iXA-W404

[over_the_hills]

Hey guys,
I need some advice on the Apline iXA

I like the idea of having a mechless head unit. I hate optical media and would much rather keep all my music on solid state.

I don't have an ipod, so those features are useless to me, what I am after is the ability to either connect a USB hard drive, or have a hard drive built in. This unit looks good on paper, but I've read some negative reviews, and the overall feeling I’m getting is that people don't like it... so what I am wondering... has anyone has experience with this deck, or can you point me to an alternative?

I will be putting this into an F-150 so I for sure want double DIN, and I would want the crossover, time adjustment and eq features with I can add to this with that optional processor alpine has, but most importantly it needs to have a solid music library, to manage all of the music on the hard drive.

Help would be greatly appreciated.

EDIT: I would like to add that it MUST have knobs and buttons. I know it sounds dumb but I hate touch screen, esp while driving.