New Head Unit - What to get ???
 

Hey guys ... well my Kenwood finally gave out ... the thing works still but the damn screen on it goes black when the faceplate is in place (mines motorized right, so when it drops down it turns on .. but when it comes up into place it goes black)

So I need to get a new headunit ... what should I get ... I want it to play Mp3's ... maybe a screen ???

Anyways Shane, I know you got one, and Andrew you had one ... give me some tips ... and how much should I expect to pay ?

Well I'm actually getting the Pioneer AVIC-D2 for my explorer next week because they have a ton of features + navi is key for baller status. If I was to go back in time and buy a screen for the civic I'd splurge on this

my tips...
- If you plan on getting a screen try ebay...some of the good sellers provide some wicked warranties and added goodies.
- there is a little bit of custom work if you decide to go with a double DIN screen in the civic so dunno if you wann pay the extra couple of bills.
- Name brand of the screen is important too because of the resolution of the screen, warranties, etc.
- Also compare some other companies to the deck you've picked out. I seem to like Pioneer because they have so much extra stuff included that others don't. Pioneer has Navi, XM/Sirius ready, ipod interface, dimmer control, downloadable images for screen background, vehicle dynamics etc.. kenwood, Alpine and Clarion have under half of what the pioneer has and it's the same price.

stay away from decks with moving parts if i were you. more to break

i'd go double din personally... i'm taking andrew's double din off his hands for sure... lol... i got the clarion vrx935vd and the sub controls suck on it... but it looks pretty... LOL

Well, this all depends on what you want from a deck. The more you spend, the more features you get, better sound, better quality. This is not always the case, but generally it is. I've owned a cheap $200 dollar mp3 deck to an indash DVD screen. You need to figure out what you want from your deck.

If you want SQ, find a nice deck that has a good EQ, crossover settings, time alignment, etc... If you want a basic mp3 deck, find something cheap and with features you like. If you want the bling factor, get a screen.

Nobody can tell you what you should get, you can figure that one out on your own. You gotta ask yourself, if you get a DVD screen. Are you actually going to use it a lot?? I didn't use mine often, well the screen that is, so that's why I got rid of mine. I can tell you right now DVD deck will not sound as good as quality mp3 deck SQ wise. So just answer the one question.

What am I looking for?? SQ?? Basic deck?? or Screen to watch movies and videos??

Once you answer that question, you can narrow down to which brand you want, and how much you want to spend.

This is true, but most expensive decks have moving parts. The cheap decks usually don't. In that case, if he does buy a deck with moving parts. He should make sure he can get an extended warranty. As long as you have the extended warranty, you should be in good shape.

That's what I did with my deck, and I got everything covered until June 2009.

Yah I'll definitely think about it

I really can't complain about that Kenwood - had in since in my '99 Accord ... so its about 5 years old - $349 back then :P I think I've had my use out of it.

I'm really kinda fading away on spending big $$$ on my civic ... I mean the thing still works I just can't see a screen. I guess I might just keep it in until it totally breaks and then think about what to get next

if i still had my pioneer deck, just let that go recently, i woulda sold it to you for SIRTY FO DOLLA!!!

did you check the contacts? sometimes there is a loose or bad connection that causes the display not to power on. ive seen it before and then they cleaned them and it worked again. could just have some corrosion.

nope it's not the contacts. we checked it briefly, it's the band everytime it bends to go straight the screen turns on. when it has a 90 degree bend to go back in place the screen turns off.