Zenec ZE-NC2010 impressions.

[CMcK]

After a bit of a wait I now have the Zenec NC2010 head unit fitted into the Golf. First impressions are very favourable. It looks right at home in the Mk V with the same kind of piano black finish as the area around the screen on the RCD310 and the buttons are a bang on match for the rest of the dash. Even the typeface on the buttons looks spot on.

The unit integrates very well with car in other ways too. It really is a straight swap for the factory head unit and comes with a canbus adaptor which retains operation of the steering wheel controls and displays info on the MFA screen between the rev counter and speedo. This even appears to extend to the unit using the cars ambient light sensor to determine when to change navigation map colouring.

The UI is very slick and responds quickly to inputs and shows little lag even with the navigation software. The graphics are ok but not really to my Mac using tastes but they are functional and not heavy handed at trying to be stylish. The viewing angle of the screen is good I was able to see it easily from both of the front seats. They even included a cleaning cloth for the screen.

Audio quality is a step up from the RCD310 even though we are still using the factory speakers for now. Rumping the volume up produced little distortion that I could hear. Playback from CD is good but I think the lossless files on my iPod and iPhone just shade it overall in terms of sound quality.
The radio reception seems fine with the usual RDS, TA etc features all present and correct.
Now playing info is displayed on the MFA showing album, artist and track.

I haven't been able to test the TMC module though as the reception dropped off dramatically with the TMC receiver plugged in. The shop I bought the unit from is going to source a replacement from the supplier.

The built in Parrot bluetooth module worked flawlessly with my iPhone and the built in microphone is good enough quality that I decided not to use the included external microphone. The cable on the external microphone did look a bit on the short side for mounting on the A pillar though.

The navigation software is iGo 8 which I believe is also used by, amongst others, Pioneer on their head units as well. The maps came preloaded on the 4GB of flash onboard the unit and they also include a 4GB USB flash drive to use for future updates and media playback.
The navigation software is straight forward to use with good use of 3d and virtual renderings of motorway signs which is a far cry from the aged PCM module in my other car. The spoken directions are clear and sound quite natural but when directions are issued the music is only faded and not paused which is what I am used to. Is this common with other built in navigation systems?
Having the option of a split screen on the main display is good. And as you have the navigation display on the MFA anyway you can choose to turn off the navigation info on the main screen altogether.

I haven't tried a DVD in the unit yet or any other other video source for that matter. I'll probably try something just to see if it works or if forum members have any questions.

The little media box with the USB and aux in connection is mounted in the glovebox and isn't intruding on the space in there. Works fine with my iPhone even charging it.

Overall I'm really quite impressed with this unit. I had narrowed it down to a choice of the Zenec unit or the Pioneer F9110BT but the Pioneer has a lesser feature set, no canbus integration and cost £300 more. It's basically just the F910BT with a Golf specific facia.

The owner of the shop I bought it from was really impressed as well. He had tried to push me down the Pioneer route originally but after seeing the Zenec in action he felt that he could quite happily recommend it to other VW owners.

[elvismiggell]

Mind if I ask how much that set you back?

Sounds pretty sweet!

[CMcK]

The NC2010 was £999.99 fitted from a local retailer. I've since seen it online for under £900. Compared to the price of other double DIN units I think it offers reasonable value for money. And it's a lot cheaper than buying a VW nav, BT module and iPod connection from eBay.

I will post some pictures later on.

[boyd1963]

I quite fancy his unit but was put off because I believe that the button illumination is white. KIs this the new standard for VW cars as my 2005 Touran has got red button illumination?

[CMcK]

I'm in the same boat as yourself with red illumination in the mk V. To be honest the white light from the Zenec doesn't bother me. Red, white and blue illumination at night makes your car very patriotic inside!
I really need to post some pictures and let my fellow forumites see how it looks.

[AdamG-DK]

Hi,

I'm also considering this unit for my new Scirocco. Could you by any chance post a picture of the unit turned on at night?

I'm a little concerned on how the white illumination looks together with the red illumination of the rest of the buttons... i just want to be sure it looks good :-)

[CMcK]

I'll hopefully have time to post a few pictures tonight.

[CMcK]

Got a couple of fuzzy snaps but I cannot get into my Flickr account to post them. Need to try hosting them somewhere else.

[CMcK]

I'll get some daylight photos at the weekend. And if I can fathom out how to improve the night time pictures I'll try again.

Just noticed that I haven't shown the info from the headunit being displayed on the MFD. I'll get that next time.

[boyd1963]

Actually the white buttons do not look too bad. I emailed Zenec to ask what the logic was for having white buttons but needless to say they did not reply.

Having had the unit for a little while now are you still happy with it? Are the maps up-to-date?

Could you possibly post some real screenshots. 3D map, bluetooth interface, ipod interface (track names etc)

Cheers

Boyd