I'm looking for a nice CD deck for my car, and was wondering what you guys could recommend. I'm not quite sure what I want for features, so anything you guys can recommend is awesome. What are some of the features I should be looking for?

 

like ipods? get a pioneer deh-5900ib

 

Well, I'm thinking I want one with MP3 player compatability and auxilary input to plug a MP3/MP4 player into. As far as I can tell that's the only things I've really found so far that I want.

 

I have used JVC for years. The double-din size looks great and is less often stolen compared to single-din. Mine is a kw-xc 410. It is ipod-ready, has a mini-jack on the front for mini-disc, mp3, etc. and is either sirius or xm compatible. I got mine new on ebay for around $175. If you don't have ipod, it will operate a 12-disc jvc changer as well. My ipod sounds awesome with my setup. I love it. Here's one on ebay:

http://cgi.ebay.com/JVC-KW-XC410-DOU...QQcmdZViewItem

 

http://www.circuitcity.com/ssm/Pione...oductDetail.do
i have this one. its awesome, w/ the usb cord u can plug in an ipod or other mp3 player and charge at the same time.

 

I haven't really been able to make any sort of decision yet. People have been pushing for Pioneer and Alpine decks, which apparently are really good. What kind of price do touch screen and DVD screen decks run?

 

pioneer odr, the best, period.

 

I don't like the look of a single din receiver in a double din opening....just looks tacky to me.

It's tough to find a DD receiver that doens't look aftermarket. This is about the closest I have found to matchng the rest of the interior. It's either this or another factory unit for me.......

This one is sat, ipod and mp3 ready.

 

I have the Pioneer AVH-P7800 DVD. Its their top of the line single din dvd touchscreen player. 7" screen. Unbelieveable clarity in the picture. Here's a few pics. Pics don't do justice for the unit, from my cellphone. Not sure how much you are looking to spend if you were to get a touchscreen, but this one is nice. Pioneer does have lower end models that are touchscreen. If you are not sure what you want to get, I would go to any stores around you that sell car audio products. Look at them, look at their features. This way you know whats out there. There might be a feature that you want that you did not know was available for a cd car unit, so I would look around in person if you have not already.

 

If you want the best (no tricked-up gimmicks, with true quality), go with Nakamichi.

You get a 24-bit d/a converter, where 99.9% of the decks out there have a 1-bit. Better music quality. I love Nak products. :-)

 

I'm definitely going to go with a single din reciever. I just don't like the look of a bulky double din CD player. I've seen features such as Satallite radio, iPod ready, MP3 format, USB 2.0 connectivity, SD card connectivity, auxilary input, RCA jacks, different wattage outputs per channel, touch screen, MP4 format, DVD format, and a few others. My question right now is can you hook any other MP3/MP4 players up to the deck? Or is it only iPods that you can? What connector do you need to hook other ones up to it?

 

Get a HU with a face-mounted AUX input and you're in business. The advantage to the iPod-specific ones is that often you can control the iPod from the HU.

 

I understand that, but I won't be getting an iPod. I'd like to get one that can hook up to any MP3/MP4 player. I'm wondering what type of connection I need for this. I'm pretty sure they all hook up the same way into the auxilary input, it's just that you need to buy the cable that runs from the MP3/MP4 player into the deck. What exactly would you use the USB input for? Could you hook up portable media devices to them to upload songs and pictures? I'm guessing some of the decks must have hard drives in them that have the USB inputs to store things on.

 

ALPINE!!! little overpriced but great quality for all models.
pioneer is good too

 

You need a male to male 1/8 inch stereo connector to run the signal from your MP3 player's headphone jack to the AUX input. Otherwise, most read the USB as a file structure, not unlike MP3-loaded CDs.

 

Yea, I figured that's what the cable was going to look like. Glad to know that the USB thingy would work too.

I was thinking of getting a deck and then buying a 7" screen seperately and hooking it up somewhere that I could easily plug in a portable media player to it and watch movies and listen to songs using the car's audio system. I really don't want to spend 700-800 dollars on a good touch screen DVD head unit when I can get an excellent head unit for 300-400 dollars and a 7" screen for 100 dollars. Not only would I save money, but also save me the hassel of worrying about the head unit getting stolen. At least I could take the face plate for a regular deck with me. Also, the problem with a DVD touch screen head unit is that it would block a lot of my center console controls, which I really don't want to have to fold the screen in to adjust things, kinda lame. I would rather have the screen up on top of the dash where my passengers in back could also see it easily instead of having to look between the seats also.