My Pioneer DEH-P7000UB had died, need a new head unit

[Thor]

Hey all,

Right I brought a Pioneer DEH-P7000UB Head unit for my car back in April only for it to fudge up last week, at first I thought there was a loose wire or something as it came back to life only to shut down and start clicking at me after a few seconds, now it just won't turn on, I've tried it out in another car so I know it's not down to my car I'm guessing it might have gotten fried when either I had a jump start or when ATS installed the battery. NEWay as I can't find the damned receipt I doubt I'll be able to send it back for a repair so I'm now on the look out for a new head unit.

I'm currently using my old Panasonic CQ-DFX983N CD/MP3 head unit, only problem with that one is the lack of USB out, I can plug in an old mp3 player via the AUX connection but that would only output the sound to the head unit, I'd have to use the mp3 player itself to change tracks. Hmm, rambling on again, anyways, these are my requirements for a new head unit:

Make: Alpine, Kenwood, Panasonic, JVC or Sony - I'm not trusting Pioneer again, once bitten n' all that.
3x Pre-outs (1x Front, 1x Rear, 1x SUB)
USB in
Loudness
Detachable faceplate
Good Visualisations (like in MediaPlayer/Winamp)
Max Budget of £400

I did consider getting the Kenwood KVT-522DVD head unit with 7" Motorised screen but the lack of detachable faceplate gave me security concerns as knowing my luck some thieving git will smash me window and nick it within weeks if not days of me installing it, my car is alarmed n all but I doubt this would stop all thieves?
>Plus it's only got the 2 pre-outs, but then again I'm currently only using 1 set of pre-outs atm anyways for my Front amped speakers but would have liked the option there for future upgrades.

The Panasonic CQ VD7005 7" DVD system looks very nice but again with the same security issue and it's a lil more than my max budget, if I did decide to go for this one it would have to wait a while, maybe it'll come down in the sales...

Both the Alpine IDA-X100 and JVC KD-AVX44 look nice but I can't find any technical details about them doing any visualisations, only showing wallpaper n such?

No rush everyone, my panny should do me for the meantime just need some opinions on a new head unit to help me decide over the next few weeks, TIA.

[Vini]

What are you doing with your 7000ub??

I've got a 6900ib (unused) as my fascia got ran over. I'd be interested to see if the 7000 fascia fits...

[Thor]

What are you doing with your 7000ub??

I've got a 6900ib (unused) as my fascia got ran over. I'd be interested to see if the 7000 fascia fits...

If I still can't find the receipt then I guess I'm chucking it or selling it on the forums/eBay as broken.
How did you manage to run over your fascia?

[Howard]

I've had my P7000UB for a while now with no ill effects, this isn't very reassuring though! Lol. Why not just get another one?

[Thor]

I've had my P7000UB for a while now with no ill effects, this isn't very reassuring though! Lol. Why not just get another one?

Define a while?
I'm not sure it liked my car either as for some strange reason when it was installed my car heater had a mind of it's own and would just turn on/off all of a sudden, yet now my old Panny head unit is installed no such strange happenings go on, that and the fact I don't have to have the ignition turned on to use the stereo, although this could prolly be fixed with a re-wire, but the panny actualy has a ACC switch the the headunit, set to off atm.

I don't really wanna spend another £170 - £180 on the same HU if it might die on me 8 months later again. If it helps it's got a build date of February 2008, maybe a bad batch?

I'm really liking that Panasonic 7" DVD system now tbh and I know I can trust a panny as I've had 2 HU's by them before, not to mention 2 HD Plasma's and DVD Players by them, can't fault em.

[Howard]

I bought it in March this year.

The staying on with ignition off will be the yellow wire that needs swapping, i.e. where the permanent live feed goes to.

The fans are a weird one, maybe you jogged some connectors for the fan controls when installing/removing?

[Raz316]

Sorry to kind of go off topic, but I got a P7000UB today and was wondering how I make it choose a random track when I skip forward? Currently it just goes to the next track and only randomly selects when I let the song finish.

[Thor]

I bought it in March this year.

The staying on with ignition off will be the yellow wire that needs swapping, i.e. where the permanent live feed goes to.

The fans are a weird one, maybe you jogged some connectors for the fan controls when installing/removing?

Weird one indeed, I had thought that some cables had been dislodged it was in professionally, I say professionally in the loosest terms as Moving Sounds in Newport are complete Numpties!
I had checked over the cables, couldn't find anything wrong yet the problem still happened but as soon as I swapped out the broken Pioneer for the old Panny = problem solved, very weird that.

I've scratched that Panny 7" system off my list now considering it doesn't have a USB port which takes the p considering the RRP is like £500 and you can get a HU with USB as standard for under £100 nowadays.

The Clarion VRX588RUSB looks promising as it does have USB and a detachable security faceplate plus 12 months anti theft cover, all for under £300.

[cadders]

Thor,
Just wondered if you wanted to sell your panasonic 983N, my wife has just shut her one in the car door and the screen no longer works.

Thanks

Cadders

[Vini]

Fell out of my pocket as i was getting into passenger side and GF ran over it.

I've got a 3 month old 6900ib with a fascia that still works, but just has a cracked lcd.

[Thor]

Hmm, this appears to have gone off topic, FYI: I'm not selling anything atm or interested in buying second hand HU's, if I was then I would have listed in the For Sale section. I'm only interested in suggestions for a new Head Unit with the spec's I listed at the start.

Once again, TIA.

[Vini]

I've only ever had Pioneer, 7700MP -> 6900IB -> 700BT - Never a problem...

On that basis I'd recommend the following:

Pioneer DEH-P88RS (£305) - A quality unit, but lacking some of the features (as standard). This would work out to be nearly £400 when you've bought the USB module. That said, the Reference Series not only looks sugar hot, but it sounds it too!

Again, sticking with Pioneer (I've never had a problem, or known of one), I can vouch for the DEH-P700BT (£200), the unit I use at the minute. For the price, this has everything you need, it's as loud as you want it to be with the use of decent amps/speakers. It has the added nicety of Bluetooth, which is amazing. (I'm guessing the DEH-P800BT (£245) isn't much different)

Alpine would be one of the only other brands I'd consider, if I was to move away from Pioneer, meeting all your needs, the DVA-9861Ri (£345) should be up your street.

I've always found the Alpine units look a bit basic and ugly. But I suppose the 700BT I'm using isn't really a looker!

Only feature I'm unsure about (on the above HUs), is Visualisations, but when you're driving you can't see them anyway...

[cadders]

Appologies thor