Aftermarket Bluetooth Hand's Free Deck? [Archive]

ctrueman82

Jun 2nd, 2009, 11:50 AM

Hey all,

New car purchase incoming, and I'm looking for a good Bluetooth Hand's Free deck. I'd prefer it already come with everything (aka not Bluetooth 'Ready'), mic, etc. Looking to spend $450ish and double din units are fine. I was thinking of the Clarion CZ509 found here;

http://www.clarion.com/ca/en/products/2009/audio/source_units/cd/CZ509/ca-en-product-pf_1172413303169.html

Any other advice/opinions is appreciated!

Thanks in advance.

brendonp

Jun 2nd, 2009, 02:07 PM

I put a JVC KD-AVX-33 in our last vehicle and the bluetooth worked quite well.

Here's a link to the Crutchfield review/description:

http://www.crutchfield.com/S-TKDZ0Ir2gaR/p_105KDAVX33/JVC-KD-AVX33.html

It's technically now discontinued, so you can get it cheap on eBay, or consider a newer model. The reason's for my selection:

1) Bluetooth (with mic, etc, etc)
2) Dual zone control (play radio in the front, dvd to the rear)
3) Small video screen
4) No "trim ring" around the unit - with the dash of the vehicle it looked closer to factory fit.

I installed it to feed headrest monitors, and with the small screen the passenger could navigate menus to set up a DVD for back seat use (at the time my daughter was 1.5 years old, and control needed to be at the front of the vehicle), while at the same time using the "regular" radio for listening. I found the bluetooth to be quite good working with an HTC SmartPhone - the biggest problem was simply ambient noise in the vehicle - at highway speeds the noise started to get a bit much for the person on the other end. As I recall, there were a bunch of other features that I didn't use including iPOD connectivity (with minimal control), DIVX playback (seldom used), and USB dongle/HDD control (slow if the drive was too big).

Good luck!