Advice for Touch-screen 2-DIN Head Units

aldente

Hello,

I am in the market for a touch-screen double-DIN head unit to replace Parrot MKI9200 in my Volkswagen Golf Mk6 (2011 1.2 TSI).

The very reason the Parrot needs replacing is because it does not work reliably and even puts driving at risk. I tried a lot of things to remedy the problem in vain. I had used the same model (but another unit) in my last car but it still remains an unusable product second time, so I have lost trust in it.

I would like some help from boardies because I cannot find many websites for in-car audio head units and speakers that focus on reviews, guides and advice. I am into home audio too and there is no problem for me locating good websites in that area. However, for in-car audio, it appears a different story...

My top 4 must-have items are iPhone music features, hands-free iPhone calling, decent sound, and touch screen.

- All the features you would expect for playing back iPhone 4 music natively via USB, such as search, playlists on iPhone, album artwork display, etc.
- Decent amplifier and equaliser
- Bluetooth hands-free call functions
- FM radio

Of those manufacturers like Pioneer, Sony, JVC, Kenwood, Alpine, etc. my current favourites are Alpine IVE-W535BT and Kenwood DDX-4021BT. However, there does not seem to be many reviews you can find. I am wondering if anyone who has bought either of these can let me know about user experience, pros and cons, etc.

The last thing I want is to find myself screaming 'Guuurrrhhh, for G+8&@ s#$e! it doesn't load music quickly…', 'It doesn't respond!' etc. after buying and getting it fitted with an outlay of several hundreds euro.

Could anyone point me to good resources on the web or give me any advice, your opinions, comments?

Thank you.

_Kaiser_

I've had one of those MKI9200's in my Passat for 4 years now and it has worked fine with 4/5 different phones over that time.

What's happening with yours? Have you tried updating the firmware from the Parrot site etc?

aldente

My Parrot consistently fails to work no matter what version of firmware it is. The button battery in the remote was at one time suspicious but it was not the culprit. The Bluebox was replaced once, but it did not solve the problem. My Parrot was fitted by a qualified technician. It seems to work when its mood takes it (well, there must be a reason, but the situation just looks like this). I thought it just happened to be a bad unit in a batch, but I am so lucky to have a bad unit twice.

deaglan169

how about this was really tempted however it only works with iphone not android but its a great price and looks like a nice HU
http://www.halfords.com/webapp/wcs/stores/servlet/product_storeId_10001_catalogId_10151_productId_925239_langId_-1_categoryId_265857

Miscreant

You could have a look at this crowd: http://www.bluepower.se/en/product/audio-video/car-stereo/custom-players/vw/
I have heard good things about them through the online Volvo forums so might be worth reading up about them.

JohnBoy26

Id go with an Alpine. Pioneer are good head units aswell but the Alpines have far superior sound quality and they are a nicer unit aswell imo.

sean1141

I have a pioneer avic unit. Great bit of kit. I dont have an iphone but its connected to my ipod and plays everything perfect

MuppetCheck

I have a Pioneer f930bt and it's decent enough, just leave an old ipod in the glove box and it works well. The radio interface is a bit clumsy and it can take 30 seconds to come on, and your have to hit "ok" on a safety warning for the maps each time which is a minor enough irritation. I have had no problems connecting any number of phones to it.

shanec1928

keep it oem with a rns?
http://www.boards.ie/vbulletin/showthread.php?t=2056318886

also a couple of other suggestions here as well.

aldente

JohnBoy26 wrote: »

Id go with an Alpine. Pioneer are good head units aswell but the Alpines have far superior sound quality and they are a nicer unit aswell imo.

I am feeling more convinced of my looking at Alpine because you are not the first one who finds Alpine generally superb. Well, it is easy to say that out of favouritism, but I just share the same idea purely out of non-biassed research so far. Even a good trusted brand can have a faulty batch, but you have to start from a general viewpoint anyhow. Thank you for your post.

aldente

shanec1928 wrote: »

keep it oem with a rns?
http://www.boards.ie/vbulletin/showthread.php?t=2056318886

also a couple of other suggestions here as well.

The website my-gti.com mentioned in the thread has some interesting and useful articles. Thanks very much for your reply.

JohnBoy26

aldente wrote: »

I am feeling more convinced of my looking at Alpine because you are not the first one who finds Alpine generally superb. Well, it is easy to say that out of favouritism, but I just share the same idea purely out of non-biassed research so far. Even a good trusted brand can have a faulty batch, but you have to start from a general viewpoint anyhow. Thank you for your post.

Your welcome Glad to be of some help.

aldente

sean1141 wrote: »

I have a pioneer avic unit. Great bit of kit. I dont have an iphone but its connected to my ipod and plays everything perfect

Does your Pioneer (or Pioneer in general) head unit offer firmware updates frequent enough? For example, when Apple releases a new major version of iOS, does it follow reasonably well?

aldente

MuppetCheck wrote: »

I have a Pioneer f930bt and it's decent enough, just leave an old ipod in the glove box and it works well. The radio interface is a bit clumsy and it can take 30 seconds to come on, and your have to hit "ok" on a safety warning for the maps each time which is a minor enough irritation. I have had no problems connecting any number of phones to it.

I see, thank you for your story.

Eric Cartman

Kenwood dnx-520VBT , integrates with the vw canbus , looks oem , full dvd, navigation and ipod control .

I have the non vw version and the ipod control is the best ive seen, the bluetooth module is a parrot one so the quality is excellent and the navigation is garmin so cant be beaten

sean1141

There has been updates for it but like i said i dont have an iphone. Its worked perfect for any version of android i have had. They use there own interface for music and phone book etc.

If your around the laois area you are welcome to have a look at mine

aldente

sean1141 wrote: »

There has been updates for it but like i said i dont have an iphone. Its worked perfect for any version of android i have had. They use there own interface for music and phone book etc.

If your around the laois area you are welcome to have a look at mine

Great, I'll keep it in mind and give you a shout. Thanks.

aldente

Has anyone heard about Alpine ICS-X7? It seems to serve my purposes best by specifications (I'm not interested in CD/DVD drive primarily). It is the same spec as the dearer ICS-X8, but being without the DVD drive, it seems to cost the same as X8 for some reason...