hey guys. im wondering what a good double din radio would be. i want a price under $500USD with NAV ready and umm ipod, well really a nice radio with gps and ipod ability. i hate using a GPS in my car because of all the gay wires i want a radio gps built in. picturs would be great!

 

i want one too but havnt found anything for that price in canada i want bluetooth aswell

 

just google what u want..... 500 is not much money

 

I went with the Kenwood DDX-512, I found a remanufactured one for $349 and it works perfect and looks brand new. Here is a link to it.

Here it is installed in my car.

 

$500 is the bottom of the barrel for GPS double DIN units.

Refurbished or Chinese knock-off/clones would fit that budget. Some people toss their GPS units in the upper otherwise worthless cubby hole. The common Garmin and Tom-Tom units fit up there with easy - and no ghey wires showing.

 

Clarion Z400 is $500 new but doesn't include GPS. However you can buy the GPS adapter for it on ebay for cheap.

 

Hey Andrew,

Check out devices from Kenwood or Alpine. You will find the device at the right price.

• If you want the best and fastest GPS navigation, go with Kenwood (OEM Garmin).
  
• If a feature-rich rearview camera is something you want, Alpine offers a great solution.
  
• Both Kenwood and Alpine provide excellent iPod and MP3 features.

Spike

 

Spike I can't find anything on what the specs are for the alpine camera as far as lux is conscerned. Which for me I'd wanna stay away from if they don't want to post lux specs. http://www.alpine-usa.com/product/view/hce-c105/

 

Just to be sure we are discussing the same thing, here is my understanding of the term’s definition: Lux (lx)is the minimum illumination at which a video camera displays a satisfactory image.

The illumination range for the Alpine HCE-C105 rearview camera system is 1.5 to 100,000 lx.

1 lux is full-moon light and 100,000 lux is direct sunlight. That means the Alpine HCE-C105 rearview camera system will display decent images at night when there is minimal lighting, and in bright sunlight.

• If operating within a city environment where you have ambient lighting from street lights, homes, other vehicles, etc.; you can expect a decent image.
  
  
• If you are outside the city (a dark country road for example) the camera will display an image if you have adequate lighting from the stars and/or moonlight.
  
  
• Of course in total darkness, you won’t get any image since there is no reflected light (which is true for any video camera).

Please forgive me if I missed your point.

Spike

 

In the industry there's a lot of hooey in the minimum illumination numbers.

I'd trust opinions here much more than the "facts" as published by a manufacturer.

The Alpine camera looks pretty good in the pictures I've seen of its image.

The best low-light cameras are black and white - they blow away color cameras by a large factor.

 

^^ You are so right.

The lux specification for video cameras is something like the megapixel value for still cameras when it comes to marketing. Shoppers look for some value to compare devices, and fall into the trap comparing “lux for video cameras and megapixels for still cameras.”

As you say, a B&W video camera with less dpi is better for low light viewing since it provides a better image with more contrast with minimal lighting.

For that matter, a B&W video camera for viewing under various conditions (low light to bright sunlight) is the best solution since it will draw faster and provide the best image with superior contrast in any lighting. But selling this on its specification sheet is a negative for the majority of consumers (who demand comparisons charts that drive the purchasing decisions).

--Spike

 

The Pioneer AVH-P4200 is under $500 and can be upgraded with the Navi pack later on. Its a nice looking true 7" double din and has excellent Ipod controls.

 

Kenwood is out of stock