Buying headunit from the states...compatible?

DublinWriter

I'm currently after one of this puppies...

http://www.pioneer.co.uk/uk/product_detail.jsp?product_id=12583&taxonomy_id=25-121

Firstly, any opinions on said headunit would be appreciated. It there a better headunit I could get?

Secondly, do you think Bluetooth over hands free kit is the way to go?

Thirdly, I can pick one of these up for about 400 sterling in London, but for about 360 dollars in the US.

If I picked up a US model, would there be problems? I'm assuming they use the same 12V and FM 88 - 104 as us?

mmenarry

DublinWriter wrote:

I'm currently after one of this puppies...

http://www.pioneer.co.uk/uk/product_detail.jsp?product_id=12583&taxonomy_id=25-121

Firstly, any opinions on said headunit would be appreciated. It there a better headunit I could get?

Secondly, do you think Bluetooth over hands free kit is the way to go?

Thirdly, I can pick one of these up for about 400 sterling in London, but for about 360 dollars in the US.

If I picked up a US model, would there be problems? I'm assuming they use the same 12V and FM 88 - 104 as us?

The radio uses different "steps" than over here - you won't pick up half the stations. No simple cure, AFAIK.

M.

DublinWriter

mmenarry wrote:

The radio uses different "steps" than over here - you won't pick up half the stations. No simple cure, AFAIK.

I thought as much! Shame, the price difference is huge.

Still, buying from London will be far cheaper than sourcing here.

mloc123

I has a panasonic head unit from the us until it was stolen :rolleyes:

The 0.2 fm increments weren't an issue for me but then I had it on today fm most of the time. You'll be able to tune any major stations tho'

crosstownk

You can only tune in 0.2MHz steps. Even numbers to the right of the decimal point are untunable. Some American radios offer European tuning so check into that. Some RDS functions are different too. There is no AF (alternative frequency) function so if you listen to Today FM you will have to manually retune several times on a trip from Dublin to Cork for example. Program Type (PTY) coding is also different. AFAIK, enhanced other networks (EON) is not available on US radios either.

Darando

As for buying it and recommending other systems. First off decide what you want the headunit to do?

i.e CD (multi?), MP3?, IPod ready? Bluetooth? Output power? DVD? display type?

There are hundreds of headunits out there - all doing roughly teh same things with different bells and whistles- just a case of matching up what you want and then looking around some the well known shops on the net.

I know thats not a major help but knowing what you want will save you buying a headunit with stuff you never use (and paying extra) - seen mates do it!!!!

Eoin

mloc123 wrote:

The 0.2 fm increments weren't an issue for me but then I had it on today fm most of the time. You'll be able to tune any major stations tho'

I had a US radio in the Alfa and had problems tuning into a load of stations - I think the ones with an even increment (104.4, 103.8). It didn't seem to be able to show the name of the radio station either.

Even though it could play MP3 CDs etc, the lack of choice of radio stations really got annoying - the money I saved didn't seem like a great saving after a short while.

RoundyMooney

All the above is quite correct-however:

A friend, oblivious to frequency step differences etc., bought a Panasonic head unit last time he was in New York. Brought it back, and I fitted it for him (after giving him the bad news). Left it at that, and went on my merry way. He came back to me a day or two later, and had been in contact with Panasonic UK, who gave him a key sequence which converted the radio to european standard.

Handy. This may not be applicable to all makes though. It's not as if you're saving a bundle, just buy one here...

Sparky

I know that some radios can have the steps changed, and then some allow you to enter the freq.

Darando

Just had a quick look around. According to www.crutchfield.com the US version of the DEH-P9800BT cannot be eurotuned. (i.e. changed to get all frequencies in Europe). Just look at the model and then under the features tab - there it says if european tuning is available.

http://www.crutchfield.com/S-Qs1wkUbdvxl/cgi-bin/ProdView.asp?g=300&tab=features_and_specs&i=130DEHP980#Tab


So if you want you can pick some other models and check. Think alot of US JVCs have european tuning.

DublinWriter

Darando wrote:

Just had a quick look around. According to www.crutchfield.com the US version of the DEH-P9800BT cannot be eurotuned

Many thanks for that Darando and all the other posters. I'll source it in the UK and have it fitted here. I don't fancy paying the usual 150% Irish markup.

Eoin

Sparky-s wrote:

I know that some radios can have the steps changed, and then some allow you to enter the freq.

This is true; if the unit is sold in both Europe and the US, then there is a good chance that it is either a firmware or minor hardware change. However, if the unit is only available in the states, it is unlikely they would bother making European frequency available.

DublinWriter

eoin_s wrote:

This is true; if the unit is sold in both Europe and the US, then there is a good chance that it is either a firmware or minor hardware change. However, if the unit is only available in the states, it is unlikely they would bother making European frequency available.

The unit...

http://www.pioneer.co.uk/uk/product_detail.jsp?product_id=12583&taxonomy_id=25-121

...is available both in the UK and the states, but I rang around about 5 companies in Dublin this week (ICE, Scansounds, etc) and they never heard of it because it's not available in Ireland!

Go figure.

Anyways, average UK price is 450 sterling, average US price is 370 dollars.

peasant

average US price is 370 dollars

Unless you find a way to *cheat*, imports from the US attract duty and VAT as well ...so no real savings there.

If they ship via UPS, for example, the shipper usually doesn't care where the unit ends up ...UPS on the other hand is quite precise when comes to duties and taxes ...you might be in for a big surprise if the UPS guy asks for another big cheque for tax and duty before he hands over the unit:D

John R

With expensive items that are sent by courier ther is no way out of the duty/VAT trap, regular post can often get through but would you really risk having that sent uninsured?

$370 plus taxes would still be a good deal cheaper than £450 though


There are cheaper units with similar features available, such as:

http://www.incarexpress.co.uk/view_product.php?partno=DEHP75BT

No full colour screen seems to be the main difference but a big price saving.