Choosing A New Head Unit

johnboy · January 14, 2009

No probs, :D

DJ Wozza · January 14, 2009

good job John :D

sparkystav · January 14, 2009

Looks good John, just needs the fascia smoothing out now.

mike_noble · January 19, 2009

Hey John,

Looks very nice did you have to buy a new surround for that? How easy is it to fit for a beginner?

Thanks

Parthiban · January 19, 2009

Any thoughts on the Bluetooth bit ? ok, the head unit can talk to my phone, what would I need to make it fully legal to use while driving ?

Surely nothing mate, the phone stays in your pocket, all control of the phone is through the stereo so it will all be legal as soon as the headunit is in :)

Have you decided which one to go for?

That Pioneer one looks very nice though, nice work Johnboy :)

Steviewevie · January 19, 2009

Any thoughts on the Bluetooth bit ? ok, the head unit can talk to my phone, what would I need to make it fully legal to use while driving ?

Surely nothing mate, the phone stays in your pocket, all control of the phone is through the stereo so it will all be legal as soon as the headunit is in :)

Have you decided which one to go for?

I've got the Pioneer double-DIN on order, same as Johnboy. Can't wait, *really* fed up with the lack of tunes in the car !

Yeah I've figured out a fair bit about the Bluetooth since originally posting. I thought I'd needed a cradle but I think I don't need one if I use the controls from the head unit, e.g. loading my phone book into the head unit and making calls from there without having to touch the phone. I also wasn't originally sure that the head unit came with a microphone but now I can see that it does.

Steviewevie · January 24, 2009

Update - very frustrated ! Looks like these head units are hard to track down at the moment. Got one on order, waiting for stock. Fingers crossed they get one soon.

At this rate I might be buying an iPod just so I can listen to music in my car again !

EDIT - I take that back, a bit more phoning around and I think I've sound found some, woo-hoo ! :D

johnboy · January 24, 2009

Any thoughts on the Bluetooth bit ? ok, the head unit can talk to my phone, what would I need to make it fully legal to use while driving ?

Surely nothing mate, the phone stays in your pocket, all control of the phone is through the stereo so it will all be legal as soon as the headunit is in :)

Have you decided which one to go for?

I've got the Pioneer double-DIN on order, same as Johnboy. Can't wait, *really* fed up with the lack of tunes in the car !

Yeah I've figured out a fair bit about the Bluetooth since originally posting. I thought I'd needed a cradle but I think I don't need one if I use the controls from the head unit, e.g. loading my phone book into the head unit and making calls from there without having to touch the phone. I also wasn't originally sure that the head unit came with a microphone but now I can see that it does.

The phone feature is very good, once you have loaded in your contacts, you can dial out from the head unit, also you can dial out a number thats not in the contact list too, just by entering the numbers, so your phone can stay in your pocket all the time. The supplied mic is very good too.

Sorry to hear your having trouble tracking down a unit Steve.

aido · January 24, 2009

Did you find it mailorder Steve or is it somewhere you can get it today?

johnboy · January 24, 2009

Steve, amazon have them in stock.

Steviewevie · January 24, 2009

Did you find it mailorder Steve or is it somewhere you can get it today?

Both - somewhere I can mail order from and also somewhere I can visit. Will probably go there tomorrow. Am reluctant to say on here exactly where until I get one for myself ! But if anyone is desperate, then send me a PM.

Steviewevie · January 24, 2009

Steve, Amazon have them in stock.

Looks like that's not amazon themselves but one of their third-party sellers. I wonder if they're really in stock there ? Thanks for the tip though.

aido · January 24, 2009

Did you find it mailorder Steve or is it somewhere you can get it today?

Both - somewhere I can mail order from and also somewhere I can visit. Will probably go there tomorrow. Am reluctant to say on here exactly where until I get one for myself ! But if anyone is desperate, then send me a PM.

That's ace mate as hopefully if you get it tomorrow you can get it fitted - have you got that autoleads adaptor widget thingy already for it? Bet you can't wait :D

I hate being stuck in the car with no music, saying that though last time I did it was after having had the car 18 months I realised it had a band expander fitted and I could get radio 1!!

Steviewevie · January 24, 2009

Yeah thanks Aido, the lack of music is really starting to spoil my driving experience ! Yep, I've got the lead and the fascia adaptor. Still part-way through sanding down the fascia and also in the middle of trying to pull out the old amp from the car. Now it looks like I'll be getting one tomorrow I'd better get my act together and finish off those items !

You're right, can't wait to get it installed ! :D

Steviewevie · January 24, 2009

ok, I just picked it up. Woo-hoo ! :D

Got it from Car Audio Security. Paid slightly more for it (£230) but at least they had it in stock, and also they're not that far away from me (they're near Heathrow) should I need to take it back.

Of course I should really have had all the fascia finished by now, but I haven't. So now I can work on getting that sorted, so that I can get it installed before long.

aido · January 24, 2009

Nice one fella :D

Steviewevie · January 27, 2009

Update - *finally* managed to get the OEM amp out of the car. That meant I could connect up the bypass cable, use some cable ties to tidy it away, and reassemble the removed panels on the passenger side of the car.

Still in the process of sanding down and painting the fascia, I keep ended up unhappy with the finish and starting again . Hopefully on the home stretch now.

Other things to do are to splice in the aerial amplifier cable and illumination/dimming cables, now that I've got the bypass cable in position.

dirtyharry7717 · January 28, 2009

B) DOUBLE DIN john ,,,looks like there may be another purchase for one , i cant take it any longer with the error3, theres just too much chat on the radio,,,,,,all you gotta do now is change the dash bulbs to blue ( anyone tryed this yet ? how dificult was it ?)

Yeldarb · January 28, 2009

I am loving my new JVC unit. It plays MP3 DVD's so no need to have the Ipod in the car!! Screen is clear with the camera, DAB reception great and sound is far better than the OEM!!

Steviewevie · January 31, 2009

Woo-hoo ! It's all in and working ! :D

Many thanks to everyone who's helped me with this.

Pictures to follow.

Steviewevie · January 31, 2009

Here's a pic of the head unit finally installed. Not the best picture in the world but it gives you an idea.

Close-up of the new fascia after sanding/painting etc. I don't think I did too bad a job getting it closer to the look of the factory plastic. Is that a fingerprint I can see on it though ?

aido · January 31, 2009

Looking good mate, you've done a great job of the facia :)

So more importantly, how does it sound compared to your old one?

Steviewevie · January 31, 2009

Looking good mate, you've done a great job of the facia :)
So more importantly, how does it sound compared to your old one?

Thanks ! It sounds good, but I need to have a good read of the manual to figure out how it all works !

Will be going out for a run later and will have a better chance to see how it all sounds.

aido · January 31, 2009

I think you should have a run up to the Midlands tomorrow so you can bed it in :D

HiTnRuN · January 31, 2009

Here's a pic of the head unit finally installed. Not the best picture in the world but it gives you an idea.

Close-up of the new fascia after sanding/painting etc. I don't think I did too bad a job getting it closer to the look of the factory plastic. Is that a fingerprint I can see on it though ?

I've changed my head unit too recently, but the bottom panel underneath the head unit with the heated seats button keeps coming loose on one side and popping out. Did you have this problem too?