Android CD player/GPS etc

[Lewdy]

Was thinking about replacing the standard CD player in my D40 for one of these.

Do certain models fit certain cars or can I just buy the one I like?

Are they just plug and go or do you need to set anything up with a computer?

Is there much difference between cheap ones shipped from China and normal branded ones Sony, JVC etc?

 

[Boogieboots]

As far as vehicle specific units go it is just a matter of fitting in the dash. My D22 was a simple double din cavity and dead easy. I had a quick look on eBay and there was one D40 specific unit but it was expensive. There should be no need to program on a computer or anything and most recent ones will allow the steering wheel controls to be used as well. I have a Pumpkin head unit and it is a ripper

 

[Horatius]

My experience with the cheap crap is "buy cheap, buy twice". They really are rubbish from my experience and you can save yourself the trouble by just buying something decent to begin with. The problem is that if you are after a model with gps the quality brands get expensive.

I don't know specifically about the d40 but for the d22 you can get ones with adapter plugs. Even without these it's an easy job (again, not sure on your model). I still have a cheap one, and it's ok for basic things. The input for reversing camera has stopped working and if you go to do anything more complicated than very basic things it freezes up and so on. Would never buy another one, quality isn't there yet.

 

[bods]

The main thing you will find is, the cheap ebay ones usually have an Android operating system in them. These are not bad in that generally whatever apps run on an android phone will run on the head unit. Usually you can do updates and download apps and stuff through a hotspot on your phone or wifi at home. The downside is the hardware limitations and usually the radio tuners in them aren't great.

I had a eonon g2240 in my d22. Never had any trouble with it, ran it for something like 7 years from memory. It was a windows ce model so could run some satnav programs and oziexplorer. Had Bluetooth handsfree and audio, ipod input, cd/dvd and all that. The downside was the radio reception was pretty average and the audio output wasn't great.

I replaced it with a JVC kw-m750bt unit, only for the upgrade (if you call it that) to android auto. I noticed straight away how much better the radio reception was and how much better the audio output was. Both these units also have reverse camera input and outputs to send audio and video to rear screens.

Most of the name brands, sony, JVC, etc use Android auto or apple carplay. This is different in that it uses the phone as the "brain" of the unit. They can only run apps that are supported by carplay or android auto, which are limited to generally basic satnav (google maps and waze on Android). They do have bluetooth and all that jazz too, but a lot of them now are dropping cd drive units and using usb or phone streaming for audio and video. The result is a more compact unit without the cd drive, but they do have generally a lot better audio output and radio reception. Most of the newer models also have dab+ and are going the way of wireless carplay and android auto, so you don't have to plug your phone in via usb to use it.

Now that I've sold my d22, I put the eonon unit back into it and it still works fine. I have fitted the JVC unit to the gu patrol I have now and haven't had any issues with that either.

 

[Lewdy]

Thanks for the reply’s.

I think all round it will be easier to just go for a normal UK brand, if I have to instal my own software etc I’ll get frustrated and end up breaking it

Going to have a shop around, but I’ve got a mountaintop or similar further up my shopping list first, which is turning out more difficult to source than I had imagined.

 

[Jordy_straya]

Thanks for the reply’s.

I think all round it will be easier to just go for a normal UK brand, if I have to instal my own software etc I’ll get frustrated and end up breaking it

Going to have a shop around, but I’ve got a mountaintop or similar further up my shopping list first, which is turning out more difficult to source than I had imagined.

Sounds very similar