Android Double Din Head Unit

carl hammond

Advanced Member
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3,737
Not a lot of people are but I prefer the idea as less to go wrong lol, also I knew this was a great functioning unit as my friend has two of it in how two cars so better the devil you know so to speak as I did not know if the others did everything this one does
 

Bollard

Member
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31

Sonny1

Advanced Member
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155
There's a link on here somewhere I'm sure as I was in same position a few years ago and came across the link for the surround on here
 

Sonny1

Advanced Member
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155
There's a link on here somewhere I'm sure as I was in same position a few years ago and came across the link for the surround on here
 

Croccy

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Messages
909
It was a while ago now but I'm sure I used the surround that came with it. Same stereo as you have bought. Maybe they changed the surrounds over the last year.
 

tricker_luke

Advanced Member
Messages
1,574
Bollard said:
Hey all, I'm currently installing one of these headunits to my DC5 (this one specifically https://www.amazon.co.uk/Pumpkin-Android-Lollipop-Navigation-Bluetooth/dp/B016MDTMRU/ref=sr_1_10?ie=UTF8&qid=1476740427&sr=8-10&keywords=android+double+din), and I'm wondering what fascia/surround you guys used?

The one it came with doesn't in the DC5 (too big) and the one on my old headunit covers up the buttons around the side slightly. Any advice/links?
Thanks.
That's the one I will be getting too but not just yet. Let us know what it is like after you've had a play!
 

MilanoChris

Advanced Member
Messages
5,649
I used mine in anger for the first time yesterday. Until now I've only really used it around town and what not, which it's good at. Yesterday I had to do the 155 mile round trip to work because my sh!t heap Focus decided once again it doesn't like its coolant and decided to dump it all.

I had two minor problems with it. One was that after a phone call the screen went black. I tried all the on screen Android buttons but no response. I had to turn the ignition off and on again for the screen to come back. I presume the unit has a large capacitor in it? I put this down to the usual buggyness in Android I've come to expect.

Secondly the CPU really does need to be upgraded, I had my phone as a hotspot and used Google maps to avoid traffic. The data speed is fine because Google maps works without issue on my phone, but the UI lagged somewhat and took a good 30 seconds to plan the route and select it. As I said, perfect on my phone so I'm assuming a performance issue.

Still, for £209 I can't complain that much!
 

Croccy

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Chris. said:
I used mine in anger for the first time yesterday. Until now I've only really used it around town and what not, which it's good at. Yesterday I had to do the 155 mile round trip to work because my sh!t heap Focus decided once again it doesn't like its coolant and decided to dump it all.

I had two minor problems with it. One was that after a phone call the screen went black. I tried all the on screen Android buttons but no response. I had to turn the ignition off and on again for the screen to come back. I presume the unit has a large capacitor in it? I put this down to the usual buggyness in Android I've come to expect.

Secondly the CPU really does need to be upgraded, I had my phone as a hotspot and used Google maps to avoid traffic. The data speed is fine because Google maps works without issue on my phone, but the UI lagged somewhat and took a good 30 seconds to plan the route and select it. As I said, perfect on my phone so I'm assuming a performance issue.

Still, for £209 I can't complain that much!
With regards to the "Capacitor" are you talking about the delay to reboot it? If so there is an option somewhere that tells it how long to sit in a standby mode before it really powers off. As default I seem to remember it being set at 30 seconds.

I think the CPU in them is actually not bad, it's not up to the standards of a modern smartphone but it has the same CPU/GPU as some of my android tablets had 2 years ago. I have had it playing Playstation games etc using the emulators with no problems. Maybe just the WiFi signal is very strong with all the interference from car electrics or something. I can't say I have ever noticed a delay when route planning on mine but I only use it occasionally for that so maybe I haven't noticed :).

But yes as you said, for the price it's a pretty good unit. Much more functionality then stereos cost 4 times the price.
 

MilanoChris

Advanced Member
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5,649
Hi mate, I mean if I knock the ignition off then the unit doesn't power off right away, it takes a couple of seconds. Likewise if the ignition is on and I then turn over the engine, it doesn't boot again, it's already on. On any other unit I've used that short delay in power knocks the unit off.
 

Croccy

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909
Chris. said:
Hi mate, I mean if I knock the ignition off then the unit doesn't power off right away, it takes a couple of seconds. Likewise if the ignition is on and I then turn over the engine, it doesn't boot again, it's already on. On any other unit I've used that short delay in power knocks the unit off.
Yeah, there is a setting on the stereo for that :). I think it was just in with the Android settings. I can look later if you can't find it. But yes it is set as 30 second delay as default before the stereo actually turns of. I've not tried changing it yet to see what the minimum is.
 

Croccy

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909
No not yet, Mine is still running KitKat at the moment. I think they now have a Lollipop firmware but you have to request it from them and I haven't bothered yet.

Think I read some people are running Cyanogenmod on it. But not sure what if any functionality they would lose.
 

Bollard

Member
Messages
31
tricker_luke said:
That's the one I will be getting too but not just yet. Let us know what it is like after you've had a play!
Hey, sorry for the late reply! I wanted to get a photo of it installed for you but every time I get home it's dark already :(

I ended up getting it fitted with the fascia it came with in the end. It doesn't fit inside the existing hole but rather sits on top and around it. Not a great fit but better than having gaps all around the unit and the fact it isn't quite centered due to the pain I had screwing it into the DC5 cage. I'll try and get a picture another time.

As for using the head unit its mostly great. Bluetooth and wifi all work good with my phone, and it was great being able to watch a long YouTube video on it as well off of my phone's data. I like using Google maps a lot with the automatic traffic stuff when I have my data on, and even when the data is off it automatically downloaded my local area over wifi so I still can use the GPS.

As others have said, the main downside is the CPU is a bit slow. It'll chug a little opening maps on boot and sometimes responding to touches. Once you get it doing what you want though it keeps up fine. The mic it came with doesn't seem great and I'm still hesitating on sticking it to anything, but hard to tell when its literally in my cup holder atm :p

Mine came on Lollipop too, not sure whether I want to faff with a different loader of cyanogenmod cause I like most of the default set up for now.
 

MilanoChris

Advanced Member
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5,649
The mic sits nicely behind the steering wheel without the need for sticking it down. Depends on the rake of your wheels though I guess!
 

Rom

Advanced Member
Messages
1,742
I've been looking for a decent double din for ages now. I almost bought a pioneer avh-x8700bt last year. But at £500, it had to be perfect.

For me, I want to be able to control apps through the head unit, so I can change from say iPlayer radio, to sound cloud etc. Rather than needing the phone to hand.
Also needs 2 or 3 decent pre outs.
Handfree, the usual stuff.
I want to be able to use Google Maps on it.

I didn't buy it, as Android Car or whatever it's called seemed to be just catching on. So was waiting to see how it develops.

Obviously geeky stuff like showing gauges and that is nice, but not a requirement.

Keeping my eye in this

Sent from my SM-G928F using Tapatalk
 
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