The new Parrot RK8200 head unit

[mikeythemini]

hi guys
I believe the pArrots have arrived I will have a play when back on thursday.the kenwood we have on pre order we have the lower model which I preface as you can select the colour, on this the bluetooth does require a hideaway box
yes the new kenwood do use parrot to make their Bluetooth

[andy_cooper_S]

Brilliant Mikey, would be interesting to hear what you think of this new HU! And any details regarding the MFSW adaptors!!! :-)

[mikeythemini]

Only got back from lakes 2008 this evening
Bad news - these dont have mfsw input
Not had chance to listen to one yet , will do that in the morning

[paulgerardjohnston]

Please be careful with this one.

I had one installed by Halfords (excellent service) last Saturday. I took it back after the centre "jog" dial did not access the menus. They replaced the front facia immediately but this did not fit firmly enough to the unit and fell off after driving over a bump in the road! The guy from Halfords reckoned that the unit was brilliant on features (that's why I bought it) but weak in terms of build quality. I might have just been unlucky but make sure you check for these difficulties before parting with your cash.

I did think that the unit itself felt cheap in comparison to other makes.

I bought the Alpine iDA-X100 unit which seems to be superior in terms of build but lacks bluetooth, storage for Ipod etc.........

[minicabrio]

Bad news folks, unless Mikey is an absolute miracle worker, as far as I can see there's no MFSW input

[andy_cooper_S]

Seems a bit crazy that they would pack all those features into the HU and miss out one essential thing!!! Any comments on the build quality Mikey??

I suppose its time to look at the alternatives................ anyone have any experience with the Blaupunkt Hamburg MP68 BT CD/MP3 Player? I was considering this HU prior to the Parrot coming along. Similar features to the Parrot although it doesnt have the flashy screen to display the album art from the ipod etc and no little storage place behind the face plate. However, you can get MFSW adaptors!!!

[mikeythemini]

Quote: Originally Posted by minicabrio (original)

Bad news folks, unless Mikey is an absolute miracle worker, as far as I can see there's no MFSW input

See my earlier post - its a no no

[mikeythemini]

The face seems very secure to me
Will get one wired up later

[minisoopercooper]

gutted about the MFSW. Don't suppose any of your contacts know of an update in the pipeline for this in the future? Guess I could live without it though

What was your thought on sound etc Mike?

Read on a forum you can amp it - hope thats true as I can't see any jack plugs on the back?

[mikeythemini]

After a false start - faulty one
It seems good - sound ok - only tested on 2 speakers am going to put one in a car for full test
Phone - very good - phone book etc with very easy navigation - using my iphone
Ipod - very easy to navigate also
Havnt tried the on board memory or sd or usb yet
Yes you can add amps no problem
MFSW - no
the only thing I really dont like is it isnt a front panel that flips down, you have to totally remove it every time you want to get to your device. No problem if your ipod will live in it but a problem if using an iphone

[minicabrio]

I did fire off an email to Parrot about the MFSW, and got this reply back....

Quote:

Hi Jon,
Thank you for your enquiry at Parrot UK.
Steering wheel integration is not currently available for the RK8200. This is something we are looking at for future development.
Kind Regards
Stuart Jackson - Technical & User Support Manager

So thats a 'not any time in the near future' answer then

[Fen]

Quote: Originally Posted by minicabrio (original)

I did fire off an email to Parrot about the MFSW, and got this reply back....



So thats a 'not any time in the near future' answer then

I read it as either "Doh! We didn't think of that, but it's a good idea to add to the next model" or "We plan to milk the early adopters by selling a unit with loads of eyecatching features to hook them in, but an easily overlooked piece of functionality not included, then we can launch a new version in a few months with this feature (and similar others we left out) added so they all want to upgrade".

I think the second is more realistic - it's what Apple did with the iPhone.

[mikeythemini]

With steering wheel they are not in an easy position
If they want to add it they have to design a protocol & connector
Then talk one of the adaptor companies into making an adaptor range for it

[Fen]

But name a car that isn't available with steering wheel stereo controls; if you can I bet it's one bought only by people who would be unlikely to buy an aftermarket stereo.

Name a player in the aftermarket audio business who doesn't offer an integration solution on at least the upper part of their range; if you can I bet they are somewhere beneath Amstrad in terms of quality kit.

What I mean is that if Parrot want to get into this market - which they clearly do - then they will have to address this issue. They are already battling against their company profile. By that I mean that they have a good name in Bluetooth phone integration, but they aren't known as a manufacturer of audiophile kit (to the extent that I admit I'm surprised if the unit really does sound good).

They have come to the party with a feature-rich first product that even has at least one good innovative idea and they will sell some on the wow factor, but they will have to consolidate that with a next gen product that isn't missing a common feature of their competitors to stand a chance in the longer term - the other players in the market will rip off Parrot's innovation if it sells product so the gap will be closed from the other side.

Last thing is that they already (apparently from an earlier post) license their Bluetooth technology to someone else, so they could presumably negotiate a reciprocal agreement to use that company's MFSW integration solution.

Bottom line is if this stereo sells there will be a next gen version or model(s) above that does the stuff it's missing like MFSW, one with combined nav etc. etc.

[minisoopercooper]

Still interested in this Mikey.

what's the verdict on the sound?