I've been browsing around various websites and such reading the reviews for several different headunits w/ a flip out monitor. From what I've read Clarion has a pretty good rep and for the most part, their systems are loaded with features.

The VRX935VD is their 2003 model w/ a 7" flip out touch screen LCD, built-in DVD/CD/CD-R/MP3/VCD player and has a broad range of other options. I really like the looks of that unit also! It will come in handy having the DVD player built in to the unit to keep from having to mount an additional player some where else.

Do any of you guys have any experience with this system and most importantly, will it fit? Hopefully someone else on here has the same setup or one close to it and can show me some pics of it installed. It looks fairly compact w/ that screen size. It will be installed in the Trans Am. I'm not really sure if the area the H/U is located would need to be modified or not. Even if it did, it wouldn't be a problem.

Here is a link w/ more product info:
http://www.clarion.com/multimedia/multi01.htm

and

Here are the products dimensions:

Hideaway Unit: W=8.715" H=1.483" D=7.124"

Thanks for any help!

 

I'm a little leery of any products that end in "VD", call me crazy .

 

Seriously, it's a pretty decent unit, but it's not "dual zone" capable like the top Panasonic. And it doesn't have time correction or the SQ of the top Alpine. I personally prefer the aesthetics of the Alpine and Panasonic to the Clarion.

 

Sweet, thanks for the response If you get a chance, could you tell me what the model #s are of the Panasonic and Alpine units that are comparable to the Clarion unit that I mentioned? I checked out both Panasonic/Alpine sites and found a couple of setups that looked pretty decent. Is the Panasonic CQ-VAD7200U one of the units that you had in mind?

Thanks!

 

The CQ-VAD7300U is a nice unit if you don't want to run 5.1 sound in your car. I would choose it over the Clarion. But, in all honesty, I think your best bet is the new Alpine IVA-D900. Alpine is known for their superior sound quality and reliability, whereas Panasonic isn't really well known in car audio. If it where me I would wait a month or so for the availibilty of the Alpine to go up and go ahead with that one. It will have everything you will ever need in a multimedia head unit. And once the PXA-H700 availibility goes up you can add 5.1 decoding, 30 bands of equalization to 6 chanels in addition to time alignment and built in crossovers, all for what I would expect to run around $500 plus the price of the IVA-D900. You would have the sound control of an SQ competition vehicle in addition to indash video and full surround, all for a pretty good deal. That would be the best, no doubt in my mind.