.

I ended up getting it off amazon and installing myself. It's really not that difficult if you have installed radios before. The hardest part is if you want to run the illum since you have to run it to the back taillight (which I didn't yet).

Feel free to contact me w/ any ?s you have...

~Ben

Ben, thanks for the info bud. I would rather install it myself but unfortunately I'm not good with electronics. I hate the idea of people taking apart my car! Wish you lived close by as I would ask you to help me, lol.

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John

Question for you guys with knowledge in this area...

I have the premium stereo (non-Bose). Seems what's missing from it is a little more bass. Will adding the Pioneer unit make the system sound better alone or should I add an amplifier and sub as the audio shop advised? The price of the amp/sub combo was another $1,400 for a good set up.

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John

The aftermarket head unit helps a lot. I, too, was going from the premium speaker package (w/out bose but extra speakers) and from a CDR-24 head unit, and was considering the same thing.

The sound is A LOT better than the stock head unit. the lows have a little better sound to them, but it's not the improvement that the is noticed on the mids/highs.

It really depends on what you are looking far, but would definitely be worth considering. I didn't get it right away, still looking for the right enclosure/location for it.

One thing to consider is getting the wires in a location that it could easily be added later (w/out removing the head unit) and doing it in steps. for example - getting pre-outs and the amp-on wire ran to the kick/panel/etc and talk to the how muich the price difference is if you decided to do it later.

BTW - where are they thinking of mounting the sub for that price - what's the setup like?

Thanks,
Ben

Where did you get you bezel to surround the unit? and the color match looks pretty close

Euro Motorspeed Home Page

it matches pretty well. They say they have another batch that actually matches better though.

~Ben

I'm thinking of pulling the trigger on the Pioneer F900BT, and buying the Din Kit from Euro Motorspeed. Can anyone recommend a shop in Central NJ that does Porsches? The place I had it quoted has a good rep, but they told me they've done only one Porsche (non-Cayman) in the past. Think I should be concerned?

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John

It wasn't that hard of a job, so I wouldn't be too concerned (if the shop generally has a good reputation). The only thing that I would suggest a shop that hasn't done a porsche before is agree up front where the GPS should be mounted. The stock GPS antenna goes under the wiper plastic area (through the firewall and into the front trunk. There is plenty of room towards the customer side under the plastic where the wiper are. this hides it completely rather than having it mounted on the dash/etc...

The other thing to check out is avic411.com. They have a lot of nice hacks for the f900bt which speeds it up a lot. One example is a pre-3.0 firmware patch which I applied about a week ago and is much, much better.

Of course I hope some others comment besides just me here

~Ben

Here are the photos of the new kit.

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