Pioneer actually has a range of nifty in-car equipment, and we couldn’t pick just one. If you’re looking for something a little cheaper, you can try getting the DEH-P4050UB or DEH-P6050UB, which are cool in-car CD players with a special bonus – a USB port that your father can plug his iPod into. The music from the iPod can then be played through the car speakers and controlled using either the player or the iPod. It can also play music directly from other USB devices, and he can burn his MP3 collection onto CDs and play them with the Pioneer as well.
The P6050UB has a dot-matrix OEL display that shows tons of detail about the currently playing track. It also has a seven-band equaliser. The P4050UB has a simpler LCD display and 3 pre-out settings.
If your dad really loves his car, though, the AVIC-F500BT or F900BT are combined media centre and GPS systems that fit snugly into the dash. They use touchscreens for control and incorporate the latest in GPS technology, including traffic updates, points of interest, text-to-speech, voice commands and drive reports. They can connect to portable media players, and the F900BT can even play movies stored on the devices or on DVD discs. There’s also a Bluetooth hands-free mobile phone control system, connectivity to an optional reversing camera, an audio amplifier and the capacity to disconnect the screen for portable media playback. In short, they’re complete car electronics control systems, and yours will certainly be the coolest dad in town with one of these.
Pricing
- DEH-P4050UB: $399
- DEH-P6050UB: $549
- AVIC-F500BT (including the amplifier, NDG-500 ): $999
- AVIC-F900BT: $1999
