Hey up,

 

I've just bought my first Skoda, an Octavia II vRS estate which has come with a Stream (non-mp3) headunit.

 

I'd like to change this for something that will play my mp3s.

 

In my previous car I had an Alpine-ida x305 head unit that worked really well with my iphone for charging and playing tunes and it sounds pretty good to me.  I've still got this so it is one option for fitting to the Octavia but would need a single DIN adapter and they seem to be about £65 for the proper Skoda fit one.

 

However, I like the look and tidiness of the factory fit stuff and have been looking at the Bolero unit.  I've not seen or heard a Bolero though so don't really know how good they might be.  I've seen that they have an SD slot for playing mp3s etc.  Does the unit play directly from the SD card or do they load the files from the card on to an internal HD or cache or something?  I've had a quick search on ebay for Boleros and there seems to be a pretty big range of prices (£150 - £450).  Why the big range?

 

I'm not too bothered about bluetooth or any of that stuff and I don't really need Sat Nav so don't think I need the Columbus.

 

Do any of you out there have any ideas on how a Bolero might compare to the Alpine I've got or which way you think you might go if you were in my shoes?

 

ANy help would be greatly appreciated.

 

Cheers

Edited 30 August, 201411 yr by matthew_h

The Bolero is a good unit to have. Full integration with the car.

Probably not as good sound quality as your Alpine, but good enough for a car (IMO).

Second hand ones should be under £200 with a code. So £450 may be a 'new' one. There really isn't much difference between old ones and new ones.

The music comes from MP3 files on the SD card. No HD involved.

It does have a 6-disc changer built in if that's your thing.

I'd go for a Bolero if I didn't want sat nav or HD based system.

As it's a non mp3 stream, I'm guessing it's an early mk2.

So something to remember is that you will lose the heater display and parking sensor display ( if fitted), and if you have maxidot you will lose the audio option unless it's an early Bolero .

Also you may have an issue with the Bolero having a dim screen unless sidelights are flicked on and off.

Not major issues and I find the improvement in both looks, sound and features worth these few issues.

You can also fit an MDI kit which will allow iPhone/usb connectivity.

Thank you for the comments.

 

Interesting that you think the Bolero might not sound as good as the Alpine.  Hmm.

 

Mine is an 56 plate 06 so earlyish.  I don't think I'd be too bothered about losing the heater integration on the head unit as the info is all just below there anyway and I don't have parking sensors so that's not an issue.  I do have Maxidot though but I'm not sure hat audio option it is that you are referring to there.  I'm new to VAG cars and haven't figured out all of the options yet.

 

The MDI kit sounds interesting though, I'll have a further look in to that.

 

Cheers