Why so much hate for Alpine deck's with Navi?

[bureau13 10+ year member]

"Everything" being built in is fine if you want "everything." I personally like the fact that I don't HAVE to buy everything if I don't need it. Of course, that also made installation a pain in the butt...

jds

I have played with the 505/701 combo in my boss's Jeep. I've also played with the Kenwood. The Kenwood is so much more user friendly. I also like the fact that everything is built in on the Kenwood. Lastly, I value volume knobs and buttons that have adjustable lighting to match my dash. The Alpine doesn't have either and everything is a separate add on. I'm going to go with a bit one, so I sold my 701 before I even used it. It would be nice to control the processor through the HU, but the Audison controller is fine enough. Plus, after initial setup there really isn't much to have to adjust. And this is coming from someone who is a diehard Alpine HU fan. They have just gotten lost in the wind compared to the competition IMO. SQ on the HU itself doesn't matter to me, as the bit one will take care of that.

 

[SicAudio 5,000+ posts]

I don't think Alpine is that much more expensive than others. I consider JL to be expensive for the amount of sub or amp you get. Alpine is worth the price. Alpine knows car audio head units, that's why they don't cram all the features in one box. Imo, Eclipse is Alpines only competition as far as mass marketed units go. I've ran almost every brand of head unit, and have not seen Alpine quality for a cheaper price. Less features make the uninformed hate Alpine. If you set a fully loaded Kenwood or Pioneer flat, it would never sound as good as the Eclipse when set flat. I had a JVC and Panasonic with way more features on paper, but they sounded bad compared to my so called stripped down Alpine. I wish Rockford still made head units because they were one of the best you could get.

rockford never "made" decks they marketed and sold decks that were rebadged premiers

I have played with the 505/701 combo in my boss's Jeep. I've also played with the Kenwood. The Kenwood is so much more user friendly. I also like the fact that everything is built in on the Kenwood. Lastly, I value volume knobs and buttons that have adjustable lighting to match my dash. The Alpine doesn't have either and everything is a separate add on. I'm going to go with a bit one, so I sold my 701 before I even used it. It would be nice to control the processor through the HU, but the Audison controller is fine enough. Plus, after initial setup there really isn't much to have to adjust. And this is coming from someone who is a diehard Alpine HU fan. They have just gotten lost in the wind compared to the competition IMO. SQ on the HU itself doesn't matter to me, as the bit one will take care of that.

exactly why I dont use Alpine anymore.

 

[LaserRed38 10+ year member]

RF also had the rebadged Denons. And uhh yeah of you don't want everything that the unit has, don't use the features? The 6140 is still way cheaper than 203/505 with the add-ons, and it includes all that stuff for almost the same amount of money (or less) than the base price for the Alpines. I don't think the Kenwood has HD Radio built in, but I don't even listen to radio so I don't care. Bluetooth, navi, volume knob and adjustable lighting (as well as user friendliness) make the Kenwood > Alpine for me. Also looks more OEM too.

 

[jmanpc 5,000+ posts]

People don't like the Alpine navi units because you have to buy a separate GPS unit. And thats just ghey.

 

[Bass911 10+ year member]

I've heard the Denon ones and know nothing about rebadged Premiers. Different strokes for different folks I guess? I've demoed Kenwood and Alpine side by side and the Alpine sounds better to me with no add-ons. Like I said before so what if Kenwood has it all built-in. It still doesn't add up for me. I also listened to some cars at the World Finals with Kenwood double dins and they are good decks, but still behind Alpine Imo. Btw, I only paid $415 for my Iva-w505. You say add-on Navi is ghey, but it would be the same price if it was built-in. Same with Kenwood. If you buy a DDX and add Navi, it will be the same price as a DNX.

 

[phish368 10+ year member]

****... $415... i thought i got a deal when i found it for 750 at an authorized dealer (without tax and free shipping)....

i wonder what i'd be able to find the P1 for //content.invisioncic.com/y282845/emoticons/wink.gif.608e3ea05f1a9f98611af0861652f8fb.gif

 

[shadowjack1965]

I've got the W505 and I like it for the most part. My objections are the same as everyone else's regarding the unit, (i.e. small clock, Nav route hard to cancel, etc), but overall not a bad unit.

I purchased the W505 from Crutchfield but got the P1 from a site called Barney's Electronics as they were cheaper. I used the P1 for about a month when one day is simply died and wouldn't power on. I contacted Barney's and they exchanged the part for me so was relieved with that, however not sure if they're an "authorized" Alpine dealer or not so if my P1 breaks again I may need to get a Square Trade warranty if the manufacturer's warranty isn't covered.

I recommend if you're going to buy either unit ensure you're buying from an authorized Alpine dealer just to be on the safe side, even though they're usually more expensive...

 

[bigaudiofanati2 10+ year member]

People hate alpine because its expensive.... PERIOD.

LOL not true they hate them because they knwo that they are better than other units. I for one like the nav in the alpine units, not the best compared to kenwoods but I still like it. ALPINE FTMFW

 

[jluv 10+ year member]

I use the 505/701 combo with a second gen Blackbird, and I love it. I had a couple of the first gen Blackbirds, and hated them, but the glitches have been worked out, and this unit is great. I love the fact that I can dock it in the head unit and control everything with the touch screen, and then pop it out and slap it in the extrenal dock in any other vehicle.

For example, a few weeks ago, I went camping up in Colorado. I drove all the way there from Texas with the unit docked. Then, I rented a Jeep to spend a day doing 4x4 trails, and it took all of about 10 seconds to move the Blackbird to the Jeep windshield and plug it in. Then, when I got out of the Jeep to do some hiking through the wilderness, I carried the Blackbird in my pocket. Good luck doing all of that with any other nav.

I liked Kenwoods way back in the day, and my girl liked the looks of them, so I put one in her car. Never again. The user interface on that thing makes me want to choke someone. Granted, it's a single din, not a video unit, but I refuse to own another Kenwood after dealing with that thing. The manual is nearly unusable as well. Bleh.

Anyway, if you have the dough, you can't go wrong with Alpine. I think their nav is fine, and the new stuff (is it M300?) is supposed to be a lot better, even. Sadly, I think they've stopped making the Blackbirds.