JVC KW-NX7000 Review, Part II: Media & Expandability

Audio and Video Media Support
The JVC KW-NX7000 presents itself to be a versatile unit because not only does it have excellent navigation functionality that even the most novice users could enjoy, but it also offers full support for audio and video playback. Take advantage of the crystal clear 7" LCD screen and turn your vehicle into a home theater system.The KW-NX7000 is capable of playing all sorts of DVDs and even DivX/DivX Ultra, MPEG1, and MPEG2 file formats. In addition, you could even display your favorite photos to show your friends and family riding in your car because it is also capable of JPEG display. Besides full video playback, the KW-NX7000 features AAC, WAV, MP3, and WMA playback support as well.

The wide variety of supported media formats could be accessed via SD Card, USB, CD, or DVD, allowing consumers maximum flexibility in the way they play their favorite music or movie.

Expandability
JVC designed the KW-NX7000 with technology in mind. There are many current technologies that consumers would like to have today such as Satellite Radio, HD Radio, Bluetooth, and iPod connectivity. Fortunately, the KW-NX7000 is capable of all of these expansion options.

This double DIN in dash navigation unit is also fully capable of receiving both Sirius and XM Satellite radio as well as HD Radio. With additional accessories, the unit could also operate as a Bluetooth-capable receiver, allowing drivers to do hands-free calling. The Bluetooth connectivity could also sync phonebooks with many Bluetooth-capable phones. The unit will then display not only call status but also the caller ID. For iPod users, the unit fully supports direct iPod connection and access for most current dockable iPods through its built-in USB port.

As we mentioned before, the unit also features not only a USB port but also an SD Card reader-- a feature that could be used to transfer music, photos, and even video from other sources to the KW-NX7000. If you're looking to expand your car's audio system, the KW-NX7000 features gold-plated high-fidelity RCA preamp outputs that delivers high quality audio signals to amplifiers or equalizers.

Conclusion
From what we've seen, we liked the JVC KW-NX7000. It featured lots, and lots of options and functions. Its GPS navigation offers great user-friendly features as well as excellent driving tools. It is capable of playing virtually every audio and video file formats out there so consumers wouldn't have to worry much about compatibility. It also had lots of expandability options, ranging from Satellite Radio to Bluetooth capabilities.The only thing we didn't like was its really high price. Priced at around $1200, this feature packed unit doesn't even feature a built-in Bluetooth-- a feature that becoming increasingly standard.

Back to Part I: Navigation & Display

JVC KD-NXD505 In-Dash Navigation Review (KDNXD505)

The JVC KD-NXD505 is another JVC 2008 release that features plenty of multimedia playback functions and compatibility while not forgetting to include an excellent built-in in-dash navigation.

Pros
The built-in navigation unit features a 15-channel GPS receiver with nearly 13 million points of interests. This shows us that the JVC KD-NXD505 is a great improvement from JVC's previous stand-alone navigation that only featured 1-5 million points of interest with 6-10 channel GPS receiver. The combination of the two will provide users a good navigating experience, being able to lock on to 15 individual orbital GPS satellites. This will allow the unit to stay within the coverage of satellites. In addition, the GPS receiver is WAAS-capable, which is the same technology that most modern aviation uses to increase accuracy of location indicated by the GPS, integrity of providing early warning in the case of misleading data, and availability of GPS coverage. Along with 13 million points of interest, the JVC KD-NXD505 is likely to have your favorite places to eat, hang out, go shopping, and even fill up gas.

The navigation unit could also receive radio-based traffic messaging system that will alert users of slow traffic, accidents, and other obstructions that may cause traffic jams or detours, giving drivers plenty of early-warning to reroute their path.

The media playback of this already impressive in-dash receiver is capable of DVD and DivX video playback with MP3, WAV, and WMA audio playback support. It has a nice range of adjustments in its EQ options, offering 7 parametric bands you could twiddle around with and even supports 5.1 Dolby Digital and DTS output from movies. What's even better is its built in 40GB hard disk that has 20GB reserved for the built-in navigation but could hold up to 20GB of audio or video files that you can access anytime after storage.

It also features gold-plated preamp outputs for all of you audiophiles out there, providing minimal signal-loss when connecting to an aftermarket audio system. The unit is ready for expansion, capable (with additional accessories) of receiving Sirius or XM Satellite radio, Bluetooth hands-free technology, and even the control and access of an iPod.

The front panel looks impressive and very clean, with a much more modern up-to-date look than JVC's predecessors. It even includes a remote and a GPS antenna extension that will assist in receiving better signal.

Cons
What we didn't like was the incredibly high price for this unit. It looks attractive and could do a lot, but it didn't strike us as a unit that is above and beyond the rest of the competition. Everything seems standard and even the screen seems smaller than most of today's in-dash navigation units, measuring only 3.5" diagonal.

The integration of the unit looks nice, but we just can't get over the price, that is set at around $1000. Maybe it's the built-in hard drive that costs the most?

Jensen NVXM1000 (Rock N Road) Review

It is truly a pleasant surprise to see Jensen make it in the GPS navigation competition, but are their products worth the buzz? Debuting this quarter, the NVXM1000, AKA “Rock-N-Road” is a portable GPS navigation device with lots of rare features.
You’ll notice its screen is the standard portable GPS size, measuring at 4”. It is an LCD touchscreen display and it is capable of displaying both maps and digital media information. The colors and contrast depth is pretty average, and not enough to impress. There’s just something about the color. It’s not bad, but it has rather that dull look. From our experience, un-contrasting colors and less sharp images on portable navigation devices tend to be hard to see in direct sunlight. This may be quite problematic for those who travel often during rush hour when the sun is right in the line of sight of the navigation device.

However, with that put aside, the NVXM1000 does present itself well with several interesting and useful features. You’ll notice that on its left side it has two slots: one for an SD Card undoubtedly, but one for another similarly-shaped port that’s slightly bigger. This larger port is for an XM Radio mini tuner, which acts much like an SD Card. The mini-tuner is sold separately, but to have this feature means that you instantly have the option to having an XM radio in your vehicle, or wherever you go, thanks to this XM Satellite radio ingenuity. This means that users will have 170 XM channels as well as XM NavTraffic—a feature that allow drivers to check local real-time traffic reports.

The navigation unit is a NavTeq based system with over 11 million points of interest. It has maps of the United States as well as Canada. However, we are a little bit concerned of its processor. The Rock-N-Hard navigation unit only features a 300MHz Atlas II processor. In our experience anything slower than 400MHz tends to perform sluggishly and would frustrate drivers in busy locations such as metropolitan areas. In addition, for a unit that boasts 11 million POIs in 8GB of internal hard drive space, it only features a 64MB RAM. So now you have a slow processor, with a ton of things to do and display.

Another bad aspect of the NVXM1000 is its awkward shape. It’s not a great symmetrical design, and makes mounting a harder task, especially for those of us who wish to have a more integrated look in our vehicles.
The NVXM1000 Rock-N-Road has great concept ideas, but needs to implement these ideas with better components and features. It’s also a bit expensive for its bulkiness. Its design appear to have come from the 1990s and doesn’t present itself to be impressive.