Double-DIN Head Unit Suggestions

Pug

Pug

Pug

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Recently bought my new car (02 Celica TSport if that matters) and it has what i believe to be a double-DIN sized headunit. Now i know i could get a fascia and pop my old MP3 headunit in, porssibly requiring an ISO adapter, but i'drather look at it as an oppurtunity to upgrade :D

Saw some lovely Kenwood DVD Headunits with 7" Screens etc for about £800 but really £400 is nearer where i'd like to be (wouldnt rule out £700 or more for the perfect setup though)

Also, with these units that have screens, does the screen fold away and out of sight or does it just snap-off like normal headunits?

What do people reccomend for doubleDIN units? Any reccomendations? Any online shops which are useful?

My main requirements:

MP3 playback
Make use of the extra space available
couple of RCA outputs

TIA
 
Personally i would convert it to a single din and then you have a better choice of units, if your looking into the £800 area your best with a single din flip out screen Pioneer or Alpine unit.
 
James_N said:
Kenwood do a few nice double din units for around £600 :)
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are they double DIN or are they as described above, single DIN with monitor folding out looking like double?

:)
 
Scottland said:
How about a Car-PC - with a touch screen mounted in the DIN slot?
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contemplated this actually... might be a similar budget. Have seen LCDs for about £180, but they're not touch screen. I'd suspect touch screens alone would be a lot, and certainly not as practical...

but possibly worth investigating
 
Pug said:
are they double DIN or are they as described above, single DIN with monitor folding out looking like double?

:)
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Bit like this,

2.jpg


Excuse the movie i was "testing"................ :o
 
Pug said:
cheers, and i take it the screen slides in above the "pioneer" badge effectively?
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1.jpg


Yea it does folds away like the above pic, only problem is the front of the unit stick out a little further than i would like, if you get something like mine the upgrades are endless since its all touch screen, mine is DVD GPS / Ipod interface, unit itself is mp3 compatable using cd's or dvd's but that goes without saying. Also got inputs for DAB / TV tuner / Reversing Cam the lists goes on.

But its not cheap :(
 
I would get a fold out single din sized 800*600 SVGA touch screen (available at auction buy it now for around £170)

I would then carPC that and get another single DIN sized normal headunit for normal radio and CD playback. Either that or mount a USB DVD drive in the second DIN space linked to the carPC for easy cd and dvd playback. Job done and would be superb. Going on my laptop standby time poweron of about 5 seconds it wouldnt be too inconvinient either with the right power supply. You then wouldnt need a headunit at all as the pc could feed directly into an amp.
 
the only problem with a fold away screen in a single din space is that its more than likely to cover up any functional buttons or air vents... that would annoy me. flush designs are much better imo.
 
Loads more features too, easy linkup to wifi adapters and bluetooth adapters, i'd also bung in a freeview digital tuner and DAB tuner for good measure, as well as rear view webcams etc. Possibilities are endless :)

99% complete gimmick, but hey i like pointlessly complicated things :p
 
Phantom said:
the only problem with a fold away screen in a single din space is that its more than likely to cover up any functional buttons or air vents... that would annoy me. flush designs are much better imo.
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Thats the only major downside, mine covers the hazzards which isn't a problem, doors auto lock so i don't need the far left button and the rear window heater, right button, can just about be reached ;)

However, flip out screen is better than no screen at all, or single din HU with a tomtom stuck on my window......

Jez said:
99% complete gimmick, but hey i like pointlessly complicated things :p
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Don't we all :cool:
 
also, can you build PCs with Slimline DVDs/CDs that would occupy a single DIN space? (screen aside - found something quite interesting for that...)

I was thinking Mini-ITx. Would basically be equivalent of a PC in a 51/4 bay size wise...
 
Pug said:
firestar, how much we talking?

/prepares for an ouch
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Mine cost £1,145 for the Pioneer unit then £260 for a 60Gb Ipod and £50 for the Ipod Interface so £1455, (This was last year sometime).

But the Axic-X1R can be had for £999 off CAD Ipod Interface will be a similar price, Ipod cost all depends on which one you get, Ipod intergration isn't great unless you setup playlists.

Its more than your standard £250 alpine but it offers so much more :)

Mark

Pug said:
I was thinking Mini-ITx. Would basically be equivalent of a PC in a 51/4 bay size wise...
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I would think heat and physical amount of processing power such a device would provide could be very limited, remember 5 1/4 pc bay is not car din size ;)
 
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Firestar_3x said:
I would think heat and physical amount of processing power such a device would provide could be very limited, remember 5 1/4 pc bay is not car din size ;)
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well, i wouldn't want an Ipod jobbie anyway, so thats cost off, GPS would be nice tho...

I realise the dimensions are different, but similar enough to figure out the possibilities i reckon'
 
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