Opinions of this car CD deck

[AgentJean]

I'm looking to replace the OEM CD player/radio in my car. I've seen this one at best buy and it looks pretty good. MP3 support, CD-RW support along with a USB plug for USB drives and a slot for SD cards. Price $150

Anyone have experence with these?

 

[torpid]

Isn't that a best buy brand? I'm pretty partial to alpine and clarion and I know they have CDRW Mp3 players for that price, although I think only clarion does the USB stuff. I would take in a cd and an mp3 cd and demo the head unit, comparing it to an alpine with both head units using the best available speakers at BB. My guess is you will immediately notice the difference. I know I did when comparing alpine to some cheaper brands...

 

[amdhunter]

I personally hate store-brand electronics, but sometimes you will get good bang for the buck.

Edit: That unit kinda resembles a Kenwood deck...

 

[AgentJean]

If Insignia sucks(being that it's the Bust buy brand) what are good yet economical bands I should look at(I'm only looking to spend $150 on the deck. This may change if I need new speakers).

The SD/USB feature isn't really a requirement for my new deck(MP3 cd is though) but would be a nice "coolness" feature to have.

 

[torpid]

You can probably get the alpine CDE-9852 for that price or a slight bit more. It retails at about $180 and local vendors will often discount 5-10%.

 

[tfinch2]

With aftermarket HU's, I always go with Blaupunkt, Pioneer, or Alpine.

 

[torpid]

I'm assuming you don't have an ipod, though, because if you do, alpine is pretty much the only way to go. The full speed cable interface is great and the SQ is excellent. I spent an hour comparing an MP3 DVD to direct from ipod with the same 320kbps mp3s and I really could not tell a big difference, on a pretty decent system (morel, zapco, etc.)

 

[jpeyton]

Stay away from Crapsignia, there are a TON of decks from reputable companies with the same features for not much more cheddar.