Im looking to replace my Pioneer D2 for my IS300. I am stuck between these three. They can all be found for about the same price range $400-$500.

Pioneer AVIC D3
Eclipse AVN 5510
Kenwood DNX-5120 (I hear this one starts up slower)

Thanks in advance! Also I will be using my iphone to listen to music most of the time.

 

i like eclipse since it's same software as the Lexus Navi cars

 

I have the Kenwood DNX-5140

Main reason I went with this unit was the price.

Performance is very good.

Here are the negatives.

Don't get me wrong the deck still rocks and the positives are many.

Slow Startup. yes. I would say about 30sec to hear the music.

Ipod integration good but not great. When you restart the car it still plays your current selection but you are no longer in the menu tree (playlist) where you were so you have to navigate from top back down to your playlist. annoying.

When you restart your car your Ipod video is no longer playing (if you were parked and playing an Ipod video before you shut down) you are now playing MP3 music from your IPOD. There is quite a bit difference in volume between video and MP3 so now your blasting the first alphabetical song in you IPOD at max volume instead of the IPOD movie you were watching. Very annoying. (not a problem when playing back movies from DVD)

USB stick is slow and annoying don't use it or useless. Tried a 4GB San Disk and a small USB hard drive. Very slow navigation and playback. If you have a mix CD that transitions from song to song you have a small pause between tracks. (this is not an issue when playing back MP3s from IPOD or DVD/CD)

Horrible menu navigation and EQ. Impossible to find or adjust something without pulling over and searching for minutes.

only two sets of RCA outs. Front Rear. (Dnx9140 has three front,rear,sub)
important if you are running multiple amps and would like to adjust SUB output from the deck.

NO DIVX! (DNX9140 has DIVX support) this is horrible my $40 home DVD player has DIVX support. And the DNX5140 has DIVX support in ASIA. NO firmware flash for the US unit to support DIVX. Must burn your own DVDs.

Smaller screen (DNX9140 has bigger screen) price is double also.

Anyway don't let me totally discourage you from this unit.

the NAV is great Garmin and you can easily load custom POI (like red light cameras right from a burned CD or DVD) (I use nav twice a year)

The difference in sound quality is amazing coming from the factory head unit with line level converters to this thing. (the deck does sound good) it just takes a lot of time to setup the EQ. I almost tempted to throw an EQ in the ash tray.

see my post (towards the bottom) here on the DNX-5140.
https://www.clublexus.com/forums/lex...ring-help.html

good luck with you decision.

IPhone works great via the USB connection or bluetooth.

comments on the other units you mentioned.

The eclipse has a motorized 7" LCD. (i would be worried about this motor going out after a few years) might not be an issue for you depending on the length you plan to keep the car. the bigger screen is definitely a big plus.

The pioneer has navi on CD/DVD meaning you have to keep swapping CD/DVD to program NAV.
also reported bugs about IPOD Video not playing correctly.

 

save up and get the AVIC-Z110BT