I got the notion to do a car PC again and started looking through ebay for S&G's and decided to search for android versions.

There are several android 4.0-4.2 OS ( which is about 2 years old) double din head units, but not manufacturers i have heard of. Most are pretty much $300 bucks shipped, but i was just curious if anyone had looked into this or bought one of these?

 

from what I've read on the subject PARROT is the "big brand" in the android based head units, I wouldn't touch anything else, they are pretty much all china built POS's that take a solid minute to boot up everytime you start the car, even the Parrot models tend to be limited to there "app store" and not the full google play store so your app selection is limited, I honestly think you wouldn't like any of them if you got some hands on time, check out some videos on youtube, the interface is clunky and the screen resolutions suck, while it may be more work, getting a modern tablet to fit the dash will give you a better experience in the long run.

 

This was the kinda info i was wanting i have watched some of the youtube reviews and while they arent raving about it no one says they are awful or really describes anything in any technical detail really. Not to mention the Ebay ones dont list a brand or model number to speak of so the reviews seem damn near generic at best.

Boot time sounds exactly like my motorola Xoom, clunky and takes for ever to power up. Sad thing is I really like it once its on.

I just like the idea of it being all encased and not having to delve through the means of converting music output into something useable for an amped system. Atleast that was a major issue when I looked into it CarPC's years ago that and vibration problems.

Thanks

 

I've been using my android tablet to run audio to the aux input on my Pioneer and have done this for a few years now, works great provided you find a tablet with good sound quality, different DACs in the tablet have different quality levels, one of the best is in some of the older samsung stuff, it's the old Wolfson WM8994 (these where the same chips used in Ipods) which is boosted by an app for android called Voodoo Sound (on devices with supported kernels) that allow it to reach very high volume levels with very little distortion.

anyway back on topic, if you have an aftermarket radio you could just relocate it and build a mount to hold the tablet in place, but designed to where you can easily remove it for the stock radio location, this is something I plan to do one day, there are plenty of tablet installs with several different ways to get audio out to the speakers, this way seams the easiest.

 

Tablet is only way to go if you want car pc experience.
Multimedia ,Gps ,Skype on big touch screen.

 

I decided to throw caution to the wind and i picked up one of the ebay units......

It arrived yestarday and surprisingly im really impressed, granted i havent gotten into installing it yet, but i hooked up the power wires just to make sure it all worked before going through the install. I didnt time it but full launch time seemed much faster than 45 seconds. Screen reaction is smooth and seemless and to my surprise resolution was pretty spot on as well. I didnt have wifi connected yet to access the google play store but seemed to be the real deal (asked for google account info on start up.

More on this later as i will install it this weekend, but i paid 258 shipped recieved the unit, GPS antenna, wifi dongle, and a back up camera (its probably crap) not sure if im going to install it or not.

So far it hasnt disapointed

 

Finished the install and I will post some pics later (in a GTO) got to play with it even more and hook up my wifi at home, didnt get to link it to my phone or test out the nav but i went through a majority of the other functions. I personally love it but i can see a few things that would be potential bothers.

The boot time is 23-25 seconds must faster than advertised and that is without rooting the device. It immediatly starts up doing whatever it was doing when you turned it off so radio or music or app. becuase of this if you were playing a CD it will boot and than load the app which can add to that time as the disc app takes a few more seconds but it will start playing on the same track where you stopped it. The interface for theses apps (disc, nav, tuner) is functionally great and intuitive but its nothing to rave about in the looks department but you can always go back to the home screen and it will continue you to play. I purchased a awsc-1 so i could retain steering wheel controls but didnt manage to install it as the adapters instructions are terrible. The unit itself has 2 wires for for steering wheel controls labeled key 1 and 2 and even has an app to help set functions of keys. Speaking of apps there is also a boot screen app so you can change what is shown when the unit is booting up (Pontiac Driving Excitement anyone?) There is also an app for changing the color of the buttons on face of the unit.

there is also a tutorial app on how to use the unit, but lets face it if you like android at all nothing about it will be new, just learning the apps themselves.

I can see where the boot time would get annoying if you were running errands or making quick trips around town. That said 240 shipped is a small price to pay to have a headunit that is that customizable, is wifi/3g compatilbe, and offers so many options of media.

Ive been told that this year will see a lot of changes in this field with some of the larger names going after this space with their adaptations using either apple os or android. But is what will no doubt be a 399 and up price tag really worth making it more pretty? To me it isnt but im an odd bird who really likes the android OS.

Money well spent in my case.

 

Did you ever find out the wires for the steering controls? as far as I can tell the dark BLUE wire is for the KEY 2 wire, and from my understanding the KEY 1 hooks the the 12V wire that feeds the controls and needs to be cut and replaced to the Head units KEY 1 wire because it needs a 5V current instead of 12V , a reply would be awesome, keep me updated and I shall return the favor

 

I never honestly went back to it, though there was another guy that had one installed by keeaudio might check in on his thread and see as im not sure if there is a difference between the GTO and an fbody