i was thinkin bout gettin the eclipse 5442 for a 2003 impreza wrx as a head unit.. what do you guys think.. any better options... imma lookin for sound quality over options.... plus... is the STi really gonna be worth it when it comes out.. if it goes for 30,000... i mean.. you can mod the car for 1-2 thousand and get a decent performance...

i can't speak for this model personally but i can as far as eclipse/fujitsu ten go. i have had countless headunits over the years and i have never found one a quite like like my old eclipse. they have never really been that popular as most people that spend money on their radio they want all the flashy stuff and eclipse puts their focus more towards quality than screensavers and such.

not for sure what your budget is, but i'm sure you know you get what you pay for and this goes the same in car audio/multimedia. from what i can tell this looks to be a good head unit. here are some reviews from people that have had experience with the 5442.
http://www.carreview.com/CD,Receivers/Eclipse,(Fujitsu,Ten),5442/PRD_10038_2861crx.aspx#Reviews

all in all seems like a good buy;)

as far as the sti....well i have seen the pictures and that is about all i know for sure! everyone has different info. last i heard it was going to be here in the states in the spring time (march/april) and it would sticker around 30k to compete with the soon to be released evo 8 (don't forget the dealer markup though).

I had an Eclipse 54400 , it was a great headunit. Good features and a simple, intuitive, NOT FLASHY design. You could barely tell it was aftermarket. I loved the feel of the volume knob too.

-s-