Double-Din Media

[ekcondon]

Hi All,

Just wondering what people's opinions are on Double-Din DVD/CD/MP3/GPS multimedia HUs. I saw a 6" Pioneer in the Visions flyer today for a pretty good deal, but Jensen just brought a new 7" model touchscreen out that is cheaper if I buy it off eBay. I know not many (if any) places sell Jensen locally. My brother has a Jensen in his Jetta and I like when I have to drive his car simply because it's a nice unit and wouldn't mind having one in my car. His is an indash unit.

Any body have any experience with Jensen, Alpine, Pioneer or any other ones out there? Opinions would be greatly appreciated.

Thanks everyone,

E

[The Cosworth]

i have a panasonic and like it



go see adrian at a&b in sunridge, tell him sent you. he can explain everything to you and if you want to get one after that he is usually best priced

[ekcondon]

Thanks man, appreciate it, I'll check it out. BTW, nice to see your Lancer @ the meet on Sunday!

[S13_Ryan]

im also lookin at buyin a deck. but its not really a need. its a big want and i think there are more important things to buy for 1k.

having said that. anyone work at futureshop/a&b/Bestbuy and wanna hook up employee discount?

[Dj_Stylz]

Pro's and Con's on this

http://www.futureshop.ca/catalog/proddetail.asp?logon=&langid=EN&sku_id=0665000FS10085466&catid=12038#

?

[97'Scort]

Jensen is not very good quality stuff, especially compared to Pioneer, Alpine, and Panasonic.

[Cy2k1]

I have something similar to the D3. Mine is the Z1 which is the model above the D3. The newest one is the Z3 which is basically the same as the Z1/Z2 but with new software/navigation updates.

This is a pretty beastly unit for its price. You can add additional modules like iPod hookup, Sat Radio, and bluetooth so you can sync your phone with the unit. The Pioneer navigation is a strong software. It calculates and navigates better than $300+ TomTom/Garmins. The interface is pretty straight forward to use with clear large buttons (non-gawdy). Direct iPod hookup allows you to view the current song being played on the deck as well as allow you to browse your iPod through the deck's interface. Plus it also recharges your iPod while plugged in.

There are a few downsides to this unit. As with most of the iPod modules out there, browsing between playlists and songs on your iPod is slower than browsing directly on the iPod itself. In order to use the navigation you would need to have the discs in the single CD drive to read off of. Meaning you cannot navigate and play a CD at the same time. If you were to lose the navigation CDs, they are pretty expensive to replace. I think they're $250 for each CD (Western America/Eastern America). When starting up the unit, it usually takes around 25-40 seconds for the unit to be full accessible and functional as it takes time to load the software. The bypass (depending on which version of the unit) is sometimes tricky. Its not as simple as grounding the parking brake. There is a gyro sensor on the unit so when you start moving it'll disable the navigation menu/dvd playback until you fully stop or go > 4kph. For me, I had to buy an additional bypass module which costed me $40.

If you decide to splurge or wanted to go further I'd fully recommend the Z3. Its the same as the D3 plus it has a larger screen and nicer interface/buttons. It has a 30GB hard drive too which of 20GB is used for the navigation system meaning that you would not need to put the navigation discs into the CD tray to use navigation. The other 10GB is used to store music. You can rip CDs (non-mp3) onto the hard drive to store in the music library. So far I've haven't seen any method of directly copying mp3s from a CD-R/W or DVD-/+RW/R to the hard drive.

The only shitty part to the Z3 is the price. I think its somewhere around the $2000 mark. But in my opinion i think you get for what you pay for.

[Eride]

I have a brand new Alpine w505 double din for sale. Used less then one month is an awesome unit. Only reason I am selling is because my new car can't fit it.

http://forums.beyond.ca/st/220945/fs-full-system-car-audio-amps-sub-double-din-dvd-deck/

[Dj_Stylz]

Originally posted by Cy2k1
I have something similar to the D3. Mine is the Z1 which is the model above the D3. The newest one is the Z3 which is basically the same as the Z1/Z2 but with new software/navigation updates.

This is a pretty beastly unit for its price. You can add additional modules like iPod hookup, Sat Radio, and bluetooth so you can sync your phone with the unit. The Pioneer navigation is a strong software. It calculates and navigates better than $300+ TomTom/Garmins. The interface is pretty straight forward to use with clear large buttons (non-gawdy). Direct iPod hookup allows you to view the current song being played on the deck as well as allow you to browse your iPod through the deck's interface. Plus it also recharges your iPod while plugged in.

There are a few downsides to this unit. As with most of the iPod modules out there, browsing between playlists and songs on your iPod is slower than browsing directly on the iPod itself. In order to use the navigation you would need to have the discs in the single CD drive to read off of. Meaning you cannot navigate and play a CD at the same time. If you were to lose the navigation CDs, they are pretty expensive to replace. I think they're $250 for each CD (Western America/Eastern America). When starting up the unit, it usually takes around 25-40 seconds for the unit to be full accessible and functional as it takes time to load the software. The bypass (depending on which version of the unit) is sometimes tricky. Its not as simple as grounding the parking brake. There is a gyro sensor on the unit so when you start moving it'll disable the navigation menu/dvd playback until you fully stop or go > 4kph. For me, I had to buy an additional bypass module which costed me $40.

If you decide to splurge or wanted to go further I'd fully recommend the Z3. Its the same as the D3 plus it has a larger screen and nicer interface/buttons. It has a 30GB hard drive too which of 20GB is used for the navigation system meaning that you would not need to put the navigation discs into the CD tray to use navigation. The other 10GB is used to store music. You can rip CDs (non-mp3) onto the hard drive to store in the music library. So far I've haven't seen any method of directly copying mp3s from a CD-R/W or DVD-/+RW/R to the hard drive.

The only shitty part to the Z3 is the price. I think its somewhere around the $2000 mark. But in my opinion i think you get for what you pay for.

Thats some pretty good information. I however cant see my self yet paying $2000 for the Z3 even though the built in GPS is a major reason i would buy it. Where did you get the bypass?