R.I.P. Alpine 9813 - Looking for something new

[CaviHitts 10+ year member]

I have a 9813 and it has worked flawlessly until now. I got it back in June of '03. I got in my car the other day and started it and the deck would not play the disc. The unit powered up fine but said Error. I tried to eject the cd and the face folded down but would not eject. Then I could not get the face to fold back up. I reset the deck and it started working again (except I lost all of my settings). That was the last time it worked. It will power up fine. If I try to play the cd I get "error". I can switch to FM but there is no audio and it won't let me change stations, it just beeps. It has been like this for a few days. Nothing has changed in my install at all in the past 2 years at least. I'm thinking that the deck is gone or is there any hope?

Assuming that I have to get another deck, does anyone have any recommendations? I have only ever had Alpine. I believe I had the 7998 before this one but I'm not 100% sure. My instinct will tell me to get another Alpine and the closest thing to the one I had is the 9887, I believe. I want full EQ & X-over controls. I looked at some mid-range priced Pioneers ($200-$350) but I've never used them, they didn't really catch my eye and I really hate to spend money and end up disappointed. I don't have anything against them and I know a lot of you run them. I've searched and seen a lot of reviews. Does anyone think I should try out the pioneers or stick to what I know which is Alpine?

Sorry for the long post.

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[CaviHitts 10+ year member]

Update. I got it to work for about an hour. Does anyone have an idea of why it would work perfectly sometimes but not output anything, play disc or change any settings the next?