ya most other decks have this lil module u have to use to convert ur ipod or mp3 player so u can plug it in. Alpine makes it easy by having one cord that u just plug in. JVC has a usb port right on the front which makes it pretty easy to connect too so i would say look at those if thats what u want out of ur deck

 

Yeah I was going to get a pioneer HU but I already had a Blaupuknt one from my last car so I saved some moeny by using that instead. It has an RCA auxilary input so I just connected an RCA plugged cable on one end and a 3.5mm male cable on the other end and it plugs right in to the iPod or laptop then. Works good for me, I just want to custom make a cable that will charge the iPod too to have a single cable. I still control the iPod from the iPod, not the HU like some of the new HU's can do.

 

with my alpine cde-9852 deck and ipod cable it charges my ipod for me while i'm driving and listening to my ipod its really nice

 

I'm thinking about going up to Circuit City sometime today to go look at the head units and most likley buy one. I know they have free instalation for audio $99 & +. Does anyone know how long it generally takes them to install a head unit? I know you have to schedule a time for it to be done but I'm wondering how long it takes them to do it (I also know its probably going to vary due to how busy they are).

 

i put mine in myself and it prolly took me bout 2hrs tops and that includes me talkin to my neighbor bout it and its sooo tight of an area and so many wires it takes a good shove to pack it in. so since they have the stuff there and know what they r doin i would say prolly an hr

 

when i first bought my trans am i took it too curcuit city and was ready to give them 1500 for a flip up deck amps and subs when i knew nothing about them....and lucky for me they said come back in the morning for instalation and on the way home my car died...........ROD knock....so if you go early in the day they will have it dont that same day

 

They will have it done the same day if you go early. I don't trust them or Best Buy and wire everything myself. There are some real easy connectors and everything on the market to be able to install it properly yourself. If you have no idea on how to tear the dash apart or wire it up I guess it would be alright to go to Circuit City or Best Buy. Generally in my experiences they wire things up weird and charge you extra for stupid things. Usually it is just a highschooler or someone not going to college working back there. Occasionally you will find someone who is knowledgable. The other thing you could do is go to a car audio specific store. Just some thoughts.

 

Ah, okay well i'm going after 5 sometime when my friend gets off work so maybe I can get installed tommorrow morning. It should be free installation so hopfully they don't have to charge me for any extra crap. My friend I'm going with can actually do it himself but he was telling me to have them do it for free because they have all of the right tools to wire it corectly.

 

ya my friend had best buy wire up his deck and they used a lotta extra wires and crap so when he went to wire up new speakers some of his wires went bad and he had a hard time figuring stuff out even when i looked at it it was confusing. i wired mine up myself and its pretty easy just basically connecting wires to same colored wires.

 

Yep they make a harness for you to solder all the wires coming out of the new headunit to a plug, that when you take it to your truck all you have to do is put the new HU in and plug it into the factory harness. Its really quite easy.

Yeah I have seen that too. They do things with wingnuts and have random wires everywhere, not usually the cleanest install behind the dash, but it works i guess.