Advice for buying double din head unit

How are you guys doing, I just joined because this forum looks like a great place to get advice and step up my knowledge game. I am a Marine currently over in afghanistan and getting ready to redo my tahoe's system when i get back. Basically I had my truck broken into in the States, but the insurance paid out and I get another chance. I'll skip to the questions; i put the back story at the bottom if anyone is curious.

I am looking to buy a new double din head unit, and looking for advice. Price isnt as important, it can be from mid to high. I just want a high quality unit. This is pretty much what I am looking for:

(these are critical)
-double din
-High quality audio and video, especially bass etc (I know mainly comes from the amps and subs but i want a good foundation)
-ability to send video to other screens in vehicle
-SD card slot
-short loading times etc, doesnt have to be the fastest, just not slow

(bonuses, don't matter if the above are all good)
-visually appealing, i would prefer it to look good and have options to customize GUI etc, but not critical
-droid compatibility would be nice but not important
-buetooth,navigation, hd radio, all other options etc being present or quality don't matter.

Any suggestions would be welcome.

BTW - My old HU was the Pioneer AVH-4300, which I didnt have any complaints about, and seems to have pretty good reviews on here. Should I stay with this unit (or its variant Pioneer AVH-P3300) or is there better out there for a system?

I also had a question regarding two specifc units:

My wife talked to a couple of places that offered to sell and install a head unit and alarm system as a package. I plan on having her doing something like this then I'll install the rest when I get back. One of the offers was a Viper + either a JVC-KW-AVX740 or JVC KW-NT50HDT. The first one is cheaper w/o navigation and had mixed reviews.. mainly talking trash about the bluetooth, which I don't care too much about. The second one has navigation but I couldnt find many reviews about it. The only ones i found mainly talked good about it, only one talked bad (just about the navigation). If anyone has any feedback about these units, would be greatly appreciated.


(Backstory)

When i deployed I left my 2007 tahoe with my wife to watch over. I recently bought it about a year ago, bought all the components to put together a system, and hooked it up with a couple of my guys at our shop. My original setup was a Pioneer AVH-P4300 (double din), (2) 12" solo baric L7 kicker subs, (2) SSL amps (cant remember details for this other stuff), BOSS cap, and kicker speakers for the doors. We made a monster sub box which pretty much took up the entire back of my Tahoe (with the back row seats removed!!). It was entirely too big, but it sounded beastly. The problem is I got lazy after that and never got around to putting in an alarm system or even darkening the tint on my windows. The end result, someone smashed the back window and stole the amps, cap, subs, and attempted to steal my pioneer head unit, destroying it in the process. In the end I should have spent the extra money and time to protect my work and money lol, but it was a valuable lesson.

I've definitely heard great things about the 4300.

I've also heard this thing is good.. a bit expensive.. but you said price doesn't matter.. so here.. :)

Alpine INA-W910 Navigation receiver at Crutchfield.com

ouch, that thing is even 1k + off amazon lol.. I wouldn't mind going with it knowing it works well but the more I think about it, with the rest of the money I am going to spend finishing the system, I should probably keep it around 800 or less.

Yeah, the 4300 worked great, weren't too many flaws (I have and will continue to recommend it to other people).. I guess common sense would dictate go with something I know, however with redoing my system I was kind of excited to try something new out.

I wish I could find more reviews on the JVC KW-NT50HDT, my wife found a place offering to install it along with a two way / remote start viper system for around 1k. It sounds like a good deal if that head unit works well.

check out the unit that just replaced the 4300DVD the AVH-P4400BH, stores are just now getting them in stock, mine will be here monday, can't wait to get it installed.

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by doox00

check out the unit that just replaced the 4300DVD the AVH-P4400BH, stores are just now getting them in stock, mine will be here monday, can't wait to get it installed.

---

yea and the one above that is the avh-p8400, post a review on that 4400 on the forums Im definitely interested in that HU :P

Oh and here's the link to that 8400
Avh-8400

thats crazy, I was just looking at those both last night! I went on pioneer's website and saw their new line of units, including those two. I was trying to find out when they were coming out, because the only thing i saw was from a facebook feed saying something about March. I was strongly considering pre ordering one of them off ABT, an authorized dealer of pioneer. I'm guessing the 8400 is also coming out now then? I couldn't find many differences besides the mixtrax software and detachable face, wondering if the price difference is worth it. I also noticed the 8400 lists SD card but 4400 doesnt, think they erroneously left that out? That would be a killer for me, besides music video DVDs, I listen to my music off SD card. Anyone got a chance to see more about the mix trax software? I can't go to the link, our internet out here blocks streaming media :(

wow, just went back on the pioneer site and checked for the SD card on the 4400; it doesnt look like it does have a slot.. I'm sure it's a great unit, I don't understand why they took that off. Especially because the 4300 had one. It's so convenient to stick my SD card in and not have to mess with cables or CDs etc.

mixtrax for your computer

http://www.mixtraxnet.com/support/do.../index_en.html


http://westmichiganmoms.net/files/mixtrax/mixtrax1.jpg

the 8400 has dual usb,cant ya get a flash drive?
it does have a slot...
OTHER FEATURES
Built-In MOSFET 50W x 4 Amplifier
3 Sets of Hi-Volt RCA Preouts (4V) for System Expansion
8-Band Graphic Equalizer
Auto EQ (CD-MC20 required)
Sonic Center Control
Advanced Sound Retriever
SD/SDHC Memory Card Slot
Rear View Camera Input
Advanced Touch Slide Operation
Wired Remote Input
Included Remote Control
Detachable Face Security™

I would not buy a pioneer HU if they were 75% off. I have had too many issues with the RCAs for me to ever buy another one.

I'd look into Alpine, Kenwood, and Clarion.

I'd stay away from kenwood and clarion i had the 7180 and the nx702 both decks were garbage

What double din supports the Iphone5?

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by Arc rocks

What double din supports the Iphone5?

---

For video? None. The iPhone 5 doesn't put out video through the lightning connector. As for connecting it directly via USB for music playback, or via Bluetooth for hands free phone and music playback, most decks will work fine.

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by richericks

For video? None. The iPhone 5 doesn't put out video through the lightning connector. As for connecting it directly via USB for music playback, or via Bluetooth for hands free phone and music playback, most decks will work fine.

---

I heard alot of manufactures were having bluetooth problems with the IOS6.