Reviews

I purchased this for the bluetooth feature, mainly. It worked great for a bit ,then failed to pair. I was able to get it paired and I'm fairly satisfied with it since the separate BT module is much more costly... I have high hopes for the sw update that is coming soon to fix the outdated info on restaraunts and rural streets/areas. Have always loved Alpine, but they seem to be slipping; nonetheless, I hang on to this along with my W505 and "module (aftermarket)" to allow me to watch movies... overall.. get reviews on the update and if you are buy for the bluetooth, ask around first. It works fine overall, but if I could go back and do it again, I would NOT have purchased this unit together with the w505. Feel free to comment or ask first hand at (...)

I would say about 3 years old navigation unit with no software or drivers to link to your computer for updates and no online support via Alpines website for the product makes this a hard option to buy. Its around the same price as a handy garman but with the hiccups of not being able to update the NVE-P1 software. I'm sure there are other kinks I'll discover along the way.

I bought this unit to add to my Alpine IVA-W505 which was the best Alpine head unit at the time. I'm very disappointed with the quality!!!! The graphics are worse than the original Nintendo!! Map information is from several years ago and no updates are yet available. The nav system crashes and resets itself often. And if you plan on traveling out of town it takes forever to load guidance info. It does work as a basic nav system but it really cheapens the look of your 1000 plus dollar head unit. If you have the money buy Alpine's dvd nav set up or if your on a budget get a standalone garman you'll be much happier!!

The idea behind this is great. You can either use this or the Blackbird. I went with this unit because I heard a LOT of problems with the Blackbird. This navigation is pretty easy to use and pretty accurate. My one complaint about this is that if you miss a turn, or decide to take your own route for a portion, the navigation will continuously try and reroute you BACK to the missed turn. This goes on for many miles, rather than just rerouting you AHEAD. But I am very happy with the ease of use. You can see the directions in list form and change the method (shortest route, highways, etc) while driving. The Bluetooth works pretty well too. No complaints there. But for some reason my address book couldn't be uploaded in full. It would take 75 entries then stop. Alpine offered NO help with this.

Reviews

I bought this along with my KVT-512 a while back and have been using it for a couple months. I refuse to use ANY other GPS system than Garmin because it is the only one that has not failed me. The install is so simple. When I opened the box and found a bunch of loose end wires I got scared but after looking closer I saw how easy it would be. It took about 45 minutes from the the time I opened the box to the time I was testing it out. The hardest part was finding a place to put the navigation unit as I wanted it to be completely hidden away. I ran the antenna under the dash panel as close to the front of the windshield as I could so that nobody would be able to tell I had GPS. The unit is very responsive and I have no signal problems under there. The navigation screen is slightly lower resolution than that of the portable units but it is very easy to read and customizable. Start up time is great and the price of this unit is pretty good in my opinion. So just to sum it up and maybe add a few things: Pros: Easy to install Seamless integration Very responsive Good price Garmin is the best navigation product I have ever used Cons: Slightly lower resolution screen (may be my head unit) Overall I am very very impressed with this product. I use it all the time and it rarely has any issues navigating me to my destination, only on extremely remote and brand new roads.

I was planning to upgrade my stereo in my Jeep Grand Cherokee along with installing some component speakers and ran into this nifty add-on to the Kenwood head unit I bought. I'm not great with cars so I brought it in to have professionals install this along with the headunit, the KVT-614. Since then I've tested this GPS unit many times and played around with most of the features. I have to say that this add-on GPS is on par with some of the comparable $700 Garmin standalone GPS units. It is very accurate, and if you have the WAAS turned on, it will locate your position within 5 feet. There are many common features you would find on a typical Garmin unit, such as road avoidance (tollway, highway, small roads, etc.) and Food and Hotel searches. The turn by turn instructions are dead on, by which I mean they give you a voice confirmation at just the right time for you to make your move. It works harmoniously with the KVT-614 head unit; you can switch between controlling the GPS and controlling your ipod with a press of a button and the touch screen works flawlessly with address or word input. The only gripe I have with this GPS, as well as other Garmin GPS, is that the search function usually only works for restaurants and hotels. I have two other Garmins at around the $600 range and they do the same thing. What I mean is that they can locate restaurants and hotels near you, but will not always search for other things. I've tried searching for local schools, IKEA, and several other non-food/hotel related places and the GPS just will not find it through the search function. The only way for you to get direction to these places is to first find the address of the place you want to go, and then inputing it into the GPS. Definitely update the maps if you can, but buying them from Garmin will cost an additional $99. I would highly recommend this unit if you are going for Kenwood stereos that do not have GPS built in. If you won't be using the search function all that much, then it should give you no problems. Never get lost again with this accurate hideaway GPS unit, you won't be disappointed!

This is an awesome nav unit, with all the quality and expectation that comes with the Garmin name. For even more praise, please see the other reviews (above). =) However, if using it with the Kenwood KVT-719DVD head unit, please know that you cannot access the navigation screen via the main menu "NAV" button; you must use the "V" button to cycle over to the navigation screen. This can be VERY frustrating as I have yet to find this tidbit anywhere in official Kenwood literature. Thankfully, I found a thread from an installation forum where someone else had the same difficulty (I actually almost returned the unit thinking it was unresponsive!). If you've had the same problem, I hope this helps!

Overall good device. I would advise any customer to inquire about where to get the correct usb cord for upgrading the maps on the device. Even though you can use an sd card to upgrade the maps. It can be quite annoying going back to your car and inserting the sd card seeing that the update didn't work.

I have been using this new Kenwood Nav system for months now and it works great everywhere I go.

Reviews

I GPS unit from my husband last Christmas, 2009. I used it only a few times. It would really get hung up on country roads. After 6 1/2 months and using it only a few times, the GPS battery exploded in my NEW car!!!! The entire extend of damage to the interior of my car is not yet determined... The unit is still covered by a 1yr warranty. We'll see how Alpine addresses the issue...

I liked the look and features of this unit. Real life use though for about 9 mos has really jaded me on this nav unit. It continually takes me way out of the "way" going to destinations. Restraunts in Huntsville Alabama, well lets just say over 3/4 of them were no longer operating, OR not where the nav unit said they were. Took me to wrong airport once. Totally unacceptable performance. My friends $99 Nuvi is tons better. We only use that now on trips. My Alpine sits in the glove box :(. I tried to update it tonight thinking maybe they put out a fix. No dice. Must be too hard to fix all the faults of this POS.

This unit is a great buy if you're looking not to spend too much and get great features. Pros: Nice size screen Screen looks pretty good in bright sun Volume is EXCELLENT Bluetooth pairs easily and transfers your phone agenda (I have a BB) Mapping is made by NAVTEQ so its great. Maps include entire US, P.R. CAN and US Virgin Island in case you travel It plays MP3's just by inserting a SD card COMES with A/C Charger (almost every other GPS does NOT) LANE ASSIST is built IN! Price is great Cons: Screen may sometimes mistype, (make sure you calibrate screen) Cradle is a little bit bulky (does not impear your vision) Battery life is not the great Cradle should be separate from charging base Bottom line: Excellent purchase for the price and truly recommended.

i 've had three nuvi two for my cars and one for my rv. each one of them takes an exorbitant time to hook up with sattelites; that's why i just bought the low end of the alpine line. my wife's built-in alpine hooks up immediateley. I don't want another nuvi ALTHOUGH it did have just about everything i could want. but it was too quiet. now i'm waiting for the alpine. the drawback here is that it does not have a homecharger. i have so many charger that i don't want another one. i'll just use one of the old ones. can anyone help me on this? ron rgalleg1@san.rr.com

Pros Price - Very Solid and functional GPS. Good screen and easy to use. Acquires Sat Signal typically in 30 seconds or less. Bluetooth works fine with my phone however no address book transferred. It does seem to handle calls well. Clear and Loud enough on both ends. Fairly intuitive to use. Intuitive typing is a real plus. Windshield mount is solid and well built Again, for the price, cant go wrong. No much more than some spend on Map updates on other models. Called Cust Service before purchase. Quickly got to a rep . Talked generally about the PND-K3. Said it is a current model that will continue to be supported. Cons Battery? Not sure. Will typically have it plugged in. Routes? Not always the best routes if you know where you are going. Not bad routes but not always the absolute best. Some missing POI's but haven't noticed any missing streets. I have played around with all aspects of the GPS. It is fairly intuitive, but the best way to learn is just by playing and touching the screens in various places.Plugged it in to my computer and it found a software update. No problems. Installed fine. Having used other GPS, it seems that they all calculate some routes that you may disagree with. Again, if you don't know where you're going, the routes seem fine. No routes were just totally wrong. Most GPS use the same mapping company so I imaging the routes and POI's are similar. One poster mentioned that the voice was too low to hear. There are 2 audio settings. One is in Audio settings the other is thru up and down buttons on the top of the unit. My guess is that the other poster did not use the buttons as the voice is loud and clear when turned up. At half volume it is very low. I did not get the MSM version although after the update and MSM icon appeared. Sure that this could accept MSM with and add-on. Noticed other expert reviews that were good. But there biggest drawback was the initial price. Would imagine that it would be rated very high based on today's price