Just a few notes...

The Pioneer is due here on monday.

I've never been tempted to carry an ipod around with me, so it'll just live in the car.

My use of the empeg is really simple. Playlists are just the directory structure, and I start what I want playing and drive. I rarely play with it on the fly.

The avic can use stock steering wheel controls.

It can play vids from the ipod, but you have to use the ipod to select and play the vid. Music playback is entirely through the avic.

The avic can play from a usb drive, but reviews say Pioneer must have thought no one would ever do this, and it's reflected in the hdd UI development. "Sucks" is a word the reviewers often use in describing this feature.

I'll let you know more when I get it. I suppose I should order an ipod too, as I don't have one.