Kenwood (KVT-729DVD) Car Video Player

Having owned the Kenwood KVT-627 Player, I decided to upgrade to the KVT-729 & I'm glad I did.

The User Interface is so much better then the 627 model, When connected to a iPod the interface is much clearer & easier to use & makes finding tracks a breeze. Plus it displays the Album art work on the display as well which the 627 could never do. With the 729 there is no need for a separate ipod control box as it's just 2 cables, that plug into the back of the unit. The sound is excellent & very clear with plenty of bass which I love. You have the option of changing the display screen wallpaper to whatever you want via a USB memory stick. I also have the optional add on Sat nav unit & again this is totally brilliant.

If you do a search on Youtube for this Kenwood model a few people have posted videos showing demos of the KVT-729.

When fitting this you have a separate control box that is hidden either under the seat or in boot. the wiring loom that Kenwood supply is really long & the wires cannot be shortened, so trying to find out where to hide the excess wiring can be a pain. I would allow a good 3 - 4 hours to fit this as you will be more then likely stripping your car's interior to fit the hide away box & feeding the wires to the headunit. The power supply & speakers connect to the car via the standard ISO connections.

The only thing that lets this product down is the user manual, it's not written / laid out very well & I found takes several attempts to read again what the hell the manual is going on about, but then again from other Kenwood products I have owned their user manuals would never get the award for 'written in plain english'.

But I definitely recommend this player & give it a 10 out of 10.

Like the motorised/touch screen display and the fact you can play your ipod through the unit. The only drawback seems to be that with my ipod classic the sheer volume of songs seems to play havoc with the Kenwood unit and you can not get to use the menu facility on the touch screen to control the ipod which is a pain. It all shows up on the screen but when you try to go to a play list or album it freezes.
As of yet i haven't set up the sat nav as i'm waiting for a wiring diagram of my van so i can't comment on this unit yet. There is an incompatibility between my iphone and the blue tooth unit which is a shame as my garmin zumo 550 allows my iphone and headset to interact together perfectly.
I bought the unit as a system for our works van to allow music/navigation and communications through one unit but if you have an iphone and ipod classic this doesn't seem to happen. Shame really, hopefully kenwood may offer some software updates to resolve this or maybe apple will on one of their iphone updxates...

The dvd screen is great and you can plug in other sound systems or attachments easily with the hideaway unit (will not work at all without hideaway unit so if you buy a stolen one it will be completely useless but the seller may not realise this especially if they have just yanked it out of a motor) and you can plug in a reverse camera and ipod with the ipod cable (optional), the satnav that works with this is ok but there are better ones available on their own but as you need a kenwood compatible one you have to use theirs. The compatible bluetooth handsfree is fantastic if you can get one kca-bt100, works well with the touch screen once you pair your phone. As you get in the vehicle your phone pairs up again so yu don't have to keep searching for devices etc, just gives you a notification on the phone which yuo accept as you come in to proximity.
Fitting is difficult if you are planning on doing it yourself as there are loads of wires and boxes to connect but if you have the patience and know how its worth doing yourself as it is expensive to get it done( probably as its so time connsuming).
A great bit of kit, hassle installing but worth the effort if you can! Just don't get one without hideaway.

what i liked it the product was the serious brand of kenwood that i've been using for long.
and of all is the best value for money to have such a nice product not just by seeing the design but even by using it . its a nice object to display it in your car.