I would like a gps dvd flat screen double din for my 02 wrx and was wondering whats in all your rides so that I may find one that I might like... Any personal experiences will be used for finding the right one thank you

 

Personally, I couldn't justify the cost for a screen because I have an iPhone, and most of the functionality the screen provides is redundant. Just make sure it has PRE-amp outputs and Bluetooth functionality and u should be good!

 

After all the research I've done, it comes down to kenwood for flexibility of the ui, pre amps etc, and their newer models have great gps setups; alpine has the biggest true 7.1" screen (mostly why I picked it) tons of in/outs and good iPod control , pioneer looks most oem, has a **** for volume control (I really miss that) but imo has a small screen because there's a cd slot on the face, ****, wide buttons, USB jack etc that I never use...

As for audio quality; if you're not going for spl or clarity competitions, you won't know the difference once theyre properly tuned (of course depends on if you want to swap cabin speakers)

Then there's price...

 

I have a JVC double din, iPod control, movies, does everything you want it to minus navigation, but if you have an iPhone then no need for an expensive navi unit

 

Or any smart phone for that matter....

 

I agree that you can save your money and just use your smartphone for GPS'ing...

I had a to choose between a Kenwood and a Pioneer, I would choose the Pioneer. IMO, it just was easier to use, price, and sound features over the Kenwood in its price range. You can find the larger 7" screen if you go without the GPS and search some of the older models. I had the 4100 in my Titan and it was good and better than the BT310 that I had in my STI, imo due to the larger screen.

 

Alpine FTW. if you get an alpine i suggest you get a PAC TR7 Universal Trigger Module. This lil bad boy makes bypassing the parking brake easy. With the alpine you have to "be in parking brake" when you want to adjust audio funtions. I got it when i got the deck so i never had to deal with not having if that makes sense. I did my research on my unit and everyone suggested this module.

 

right on and true bout smart phones just thought it,would be one less hassle but ill prob go with kenwood or pioneer lol thats like a boob guy vs an *** guy this debate could go on forevef lol

 

IDK, I've always preferred an in-dash screen to my iPhone, mostly because NO ONE makes, IMO, a clean looking iPhone mount that doesn't involve wires (I hate have exposed wires all over the dash).

I have experience with both Kenwoord and Pioneer, and I have to say I am slightly more on the Pioneer side. Both Kenwood and Pioneer have slick looking UIs (the new Kenwoods anyway), but the Pioneer just seems to respond slightly faster to touch and such. It really is slightly though, and most people won't notice the difference. If you're going for a GPS unit though, I'd go with a Kenwood simply because the Garmin interface looks than much better that Pioneers which looks dated even compared to some OEM navigations.

The Alpine is nice, but the UI is a bit bland for my tastes. That's a personal thing of course.

 

QFT. my one gripe about my alpine 910 is the UI is teh garbage. nav is quick, touch is super fast, startup is <7seconds from a cold start for nav, the screen, bt connectivity etc. my main reason for picking alpine was the startup time; if that doesnt matter to you i'd go pioneer for the price point. if nav doesnt matter, then JVC, they're actually pretty good in the 'arsenal' lineup

 

how about sound quality. It has been my Exp that the Alpine units have cleaner sound. pioneers (even premier) have lots of features but still not as good of sound quality, same with kenwood and the kenwood costs more than the alpine.

Tesh, Did you get the pac module for your 910?

 

unless you are going for SQ comp you will not hear the difference between any one the decks. the 910 bt has 4v pre outs which is good but if you are going to listen to your ipod or mp3 cds you just ruin the SQ with the compression so it doesnt really matter. and yes he got a tr7 with the deck i dont sell them without it

 

I like the sound quality - I was really impressed that even with the basic sound settings, it hardly took one try and I was setup well for most types of music, I have stock speakers still and the quality is really clean and clear - I did get the tr7 and also the swi-jack for steering controls, one caveat there is instead of being able to use the bt controls for answer/hang, I use them for other controls (power/ play-pause/ mute), don't think they can be used for phone controls.

The bt is buggy every now and then, but nothing a few button presses can't fix, nav is really accurate and well up to date so far (as much as can be expected), bt call audio is okay as my callers say, sometimes noisy but that's mostly road and engine noise picked up...

Overall the only reasons I'd change my deck are for a dial **** for volume (just a preference thing) and for a cooler looking UI with custom screens, but it's not a deal breaker since you can make the button colors r/g/b to match interior buttons

 

Thank you both for the input.

 

Yeah no worries! OP! Did you get the answer you were looking for? You're welcome to check out my alpine HU at a meet and I can talk you through the quirks both bad and good I've found in the last year