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[sev]

I've been looking at head units for when I look at the interior of the car next year.

I don't have an iPod, but I was looking at perhaps an iPhone as I really do get bored with having to crank the volume up when I play a CD and knowck it back down when I go back to tuner.

I've seen two inspired offerings from non mainstream manufacturers, both under £200.  I wonder if the big players like clarion/alpine/kenwood will follow suit and effectively just rip out the cassette/CD mechanism as these two have done.

And of course, one of them has all the phone kit functionality built in, and they supply the system built into kenwood products (Garmin supply kenwood satnavs).

I don't know what they're like, but the parrot unit is actually quite Omega sympathetic!

http://www.parrot.com/uk/products/car-stereos/parrot-rk8200

http://www.fusioncaraudio.com/united-kingdom/car-audio-1/headunits-6/caip500-68-product.aspx

[tintin]

I've got an Alpine which was purchased for about £170. This still has a cd player but also ipod controls and direct mating wire. They were designed in connection with Apple and are fantastic with very user friendly controls. Not sure how the iphone would work with it though.

[Kevin Wood]

Things are moving in the right direction at last. CDs are second only to records in the league of awkward things to play in cars, IMHO.

Shame it's just IPods though. I'd rather not have to buy one, and install Apple's spyware on my PC just to listen to MP3s in my car.

I'd settle for a head unit with a hard drive / flash, and WLan, so I can just dump music onto it while the car's on the driveway and not worry about more portable gadgets rattling around in the car waiting to get nicked.

Does say that Parrot unit can take a USB memory stick though. :-/

Kevin

[Martin_1962]

Things are moving in the right direction at last. CDs are second only to records in the league of awkward things to play in cars, IMHO.

Shame it's just IPods though. I'd rather not have to buy one, and install Apple's spyware on my PC just to listen to MP3s in my car.

I'd settle for a head unit with a hard drive / flash, and WLan, so I can just dump music onto it while the car's on the driveway and not worry about more portable gadgets rattling around in the car waiting to get nicked.

Does say that Parrot unit can take a USB memory stick though. :-/

Kevin

There are loads of better MP3 players, but they are not fashionable, personally I thought it was a pity MD didn't take off here like it did else where. My MD portable sounds good with Sennheiser headphones.

[Kevin Wood]

There are loads of better MP3 players, but they are not fashionable, personally I thought it was a pity MD didn't take off here like it did else where. My MD portable sounds good with Sennheiser headphones.

I bought a Creative Zen X-fi in duty free on one of my recent business trips. Very impressed. Quite a few gimmicky features like chatting to other users via WLan, etc., which I'll ignore, but it is an excellent music player and does a good job of playing movies too. Excellent battery life, nice colour display and very small. I really like it.

Had it connected to the intercom in the Westfield on the way to Scotland and back a few weeks ago and it didn't miss a beat. See - I have better ICE in that car than in the Omega. [size=8]And that's before I start steering with the right foot.[/size]

Kevin

[odin]

bought a nikkai head unit from maplin electronics has sd  mmc mp3 and usb capability 160w over 4 cannals and line out for an amp £69.99 pluged straight in to the loom no steering controls  but i can live with that product code af39fq

[murse]

I have got a Pioneer DEH-P6900UB (http://www.pioneerelectronics.com/PUSA/Products/CarAudioVideo/Source/CD-Players/DEH-P6900UB) which came off ebay a year ago.  US model so does not do RDS or some radio frequencies however unlike UK model which is ipod only has a straight USB port allowing you to control ipod via radio controls but also any other mass storage type USB source (plugs in great to NokiaN95 8gb).

Not going to put it in the Omega due to the fact it will look plain awful - when funds permit planning to probably go for one of these http://caraudiogiant.co.uk/shop/index.php?act=viewProd&productId=17 which I reckon will blend nicely - even the display is similiar to the GID.  

Intrigued by this one though http://caraudiogiant.co.uk/shop/index.php?act=viewProd&productId=252 - any opinions to whether it would look good or naff? TBH the Pioneer has 'minimal buttons' and it's a pain in the arse, even changing radio station involves endless jog/push/twist combinations. Works great on the ipod though  

[humbucker]

if youre looking for a cost effective option you could do worse than looking at the harmon kardon drive and play kit. Fitted one in my elite, pics in the gallery section, can work with any head unit and looks cool too. Works with all late ipods and iphone.

[humbucker]

comes complete with its own dedicated display and click wheel so you dont need to muck about with your ipod when youre driving. Better still, brand new 1st generation drive and plays are cheap as chips on the bay. (200 plus in the shops!)

[Phil B]

That Parrot HU looks pretty neat, I wish I never saw it now, I've got enough things to buy this month!