DVD player anyone?

israndy

2007 LTV Serenity
What have people put into their dash to play DVDs, or more specifically to act as displays?

My Rearview monitor is behind the visor, difficult to see forward when I need to see backward. I also miss HD Radio from my other car, and would like to be able to hook the iPhone 5 via USB to a stereo that decodes the music directly, not via an audio cable as the 5 doesn't have audio out except the headphone.

Anyone make such a beast? I found an old JVC with a full single din wide monitor that was touch screen and had HD Radio options. It was hundreds when you could buy it, but not so bad now, but requires an adapter to play HD radio and I fear those cannot be found.

Lots of crappy Chinese stereos but they are way harder to use than the crappy Japanese. When is Apple gonna make a car stereo? None of them have HD Radio for example. All the good stereos seem to be going to the Double Din guys (cause that's what being made today). I like today, just wish my old Sprinter could have a taste of it (like my iPhone 5).

-Randy
 

surlyoldbill

Well-known member
I'm getting close to replacing my tired deck; the LCD screen doesn't light up very bright anymore.
I've toyed with the idea of a dash screen, and now they're cheap. Looking on ebay, I see there are all sorts of decks offered now, including ones that DON'T play CDs, they just have USB or SD card ports (great for me, because that's all I use, 40 albums on one thumb drive). There are a lot of single DIN decks with pop-out 7" screens that also play DVDs. The previous offerings popped UP, and I think the upper dash would get in the way. This one I found today pops DOWN, and is a touchscreen, WITH USB port, and comes with a cheap rear camera (meaning you can hook up a GOOD rear camera...)
http://www.ebay.com/itm/Free-Rear-C...In_Dash_Receivers&hash=item416a308d8a&vxp=mtr

I'll probably keep looking around, but something like this will be my new deck. I have to check to see if the screen will interfere with the shift lever, but I think all it will do is cover the HVAC controls.
 

israndy

2007 LTV Serenity
Gave up and just got the last of the Sony DVDs, the MEX-DV1700U. I had been looking a various HD radios like the JVC KD-AVX77 DVD receiver. The Serenity in 2007 came with the Sony MEX-R1 that has NO volume control knob, just up and down buttons. Sucks if something comes on too loud. It also didn't understand USB iPods so the iPhone 5 never hooked up to it. I NEVER used it to view DVDs, but when I went to replace it I punked-out and didn't get the new Media or Bluetooth based head-units. I got the last of the DVDs from Sony. The advantage being plug compatibility and continued feature-set. So I still have DVD playback, and I still have video out feeding the TV behind the driver's seat. I even have the equalization still set to XPlod so the little T1Nny speakers sound alright.

I recently drove across the Utah Nevada stretch and stopped at a best bye before leaving Salt Lake and purchased the SiriusXM adapter so I got to listen to satellite during the desert drive. The USB port allows my wife or my iPhone 5 to play thru the speakers. The Sirius adapter cost $47 if you point out the Best Bye internet price. The stereo I got off eBay used, but got a deal as the box and all accessories were missing, but I already had a plug compatible stereo coming out.

Still would like HD radio, but I got RDS which has the Station and Song titles like I am used to on HD radio. And I have Satellite if I wanna hear CD quality music while driving. Still would like Bluetooth so I don't have to put my phone in the dock on the dash, but I usually have the GPS app running anyway in the RV.

-Randy
 
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SiennaGuy

New member
When is Apple gonna make a car stereo?
-Randy
Apple doesn't make car stereos but they offer a thing called CarPlay that car stereo manufacturers can build into their units. CarPlay is available both in new cars and in aftermarket stereos. Your iPhone connects via the Lightning connector. CarPlay will work with the iPhone 5, 5c, 5s, 6 and 6 Plus. Here's a video from Consumer Reports that shows it and explains it.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-aCBxj1R3ZI

Here's info on the Apple site:
https://www.apple.com/ios/carplay/

The best thing about CarPlay is that you can use Siri (The iPhone's voice control) to have it do things. Using it is designed to be eyes-free. You don't have to look at a crazy screen and then press button after button after button. Siri isn't perfect but it's a whole lot better than fumbling with a car stereo or your phone while you drive. Here's another review that shows it in use:
http://www.macworld.com/article/284...ay-test-driving-the-pioneer-avic-8000nex.html

Pioneer and Alpine currently have aftermarket units with CarPlay. Kenwood is supposed to have some soon. The cheapest units with CarPlay are around $500. And yes, there are CarPlay stereos with HD radio, Sirius radio and other goodies. If you're replacing a car stereo, CarPlay is worth looking into.
 

israndy

2007 LTV Serenity
Apple doesn't make car stereos but they offer a thing called CarPlay that car stereo manufacturers can build into their units.
Yes, I work for Apple, very familiar, but I have yet to see a single DIN unit. Many never happen as all new car stereos are double DIN or more.

-Randy
 

ECU

2006 T1n 118 Sprinter
I didn't like the retractable screen things and went back to the factory radio. I mounted a 7" nav screen that swaps to backup on the grill between the vents in the dash.
If I was to do it today, I'd get a tablet with wifi. You could use it for the gauge thing. You can download google map areas so that you could use it for navigation. Get a second dedicated monitor for the backup camera(s).
The ultimate is cool would be to get an array of monitors. Far left, left side reverse camera; second, gauges; third, backup camera; fourth, navigation; fifth, media; far right, left side reverse camera.
 

israndy

2007 LTV Serenity
The ultimate is cool would be to get an array of monitors.
These days the ultimate is software that takes th e image from the 4 or 6 cameras mounted around the vehicle and makes a top down image.

infiniti-ex35-dubai-3.jpg

Have not seen anyone offer this for the Sprinter yet...

-Randy
 

seans

Member
Randy, do you write software? Do you have any interest in a project to make one for the Sprinter? Tablet for the display, an embedded computer for streaming and processing, and maybe using OpenGL and/or ffmpeg for skewing?

(would be really cool to use the steering wheel position data to determine where to put the backup lines on the screen - you could go wild with enough cameras and some machine vision...)
 
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surlyoldbill

Well-known member
I've been driving around with my 7" tablet on top of the steering wheel, covering some of the dash instruments. I've been running Torque with real-time gauges to diagnose something. You can almost mimic the T1N dash with the gauge options they have. I'm thinking that a 10" tablet would fit really well, and you could display your speed (GPS corrected), fuel, temp, boost, voltage, etc. (RPM is kind of silly to display on an automatic, or at least as much real estate as Mercedes devotes to it).

But while using my tablet, I figured out that it could be a great multi-purpose accessory. You can connect it to all kinds of bluetooth and wifi devices (rear camera, OBDII adapter), move it around to different mounts for different purposes (movies), stream music from it to the radio, etc.

I've found it much faster and easier to get movies on my tablet if I just remove the SD card and put it in a card reader on my computer and drag'n'drop. If you have a bunch of movies already loaded on to SD cards, you can just pop them in. A 16gb card can hold 7-15 HD movies. For even MORE fun, get a little portable projector and something to work as a 40" screen and you have theater!
 

seans

Member
Bill, what are you diagnosing with Torque, and have you figured out a way to get a reasonable approximation of actual fuel economy from it?
 

Trekker

Trekker
I'm seriously looking into replacing the Tom-Tom Eclipse II radio/head unit in my 2008 Roadtrek RS with the new Pioneer 5100 NEX navigation unit that has Apple Car Play technology. Tom-Tom GPS has become worse than reliable, the display is very poor, and we end up using our iPhones for navigation.

Anyone had any experience with this Pioneer series of units or the Alpine? Saw some bad reviews of the Alpine online, but Pioneer looks interesting but pricey. Looking for feedback, please. :idunno:
 

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