- Joined
- 25 February 2012
- Messages
- 2,165
Sorry I didn't know you were The Stig... Lol
Pretty sure I have better taste in music than him... :biggrin:
Sorry I didn't know you were The Stig... Lol
So what's your thought on the Bluetooth?
Any creative thoughts on installation placement options?
Is a modified navpod or alternate navpod location option out of the question? If integration in the console works as well as the mp4 or 918 or be interested.
Hey don't let me stop you. The more options the better. But I don't want to rebuild the car. I have a low miage 2005, it'd be different if I had a high mileage 1991. I need to preserve the car and not do things that take away from its value. I am not keen on cutting my factory console.
SOS console is not a factory fit. Just FYI. There is no aftermarket console that fits like a factory one. The Dali one is complete junk.
Instead of trying to adapt a tablet to be a car stereo, you might think about buying a head unit that puts the functionality of your tablet or phone on the stereo. There's something out right now and on the horizon called MirrorLink, sorry Apple users, but it's a standard of linking your phone to your headunit. Read about it here and you can save time shoving rectangular pegs into triangular pods. If you care about your sound quality and kludgy installations, this is the way to go... Sony already has a few units out, Alpine and the greater will be out soon...
Where have You been?
Mailbu they've all been clunkers to date. From mimics to a problematic app radio, not a single unit on the market ever was what I would call fully functional, nevermind well-designed.
Are the new ones better? Yeah... But that doesn't mean good. I don't know I haven't looked at them close enough but if you're telling me they have no apple support that's a red flag right away.
You think an iPad mini is a bad idea but which one of these radios and all it's adapters is $350, doesn't need a modified console, and weighs .6 pounds?
Your link goes to my thread BTW.
You try to put a tablet in the place of a head unit you lose a lot of basic functionality and have to re-engineer how things turn on, dim, control amps, output signals, etc. Everything is a workaround. You get something from a reputable car audio manufacturer and they've got the basics down solid. How many of those upstart Chinese head unit manufacturers have basic problems with power supplies and SNR? The answer is all of them. That's why it's a good idea to buy car stereos from reputable car stereo manufacturers. But the problem is the car stereo manufacturers are not sophisticated enough innovate at the levels of phone manufacturers.
So what's the best one?l are they using the same resolution as the phone screen? I see all sorts of hurdles. I see something very complex.
The Car Connectivity Consortium is dedicated to cross-industry collaboration in developing MirrorLink™
global standards and solutions for smartphone and in-vehicle connectivity. Car Connectivity Consortium
members are among the world’s leading automotive, mobile communications and consumer electronics
industry companies, including Alpine, BMW AG, Daimler, Delphi, Fiat Group Automobiles, Ford, Fujitsu
Ten Corporation of America, General Motors, Garmin International, Harman, Honda R&D Co., Ltd., HTC,
Hyundai Motor Company, JVC Kenwood Corporation, KDDI Corporation, LG Electronics, Mitsubishi
Electric Corporation, Motorola Mobility, Nokia, Panasonic, Pioneer Corporation, PSA Automotive, QNX
Software Systems, Ltd., Renault SAS, Renesas Electronics Corporation, Samsung, Sony Corporation, Sony
Ericsson AB, Toyota, Volkswagen and many others.
Sounds like we are at least a couple of generations away from a standard and this product being viable. I just know this from experience. The auto world just can't keep up with the phone/tablet world. You wind up with a rather pricey car stereo that's old as soon as you've installed it,
Right now none of these work with apple as you said. So to a large populace, it is useless.
Bngl3rt is right... The radio should only be a source. Things that handle integration like amps and 12V triggers, volume, tone, preamp source selection should be handled by a separate preamp processor. These two items need to be separate so the source can be quickly changed without revamping the whole system. IMO car stereo manufacturers are in a bad spot.
If it's on the surface like I suggested, and able to rotate and pull off, there is enough room.