Hi All,
I'm toying with the idea of a 7 inch tablet for music and navigation.
I don't think I want to cut the dash up yet, so is there a mounting that will hold it over the cubby hole next to the clock?
Any ideas welcome.
I'd have a go at making something, then using the transfer effect walnut over whatever mounting you make to blend it in.. I've played with the transfer, if you take your time and follow instructions, can come out really good ! Maybe go down the breakers yard ang grab a cheap centre dash to play with,,
If you wait for Gordon, who runs (or wrote and hosts) this fine forum, he's already done it. Running through the standard stereo, it sounds bloody awesome!
I installed an all-in-one kind of navigation thing in mine in place of the stock navigation system, (writeup on rr.net) but it isn't android, it runs embedded WinCE.
I am however looking at options on retrofitting an android device to run everything - radio, nav, the works at some point - it's just a case of finding a unit I'm willing to butcher to make fit in the RR dash, given that most of the units I see are all double din and won't fit depth-wise...
I've looked at a few in car mounts and don't like any of them!
The ones that stick to the windscreen wouldn't be too bad except that the tablet would get too hot (I tried this with a phone and just saved it in time).
I wouldn't mind cutting into the side of the facia and sliding the tablet in ... says he with the shaky hand!
An Android tablet would do everything ..... music, navigation, internet radio, and connect by bluetooth to the existing headunit preserving the steering wheel controls.
I can't bring myself to rip out the standard NAV which is still working after 15 years, even if it is woefully out of date (there were a LOT of roundabouts on the A1) so we use phones and Brodit mounts which are extremely practical even if they can only ever look after-market.
Morat wrote:
I can't bring myself to rip out the standard NAV which is still working after 15 years, even if it is woefully out of date (there were a LOT of roundabouts on the A1) so we use phones and Brodit mounts which are extremely practical even if they can only ever look after-market.
What year maps do you have? is it still the original 2001 discs? If so, then i can probably help with a map from 2012/2013.... I'm trying to see if I can find later 2015 maps aswell, but know I've got something more recent than the originals (I looked into it when I first got mine before I found the nav drive was faulty and went with my aftermarket option...)
I think 2012/2013 was the final year they made it available on CD's. I have this version and it is fairly up to date in northern Ontario, Canada. You could upgrade to the DVD nav unit in the trunk for later versions.
MartyUK, that's a very kind offer :)
I do have 2012/13, apparently with speed cameras.
Most of the roads are still right, of course.
Mine's got the centre rattly thing tray for all those odd screws and trim clips. I stuck a couple of bits of sticky velcro above and below it, and stuck the "loop" side of the stick velcro to the back of my old Nook Color (sic) which I installed a patched version of Vanilla Media Player on (adapted to have massive fonts for ease-of-use when I'm driving). It doesn't have navigation stuff but I guess I could pair it with a Bluetooth GPS and install Waze or similar.
Then I modded the stereo so the cassette preamp is bypassed and just used as an aux in.
https://www.facebook.com/photo.php?fbid=10152617004038799&l=05fe65e1cd
Right, I really need some help with this!
The Asus NEXUS 7 7-Inch HD looks the business and the price is right.
So, I would connect it as follows:
- Tablet to GROM Bluetooth receiver
- Tablet to phone's wifi to enable data for navigation
So far, so good, I think.
BUT ....... how can I get the phone to run through the tablet for hands free calls?
Is there some way of making the ASUS use a phone card?
Any help most welcome ...
If its the same device, it shows how to install a sim which will also allow you to connect to data instead of trying to hotspot with your phone.
Also instead of using data for navigation there are some good apps. I use copilot, there is a free version but I paid about £20 for the whole of Europe and have been using it for about 6 years with no problems.There is also a really good free app called HERE , it was originally by Nokia.
If you've got an Android tablet with a data link I think you'd be mad not to use the native Google Maps navigation. It updates itself, you can download offline maps and it gives really good live traffic data.
Your call of course.
Exactly, I have Sygic and paid for all the maps ..... it is not a touch on Google which comes up trumps nearly every time. That's why I'm thinking of using my phone's data plan. It is not ideal, though, and if Vodafione here will sell me a second sim I'll certainly try for a tablet with 4G .....
The Nexus 7 s I've found so far don't have sim card slots ...... I'm trying Samsungs which look nice but are all tied to Verizon or Sprint ....
Google maps has nearly just lead to my phone being at the bottom of a river in the forest.
Wanted to get home avoiding my usual route as I knew a caravan had done a number and closed the whole dual carriageway. So planned a route on the computer, then did the same thing on Google Maps on my phone by entering additional stops to get the route to go where I wanted. All went well until the second additional stop... then it started taking me BACK to work. Had no way of working out what the hell it thought it was doing, so had to clear the route and do the whole thing in stages.
The fact you can't plan a proper route is a massive let down in my opinion, nor can you change one of the three route options you get to avoid a certain road etc. All things my prehistoric TomTom can do... and I don't think the traffic is all that great either. Going to put said TomTom back in the car I think.
2 hours to get home, and my definitely failing brake accumulator nearly left me in a hedge...
Stick your Nanocom on the ABS and see if you've got any faults reported with pressure switch, pump etc. Generally if the accumulator fails you get the good old 3 amigos flashing when you hit the brake pedal. I know cos mine did 2 days after I bought it! <br>
For nav I use Copilot on my Galaxy Note. I have an old geezers distrust of relying on a data connection although I do have Google Maps on there as a backup. It's better now it has the offline save option, but still... <br>
The Note kind of replicates the functionality that the Android tablet gives, only on a smaller screen. Bluetoothed to the head unit I get my Spotify music, my entire CD collection (wonderful things 64GB sd cards), handsfree phone. RAVE etc <br>
I can see the charm of a tablet- that larger screen would be a huge bonus!
The three amigos may well have come up - I've seen them briefly before on sharp braking. My fault... I've known the accumulator has been weak since I got the car, but lately it has certainly been getting worse. Didn't notice them this time but I was slightly busy watching the rapidly approaching hedge while my foot was somewhere in the shag pile while the ABS went mad doing somewhere in the region of feck all... :)
Anyway... new accumulator should turn up tomorrow as it happens... back to the tablets!
I'm definitely happy with my all-in-one unit I've fitted.
Navigation - it runs iGo Primo, which is possibly a bit more basic than some mapping software, but does the job. There are also plenty of customisable options in there. I had to do a couple of tweaks to the configuration file to get rid of annoying bits, but I like tweaking things anyway!
Radio reception is better than my old JVC head unit, so happy with that too. It doesn't have DAB though, but there is an external AV input, and also I went for the cheaper end of the scale (again as I was hacking it apart to fit it into the P38!).
Steering wheel controls just work, as the wire from the vehicle loom connects straight to the unit and then the software learns each button press and you can assign them to what you like.
Bluetooth calling etc on my phone is good and apparently it will copy the address book over and is searchable but haven't had the chance to play with that yet.
It has wifi inbuilt, but will also take a 3G dongle on one of the USB ports, so you could easily put a data sim in there a day it would then have its own data connection. You could also use it as a hotspot if you want to for in-car wifi.
You can add other apps to it as it's android, I've downloaded Google maps so I can use that if I want (though igo has live/online traffic aswell) and it has option of being paired with phone for Bluetooth and an OBD adapter (ELM327 etc) at the same time. I've run it a few times with Torque on it whilst I've been driving.
Thinking of putting a copy of RAVE on it aswell for reference...
It uses amplified outputs, so standard attenuators would work ok for linking to vehicle systems, and has a pre-out for the sub. I get a bit of popping on mine on the subject line but I've also put a line level booster in to get a bit more oomph from the sub. But I'm going to look into circuits which will help fox that too.
What sort of line level booster are you using for your sub Marty? Mine is fed at line level from my Sony head unit and seems a bit gutless. <br>
I'm thinking one of these http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Autoleads-Car-RCA-Phono-level-line-level-signal-booster-1v-upto-4v-PC9-460-/381245838120 <br>
Always happy to find a cheaper solution, as long as I can have it delivered yesterday :-)