A coworker of mine can get me discounts on pioneer. I'm looking for one that has mp3 capability... however I'm wondering how easy is it to play songs from 1 folder on your CDR to another song in another folder on your CDR.

While I'm driving I don't want to be fiddling alot with the controls. And I figure a single DIN screen might be hard to navigate through. Anyone have experiences?

I'm lookin through the crutchfield magazine right now and I cannot tell the difference between the Pioneer units. Some have uncessary things like having screen savers on them. I'm looking for good quality. I'd prefer to spend less than $300. Or should I just opt for an alpine instead?

 

if you're looking for good quality, go for an alpine. Crutchfield has the 7995 on sale for $300, which is a damn good deal, although it has no internal amp, so you'll need to use it with external amps.

the 9815 is an awesome deck, but a little outta your $300 price range, it has a dot-matrix display which is very nice for MP3 song names or if you add XM radio. That unit does have an internal amp.

Alpines other units are also excelent, they just lack the nice display of the 9815.

 

who doesn't use external amps? heh.

what's the logic in that anyways? I would assume that external amps provide better amplification so it's not necessary on the head unit.

Is this a cost saving measure on the part of the manufacturer? Is this a technology improvement?

 

The logic is that they don't have to spend $$$ on the amp inside, and can add more features or SQ for the same $$$.

 

if pioneer, then get the dehp7500 for $250-300
the dehp5500 for $190-230
dehp4500 $150

 

they eliminate the amp in certain decks to allow for better preamp circuitry and to make for a cleaner signal to external amps. Basically its not to cut costs, its usually found on the most expensive decks. It all adds up to improved sound quality (and less heat in the deck).

 

look at the pioneers again. the 2004 are now out. we just got some of the new models and they look alot better.