Those Chinese double din GPS/DVD/TV/Ipod head units
 

Following on from the recent spate of members successfully fitting these HUs, I decided to take the plunge myself. TBH, I am quite happy with my existing Eclipse unit but a larger screen would be nicer. I had purchased the newer version of my Eclipse with a bigger screen, but I had to return it as there is a generic fault with these newer systems :mad:. I wasn't a happy bunny having to pay postage costs and customs :mad: :mad:.

So anyway all the recent 7" installations made my 4.3" feeling a little inadequate. I had a quick look on eBay and discovered a myriad of these 7" systems that seem to offer very good value for money i.e. about one third to a quarter of the price of a similar branded unit like Pioneer/Kenwood.

I subsequently spent several hours researching these units - both by asking eBay Sellers some questions and finding Chinese websites that actually sell them. Thanks to the experiences of others on here, I knew of some of the pitfalls and eventually narrowed down my choice to these two:

http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/ws/eBayISAPI.d...m=200336350683

http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/7-CAR-DVD-PLAY...item41463d7312

Both systems cost about the same and have GPS/DVD/analog TV/DIVX/CD/full Ipod control/steering control etc etc.I really wanted to go for the first unit as I liked the GUI and the fact that its buttonless (for a sleeker look ;)). Also the Seller has been around for a years.

In the end, I went for the second item, mainly because the first didn't have RDS and it seems to be a relatively new product so any problems wouldn't have been sorted out yet. Its OK to buy a new model Pioneer/Kenwood where there is a proper support service but with these cheaper systems, forget it!

So, the total cost was $340 - about £215. The Seller even went to the trouble of wrapping it like a present for customs reasons on his own initiative :D. In the end, the package got through customs without being examined or opened but I don't think this was due to the lovely red dragon gift wrapping.

My initial reaction upon opening the box was very good. The unit is very well made and the overall quality of the materials is excellent - no crappy plastics, metals etc. The motorised display is very good also.

Here are a few pics: (the actual display quality is much better than shown in the pics - no vertical lines etc. I had to resize the pics and some distortion was generated in the images)

http://www.the75andztclub.co.uk/foru...fff894ab78.jpg

http://www.the75andztclub.co.uk/foru...fff8964da6.jpg

http://www.the75andztclub.co.uk/foru...fff89126e7.jpg

http://www.the75andztclub.co.uk/foru...fff9b8bf11.jpg

Like a lot of these Chinese units, I think the GUI is crappy. If only they spent a little more on R&D on the firmware, I think these systems would be very hard to beat. I can't change the skin on mine like Rob (Trebor) can, but apparently the whole GUI can be changed by manipulating the firmware - see here: http://www.gpspassion.com/forumsen/f...sp?FORUM_ID=71

One part of the GUI that I'm very happy with is the Ipod interface. You get full Ipod control from the screen or remote. In some ways it is better than my current Eclipse in this way, but my Eclipse is better for searching.

Unfortunately despite all my research, the motorised display is too large for my double din bezel :o. Rob had the same problem and I really should have checked this out more. I did ensure that the overall size of the unit was comparable with my Eclipse but I forgot about the moving display. D'oh!

Rob removed the top bar of his bezel to fit his HU so I am currently debating doing the same. Alternatively, I could sell this unit on and buy a system with a non-moving display as my bezel opeing would be fine for a fixed display.

Looks fantastic, really impressed with it. Wounder will they start making double din head unit fascias now they are going to be a chinese market car etc.

Happy with the unit then?

looks good Eamonn, and dont forget i paid £280 for mine plus £50 for the steering PACSW1x from USA so you have made a considerable saving and your i pod screen displays track details which mine doesnt.
Pity the install is such a pig but worth it in the end imo, i still have to sort out changing my initial splash screen which is work in progress at the minute

A further update on my exploits with this HU.

I managed to get Miopocket running on it :jig:

What is Miopocket you might ask? To quote the writer/developer of said program:

Here are some pics: (I still have the plastic sheet over the display so the pics don't really show the colours/definition properly)

http://www.the75andztclub.co.uk/foru...91a5d468aa.jpg

http://www.the75andztclub.co.uk/foru...91a5d84462.jpg

http://www.the75andztclub.co.uk/foru...91a5da05ee.jpg

http://www.the75andztclub.co.uk/foru...91a801ce50.jpg

http://www.the75andztclub.co.uk/foru...91a8002fc6.jpg

http://www.the75andztclub.co.uk/foru...91aa505952.jpg

http://www.the75andztclub.co.uk/foru...91aa522e28.jpg

http://www.the75andztclub.co.uk/foru...91aa53f909.jpg

http://www.the75andztclub.co.uk/foru...91abd124cf.jpg

http://www.the75andztclub.co.uk/foru...91abce924a.jpg

It really is a fantastic package and is very stable. About 90% of the programs work fine with only a few causing a problem. I'll probably delete these.

WinCE is still in Chinese most of the windows/instructions/error reports etc are in English - e.g. the Control Panel:

http://www.the75andztclub.co.uk/foru...91abd2e5c0.jpg


I also got an English desktop:

http://www.the75andztclub.co.uk/foru...91ad82b66b.jpg

http://www.the75andztclub.co.uk/foru...91ad848f75.jpg



I'm running Igo8 Sat Nav as the unit came with Route66 and I couldn't get Tomtom functioning properly. I quite like Igo now but the latest Irish maps are dreadful:

http://www.the75andztclub.co.uk/foru...91ad865fed.jpg

http://www.the75andztclub.co.uk/foru...a9df2a229d.jpg

http://www.the75andztclub.co.uk/foru...91ae92368f.jpg


Further information and download here: http://www.gpspassion.com/forumsen/t...OPIC_ID=109690



I also dismantled the unit last night (and voided the warranty :D) to see what the quality of the internals was like. I was pleasantly surprised - its actually very well made. Of course the longevity of these devices is a big question. If only they spent a little more time/money on the main system GUI:(.

I still haven't actually fitted the unit to my car so I don't really know what the audio quality. And I still haven't decided if I want to chop my DD fascia.

Eamonn,

You got there before me, well done, i want it NOW !

Eamonn the unit looks great and when we get round to an all ireland meet, dont be surprised if im drooling all over it!

How do you find the speed it runs the apps?

One thing I have noticed with the ones I've played with is they seem much slower than the WINCE based PDA I used to use and the PDA was 6 years old so it was slow compared to current models. (HP IPAQ 5450)

At the end of the day all said and done this is a stereo and used for the playing of music...yet no mention of sound quality...this being the most important feature for me...yes it looks pretty and does all you could ever ask of it but does it sound good?

I would like one of these but it needs to sound as good as it looks


stef

I'll have to fit it first :D




Its actually quite OK on most of the applications. Some of the stuff does run a bit slow or crashes but the vast bulk of the progarms are fine.




Erm, I did mention that I have not fitted the unit yet so I cannot comment on the audio quality i.e.

i have one of these units fitted and the sound is fine for me through my existing speakers, there are also some audio out leads on the back of the
unit so guess you could improve with extra speakers, but never been a "massive sub woofer in the boot" person lol