Im clueless about Head Units.....Advice?

[Oggy997]

Right, my standard HU is making crazy noises occasioanlyy, doing my head in.

Im lining up a Dension Ice Link FM as I had one in my car and the iPod is my weapon of choice.

I dont wanna get the Ice Link for a fubared Head Unit.

What I do want is:

Something affordable, dont require top of the range (dont really have £xxx to spend, but I can)

It must be compatable with, Ice Link FM or have iPod controls - I need the charger / cradle function, hence the choice of Ice Link

Anyone help? Ive never looked at an aftermarket stereo in my life.

 

[Jungle_Jim]

cant go wrong with alpine mate, have a look on www.caraudiodirect.com they are a really good company

 

[Thamar]

Pioneer or Alpine.
Little more expensive then for say a Sony or a JVC, but it's well worth it.

 

[Oggy997]

But what sort of models? would the cheapest one be ok lol?

 

[Jungle_Jim]

depends on your budget mate,
this one has built in ipod controls
http://www.caraudiodirect.co.uk/alpine-cda9886r-p-6397.html?cadid=79c688f4f3d5b354a0b23e77011e5f30

 

[Thamar]

Oggy, don't go for the cheapest.
Best thing is, go to some sort of mega place where they display all radio's and have high prices, ask them about a radio, most of them are stalled out and powered. Fidle around with them, and buy the one you like from a smaller shop or onlineshop.

 

[Oggy997]

Well, erm.

Its gonna cost me just shy of £100 for an Ice Link, that includes charger / cradle, I assume these dont.

Ipod is a 15GB 3rd Gen if that makes any difference, battery went, replaced it but not sure if it'll hold out do I need to charge on the go.

I have money to spend, cash usually isnt an issue, but I dont need anything excessive.

 

[Jungle_Jim]

not sure exactly what the ice link is but you can buy ipod charger / cradles for under £30, the headunit i posted allows you to control your ipod on the headunit but this cost more. you could just get a normal headunit but it would mean changing tracks on the ipod and just having the headunit on AUX

 

[Oggy997]

Ice Link is a cradle / charger that 'tunes' in to a radio frequencey, you select radio and it plays through that.

I dont mind using the iPod for controls, can create playlists on the PC easy enough, plus, she does fook all while Im driving.

 

[Jungle_Jim]

ah dont use those itrip things the quality is only as good as a poor radio station, a directline is much better for sound quality mate

 

[Oggy997]

I believe it is, its not a transmitter as far as I know, cable to somewhere on the head unit, but played through the radio.

 

[Jungle_Jim]

ah right i just had a look on here which explanned a few things, yeah its basically a directline but with a convertor that means your cd track change buttons on the headunit change stuff on the ipod. seems quite cool you could get it cheaper as i saw it for £69 and wasnt even looking. if however your not bothered about the controls then a normal alpine lead is about £20

 

[Oggy997]

Well my preferred limited knowledge choice suggests.......

Decent enough Head Unit, no iPod functions built in. Buy Ice Link FM, get Halfords to git it, if its a console / PC Ill modify it, anything to do with cars and Im a sh!tbag.

 

[Jungle_Jim]

sounds like a good idea mate, i had this alpine HU in my old car, was awesome
http://www.caraudiodirect.co.uk/alpine-cda9812rb-p-2193.html?cadid=79c688f4f3d5b354a0b23e77011e5f30

or this is best of the cheaper range, i wouldnt go any lower to behonest
http://www.caraudiodirect.co.uk/alpine-cda9812rb-p-2193.html?cadid=79c688f4f3d5b354a0b23e77011e5f30

 

[Oggy997]

Many thanks for your input mate, do you know if any of the above will use the steering wheel controls I have?

Id prefer £80, but I have to do what I have to do

 

[Goodj]

Alpine. Every time

I can personally recommend one of these
http://www.incarexpress.co.uk/view_product.php?partno=CDA9884R

Either using an iPod to USB lead, or alpine's own AI-Net lead, it hooks straight into the head unit and works well.
You can keep the stalk controls for about £20. To retain the stalk AND the dash-top display will need a cable which costs about £70.

It will also blackout it's own display when not being tinkered with, helping it look less brash. the colourscheme can be set to red with amber to best fit the dash colours.

Those ICE Links aren't very good to be honest. If you go down the FM transmitter route, you're not much better off with a denison than you are a 12-volt powered one for about 20 quid. The dash-top display wont give you any text info whatsoever and the just dont sound as good as having a good honest bit of wire from source to amp. Bluetooth streaming is a better technology, but not much use unless you've got an iPhone...I guess

 

[Jungle_Jim]

Many thanks for your input mate, do you know if any of the above will use the steering wheel controls I have?

Id prefer £80, but I have to do what I have to do

most alpine headunit are compatible with the steering wheel controls but you may need to buy an adaptor cable, ebay do them mate

 

[Oggy997]

Alpine. Every time

I can personally recommend one of these
http://www.incarexpress.co.uk/view_product.php?partno=CDA9884R

Either using an iPod to USB lead, or alpine's own AI-Net lead, it hooks straight into the head unit and works well.
You can keep the stalk controls for about £20. To retain the stalk AND the dash-top display will need a cable which costs about £70.

It will also blackout it's own display when not being tinkered with, helping it look less brash. the colourscheme can be set to red with amber to best fit the dash colours.

Those ICE Links aren't very good to be honest. If you go down the FM transmitter route, you're not much better off with a denison than you are a 12-volt powered one for about 20 quid. The dash-top display wont give you any text info whatsoever and the just dont sound as good as having a good honest bit of wire from source to amp. Bluetooth streaming is a better technology, but not much use unless you've got an iPhone...I guess

I dont mind using the ipod itself for controls??

I just need:

A head unit, half decent but not expensive, that charges my ipod, whether its Ice Link or not, preferably with stalk controls.

 

[bmh.01]

http://www.cliosport.net/forum/showthread.php?t=303914 Top of the range too.