thresher

Some turkey broke my window (with a prying instrument of some sort no less so they ruined the molding too) and ransacked my truck last night. Had to be kids since they missed the remote and the checkbook - but they ended up ruining: window, window molding, door plastic, stereo surround (expensive since it's an STX), stereo and the airbag on/off switch (that has to be expensive too). So, I had a Kenwood Z828 in there and now I will have about $500 to spend on a new head unit. Any suggestions as the z828 is no longer available? I would love something that accepts a usb flash, but can't find anything.
Thanks
Thresh

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YellowCoffee

That sucks. My car got broken into countless times when I was in college (about 6). Luckily for me they didn't break my window. I had a '91 toyota camry, and they were able to shove a solid metal object (like a screw driver) in my keyhole and unlock the car. One time I ran out and saw some guys doing it. They saw me running towards their direction and jumped into their brand new Ford Expedition and ranover a couple bushes and sped off. These were obviously college kids (probably some frat guys) who were bored or whatever.

I'm sorry to hear about your car, that really sucks.

DarkFury

Did your truck have an alarm on it?

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thresher

factory. and the stereo had one too (so it's worthless now - I have the manual and remote and without one of those two you can't reprogram it). I wouldn't mind alarm recommendations either. I just got the estimate from Ford - $1800 for the dash, door panel, window and molding. yikes. The airbag switch was $200 of it! Good thing I have decent insurance.

DarkFury

Factory alarms are teh suck.... Honestly, those don't even remotely stop mid-level criminals from messin' with your ride.

Personally, with as much stereo equipment that I've had in my rides (I keep the 300C in the garage, but the Ram 1500 sits outside on the driveway) I'm surprised that nobody has had a go with my system lately.

Honestly, the biggest thing about any alarm system is putting enough "notification flashers" on your vehicle to put them on notice... "you mess with this vehicle... and it's gonna draw attention". Even if you don't have a really good alarm on it... that flasher makes most criminals think twice about messing with it.

I've had alarm systems by Alpine, Crimestopper, Viper, DEI (pretty much the same manufactuer as Viper), and Ultra and all of them work pretty much the same. The difference between a GOOD alarm and a POS alarm is the amount of alarm triggers you have (door sensors, glass sensors, hood and trunk switches, etc...) ,the amount of warning flashers, and the amount of notifications they give you.

As far as "notifications"... by that I mean, does it just have an alarm siren on the vehicle, does it call a remote pager or keychain, does it ring your cell phone, etc... Most of the better systems have a 2 way communication within a half mile to a mile so that you can monitor what is going on with your car when the alarm goes off.

Personally, if you leave your vehicle outside... the ones with 2 way capability are the ones I'd personally want on my ride (which is what I currently have with an Ultra alarm now.) That way, if my remote starts beepin' in the middle of the night, I know to look outside to see what is going on (as most times, whatever has set it off is long gone before I can get to it.)

Napoleon54

Here's a list of recievers with USB input at Crutchfield.com. I've been wanting that feature for years, really glad to see it seems to be readily available now! That discovery just about doubled my interest in getting a new vehicle so I can pimp it out.

Do you have loyalty to any particular brand? There are a few Kenwoods in there if you want to stick with them.

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thresher

Thanks Nap(py) - for a short guy with a French complex, you're alright.

cheapie

racist!!!!

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thresher

I LOL'd big time on that one! THAT was pfunny! I went with the X891 - it has the USB plug in back (but corded, so it will go in the glovebox with access to the music through the head unit) - I only wish it had that cool face that would flip 180 degrees and would look like it was missing its face. That was a cool head unit whoever made it (was years ago). Thanks again all. Oh, and I am going UNGO for the alarm DF. It'll call my cell phone and no siren. just blip to warn 'em. :evilgrin:

http://www.crutchfield.com/S-sAYsjig...isplay=Kenwood

Napoleon54

no prob! Though I am going to hold you accountable if I can't resist the urge to upgrade.


That is a SWEET looking unit, nice choice! What you're planning for the cord is kinda like what I did with my AUX input, I have a stereo cable hidden in the ash tray for quick connect to mp3 player or laptop.

Is your old remote similar to the new one? I'm wondering how you like it. I have an older Blaupunkt with a really small remote, like 8 buttons, and I love it 'cause it's reeeealy easy to navigate while driving. Is the bigger/ more complex remote cumbersome to use? I put a Clarion receiver in my ex's truck a few years ago, that had a larger remote with small buttons and I didn't like too much. I imagine they've gotte a lot better since then though. What do you think?

thresher

My z828 had almost the same remote = big w/big relief buttons. Great for a guy like me with big mitts. Very intuitive and easy to use whilst driving. Since I gave up cell phoning and driving last year (ran a school bus stop) I needed something else that wouldn't be distracting too. Thanks for the compliment on the unit. All I did was pick the best unit I could "afford" with the insurance replacement value based on your recommendation and my brand preference.
Thresh

ShawnLee

Guns, alarms, and new stereos. Sounds like fun to me. Sucks that someone has to ruin things first for you to get there. Who to blame...?

George W. Bush! Haha.

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