<---- Retard

haha, oh man. My bad.

 

Damn I should really upgrade so I can get my ipod working.

 

I had the KCI-420 iPod adaptor, and it drove me nuts for several reasons. One thing I couldn't stand was that it would drain the iPod battery in less than a day, if the iPod was left connected. Then when the car was started, the iPod wouldn't be recognized as being connected, because its battery was dead. I had to keep a cigarette lighter charger in the car so that I could charge the iPod for a few minutes, then connect it back to the KCI-420, which then recognized its presence.

Does the 9857 do this better? I'm about to order one, and I can't wait for the bluetooth module to start shipping next month.

Also, it looks like the Crutchfield price isn't that much more than ebay pricing, considering that they throw in the wiring harness adaptor, iPod cable, and shipping, so I'll order from them.

Mitch

 

damn, lucky for you Americans getting that cable for free...

i'd buy from crutch as well, but those damn border fees suck!

 

Just joined the CDA-9857 club tonight. I didn't see anyone else mention this, but if you use Unicode tags on your iPod (for instance, Japanese titles) it will show up as "NO SUPPORT" on the head unit, but the songs will still play. I'm very glad I ditched the stock head unit.

 

I also picked one up tonight. Great unit. The ipod interface is very well done.

I already miss my dash controls so it looks like I'll have to pick up the dash control interface unit.

 

So when the ipod is connected to the 9857 via the cable, does it get charged as well?

 

When are they going to offer the HD radio version?

 

Yes, the ipod is charged while it's plugged in and the receiver's on.

The receiver is HD radio ready, you just have to buy the external HD radio tuner that plugs into it like the satellite radio tuners do. I already have sirius so I have no interest in paying another $250 for the HD radio tuner now, though I'm sure the price will go down.

So I just went driving around for a bit with my new 9857 and I'm even more impressed now. The ipod interface is almost like using the ipod itself, just a bit clunkier. Just as fast though and it sounds fantastic. I have a three year-old 30 GB ipod that's more than 90% full that I will probably just leave in the car. Pretty cool having access to that much music through the head unit. I also haven't done any other audio upgrades so I'm still stuck with the stock speakers. The extra power from the 9857 definitely helps them sound a lot better though. Better speakers are next on my list after the dash control interface, but until then the sound quality is such an improvement that I'll be quite content until then.