Theft of Eclipse v Alpine

[ToyTundra]

I decided that my addiction wins and im going to replace the HU before i swap out the sony amp. anyway i really like the button layout/look/sound of eclipse 3434 (or a 5444 if its cheap enough), but the non removable face scares me and the CD key anti theft doesn't work until the unit is out of my dash. My other choice was CDA 9847 (or something with a black face), but it looks goofier IMO and something on it isn't right. The detachable face seems like a winner though.

Anyway my question is will the eclipse get ripped off? I've heard they are the least stolen, but that may be because they sell porportionatly less than others. I park in a college parking lot (day only), but i am near the street which seem like a good thing to me. I also have an alarm, but not a quality one. The 1 year eclipse replacment is neat, but i'm stuck after that.

Lastly does anyone know if the incoming eclipse line will have a deatch face? or if the Alpines look drastically different? Budget= flexible $300, but i don't want too much money sitting in my dash...

[zachzchw]

Yeah, how stupid is Eclipse for not having a detachable face? Id recommend a Pioneer 860MP, look around on the net, they can be had for about $300. And they have a detach face! Very nice head unit, 6.5 volt preouts, all the features you could ever want, lots of entertainment choices, time alignment (both auto and manual) and a slew of other things. I just got one a month or so ago, couldnt be happier.

[ponchonutty]

I 2nd the pioneer or higher end JVC. For the money, they are much better than the 2 you are looking at. Around here, even with the face removed, they'll still rip it off. I just had a dealer call last week that a '02 Eclipse had the stereo stolen(cheap Kenwood) so I threw in the cheapest Pioneer($145) and told them to take the radio face off. Well, they came back to take the new radio but COMPLETELY destroyed the dash this time. Evidently it was the same knob because the kenwood he tried to pry from the dash to the point the radio was useless. This time, they pried around the radio but unfortunately did about $3200 in damages for that little $145 radio.

[aznxthuggie]

either one.. it doesn't matter, if they want to take your hu, they will, if not, they'll mess up your car, all this bs security doesn't help, detatch face is the best because once they see no faceplate they'll have less of an urge to try to break into your car

honsestly the best thing to do is to get a hu that looks very tame, something like the nak cd400 or the denford 8250, something plain that doesn't attract attention

[ToyTundra]

Thanks for the input guys. I've decided to let fate decide by waiting on the 3434 for a few weeks and try and buy it then. If its still there on sale ill get it, otherwise its to ebay for maybe a 9833 if i can find one