hi curly, thanks for all the info. the reason why i started this thread in the beginning is because i am planning on getting an MP3 player and have come down to two brands, Alpine and Sony, the Alpine CDA-7894 and the Sony CDX-MP70. i dont see much reviews on the sony deck and most ppl seem to be ragging on sony decks all the time but personally i think its a pretty good deck and looks pretty cool. as for the alpine deck, the specs seem to be a lot better for a cheaper price although i could prolly get both for the same price on ebay. many ppl had great reviews on the alpine deck. after thoughtful consideration and playing with the decks in stores, i think i would get the alpine deck because it would match my dash since its black, silver would look a little too tacky. but now my concern is, i see another alpine deck which is one level up, the CDA-7897 and dont know if should invest the extra money in this unit instead. it has the dissapearing face and all the specs look to be the same except this has some sort of better "bass engine" thing. anyways, i am not buying it cuz i believe alpine is top of the line or anything altho there is no doubt that its one of the best brands for headunits. i've had 2 sonys in the past two years and i am pretty satisfied but i know more about car audio now so its about time to move to alpine. i used to think the alpines looks kinda plain but its starting too look quite good.