mike if your going for the 7301 move up to the 8301 and get it on cardomain--they have a sale right now where you get a free wiring harness, frame, and instalation kit
its so hard to decide i have looked over every facit...overall the oanasonic looks nicer, more sleek, but the pioneer has more features kind of, the display looks more crisp and it is better in sound but the pansonic has buttons istead of using the knob for everthing and that motorized face i just cant decide and then theres the clarion i looked at but it kindof looks cheap...its black in the middle with face brushed aluminum sides and button and the display is nothing like the pioneer or pansonic except that it changes like 8000 different shades of every color...are there any owners out there that can help me
jvc = no way, cheap cheap cheap, i had a jvc and if a cd gets a small scratch that doesnt make it skips, your speakers will pop over each scratch (mine did)
panasonic is ok but i like the sound of pioneers much better
You definitely found the top decks within your options in my opinion-minus the JVC. I would go with the Panasonic. It has a bigger screen and doesn't have that control knob that gets annoying to use after a while with all of its directions and whatnot. Other than that, it's up to you.
Lots of features=more potential problems. The simpler the better if you want a reliable deck, and the best SQ for that matter. The more screens, motorized faceplates, displays, control options, in a circuit, the more the chance for a potential failure. That is the reason Panasonics tend to be less reliable than the likes of Pioneer, Alpine, Clarion, and Eclipse. It's along the lines of how Mercedes Benz used to be the worlds top auto manufacturer for quality, then went down the crapper because they began offering more advanced electronic controls in there vehicles to wow buyers. There are just more potential things that can go wrong.
the 7700MP has the same display and everything...i was looking at the Clarion DXZ655MP but someone told me they have bad customer service and if something does go wrong im screwed. the only difference that i see between the panasonic 8301 and the pioneer 7700 is the motorized face which i kinda like...its just such a big decision to make.
With all nicer decks there is more complication-unless you're buying in the thousands of dollars. If getting a unit with less features lasted longer, we would all be getting Pioneer's DEH-P3700MP. But the features make up for the "potential failure" rate, ultimately, which wouldn't vary much between the two decks mentioned here anyway.
so would u do panasonic or pioneer..like straight up im prolly getting the panasonic...i just like the look---its got a flat face instead of round like the 7700, its charcoal, and it doesnt just have a universal knob/button/navagation key/menu..you know what i mean...and i seriously doubt the sq is that noticeable
im weak i cant make my own decision lol---i just had to here it from someone else--cause the guy that got the pioneer had a panasonic and he just always says how bad they are and i really dont think he knows what hes talking about so i trust you alittle more....thanks so much for helping me
i bought the panasonic 8301 today cant wait till its here
Anonymous
Posted on
i just bought the panasonic cq c7401u abotu a week ago it made a huge difference to the sound of my car stock speakers i was going to go with the pioneer but this one seemed eaier to navigate through options and use.
Nick59
Unregistered guest
Posted on
I was buying the c8301u but it doesnt come with the free installation kit and harness.... i had a previous deck do i even need those parts? Or will it just slide in there and all i have to do is connect the wires?
Sorry to barge in. May I throw one more candidate into play - the Blaupunkt Seattle MP74? I was comparing it to the Panasonic and the Pioneer. The only bad thing I heard was that the motorised display will die after some time, at least in Blaupunkt... what do you folks know about Blaupunkt?
My pet peeve with Blaupunkt is the reliability. I bought a brand new unit off of them (my first CD player). And the CD mech started giving out after six months and after the first three months, the text started to wear off the buttons. The sound was basically just average with average sound control options, nothing special really.