Right so christmas has come and gone and i've got some money burning a whole in my pocket that I wish to get a fairly decent head unit with.

I've been looking at some double din one's and I'm in debate of which unit?!

I don't wanna blow much more than £500 to be honest but I dont need/want sat nav on it, unless maybe as a possible upgrade but i'd rather spend more on a unit with less features for better quality.

Things I want it to do:

1) Bluetooth h/free calling (ideally external mic/ parrot inbuilt) and music streaming (iphone user) - ideally with phonebook transfer as then i don't need to take my phone out my pocket :p

2) Ipod/USB/SD connectivity

4) ideally 7inch screen

Some ive found so far are: JVC KW-AVX830 Pioneer AVH-3200BT SONY XAV-70BT Alpine iXA-W407BT

I am now going to put my hand up and admit I used to work for halfrauds (In the cycle department - I don't honour myself to know anything substantial about car audio - you get what you pay for imo) but Generally the reliability/desirability then, went, Alpine, Blaupunkt, Sony/Pioneer, Kenwood/JVC. And avoid anything that was labelled Ripspeed/ Clarion / Panasonic etc etc. I do however understand that some of these units can absolutely cracking value for money and are just as reliable as the "bigger brands".

Back then I felt Blaupunkt/Sony sounded better than the others. Alpine was the most credible as an all rounder. JVC/Kenny looked cheaper than the rest but still did the job fine.

Has it changed much at all now?

Do people know of anything better than I've found? or better still does anyone have any of these units to share pro's and con's..

I've searched for reviews but alas there's barely anything of any use.

Thanks for your help in advanced.

Andrew

i had a clarion mp3-cd single din unit for 5 years, it was brilliant, i had no probs with it

i have ordered the dvd version of the pioneer avh-3200 you linked above, because it was cheaper than the BT model, but it hasn't arrived yet :(

still, got it with over £120 off from amazon, so that swung it for me over any of the others

Edited 28 December, 201015 yr by HER3TIC