Excellent Nav System for Kenwood Head Units

I looked around at different options but finally decided to go with this unit and a DDX7017 Kenwood DVD head unit. So this review is for the operation with that display head unit.

Interface: There is a separate interface on the rear of the 7017 for the nav system so no daisy chaining is necessary for use with other ourtboard devices. Nice feature. The 510 has an SD card slot for map upgrades, which is a necessary feature for ongoing road changes. Size is small enough to mount up under the dash easily (remember to mount temporarily with velcro or angled to allow card insertion).

Functionality: The 510 interacts seamlessly with the 7017. It is always up and running when the system is on and you can easily hit the display button to bring its map up. The stereo will continue playing music or whatever else so the audio will remain uninterrupted. It's easily to bounce back and forth between the nav display and other control or video display modes. I had several concerns about how this was all going to play together and I'm glad to say that they were not a problem after all. The menus of the 510 are very straight forward if you have any experience with GPS units and the Garmin line in particular (since that's who makes this one) and I was using this thing effectively within minutes. The built in maps are street level and addresses are easy to input with a touch display. The virtual buttons are large and easy to hit when typing in an address. The virtual control buttons are usually along the bottom edge so the physical frame of your head unit makes a good sensory reference when trying to drive and push a button at the same time. Routing has been good with minimal directions through closed neighborhoods or structures, but those things change over time and need updating.