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Sunday, January 8th, 2006Sunday, January 8th, 2006

Someone Finally Got A Car Stereo Right

by Shawn @ 11:03 am · filed under Car Stuff

Wow... I was starting to think that no car stereo company would "get it right" and give me exactly what I wanted. Not only did they get it right, but it's better than I wanted (detachable GPS for example)...

I wanted a double-din deck with a touch screen (I even tossed around the idea of having a company rewire the IVA-300 touch screen to not be motorized because the PulseTouch screen is so nice (but not double-DIN). There was absolutely no option for bluetooth built into an aftermarket car stereo. I wanted iPod control, but it was annoying to have a hideaway box to get it. I also wanted a navigation system with the ability to see live traffic on it (also annoying it required a hideaway box). I went over it all over here and here.

So anyway... check this out...

Alpine came out with a double-DIN sized deck (the IVA-W200). It's certainly more than I was expecting... double-DIN, with a PulseTouch screen (only the 2nd deck in the world with it), built-in iPod control (no need for a hideaway box) and Bluetooth (KCA-100BT module). As a bonus, it's a DVD player too. Oh, and it has a steering wheel remote jack as well (you can still use your steering wheel controls without an IR blaster).

They also came out with the Blackbird (PMD-B100) portable navigation unit. The cool thing about this you don't need a bulky hideaway DVD unit (with map data), since it's portable, it's all self-contained. It has a docking unit (which you could throw in your glovebox or something) so when it's docked, you don't have to see it and you can just access it from your deck when you want to. It also does live traffic data as well. :)

What the hell? Could it possibly be that someone did it exactly right? I guess we'll see in March. :)

8 Responses to “Someone Finally Got A Car Stereo Right”

  1. Jason Golod Says:
    January 8th, 2006 at 12:49 pm

    What about a car PC? Seems like you could have all of that and a whole lot more…like sync’ing your home system with your car when you pull in the garage via wifi? I assume you are going to have wifi in your new crib.

  2. Shawn Says:
    January 8th, 2006 at 1:10 pm

    Yeah, it could be pimp if someone did it right… but no one has (that I’ve seen).

    http://www.shawnhogan.com/2005/11/the-google-car-stereo.html

    And the Alpine stuff is pretty much everything I wanted.

  3. Jason Golod Says:
    January 9th, 2006 at 9:40 am

    I hear ya. I don’t like having to have a bunch of junk somewhere in the car. But, if I did it, I think I would like to be a little flexible with the hardware (ie:expand my HD storage). Plus, I kinda like the idea of having the OS on a CF card.

  4. Jerry Wimer Says:
    January 26th, 2006 at 8:09 am

    Awesome. I’ve been planning to replace the factory GM headunit in my 2004 Silverado and was having the same problems you had- nobody had everything I wanted in one unit. I favored the IVA-310 but was dreading the resulting look in the GM double din opening and the hassle with the column shifter and the pop-out display. I was also bummed that the 310 didn’t get the steering wheel jack. So thanks for pointing out in your post that it DOES get the jack! Native functioning of the buttons beats the heck out of an IR go between anyday.

  5. George Etrata Says:
    January 31st, 2006 at 8:11 pm

    I agree with Jerry Wimer about the IVA 310. In a chevy truck the shifter does get in the way but it isn’t something you can’t work with. I added the Alpine N872A Nav system and it truly rocks!! A side benefit of this add on is that it has a voice buttom which can be mounted to the steering wheel. The whole system can now be controlled by voice commands. I luv my Alpine system. The turn by turn voice navigation and ease of use make this a winner. I have the KCA-100BT Bluetooth interface module on order and that will allow my cell work seamlessly through the radio. Can’t wait to see if this also surpasses my expectations.

  6. Kurt Says:
    April 27th, 2006 at 2:10 pm

    How do you like the KCA-100BT? I’m getting ready to order the Alpine DVA-9861, and was thinking about getting the bluetooth adaptor. The only think I’m concerned about is that I am a state trooper so I have several 2-way radios running in the background and am concerned that with the background noise from those that it will cause people I’m talking to on the bluetooth to not be able to hear me.
    How does your work?
    If you could tell me, I’d really appreciate it.
    Thanks,
    Kurt
    mrkurt2u@hotmail.com

  7. Steve Says:
    August 18th, 2006 at 11:10 am

    I can’t get my dva-9861 to sync with my phone….any suggestions?

  8. Justin Says:
    March 11th, 2008 at 7:36 am

    Does the touch screen on the IVA-310 work for the IPod? Will the IPod display video or audio information on the sreen? More or less what I am getting at is can i throw my IPod in the glove box and use the 310 touch screen as a large IPod screen?!?

    Plz reply by email as I am in Afghanistan right now and cant bookmark this page. JGardiner636@yahoo.com

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