Command or Kenwood DDX8207

[Excidium78]

Anyone got a opinion about a original command 2.0 or a kenwood double din screen + navigation. My point being i do not have anything in my ML at the moment and i would like the best option.

http://www.kenwoodeurope.com/products/ListProduct.aspx?k1=2&k2=8&k3=56&pr=1928

 

[Shude]

Thread moved to electronics

 

[Jewell THief]

Kenwood all day long better sound,maps,poi,quicker route calcalations its a no brainer buy the kenwood i wish i could and i drive a 2004 sl the comands rubbish!!

 

[Thmsshaun]

Kenwood

 

[Alfie]

Anyone got a opinion about a original command 2.0 or a kenwood double din screen + navigation. My point being i do not have anything in my ML at the moment and i would like the best option.

http://www.kenwoodeurope.com/products/ListProduct.aspx?k1=2&k2=8&k3=56&pr=1928

COMAND. Without a doubt. OEM is always best, looks wise and resale value wise. Might not be the best performer but it outdoes anything else when it comes to resale.

Edit: I got a £1,000 knocked off the purchase price of my car when I bought it as it had a nasty Alpine thing in which wasnt OEM.

 

[Shude]

COMAND. Without a doubt. OEM is always best, looks wise and resale value wise. Might not be the best performer but it outdoes anything else when it comes to resale.

Edit: I got a £1,000 knocked off the purchase price of my car when I bought it as it had a nasty Alpine thing in which wasnt OEM.

Almost all aftermarket equipment looks TACKY as well, unless your car interior is silver with blue LEDs etc

 

[Thmsshaun]

Tacky?

at you

 

[C43AMG]

Comand or Kenwood

I have just received the extended Comand Face from Steve in Holland to fit, he did not have one when i was over there . It looks great, i have taken a couple of before photo's,so when i fit the new Face i will try and post the after photo's as well. Not very good with the old PC a bit like Howard.

 

[Shude]

Tacky?

at you

ok that doesn't look too bad, except for the cubby-hole full of junk

 

[Thmsshaun]

ok that doesn't look too bad, except for the cubby-hole full of junk

I have got a blanking plate that solves that problem

 

[Alfie]

Almost all aftermarket equipment looks TACKY as well, unless your car interior is silver with blue LEDs etc

Totally agree with you.

 

[nickg]

Given that the Kenwood unit is about £2K i.e. not much difference in price to COMAND, my preference would be to stay OEM.
The only non-OEM that looks good is Becker, who make all the kit for MB, Porsche etc anyway.
Their stuff is v good quality and looks very smart - no silver/blue LEDs etc etc.
I had a Becker 1 Din satnav in my previous SL (129) and it was brilliant to use without looking flashy. It was the Indianapolis model which now costs about £450. If you can live without the big screen then it makes much more sense financially.

 

[Alfie]

Given that the Kenwood unit is about £2K i.e. not much difference in price to COMAND, my preference would be to stay OEM.
The only non-OEM that looks good is Becker, who make all the kit for MB, Porsche etc anyway.
Their stuff is v good quality and looks very smart - no silver/blue LEDs etc etc.
I had a Becker 1 Din satnav in my previous SL (129) and it was brilliant to use without looking flashy. It was the Indianapolis model which now costs about £450. If you can live without the big screen then it makes much more sense financially.

COMAND can be installed for less than £1,000 or less than £750 including wiring disk etc if you do it all yourself

 

[Jewell THief]

Can anyone here really say that the sound quality from the comand system is anything but poor at best
navigation is and slow,poi are sparse, no tmc yet on the dvd system
hands free mobile phone intergration ok for 10 year old phones even then its bugged.
as for oem being better , better for who, on a 4 to 10 year old car a din system can be removed and replaced with a cheaper single cd for about £50 and the main system used again or sold on, try that with comand.

 

[Shude]

Can anyone here really say that the sound quality from the comand system is anything but poor at best

It's better than the standard headunits and we're talking about a £2500 headunit here. It sounds a lot better than the Sony that was in my previous W202 and it sounds great through my current Bose setup.

navigation is and slow,poi are sparse, no tmc yet on the dvd system

Navigation is fine, POI is down to the discs and TMC works fine on the CD versions, please catch up navteq or whoever makes the discs for that!

hands free mobile phone intergration ok for 10 year old phones even then its bugged.

UHI works on the older comand units as well as new, this includes phones currently in production/circulation as well as older units. I don't know anything about any faults.

as for oem being better , better for who, on a 4 to 10 year old car a din system can be removed and replaced with a cheaper single cd for about £50 and the main system used again or sold on, try that with comand.

I can put the original headunit back in my car if I want, just need to swap the oem parts back (fascia and frame). For some models more work is needed, others less.

As far as feature integration goes, nothing can beat comand in a car that could originally have had it installed as an option from new.

 

[Thmsshaun]

Having read another thread where comand has no RCA out I mean come on That Kenwood and Comand similar price you say. I would go for that all the time. If it diesnt already have Comand no problem about having a non OEM unit.

I have kept hold of my Audio 10 But that is only because I would never get near the cost of the headunit if I were to sell it with the car.

In that for resale point of view OEM is best but that depends on your long term plans and how bothered you are about the sound quality.

 

[Shude]

Having read another thread where comand has no RCA out I mean come on That Kenwood and Comand similar price you say. I would go for that all the time. If it diesnt already have Comand no problem about having a non OEM unit.

On a some models there is a fibre-out for the amp, not sure how portable that is between manufacturers though.

 

[Alfie]

It's better than the standard headunits and we're talking about a £2500 headunit here. It sounds a lot better than the Sony that was in my previous W202 and it sounds great through my current Bose setup.

Navigation is fine, POI is down to the discs and TMC works fine on the CD versions, please catch up navteq or whoever makes the discs for that!

UHI works on the older comand units as well as new, this includes phones currently in production/circulation as well as older units. I don't know anything about any faults.

I can put the original headunit back in my car if I want, just need to swap the oem parts back (fascia and frame). For some models more work is needed, others less.

As far as feature integration goes, nothing can beat comand in a car that could originally have had it installed as an option from new.

Again - I have to totally agree with Shude here.

 

[SportsCoupeRich]

point of the matter is i bought my comand of alfie for 1/4 the price of a kenwood unit. and in 2 yrs time when i sell i will prob get a similar price for it. it is less suceptible to theft and i dont have to remove facia every 5 mins or cover my buttons up with the screen....i can use my wheel controls and view turns in front of me on the dials. plus it looks like it belongs.

personal view of course

 

[Shude]

Another bonus to using oem equipment is that if something breaks the item or equivalent is still available from the stealership about 10 years after the thing stopped being sold. This is definitely not the case for most aftermarket items where spares etc dry up after a couple of years.