Tom Sederburg

I need to get a new headunit.

Right now I'm fairly certain I'll be getting the Alpine IVA-D310.

However, I know next to nothing about car A/V. (Other than what I learned tonight on the Best Buy website of course. lol)

I mean, I already have an Alpine flip-down monitor in the back seat, so I basically favour the IVA-D310 for brand synchronicity if nothing else...

BUT... before I blow a grand on something that (for all I know) could already be outdated I just thought I'd find out what you guys thought of it.

Thanks in advance.

Later,
Tom

roadrageC55

http://www.autoblog.com/2006/03/02/e...ash-dvd-drive/

This one looks promising

rays cl55

The Eclispe unit is very nice. Easy to use and touch screen. You can get the DVD based unit or the hard drive unit. Either of the two is nicer then the IVA-D310. Not to say the Alpine unit is bad but the Eclipse gives you much more for the money.

Barada

I would go for Alpine if you are deciding to use navigation in the future and you are limited to a single din. They have the Blackbird (PMDB100) (699.99)which can plug into the IVAD310 and be portable in another car for you. They also have a Sirius Nav-traffic (SIRALP10T).I like the Eclipse as well, but IMO Alpine has the edge when it gets down to what you will be able to do with it in the future. Eclipse is bad about taking forever to develop (Satellite tuners) or modify (old nav) their existing product line. Also, If you are looking for a Double din DVD unit as listed with the Eclipse (minus Nav), Alpine has one coming IVAW200, with an April release date.

ldangeli

They are both great units, however, with Alpine you are paying for the name. There are some other downsides to alpine, resolution isn't as nice, XM nav traffic isn't as up to date as advertised, and more expensive. Depends on what car you are trying to put it in, but contrary to what the last post says, Alpine is no longer the leader in the Nav market. There are other options out there, make sure you choose the one that suits your needs.

Tom Sederburg

Well, in case anyone was wondering, I ultimately ended up going with the Alpine:



That Eclipse AVN-7000 was indeed very nice. Unfortunately however, they are selling for nearly twice what the IVA-D310 cost me & I could not justify the additional expense. (Especially seeing as how I hardly ever use the car I had it installed in anyway...)

Now all I need to do it have one of those video e-brake bypass things installed and I'll be ready to go.

Anyone know if this one is any good:

Video Bypass Device

?

Later,
Tom

GANSTA

What is this video E-brake thing. Is it used to allow you to see the DVD while you are driving?

If so, you are throwing your cash away. I've got the same unit in a W210 and I sell and install car sound here in Australia, all I did, and have done so for years, is earth (ground out) the Park Brake (see E-Brake) wire from the unit to the chassis and the screen will work at all times. If you want to switch it off if you get pulled over by the Police, just put a switch in line.

It's as simple as that.

Barada

You can not just ground the Alpine unit, or at least the US version, don't know about in Australia :^).
The Alpine wants to see a 12VOLT on the foot brake while it see's a negitive pulse on and off, like putting the hand brake up and down.
You COULD hook it to your foot brake and put a switch for the emergency brake wire that puts a ground on it and flip it on and off while holding the foor brake down and it would work as well without buying the adapter. Or add 2 switches one 12V and one ground and do the same.