eclipse vs alpine, ipod interface

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toyota_4runner

Copper - Posts: 60

Joined: March 31, 2004

Location: United States

Posted: May 14, 2007 at 1:45 PM / IP Logged

I am trying to decide between Eclipse CD3100 and Alpine 9856 (or their newer model). Which one is more user-friendly for iPod? I have Alpine 9856 in my wife's Miata, and although it works ok, it is not something I can use while driving. Browsing is not intuitive. Also it gives only one line display so if there are more than one artist (xxx and aaaa) you can not easily recognize..

Has anyone used the CD3100 with an iPod? I saw that in ckt city but they did not have an iPod hooked up so could not test it. Since it has a joy stick-like thing I have a feeling it might be more user-friendly.

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disker

Member - Posts: 33

Joined: August 04, 2006

Location: United States

Posted: May 14, 2007 at 9:45 PM / IP Logged

I have not used the eclipse but I have the 9856 in my wife's car and a 9861 in my truck and I'm happy with the ipod interface personally. I have used a couple of other brands that had ipod interface - some of them used a USB interface that would allow you to use ANY mp3 player with a USB connector - wasn't to impressed with those. If the Eclipse uses a USB connection then I don't think you would be happy with it, but if it uses some other sort of direct connection then it is definately worth looking in to.

Hope someone else can give you more info than that which would help you in your decision.

Disker

3rd gen

Member - Posts: 31

Joined: December 11, 2006

Location: United States

Posted: May 14, 2007 at 10:32 PM / IP Logged

The Eclipse also has a single line display. I have the CD7100 with the iPC-106 (ipod box) and it is awesome, of course I attribute this to the big color screen and multi-line display. The interface is pretty intuitive, but the screen is the major weak point on the CD3100. I would look into a CD5000 since they have been discontinued and the price has dropped and many places still have them in stock. Check with the CCity sales person.

toyota_4runner

Copper - Posts: 60

Joined: March 31, 2004

Location: United States

Posted: May 15, 2007 at 1:38 PM / IP Logged

Thanks. They don't have the old CD5000 but have CD4000 which is also discontinued and cheaper than CD3100. Would you recommend the CD4000 over the new CD3100? I noticed that the earlier units had two knobs and the new ones have one. Does this make more easy to use or more complicated?

rob1889

Member - Posts: 27

Joined: February 12, 2007

Posted: May 15, 2007 at 2:03 PM / IP Logged

Take a look at the Alpine 9885 that came out recently. It has a beautiful multi-line BioLite display that makes controlling the ipod a breeze. This is the most popular headunit I am installing as of now because for $300 you get a ton of features and excellent Alpine sound quality.

http://www.crutchfield.com/S-3hzt18WqOtn/cgi-bin/ProdView.asp?search=alipine+9885&i=500CDA9885

sqsq

Copper - Posts: 51

Joined: May 15, 2007

Location: United States

Posted: May 15, 2007 at 2:38 PM / IP Logged

I think that overall the alpines have a better ipod interface, but eclipse makes better sounding headunits. I would go with the eclipse for sq, but if your really just concerned with ipod ease of use, then I guess alpine would be the way to go.

disker

Member - Posts: 33

Joined: August 04, 2006

Location: United States

Posted: May 15, 2007 at 5:18 PM / IP Logged

The 9885 reminds me of the 9857 from last year's models - you might want to look into that one since it has the multi-line display like the 9885 does and you may can find it cheaper since it is an older model. I would have got the 9857 instead of the 9856 for my wife's car, but I already had the 9861 and wanted the displays to be the same.

As for controlling an ipod - I like how the Alpine DVA-9965 has the glide touch bar making it more like an ipod control - the only downsides are the price of the HU and the fact that it uses the 420i interface box instead of the 422i cable.

Disker

kfr01

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Joined: April 30, 2003

Posted: May 16, 2007 at 1:12 AM / IP Logged

Big fan of Eclipse. You can't go wrong with an Eclipse headunit, imo.

New Project: 2003 Pathfinder

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eclipse vs alpine, ipod interface

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