Why do aftermarket headunits still look so tacky?
- Thread starter shauncr91
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2 reasons really - it's mainly on the cheapo 50 quid units, the sort of person buying those isnt going to be fussed about cable mess or inclined to run extensions around the car to make it tidy. It also means they can convince people to buy more expensive units by marketing it as a premium feature.
Honestly dont see the point in this. I saw the first picture and assumed it was a double DIN head unit - as a lot of those just look like big colour touch sreens anyway. But the compromise in functionality by using a bit of kit that was never intended to be a car stereo would drive me insane.
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nice .. is your own rasberry pi based ? (maybe you already discussed it in another thread I did not look)
for aux connection - concession by manufactures for those that have an external high quality DAC and portable audio player, thus also avoiding compression of bluetooth.
[Do android head units allow a dnla/wifi streaming at high bandwidth & flac though ?]
..... but I concede maybe in a car environment cannot tell the difference.
for aux connection - concession by manufactures for those that have an external high quality DAC and portable audio player, thus also avoiding compression of bluetooth.
[Do android head units allow a dnla/wifi streaming at high bandwidth & flac though ?]
..... but I concede maybe in a car environment cannot tell the difference.
What compromise in functionality? If anything you get more functionality with something like this
Yes and no. Sure you can install more apps and stuff on it, but the basic stuff that makes a car stereo a car stereo. Proper power states, bluetooth calling functionality (The android head units have seriously hacked bluetooth stacks to provide this) and interfaces which can be operated consistently easily from the driving seat. Steering wheel control, 4 channel output etc etc etc.
Yes, a lot of this can be hacked around but hacks rarely work consistently well.
I have lost no functionality and have infact gained more functionality than most head units. have a media player which plays all my audio, I have a radio, I have sat Nav. i have a torque pro app which displays real time obd2 data and can read fault codes in the ecu. Right to left apps on home screen are gone mad music, kodi, navme, SDR radio and torque pro.
The touch screen and menu is so much faster and easier to use than any touch screen double din head unit I have used, including £1000 alpine stuff. The unit itself is a nexus 7 2013, that plugs into a 4 port USB hub with hard drive, USB DAC, USB aerial plugged into that. I then have added bonus of being able to use the nexus 7 in the house and its also security as don't have to leave it in car overnight. The nexus powers up and down with ignition, only looses 1% battery daily when its not receiving power and constantly stays toped up when it has power, this is kernal related (Timur kernel) I've had expensive stereos before and this works just as well and in most cases better than those. Yes it was a FAFF setting it all up and installing it. But I like to be different.
I don't need Bluetooth calling, but yes I have lost that. My car doesn't have steering wheel controls, its an Evo so I wanna drive it not play on it. I can operate it from the driving seat, just like any other touch screen head unit out there. With being android I have altered the home screen to make the icons bigger and easier to touch. There are volume controls in the nav bar so again I can press them without taking my eye of the road its not everyones cup of tea, but it works and works very well for me.
Soldato
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I think double din touchscreen ones can look ok but they're right at the higher end. All others do look pretty terrible. I'd like to get a double DIN for my old Subaru but without spending £200+ or going full on Chinese eBay it'll have to look terrible 
Soldato
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I have this one, come at me bro's!
Cheapest way for me to gain Bluetooth streaming and calling / dab radio/ usb playback though.
Cheapest way for me to gain Bluetooth streaming and calling / dab radio/ usb playback though.
I think double din touchscreen ones can look ok but they're right at the higher end. All others do look pretty terrible. I'd like to get a double DIN for my old Subaru but without spending £200+ or going full on Chinese eBay it'll have to look terrible
Here's the terrible looking £150 unit I installed in a Saab a few years back
Soldato
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That doesn't look too bad iain!
Thats what I thought (there was a small amount of saracasm in my wording 
)
It actually worked really well - it was a few years ago so lacked some stuff like being able to show track details for bluetooth. This is the current equivalent
http://www.caraudiodirect.co.uk/hea...dia-station-with-6-2-inch-touch-panel-control
It's a shame they lost the capacitive buttons in favour of a more prominant rotary dial, but they were a bit fiddly (I used the steering controls on that one)
)It actually worked really well - it was a few years ago so lacked some stuff like being able to show track details for bluetooth. This is the current equivalent
http://www.caraudiodirect.co.uk/hea...dia-station-with-6-2-inch-touch-panel-control
It's a shame they lost the capacitive buttons in favour of a more prominant rotary dial, but they were a bit fiddly (I used the steering controls on that one)
For me, I wouldn't care about half the things you mentioned as I've never needed a lot of comforts or faff but I could see where you are coming from, depends on the car I guess.
Soldato
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Here's the terrible looking £150 unit I installed in a Saab a few years back
That looks ok actually, that's pretty much what i'd want. I take back some of my remarks
Man I remember the Pioneer CD head unit way back in my dad's old Nissan Silvia 1.8 Turbo It came standard with the car but was perfectly usable in any other single DIN car and it looked fantastic with a completely flat front fascia, the buttons were flush and only spanned the outer left,right and bottom edges as a bezel. the display itself folded down to reveal the CD slot.
I have never seen a single DIN head unit as classy looking as that ever since.
It looked like this, just without the dials on each side:
minimalism went out the window during the early 2000s and remained that way for single DIN units (apart from a very select and expensive few like the above) it seems.
I have never seen a single DIN head unit as classy looking as that ever since.
It looked like this, just without the dials on each side:
minimalism went out the window during the early 2000s and remained that way for single DIN units (apart from a very select and expensive few like the above) it seems.
That doesn't make any difference, it's still an aftermarket head unit.
Half the dash is black