Could this be the definitive stereo/ Nav upgrade?

[MikkiJayne]

Also a fairly impressive machine, although a shame it doesn't have a high definition screen like the Kenwood. Given the amazing displays available for phones and tablets I remain disappointed that most of the car audio manufacturers are still using 480p

At least the Alpine has a mute button to make up for no volume knob, although are they actually buttons? "touch-responsive hard-keys" implies they're just sensors, not actual switches.

Floating displays are a reasonable way to get more real estate than a simple double-din, but most of them seem to assume there is nothing else important around the head unit and no one seems interested in a wide-format version, which is the one dimension in which we have plenty of room

BTW I tried last year to make my own head unit based on off the shelf HD touch screens and a Raspberry Pi. The hardware is simple, but alas the software support is rubbish and has nothing like the polish of a mainstream head unit, and because the Pi doesn't have any form of power control getting it to power up and down is messy, complicated and slow.

[Markiii]

I'm pretty happy with the joying 9" i have in mine, whats bugging me most s the location, when you lose nav instructions in the cluster i really find the stock HU position way too low

I have an idea for a replacement with a screen above the vents. Just pondering what i put where the HU normally sits

[MikkiJayne]

Single din swap with a phone cubby? Not that single din parts are particularly easy to find now.

I was looking at an MMI swap with the screen popping out of the top using D3 bits, maybe an A3 control panel in the dash, but given how troublesome that mechanism seems to be, plus the headache of component protection, its looking less appealing.

[strummagnet]

Originally Posted by Markiii

I have an idea for a replacement with a screen above the vents. Just pondering what i put where the HU normally sits

Cool box for a picnic?

or

Subwoofer?

[Markiii]

I have one of those cup holder remotes as well it works via canbus

Most of its bulk is hollow to enable it to fit in a cup holder. If you remove the base it's not very thick at all
I reckon it could be stuck to the opening lid and look almost factory.

[MikkiJayne]

Need to buy one for tinkering then...

[Ronin]

Yeah, the unit I have will only properly work if you swap the crappy bose amp to something normal that takes normal rca line in.. Bose system has a floating ground which is not the same as the chassis ground so naturally there will be a potential difference between amp and the radio, hence the pops when turning on/off, muting etc.

I have now mastered my setup with the 2 phoenix gold amps I have and it works perfect, with the equaliser having a separate slider for the subwoofer.

In my 'android radio journey' I have even managed to fry a filtering cap on the 12v rail inside the radio, but luckily icebox audio sold me a spare for £55 shipped, I had it in within a week.

Additionally the coreboard of the radio (little board that houses ram, cpu and memory) can be upgraded to faster versions as time goes on...

I really can't fault it.

One day once I feel confident enough in the car i plan to drive down to Mikki so she can do an inspection on my car and find even more things wrong with it for me to fix and have a play with my set up if she wants

One tip for anyone buying any android radio: buy the dab antenna from the same people you buy the head unit from as you will experience hiss sounds when you launch the dab radio app for a few seconds as the USB module boots if its an aftermarket one from amazon like I have. In the factory settings of each radio there are options to select which model of the USB dab antenna module you have purchased so that it works flawlessly and the random amazon one I have wasn't on it.

[Ameiseuk]

Originally Posted by Ronin

One tip for anyone buying any android radio: buy the dab antenna from the same people you buy the head unit from as you will experience hiss sounds when you launch the dab radio app for a few seconds as the USB module boots if its an aftermarket one from amazon like I have. In the factory settings of each radio there are options to select which model of the USB dab antenna module you have purchased so that it works flawlessly and the random amazon one I have wasn't on it.

I can vouch for the JVC HAL3 antenna - it is a body mount one though.
I have one fitted to the campervan plugged in to my Xtrons unit - fantastic reception and pulls a signal where Mrs.H's C250 Mercedes OEM unit fails to get any signal.

Only downside is that it's a body mount antenna but it's up on the roof of the camper (which now looks like a listening post for GCHQ with the FM/DAB/TV/GPS/4G and CB antennas up there)

[27litres]

Originally Posted by MikkiJayne

Also a fairly impressive machine, although a shame it doesn't have a high definition screen like the Kenwood. Given the amazing displays available for phones and tablets I remain disappointed that most of the car audio manufacturers are still using 480p

I can remember thinking when fitting an aftermarket Clarion to my A4, and again when looking for FLAC solutions (when all you could get was CD and MP3, no USB back then) that aftermarket head unit manufacturers always seemed a generation or two behind market trends.

But you also reminded me about this story, which might go to durability concerns:
The Smoking Tire's Matt Farah once told a story of the latest Corvette (may have been the launch of the C8) having a 720p touch screen and complaining to a GM engineer about Tesla having 1080p screens in their cars. The Engineer went on to say (paraphrasing) let's see where those screens are after 10 years and 100,000 miles in Arizona. Basically referring to those types of screens lacking durability in an automotive application (vibration, heat, UV etc).
Some Model S's must be up there now, so how have their screens stood the test of time?

[Ronin]

My android unit (as seen in my thread) has a 1080p screen and Oasis DVD does look great on it

EDIT: its actually 1024x600, but does support 1080p playback