So I've narrowed it down to these two units to replace my Bose unit, they both run about the same price and seem to have somewhat similar features. I'm quite picky about the way a single din looks and these two seem to strike my eye. Which one would produce a better sound? I've always been an Eclipse fan (although I don't like their lineup this year) and have no experience with either of these brands.

 

or I could get this...

http://www.onlinecarstereo.com/CarAu...roductID=17408

kidding......maybe..

 

I have the x-001 and i LOVE it. The IPOD high-speed transfer is awesome. but with any headunit there are some flaws, of which ive noticed 4. 1st and foremost, the radio reception is not good. If you have sirius or xm, you are going to want to get the direct plug-in and not run it through an fm transmitter. 2nd, no cd player. It sucks, but i've learned to be happy with the 10k song ipod i have. 3rd, and this really doesn't bother me all that much because its not that time of year, the glare from the sun is unbearable. Not only can you not see the display if your headed eastbound during sunset, but just like a mirror if the sun hits it correctly, consider yourself temporarily blinded! 4th, which i plan on getting a aftermarket 1/2 din unit for, the equalizer controls are very basic. Sub volume, trebble, and front/back - left/right speaker control. (im pulling a brain fart, fade and...?)I have rainbow 265 comps, and sl65 boston rear fill with a kicker 350.4 and it sounds pretty damn good. Go to Best Buy and test it out. If you ask them to show you the ipod control, they will plug in the hi-speed usb cable. I chose it because of the ipod control (i use it 95% of my travels) but i really wished i would have checked out eq control.
All in all i like it a lot, but you can also only remove the buttons on the left side and not the screen on the right. At first glance it looks like a single din dvd player, except it doesnt play movies. It may have theifs take a second look, but no takers just yet.......hopefully never.
Look on ebay i found ones for a lot cheaper than i paid, i saw one for 270 buy it now. Just search around, and try it out before you buy it. You either love it, or hate it. Just my $.02

 

you forgot 2v preouts as a crappy feature on the IDA. FTL Alpine, especially with all that damn space behind the face..

 

I personally love the X. I got it recently and as stated the high speed usb is awesome. It does suck there is not CD changer, but if totally necessary you can go out and pay the hundred bucks to get the add one. The one thing again that does get me is the radio. It jsut doesnt come in well. Im not sure if it is just as a result of the Bose connector being different or something else. Other than that its great in my opinion. Highly Recommend

 

i honestly, actually like having a CD player, i think the XDA or w.e its called would be awesome if it had a CD player, and could rip songs onto an iPod, kinda like the Eclipse HDD headunits, which automatically rips songs onto the hard drive upon insertion

 

Didn't realize the alpine lacked a cd player until I went into best buy the other day and now I'm thinking how overpriced the unit is. I've decided on the 9887

 

h701 and stand alone controller ftw?

 

Damn, well as stated, Love or Hate it! I personally got mine on ebay for i think 230. So it was well worht the price. Also, it works perfect even in the freezing cold weather lately up here in Ma which is a plus.

 

Who the hell listens to CD's??????????? I happen to like that I can take not only my Ipod but a 16 gb flash drive and plug it in and have every album I could ever want. Have fun with your CD's

 

Only downside to not having a CD player is resale. Unless you plan on ripping everything out before you sell/trade her in.

Thats the one thing keeping me from buying the IDA series.

 

Resale of what??? The CD player? We're talking 250 bucks here. CD's are a thing of the past. Just like cassette tapes. You'll see.

 

umm... resale of the car lol

and tell someone over the age of 30 CD's are a thing of the past. Most adults barely know how to operate a CD player. Gl getting them to use ipods/mp3 players.

 

I'm 31 soon to be 32 . CD's are going the way of the cassette tape. DVD's will be soon to follow. Thats why I'm not sure why everyone is getting crazy with this DVD format war. Two words (Fixed Storage) In 5 years you will look at a DVD like you look at a VHS tape now.

BTW..............Nice *******

 

CD's will be around much longer than the life-span of this years IDA unit; I'll stick to one that plays CD's because not everyone is an ipod junkie. You've got the right mindset although your about 8-10 years too early.

 

amen.

As for fixed storage... CD's/DVD's will never be replaced. Theyre simply 2 cost efficent. BluRay/HDDVD still havent gone mainstream. and HD DVD is dieing off already. When a BluRay player is under $150.00 it will be popular. As for cassette tapes... My 2004 maxima has a tape deck in it... Oboviously Nissan knows old people like tapes still lol.

 

I have the Alpine unit and I love it. You guys are all right about the FM reception, though. It is absolutely terrible. I'm so glad I have the Sirius kit. I also like that you can download different screens from the Alpine site to match your taste. The only gripe I had was not with the unit, but with the dash kit that I was sent. It did not work for my car AT ALL. I ended up modding it and using pieces of the OEM system to make it look neat.