Reviews

I have now owned 4 JVC receivers. I have owned this one (KW-NX7000BT) for two months. This is not a chip off the ol' JVC block. This unit has many shortcomings and missing features that other decks have. The first (and most glaring/shocking) is that there is no Dual Zone support. All past JVC DVD decks, and all other decks in this class, will allow you to play a dvd for broadcast to external monitors, while you play ipod, usb, or radio over the loud speakers. (For example kids listen to dvd with headphones on rear monitor while you continue to play your music from one of the receiver's other sources while you drive) This in not included on this newer unit. Why in the world would they go away from this? All other brands support this feature still. (Kenwood, Alpine, Pioneer, Clarion) Secondly, if you receive or make a call using bluetooth, the DVD will turn off at the end of the phone call until you switch the source from bluetooth back to DVD mode. This is not a very smooth transition. It surpised me that the DVD plays during the whole call, then shuts off when you hang up your call. If you play mp3's from a hard drive or SD card, you cannot scan through titles by artist. You can only look up songs by Album name. This is very frustrating, because they give you the list of music alphabetized by band, then by album title. So even though you can't see the band's name, a band beginning with A will have all their albums listed A to Z before the list of albums for a band beginning with letter C. Accordingly, you are looking up an album in a scattered list of album names that are out of order. Scrolling through your list of albums is also very slow on SD, USB, and IPOD Previous JVC decks I owned all turned the IPOD on when you switch to IPOD mode. You could plug the IPOD in and leave it in the glove box. With this model, you must open the glove box and turn the IPOD on every time you start your car, even if you buy the JVC brand IPOD cable attachment. Finally, no matter what mode you are listening to (radio, dvd, etc.) the radio will start up the next time in the usb mode. So if you have a hard drive plugged in, it will go to that, even if you were playing a dvd when you last turned your car off. So if you want it to start in DVD mode, you must have the hard drive or thumb drive disconnected. On the positive side, the Navigation is amazingly well designed, the sound is excellent, and the unit is very easy to use, allowing you to keep your eyes on the road. The display is also vastly improved from the previous units I have owned. (Previous units had glare issues) Having been a big cheerleader of JVC decks though, I am disappointed. I expected a more polished product. This feels like a unit that was thrown on the market to meet a deadline, without providing the features and quality of their previous models. Conclusion: Even though I have had good luck with JVC and this deck seems to be good quality and value, had I known about these shortcomings, I would have broken loyalty with JVC and tried out a different brand this time around.

This unit came with map data that was over a year old. To make matters worse, it pops up a message warning me my map data is out of date every time I turn my car on, forcing me to press "ok". They put in a delay before you're allowed to press "ok", just to make sure you are annoyed enough by the message to buy the $160 map data download. This pop-up in in addition to the standard one that happens every time you turn the unit on -- warning you to keep your eyes on the road. Ironically, you have to take your eyes off the road to press "ok" to make the warning go away. Except for this, the unit is pretty good. I tried to email JVC (and NavTeq, the supplier of the map data) to get a free map update but they said no. If you have had success getting a free map update, please respond to this review to correct my comments -- I will get notified of the message and perhaps follow your instructions to get the update as well).

I researched for months to find the best DVD/Navigation unit on the market. Price was not an obstacle for me. I was just looking for the best features, ease of use, and media compatibility. I looked at the new Kenwood, Eclipse, and Pioneer systems. I spent time with each, and this unit came out on top by far. PRO's JVC has an amazing screen, movies look outstanding! It has the fastest start-up time for any of the machines I used (some took as long as 30 seconds or longer to "boot up".) Great Bluetooth (compatible with my win mobile 6.1 phone). The Nav does a great job of finding places and routing. Almost as good as Garmin. Can Bluetooth dial from POI. JVC has BY FAR the best compatibility for all media types. It will play more formats and has more input sources than any other device! UNLIKE other devices, this device WILL play DivX files from the USB device!!! So you can plug in a 250gig hard drive and load it up with all of your favorite Mp3's, and DivX movies and be able to play them at without having to change disks... ever! No other device can play DivX Videos via USB! JVC certainly is leading the way! Tons of unique extra's like programmable start-up/shut-down message. CON's Slightly less customizable than the Ken DNX9140. The unit sticks out a little more from the dash due to the removable faceplate. (neither much of a big deal to me)

I bought this unit over the 820 for the built-in nav feature.I thought this unit would control my iPhone 3G from the screen and the features page on Amazon says "iPod/iPhone Ready Add the KS-U29 cable or other JVC iPod adapters to enjoy the contents of your iPod or iPhone in your vehicle. Plug directly into the front of the stereo. The KW-NX7000BT provides full charging and video display for iPod video and iPhone. Allows full audio category and song function operation with the stereo controls." I added the cable and I do have control of my iPhone again but NOT ON THE SCREEN I have to use the iPhone screen.The unit does charge the iPhone and plays back music but NO video.After I had it installed I went over to the JVC site to see why the iPhone controls aren't on the screen and lo and behold this unit does not have that feature.Stupid me. Otherwise it is a decent deck and if JVC sends out a firmware update for the iPhone I'd give it a 5 rating.

Reviewing the JVC KW-NX7000BT head unit. I installed this unit into my 2009 Honda Accord sedan using the Scosche kit. Cosmetic Features: This unit looks great. The screen resolution is more than acceptable but it wasn't as "tight" as my Garmin Nuvi 755T. That has a really sharp display. This is by no means crap though. You can adjust the brightness, color, etc. on the unit so you can change it to your tastes. The unit has a detachable face which is great when you have an aftermarket unit with a big screen sitting in your car. I paid $699 for this unit and don't intend on having it stolen so this is a plus (although the unit does NOT come with a backstrap for securing it to the vehicle). Detaching the face is easy...there is a button labeled "Open" which allows you to open the face to insert a disc or SD card, tilt the face up or back down or detach the face. When detaching the face, the unit has a motorized face that slides the face down and out at a 45 degree angle which makes it very easy to remove from its backing plate. A padded neoprene case is provided for the face. What I liked about this unit is the "screen real estate". It's a full 7 inch touchscreen display with a few buttons on the bottom of the unit. When listening to the radio or using the nav, certain functions disappear from the touchscreen after a few seconds. To make them reappear, the unit senses your hand approaching via two sensors flanking the JVC logo on the bottom of the display. Pretty cool. You can adjust the proximity sensor to turn it off or make it so that you have to actually touch the screen to get them to appear. As other reviewers stated, you can't change the background display to your own JPEG. There are 4 types of backgrounds to use and then you can change the color of those backgrounds (red, purple, blue, etc.). The included backgrounds are acceptable. I usually have the nav map on anyway. You can dim the screen 3 levels or wire it to your illumination control so whenever your lights are on, the unit will dim. I chose to not wire it to the illumination wire because you can set a dimmer "time" on the unit. So at 4pm each day the unit will automatically dim to my preset level and then at 7am the next day, the display will be on in full brightness. There is an on-screen clock too. While on the nav, it's in the lower left corner. On the standard screens, it's in a box in the lower left corner. If you want the clock on while playing a DVD, you can do that by turning the option on in the settings menu. The startup time of this unit is VERY quick too. You get that stupid warning screen about keeping your eyes on the road each time but within 10 seconds, the OK button will illuminate and you're up and running. The volume function can be done in two ways. There are hard buttons for volume on the lower left part of the face (one button for up, one button for down) or you can just use your finger on the screen and draw a clockwise circle to turn the volume up for a counter-clockwise circle to turn the volume down. Pretty neat. DVD Features: Nothing standing out too much here. The movies look great and sound great, you can 16:9 or 4:3 movies, subtitles, etc. The remote works the functions well too. iPod Control: I purchased the JVC KS-U30 iPod A/V Cable and plainly said, it sucks. Other reviews talked about the iPod function being slow and boy is it ever. When I had my Honda factory radio installed, I had a Peripheral iPod interface that was very fast when going from one song to the next and to the next. Searching the phone book was very bad (I have about 6500 songs in my iPod) but as long as I loaded a few playlists for the music I wanted to hear, it was perfect so that's actually how I use my iPod to this date. With the JVC unit, when you start playing a song, you need to wait for the song data to load before you can go to the next song so you can't just click forward, forward, forward to skip a few songs. You'll actually have about an 8 to 10 second wait before you can do that. Searching the entire iPod isn't so bad because there is a scrollbar on the touchscreen that allows you to get through your iPod database without too much pain. The best thing you can do is set up a few playlists and access your music from there. Album art is horrible. I was actually excited about this part but after installing the unit, I'm grossly disappointed. After the song starts playing, you're not supposed to touch any controls for at least 30 seconds while the data loads. You then press the display button and the album art is displayed but it looks horrible. Album art is usually a perfect square. They've taken that perfect square and centered it on a small 16x9 shaped box. The detail isn't good enough to look at. All in all, I would not recommend using an iPod with this unit. SD Card: Instead of using my iPod, I loaded up some music on a 2GB SD card and it's awesome. You lose the ability to do repeat and random but it's FAST. Music loads within 1 second and as long as your song's ID3 tag is up to date, you can still get the artist, song name and album name on the screen (the other item that shows is the actual file name of the track so you may want to rename the files before loading them on the SD card). I'm not regretting the purchase of the KS-U30 cable because I'm sure there will be a day when a friend wants to load their iPod in my car or maybe I don't have time to load music onto my SD card so I'm glad it's there. The JVC unit has SO many features that for $39.99, you might as well get the cable so it's there when you need it for your iPod in the future. Install everything in one shot if possible. Bluetooth: Now maybe I'm a little spoiled because I had a Parrot MKi9200 Bluetooth kit before this unit but in my opinion, the Bluetooth add-in is pure crap. Installation was easy. Plug in a DIN cable and microphone...done. The sound quality seemed as if it hurt my ears. Think of a walkie-talkie. It's something like that. Callers complained of echoing on every single call. The microphone is pretty small I guess (barrel style about an inch long) but it's holder is HUGE. It's meant to be clipped onto a visor. I have my microphone mounted on the top of my steering column away from any windows so it looked huge there. In the end, I reinstalled my Parrot Bluetooth kit and I have my good sound quality back. This actually ended up being a good thing when you mix the iPod into play. There are various sources within the unit: DVD/CD, Satellite, iPod, Bluetooth, etc. I would be listening to my iPod (and remember how slow it is) and then a call would come through. The unit would completely switch sources from iPod to Bluetooth to take the call. Once the call was done, it would switch back to the iPod but now it has to do that whole reloading thing again. HORRIBLE. It doesn't just mute the music...it completely disconnects the iPod source from play. Now that I have my Parrot kit installed, it simply mutes the music and when my call is done, there is no wait to start jamming again. I would highly recommend the Parrot kit or another external kit to be used with this unit. XM Satellite Radio: I just installed the CNP2000UC and JVC CNPJVC1 connector cable. I read some mixed reviews of this unit online and I gotta say that I didn't have ANY negative experience with it. Got both items from Amazon in-stock when just about everyone else is out of stock. Since the CNP2000UC is a universal unit, you need to program it first with a computer. It comes with a proprietary USB cable. The directions did not spell out anything about the process really but luckily other people left reviews about what to do. Here it is...go to [...] and download the XM Direct 2 application. The instructions on this website said to plug in the USB cable first and install the drivers and THEN install the XM Direct 2 application. You need to install the XM Direct 2 application first which loads the driver files into a folder on your computer. When you plug in the USB cable to the unit, it won't be able to find the drivers until you point it to the C > Program Files > XM Direct 2 folder. Once I did that, the install went fine (it does flag you that it is an unsigned driver but you can install it anyway). The specs state that you have to have Windows XP but it installed perfectly on my Vista Home Premium laptop. Also, you HAVE to use Internet Explorer. It will NOT work with Firefox. Once the program and drivers are installed, just double-click the XM Direct 2 icon on your desktop and it will open an Internet Explorer webpage to download the correct firmware. Choose your manufacturer and model number and click the "Run Firmware Loader" button to begin. The entire process took less than 10 seconds. Installation into the car was simple too. The JVC CNPJVC1 connector cable requires a +12V constant and ground to be connected. The DIN cable is plugged into the head unit and there is a female DIN connector tied into the harness in case you have other things like a Bluetooth kit or CD changer...it's a pass-through cable. Install the antenna and plug it into the mini-tuner kit, then plug the mini-tuner kit into the main module. I contacted XM and had them swap my new unit in place of the Honda factory XM kit and I was up and running in about 10 minutes. What I love about this kit is that it's FAST just like the SD card. I listen to XM and my iPod a lot. The iPod part sucks but the SD card takes it's place so I'm very, very happy with this unit. When you have a unit with this many features like the NX7000 does, you don't want anything to run slow. Navigation: The unit uses Navteq maps which is fine. The layout is nice, screen looks nice and the overall function of the nav is good. Comparing it to the Garmin Nuvi 755T though, there are pros and cons. The Nuvi had A LOT of speed limit indicators that would show up on the screen. I live in a medium-sized town and most of the roads were labeled with their speed limit. I've only seen the speed limit pop up once on the JVC nav and it was on the highway which the speed limit is almost a no-brainer (most areas are 65mph but there are some 55 and 50mph areas). The best thing I like about the nav is the turn by turn audible cues. With the Garmin unit, it had a speaker but if you're playing music and traveling on the highway, you can't hear the updates. You can set the JVC to give you a pleasant tone, a quick 2-burst tone or no tone...then you can set the volume of a very smooth female voice to come on and provide the directions or turn the volume all the way down to zero so you can just follow the screen. I took a road trip with people to a place I had never been to and it worked like a charm. While the other 3 people were talking loudly, I was able to hear my turn cues and get to the destination easily. This is nice too when you're on a long road trip and get in the "zone"...the audible cues ensure that you don't miss your turn. This one feature...the audible cues over my car's speakers...makes the change from Garmin to the JVC nav all worth it. Your current speed is a function in the nav but not on the main screen like the Nuvi. No big deal...that's what the speedometer on the dash is for so I really don't think it needs to be there. You can save a bunch of favorite locations in the nav, choose from previous ones, rename them, set a home location, etc. The standard set of GPS functions are included in the unit. Searching the POIs was easy too but my only gripe is that the search comes back with the alphabetical listing which could mean that the first option at the top of the list is 300 miles away. You need to press a button on the screen for Distance and then you can find what is close to you. No huge deal but I would hope that could be changed in the future. JVC has a Nav Update website available ([...]) and the 2009 map update was released on 12/22/09. What's nice about Navteq is that they tell you what's included in the update. I didn't see anything for my area so I won't buy it. What's bad is the the map updates are expensive at $139 a piece. Garmin map updates are around $70 but then again, they don't tell you what's included in the update so in the end, I guess I'd rather spend $139 knowing that the updates WILL make sense for me instead of paying $70 to Garmin not knowing what I am getting. I am still a huge Garmin fan (I've had the Nuvi 660 and Nuvi 755T) and I'm happy to say that this GPS in the JVC unit is great. I don't feel like I'm losing anything without the Garmin. I would definitely recommend this nav. Sound: I used a PAC OEM-2 factory sound system interface for my unit since I have the factory 275-watt stereo so I'm not really using the internal JVC amp. The sound is better then the Honda factory unit because a 7-band EQ is included. There are a number of standard EQ presets like Rock, Pop, etc. but you can also set 3 user presets. The EQ presets (including the user ones) are accessible from the main screen. Just press the square on the left side of the screen and there is an EQ icon. Each time you press the icon, it goes through the EQ preset list. Steering Wheel Control: I installed the PAC SWI-JACK steering wheel control unit and it works good. There is a slight delay when pressing the volume up or channel up buttons but it's no big deal. I wasn't able to program my Mode button to change the source but with so many sources, that could be the reason why I can't. Also, the Channel up and down button on my steering wheel will take you forward or back on tracks (no fast forward or rewind) while listening to the iPod or SD card, will take the XM station through its station presets up or down but when listening to the radio, it works like a Seek button. Again, no big big deal but it's a difference. Honda Accord Scosche Kit: This is a really nice kit. I bought this from Amazon for around $40 while Crutchfield was charging around $70 for the same kit. The texture of the kit is slightly "rougher" than the factory piece it replaced but it doesn't look out of place. The color (grey) is also just a touch lighter than the factory piece but since nothing else around it with the same color butts up to this unit, it's not bad. It's more of a complimentary color. The unit fills up the whole double-DIN opening. When mounted normally, the unit sticks out a little more than I like because of it's detachable face (about a 1/8th inch past the bezel). It definitely made it look like an aftermarket unit. I ended up moving the unit back in the brackets a bit and I had to cut out a little plastic on the front lip of the kit using a Dremel tool so that the motorized face would still work but in the end, it's recessed about a 1/8th inch and looks custom and integrated (aka - factory). When the face is installed, you can't see the part I cut but you can when I remove the face but if the face is removed, that means I'm not in the car so I don't care what that looks like. Backup Camera: I didn't get the JVC backup camera made for this unit (mainly because they were out of stock) so I went for an Advent license plate mountable unit. It works good. When you shift into reverse, the camera automatically comes onto the screen. For normal backing up I don't really look at it but if I'm backing into a parking spot, it's pretty nice to have and the 7" screen gives me the best picture possible. All in all, it's a great unit. I didn't give it 5 stars because of the poor Bluetooth unit but everything else is great. You get a TON of features for such a low price point. Definitely a recommended unit.

Reviews

I have owned this unit for a few months now. This is a very solid unit. I haven't experienced any glitchy behavior like lock ups and everything works pretty much the way it should. I have a 16GB SD card loaded into the unit that is filled with MP3s (JVC does not list the unit as SDHC compliant but it is). It is a no frills unit though. Screens cannot be customized and look very plain when you are just using the AUX input. No Bluetooth audio streaming, no upgrade path to HD Radio (if that matters to you), and DVD playback is stereo only. DVDs look and play just fine, though I rarely use that function. The unit loads up very quickly though, routes are calculated very fast, and the everything is laid out so simple there is really no need to even read the manual. No problems with Bluetooth; people I talk to report they can hear me just fine. I just have to figure out how (if possible) to get the unit to display the caller's name. Right now it only displays the incoming phone number. Since I don't memorize all of my contacts' numbers, I may not know who is calling. And yes, I did transfer my contacts to the unit. I wish the built in crossover had a little more flexibility, but that is to be expected for a unit like this. It powered my factory speakers just fine (much better than the factory unit), but I eventually disabled the built in amp when I upgraded speakers and added an external amp. Make sure you ground the parking brake wire to get full functionality when driving. This head unit has a detachable face. Not too many double DIN Nav units like this have it and it is one of the reasons I went with this unit. The only real shortcoming I feel this unit has is the volume control. It is touch sensitive and the area where you control up and down is really small. It will not work if you are wearing gloves. It will take time to get used to it while driving (trying to keep eyes on the road) as you initially fumble around trying to find it. It is further obstructed if you plug in a USB flash drive. I eventually ditched my drive and went with a SD card. I'm okay with the volume now. Lastly, you can use any composite video source with the front A/V input. Just buy a cheap iPod or Zune A/V cable with a 1/8" minijack. Next spring I am going to add a back up camera. Overall, I like this unit a lot and really have no major complaints.

I have had the JVC stereo for about a month. Installed it myself in a Ford truck. All that was needed was a wiring harness (recommended) and a dash kit. Bought both of them at alocal electronics store for about $40. Took about an hour to wire everything and about an hour to install in the dash, run the GPS and Bluetooth cables. EASY! Unit fired right up and works like a charm. GPS is better than in my Lincoln! Love the DVD player. All features can be used while driving if you ground the emergency brake wire coming from the unit, however illegal in places. Haven't noticed a volume control problem like I read about in other reviews. Only wish it had a remote control.

I have an iPhone and therefore no phonebook in the kw-nt1. The kw-nt1 will not download a phonebook via bluetooth. The phonebook needs to be uploaded which is something the iPhone does not do. I didn't have this problem with previous radios. This would not be so bad if I could manually add phonebook entries into the kw-nt1 but there is no option for that. So basically, I have no idea who is calling unless I know the number and unless I know the number I can not call anyone. I have to make calls with the iPhone and then choose the kw-nt1 as the output. The microphone is a disappointment. My calls are short because no one wants listen to the echo or my voice clipping in and out. I've had much better mics in the past. There are no Nav map updates. Crazy. There are 6 million POIs but the ones I'm looking for are not in there. I use my iPhone Where app to find the address and then plug the address into the kw-nt1. Disappointing. You can add new POI with the Street Director Assistant. This is a horrible application. Search for the same thing twice and you get different results. I was also surprised to find that NY State only has 10 bars. I thought there would have been more. Use it and you'll see. If you do find your POI, you can add it to the SD card (only up to 99 POIs on the card). You then need to put the card into the kw-nt1 and leave it there. It does not copy the new POIs over. Disappointing. Also logistically, it's kind of silly. How do I know what POI needs to be added to the card until I already need it? Maybe I just need to browse through the 6 million to see if everything I want is there. Disappointing. Playing music for my iPhone is ok. The interface is a little clunky (compared to the iPhone) but very usable. My only complaint is it takes 5 seconds to load the album art. During which time, you can not move to another song. And it does this for ever song even if it is in the same album and already has the art work. It does not offer HD radio. The button colors are blue and do not change to match your dash. Disappointing. With all this said, it's still one of the best options out there (sadly). I haven't found any truly spectacular radio. They all have major flaws. It so happens that I can live with the kw-nt1s flaws balanced by it's pluses (detachable face, fast route calculation, iPhone music control, bluetooth and nav are integrated, steering wheel controls module, fast boot speed). Most of the flaws can probably be fixed in firmware updates. JVC does not list any future firmware release dates so who knows. It would be great if they made it open source. Then we could fix it all ourselves. One last thing, the firmware version that came with the radio did not work with the iPhone. I had to upgrade to the latest version before I could play music.

Well initially I was very impressed with the JVC KW-NT1, if you're staying put and don't plan to travel then I highly recommend it. On the flip side, if you're in a position where you want to take your car to another continent, or to a place on the same continent, that isn't included in the somewhat lacking map set, don't bother buying this. Simple reason, really. Unlike most Satelite Navigation these days, the JVC KW-NT1's map database can't be added to or altered. You have the maps that come with the system, and nothing more. I recently decided to buy one and while having the cool facade, it sadly is very, very lacking. In short, you won't have a clue where you're headed, but on the plus side you'll be able to listen to european radio stations because the tuner can switch ranges quite easily. So, at least you'll have music while you fumble around with your A1 paper map. :) Biggest waste of money I've had the pleasure of dealing with.

Vehicle Installed: 2009 Subaru Impreza STI REVIEW: I was hesitant to make this purchase, because of the lack of reviews on the KW-NT1. For this reason, I am going to go in depth with my experience. The software is fairly intuitive to understand. After the install, it took about 5 minutes to configure GPS/bluetooth and familiarize with software. A great feature is the SD card slot -- what this means for me is no more CD clutter in the car; no more hooking up IPODS/MP3 players, laptops. I bought an 8 gig SD card - transfered all my music to the SD card, and it pops right into the back of the face plate. I'll never have to change a CD again. All artist/song names are displayed on screen and it is easy to navigate through them. Install Details: 90 minutes. mostly soldering wires for permanent connections. It fit PERFECTLY into the dash in my 2009 Subaru Impreza. Tips - be very careful removing the bezel. The plastic clips are very stiff in most cars - just don't use metal to pry off the dash trim. I removed all the cages and mounting brackets from the KW-NT1, and transfered screwed on the two brackets from the OEM stereo from the Subaru. The holes on the JVC matched up perfectly in height and depth to the Subaru dash. I mounted the GPS antenna under the front of the dash, which i could easly reach once the OEM stereo was removed. Satalite reception is fine under the dash. I removed the front curtain airbag cover and wired up the bluetooth mic next to where the driver sun visor bolts on. As far as receotion - if I talk loud, it is difficult to understand me. At normal talking volume - the other end can hear perfectly. As far as bluetooth pairing - it pairs up no problem with my HTC-Tilt phone, automacally when I enter the car. I dont have to manually push any buttons. Additional hardware purchased: METRA 95-8902 (COMBO) double din kit + Harness. All the harness wires are labeled, so you know exactly what wires to connect to the JVC harness. Recommendations: Go to dealer and ask a mechanic to pop off bezel surrounding the radio. I can't think of anything negative to say. I have used OEM GPs units in many different cars, and have had aftermarket ones - this is by far the best. The only thing that didn't connect flawlessly - the connection to the antenna for FM/AM radio is different than the connection on the KW-NT1, so I have to find an adaptor. [...]