Parrot Mki9200

[James..]

Hi all

The head unit in my XT4 is not that bad to my deaf old ears, so rather than go the 'full Kenwood' to get MP3, SD card, Aux, iPod and bluetooth Phone connectivity, I thought a better route would be to get this Parrot device. They are about £150 from discount audio places and having installed a Parrot in my car before, I can't imagine its too tough to do in the RAV. The sound quality from the Parrot I had before was also very good on the phone handsfree.

The ad guff is ' The Parrot MKi9200 is also gifted for music. Supplied with a specific cable, it is compatible with all music sources, such as iPods, iPhones, USB flash drives, bluetooth stereo (A2DP) phones, MP3 players and any other analogue players. The Parrot MKi9200 also features an SDHC-compatible SD card reader on the side of the screen. The MKi9200 displays the full playlist along with the name of the artist, the title and even the corresponding album cover in colour when available on the iPod, iPhone or USB flash drive etc etc'.

Now, that all sounds very good, and it looks quite pretty. Plus, none of this Connects2/Grom stuff that doesn't work, and you get to see what you're playing...

They also have steering wheel controls compatible with the RAV enabled through the steering wheel with the Parrot UNIKA... although quite how that works with the built in head unit I am not sure.

There is also a remote with the unit that you can mount on the steering wheel that looks like this... but I think I would prefer to use the existing steering wheel controls if I can

Anyone put one of these into an 4.3 - or had any experience with the Mki9200 or the UNIKA they would like to share? Or indeed plugging a Parrot into a RAV4? I can't find any self installs on this forum. I'm sorely tempted to get one...

[Ravmania]

I use a venturi mini, about £60.

It works a treat streaming mp3s from my phone and you can make and receive calls too.

I am very impressed by the call quality - no problems having a chat while cruising on the m6, but can't say I've tried anything else to compare it with. It works with my phone to display the address book etc. for outgoing calls and incoming calls interupt music and then it carries on once the call is over.

It doesn't have the full features of displaying track info or pictures and is pretty basic in terms of display. You can only stop, pause, skip forward and skip back. But it is pretty cheap and very portable - plugs straight into the cigarette lighter so you can just unplug it and store it in the glove box or take it in your pocket when out of the car for security or to plug into another car, it couldn't be any easier.

It doesn't work well with all phones though and they need A2DP to work I tried an LG and it was pants but my SE is fine.

I've been using mine for over a year and am still happy with it.

[James..]

I use a venturi mini, about £60.

It works a treat streaming mp3s from my phone and you can make and receive calls too.

I am very impressed by the call quality - no problems having a chat while cruising on the m6, but can't say I've tried anything else to compare it with. It works with my phone to display the address book etc. for outgoing calls and incoming calls interupt music and then it carries on once the call is over.

It doesn't have the full features of displaying track info or pictures and is pretty basic in terms of display. You can only stop, pause, skip forward and skip back. But it is pretty cheap and very portable - plugs straight into the cigarette lighter so you can just unplug it and store it in the glove box or take it in your pocket when out of the car for security or to plug into another car, it couldn't be any easier.

It doesn't work well with all phones though and they need A2DP to work I tried an LG and it was pants but my SE is fine.

I've been using mine for over a year and am still happy with it.

The Venturi looks good, and is certainly cheap. My experience with FM transmitters is not as positive as yours - my Tomtom also has the ability to act as a handsfree and send music over FM. This works after a fashion, but I was finding that the weedy Tomtom output on FM gets overridden by any passing radio station causing it to drop out or get overridden by that station... that's why I would prefer a hard wired device like the Parrot to avoid this.

[billabong]

Hi all

The head unit in my XT4 is not that bad to my deaf old ears, so rather than go the 'full Kenwood' to get MP3, SD card, Aux, iPod and bluetooth Phone connectivity, I thought a better route would be to get this Parrot device. They are about £150 from discount audio places and having installed a Parrot in my car before, I can't imagine its too tough to do in the RAV. The sound quality from the Parrot I had before was also very good on the phone handsfree.

The ad guff is ' The Parrot MKi9200 is also gifted for music. Supplied with a specific cable, it is compatible with all music sources, such as iPods, iPhones, USB flash drives, Bluetooth stereo (A2DP) phones, MP3 players and any other analogue players. The Parrot MKi9200 also features an SDHC-compatible SD card reader on the side of the screen. The MKi9200 displays the full playlist along with the name of the artist, the title and even the corresponding album cover in colour when available on the iPod, iPhone or USB flash drive etc etc'.

They also have steering wheel controls compatible with the RAV enabled through the steering wheel with the Parrot UNIKA... although quite how that works with the built in head unit I am not sure.

There is also a remote with the unit that you can mount on the steering wheel that looks like this... but I think I would prefer to use the existing steering wheel controls if I can

Anyone put one of these into an 4.3 - or had any experience with the Mki9200 or the UNIKA they would like to share? Or indeed plugging a Parrot into a RAV4? I can't find any self installs on this forum. I'm sorely tempted to get one...

Hi James, I'm also looking at this install. I noticed Halfords are £199 for the unit with free fitting, but I'm not sure if I trust the guys there

to fiddle with the electrics. I'm not experienced in these things to fit it myself, so I'll be looking at this thread and pricing locally to get an idea

of the cost from others. If anyone in central scotland does do the fit themeselves, and fancies doing a homer, give me a shout.

----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------