Need A Head Unit

[Duncan]

Sicne I don't know anything about them.....which head unit do I need?

* Won't have to run big speakers

* Don't car if its at the cheap quality end of the market.

I'd like as many of these toys as possible:

* stacker in head unit

* play burned and mp3 cds

* sat nav and speed camera alarm

* dvd player and display

* play mp3 internal hdd or similar

* talk to bluetooth phone

* ability to lock out Kel's radio stations like nova

Any other cool toys I want? Does something like this exist? How much will it cost me?

[mr moo]

the new pioneer DEH-P9850BT does some of this but finding a head deck to do all that might be hard to find

http://www.pioneer.com.au/products/car_ent...ex.html#product

[Topaz]

I like the Apline 9885R and its $100 less than the Pioneer

http://www.alpine.com.au/

[dangerous_daveo]

http://www.eclipse-web.com.au/avx/index.html

http://www.eclipse-web.com.au/avx/index_avx5000.htm

got the gear.

[Nav2k]

sat nav and things ur better off going seperate units or paying quite a bit for it in a fold out screen.

what exactly is ur budget.

the hard drive versions r also quite pricey.

ur looking at a few g if ur looking at the alpine models that do these.

car pc cheaper.

[Chris Rogers]

what do you wnt to spend on it?

[Duncan]

ahh yes sorry I should have added budget....as cheap as possible but under $2k ish if possible

Thanks for the suggestions, I know nothing about features of these things!

1 play burned and mp3 cds

2 dvd player and display

3 stacker in head unit

4 sat nav

5 speed camera alarm

6 play mp3 internal hdd or similar, or ipod link

7 talk to bluetooth phone

1/2/3/4/5/6/7/8

Y/Y/N/Y with GPS add on (150ish)/?/Y ipod dock option ($??)/talk to phone?- eclipse AXV5000, rrp ?

Y/Y/N/Y/?/Y ipod dock option ($??)/talk to phone? - eclipse AVN6000 rrp 3400

Y/Y/N/?/?/Y ipod dock option ($??)/talk to phone? - Alpine CVA-1014RB rrp 1499

Y/N/N/N/N/$200 option/Y- pioneer DEH-P9850BT rrp 999

Y/Y/Y/?/?/$200 option/$400 option - pioneer AVH-P6850DVD rrp 2299

Y/Y/N/?/?/Y stick, ipod option ($149)/? - JVC KW-AVX700 rrp 1449

Y/Y/N/?/?/Y/? - Clarion MAX667VD rrp 2199

Y/Y/N/?/?/Y/? - Clarion VRX766VD rrp 2199

Apline 9885R - can't find it on the site, is there a link? I found an 9855R but no screen.

So if 1 unit is too hard, which 2 should I pick, and how well would I expect them to work together? Should I stick with 1 brand? Also should I give up on the phone and get a seperate bluetooth car kit, if so which one?

Remember outrigth sound quality is not a factor I have crap ears which can't tell the difference between china and germany

Sorry for all the questions but this is a big area that I have no idea about

[Beer Baron]

my advice, buy a cheap arse sony deck. I got one from JB Hi-fi. was marked down from $290 to about $120. has remote control, plays MP3 encoded CDs, powers my 4 speakers amply, has detachable face, has really fast radio scaning, and pre-sets. has bugger all else. use the $1800 you save and spend $400 or so on a Navman (great GPS nav, and portable, and acts as a PDA too), and spend the another $300 on a blue tooth kit (maybe less even?). your total now comes to $800 and you have around $1000 left to save for the next time you D-man your RB26.

[Beer Baron]

this is the one i'm talking about. retails is now $260, but JB will have them cheap.

Key features

S-MOSFET 180 Watts Max (45 x 4)

CD/MP3/ATRAC3 Playback with ID TAG

24BIT Digital to Analogue Converter

Pre-Out x 1 (Rear/Sub Switchable)

RM-X114 - Wireless Card Remote (incl.)

Display Type - White LED/13 Segment LCD

EQ3 - 3Band EQ/7Presets

CD-R/RW Playback

CD-Text Display/Scroll

SSIR-EXA Digital Tuner

Preset - FM18/AM12

Silver

for sat nav go something like this:

http://www.navman.com/Navman/Templates/pro...n____13023.aspx

http://www.pcauthority.com.au/review.aspx?CIaRID=2831

hmm i may have underestimated the price a tad. it's around $700, not $400.

blue tooth car kits are plentiful at under $300.

[Duncan]

bloody hell, the more I look the clearer that nothing does what I need? I would have thought that these days manufacturers just do all this stuff in software pretty easily.

So...the eclipse AVN6000 seems to be the bomb but its pretty pricey.

Or compromise and buy a bunch of different bits for about half the price - head unit / dvd player / dash nav unit / bluetooth kit. What a pain in the arse I just wanted one thingy

[Chris Rogers]

I can do it. mind you there wont be much change from $6k.

by blau part numbers:

DXV,Aspen IDVM7003, BT patch,cdca08 that should be close.

btw you also get DVDs with the above listing.

clink the link in my sig

[Duncan]

First up, I don't get around this part of the forum much, thanks everyone for their input, particularly Chris - its good to see someone in the industry making the time to answer my dumb questions....

Re your suggestions, Aspen head unit looks good for price and features, around 2,200 right? But why a seperate DVX unit - that is a pain in the arse and v expensive (3,200vs 400) compared to a portable unit, and 2 screens in the car? It sucks that they haven't/chose not to release a single unit.

And still only equivalent in features to the eclipse unit for half the price? What are your thoughts on this unit, or do you not distribute their stuff? Any other similar ones I should look at?

BTW will also be getting a reversing camera that will make hooking up trailers muuuch easier

[LBR33]

Stick with pioneer and alpine they have proven themselves over many many years with consistant quality unlike some other cheaper brands

[Chris Rogers]

DXV is a separate unit- it plugs into teh aspen- only one screen. that part hides away. I have a aspen here that I will let go for a LOT less than the price advertised. if you are near a phone give me a ring.

[R33-Lovr]

i went throught the same thing you did a few weeks back, wanted a dvd player and a bluetooth, couldnt find both in one, so i went with the pioneer 9850BT, which i obviously use more, i thought about it like this, DVD player, humm am i gunna be watching or driving, the 9850 is good has alot of fitures, cost me about 840 installed, which was a very good price back then, am sure you can get it for the same price now shop around and always say the other shop gave me a cheaper option, btw i think this one plays dvds as well jst needs a screen am not totally sure.

[Beer Baron]

bloody hell, the more I look the clearer that nothing does what I need? I would have thought that these days manufacturers just do all this stuff in software pretty easily.

So...the eclipse AVN6000 seems to be the bomb but its pretty pricey.

Or compromise and buy a bunch of different bits for about half the price - head unit / dvd player / dash nav unit / bluetooth kit. What a pain in the arse I just wanted one thingy

quite your whining biatch! all this stuff will be worth more than your navara... lol

[Duncan]

lol not for the nirvana mate

Chris I'll give you a call tommorrow

[r33goodz]

your best bet for all of these features is opting for a car computer setting. it will cover ALL of your outlined features, and can be bought for <2000 delivered to your door. visit www.mp3car.com and look throught their store. (prices are in usd). your only problem is you will still require either a head unit with aux input or an expensive 5.1 channel signal processor. car pc's can be easily made diy if you have the know how which would save you up to 500 bucks. pm me for details

[r33_taiju]

Yeah, im new to the forums (just thought id mention incase i say summin stupid) but from what i gather getting a car PC set up is A) cheaper especially when u make it urself and B) easier to install but is a bit more risky in that some things can go wrong quickly with hard drive crashes if its not secured properly. and also start up is an issue as it is slow and it is running of car batt (or so i believe). and one thing to keep in mind when making a pc for ur car is that only put in things which are neccesary and nothing else, it'll just wast power. them aim is to get a balance between funtionality and power usage.

well thats my 2 cents on car PC sets ups, have a good one

[Duncan]

Just to follow this up.....thanks to everyone for the help and advice this is what I ended up going

TomTom 910 for sat nav and bluetooth phone $1100

Eclipse AVX5000 for head unit/DVD/CD etc $1400

Digital TV tuner (not sure of brand) $900

Rear reversing camera $450

So about $4k all up.

Not exactly the one unit I was looking for, but all the stuff I wanted was covered off. And the functions and usability of the tomtom and head unit are excellent.