Car Audio

[Danny]

I'm after a new headunit as my old Alpine one is starting to kick the bucket. Im after something that.....

- Doesn't look like a spaceship

- Costs under £200

- Has the usb port on the back

- Is compatible with the iPhone

I like http://www.caraudiodirect.co.uk/pioneer-deh-7200sd.html i just wish the usb was on the back rather than the front as i don't want a wire hanging out all the time.

[jt123]

JVC KD-R501 are awesome got usb port, can plug your ipod in to it, can match it perfectly to your dash lights, cheap and looks good.

Or clarion cz309e

Edited March 7, 2010 by jt123

[PeanuckleJive]

I'm in the market for the same thing too, so I'm just gonna sit here and spectate ^^

At the minute I'm just rocking it through the aux port, but the tomtom app is terrifying through your car speakers haha

[The Hitcher]

Might be worth checking out some of the threads on Talk Audio Forum LINK and the reviews on the site. The pioneer looks fine though, if your just going for a standard ipod connection. Im' currently running the older version I think, few years older now, and it works a treat.

[Tomm]

At the minute I'm just rocking it through the aux port

That ^^^ might actually be the best way to go.

I've got an Alpine head unit with the iPod connection. In some ways it's brilliant.

Pros:

It charges the iPod

Sounds good, looks good

You can route the wire to the glove box, it's a tidy solution

Relatively cheap

Cons:

Although it works fine with my iPod, it refuses to charge my iPhone (although it plays music just fine)

iPods are really good for selecting music on, whereas my Alpine head unit is a real bitch to actually select music on - it's unintuitive and takes an age to scroll through all your artists. You can be scrolling for literally minutes if you have a lot of artists. This is by far the biggest problem.

Mine's a few years old now - perhaps they've improved things with the newer / more expensive models. Don't get me wrong, I still like my Alpine but it could be so much better than it is. It's definitely worth having a play with some different models though - don't just buy them off spec alone, because some will be a PITA to use, some might be nice.

[Jolfa]

I wouldn't bother with a headunit that actually controls the iPod, as said above they're a pain in the arse to select music on, you have to eject to pick it on your iPod then plug it back in, load of rubbish.

I've now got a 90's Mini Disc player and I'm using the aux port to headphone jack to use my iPod as I would with headphones. Before this I've just been running an amp in the glovebox with a sub and 4 speakers going straight to a headphone jack with an extra fog light switch on the dash to switch the amp on, completely headunitless, the ultimate stealth install

[PeanuckleJive]

Cons:

Although it works fine with my iPod, it refuses to charge my iPhone (although it plays music just fine)

iPods are really good for selecting music on, whereas my Alpine head unit is a real bitch to actually select music on - it's unintuitive and takes an age to scroll through all your artists. You can be scrolling for literally minutes if you have a lot of artists. This is by far the biggest problem.

Mine's a few years old now - perhaps they've improved things with the newer / more expensive models. Don't get me wrong, I still like my Alpine but it could be so much better than it is. It's definitely worth having a play with some different models though - don't just buy them off spec alone, because some will be a PITA to use, some might be nice.

that's the same boat i'm in, exactly the same in fact

it's okay if you have a passenger to change artists for you, or if you don't have much on your ipod. but i'm nigh on 300 artists so it's just a ballache.

I just got the tom tom satnav app on my iphone plus a windscreen mount so my thinking is that i can use voice control to select artists and it's gonna be hassle free to the max

[that NBR dude]

Danny, I've got the headunit you linked too, and its a very good piece of kit.

I'd highly reccomend it.

[Danny]

Cheers guys. I need it to charge my iphone really (no cig lighter) aswell. I like the idea of the SD card slot on the one i linked. Does it support the big high capacity cards? 16gb etc?

[CurtisRider]

Assuming this is for your mini, a cigarette lighter is hardly a ball ache to retrofit!

[that NBR dude]

Cheers guys. I need it to charge my iphone really (no cig lighter) aswell. I like the idea of the SD card slot on the one i linked. Does it support the big high capacity cards? 16gb etc?

I've got a 16gb card in mine at the moment, filled with music and it supports it fine.

[Matt Burrows]

Although it works fine with my iPod, it refuses to charge my iPhone (although it plays music just fine)

iPods are really good for selecting music on, whereas my Alpine head unit is a real bitch to actually select music on - it's unintuitive and takes an age to scroll through all your artists. You can be scrolling for literally minutes if you have a lot of artists. This is by far the biggest problem.

Mine's a few years old now - perhaps they've improved things with the newer / more expensive models. Don't get me wrong, I still like my Alpine but it could be so much better than it is. It's definitely worth having a play with some different models though - don't just buy them off spec alone, because some will be a PITA to use, some might be nice.

I spent a lot of time researching iPod headunits, my biggest concern was being able to find music quickly. I was fed up of CDs and the difficulty that comes with changing them, and wanted a safer option, After a while it became clear that only 2 units answer the issues raised above, and these are both Alpine units with the CD player removed. You can search though lists one by one like normal, you can search by letter of the alphabet, or just simply jump through your artists/albums 10% at a time. See

for a quick video guide. That model (x305) is £250 and quite flashy, they do cheaper versions (x313 or x311) without the fancy screen for about £150. Works with iPhone and charges as well. I was in the same boat as you and didn't wan't anything too flash, but ended up going for the expensive version for ease of searching. Its nice to have 5 artists/albums displayed in the list when searching, makes things easier

I wouldn't bother with a headunit that actually controls the iPod, as said above they're a pain in the arse to select music on, you have to eject to pick it on your iPod then plug it back in, load of rubbish.

it's okay if you have a passenger to change artists for you, or if you don't have much on your ipod. but i'm nigh on 300 artists so it's just a ballache.

See above! I have about 40gb of music on my iPod, 300+ artists and its easy to find the song I want on the move

[Danny]

I've got a 16gb card in mine at the moment, filled with music and it supports it fine.

You got any real pictures of it? Everywhere just has the same standard stock photos.

I spent a lot of time researching iPod headunits, my biggest concern was being able to find music quickly. I was fed up of CDs and the difficulty that comes with changing them, and wanted a safer option, After a while it became clear that only 2 units answer the issues raised above, and these are both Alpine units with the CD player removed. You can search though lists one by one like normal, you can search by letter of the alphabet, or just simply jump through your artists/albums 10% at a time. See

for a quick video guide. That model (x305) is £250 and quite flashy, they do cheaper versions (x313 or x311) without the fancy screen for about £150. Works with iPhone and charges as well. I was in the same boat as you and didn't wan't anything too flash, but ended up going for the expensive version for ease of searching. Its nice to have 5 artists/albums displayed in the list when searching, makes things easier

Thanks Matt ive looked at that one too. Functionality wise its great i just wish it looked a bit cleaner.

[that NBR dude]

You got any real pictures of it? Everywhere just has the same standard stock photos.

No probs, I'll get some tomorrow in the day light

[Tomm]

I spent a lot of time researching iPod headunits, my biggest concern was being able to find music quickly. I was fed up of CDs and the difficulty that comes with changing them, and wanted a safer option, After a while it became clear that only 2 units answer the issues raised above, and these are both Alpine units with the CD player removed. You can search though lists one by one like normal, you can search by letter of the alphabet, or just simply jump through your artists/albums 10% at a time. See

for a quick video guide. That model (x305) is £250 and quite flashy, they do cheaper versions (x313 or x311) without the fancy screen for about £150. Works with iPhone and charges as well. I was in the same boat as you and didn't wan't anything too flash, but ended up going for the expensive version for ease of searching. Its nice to have 5 artists/albums displayed in the list when searching, makes things easier

Yeah that looks much better than mine. The other major annoyance about mine is that the artist search times out after about 5 seconds of not touching it. So if you're trying to select an artist, and then have to concentrate on the road for a few seconds, it resets. It's just stupid stuff like that which would be very easy to sort out. I reckon they made the cheaper head units irritating in order to sell the expensive ones...!

[george_seamons]

I have the first generation of that ida. I think its the ida-x300 or something. Its very very good. Searching is very easy, and the interface is just so easy to use, I very highly recommend it. The screen also looks very good, I always get comments when new people come in my car!