New Dvd Satnav Unit Fitted (Pics)

[Incontro]

Guys,

I am about to buy one of these headunits, as I finally have time to do the installation and stuff. There are mainly two options I am considering:

(1) A-SURE WINCE version

(2) A-SURE Android version

The links are below:

(1) http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/221470134938

(2) http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/321681128966

Any ideas on which one I should get?

Although I was initially going to get the Android head-unit, the WINCE is considerably cheaper, and thus tempting. Has anyone bought option 2 before? Any idea about the sound quality? If the sound quality of the android unit is significantly better, obviously I'd spend more and go for that. But otherwise WINCE should be fine for me, not too fussed about android apps like Spotify, Angry Birds, etc...

Is the navigation on the WINCE unit decent? I've used Sygic on Android before, so if I got the WINCE unit, I'd probably go with Sygic.

Cheers.

[Dee_82]

you need to remember that most of these Chinese clones are the same so I wouldn't get too tied down with specs, where they differ though is build quality and it can be almost impossible to know what you are going to get If there isn't a legit company (not just an eBay seller) that has some sort of reputation to look after.

as for CE or android, CE is old, but its tried and tested and works extremely well when done right, android in my opinion is very much hit or miss.

Not much help I'm afraid but that is the true, you really wont know what you will get unless someone recommends them, even then it might not be the same but a recommendation can at least take the edge off a decision.

I got mine from Eonon,

http://www.eonon.com/Car-GPS/Specific-Car-GPS/Ford/D5162.html

its been updated now which is a little annoying but ah well, such is life

[Incontro]

Hi Darren, thanks for your post.

I just ended up pulling the trigger for the Android version, in link 2 above, after days and days of thinking. Was a bit pricey (will have to be really stingy for the next month or so lol), but I hope it was worth spending the extra to get some extra customizability (the UI of the WINCE version looks crap IMO), and other little features.

Pictures and comments/review will of course follow for those who are interested, once I receive the unit.

[sonic113]

you need to remember that most of these Chinese clones are the same so I wouldn't get too tied down with specs, where they differ though is build quality and it can be almost impossible to know what you are going to get If there isn't a legit company (not just an ebay seller) that has some sort of reputation to look after.

as for CE or android, CE is old, but its tried and tested and works extremely well when done right, android in my opinion is very much hit or miss.

Not much help I'm afraid but that is the true, you really wont know what you will get unless someone recommends them, even then it might not be the same but a recommendation can at least take the edge off a decision.

I got mine from Eonon,

http://www.eonon.com/Car-GPS/Specific-Car-GPS/Ford/D5162.html

its been updated now which is a little annoying but ah well, such is life

when I eventually get around to getting one of these I will be getting from eonon as Darren as recommend. All in all looks good Darren and the carbon effect is not too bad. I have a few scratches around my handbrake trim that I plan to remove and paint sometime if I can match the colour well. Probably go for a satin finish as I think it would blend better. :)

[ScorpionSX]

Darren I noticed that Eonon are selling upgraded WinCE versions now - didn't you try to get the software update for your unit too? I think the older unit should be capable to run the newer software too, I don't think there are that much differences in hardware...

One night shot, with the illumination working (I'm starting to like the red-green combo for button backlight :) ):

[Dee_82]

Yeah I saw the newer one, ive not had any upgrades to the software, my unit was upgraded when I returned the first one but the software on this is stock.

Ive stepped up my attempts to get in to it though, its trying to access the unit is the problem, basically in order to get access to link up activesync I need access to a fully functional USB, if I can get into that dumping the ROM should be fairly simple, but flashing a new one might be impossible using this method if the bootloader is locked.

The OS resides in ROM, on load it creates virtual partitions based on the contents of |ROM, any changes to the OS whilst loaded will be lost when the power is turned off. all permanent changes will have to be amended to the ROM image.

Ive got two options, a piece of software I have can change a USB function but this may not work, next up is to try and find the USB hidden on the PCB.

I cracked mine open the other day to take a look inside, unlike some this unit is a single PCB without a riser board meaning all the info on how to tap into a unused (not even pins) USB is useless, I found one good lead though, 4 holes labelled upload.

if this can be done via software we can open up the possibility of sharing ROMs and "cooking" our own

Happy days!

[sonic113]

Yeah I saw the newer one, ive not had any upgrades to the software, my unit was upgraded when I returned the first one but the software on this is stock.

Ive stepped up my attempts to get in to it though, its trying to access the unit is the problem, basically in order to get access to link up activesync I need access to a fully functional USB, if I can get into that dumping the ROM should be fairly simple, but flashing a new one might be impossible using this method if the bootloader is locked.

The OS resides in ROM, on load it creates virtual partitions based on the contents of |ROM, any changes to the OS whilst loaded will be lost when the power is turned off. all permanent changes will have to be amended to the ROM image.

Ive got two options, a piece of software I have can change a USB function but this may not work, next up is to try and find the USB hidden on the PCB.

I cracked mine open the other day to take a look inside, unlike some this unit is a single PCB without a riser board meaning all the info on how to tap into a unused (not even pins) USB is useless, I found one good lead though, 4 holes labelled upload.

if this can be done via software we can open up the possibility of sharing ROMs and "cooking" our own

Happy days!

If possible it would be great Darren. The idea of customizing Roms and sharing them opens up lots of possibilities. :)

[Dee_82]

If possible it would be great Darren. The idea of customizing Roms and sharing them opens up lots of possibilities. :)

There isn't any real difference between doing this and what we did years ago with windows Mobile.

XDA Developers was and still is a hub for this kinda thing, the old Mobile companies never updated the phones properly and the carriers were even worse, usually installing all sorts of crap for good measure. The community used to dump the contents of different phones and merge them to suit other phones.

That's where the "cooking" term came to be, eventually "Kitchens" were made to make the job even easier.

The problem was and still is, getting access to the ROM in the first place. Some extremely cleaver people failed to do it on some devices, others, like the HTC HD2 phone became the stuff of legends, that phone, Ran Windows Mobile, Windows Phone and Android, something never done before or after for that matter.

[Incontro]

Finally got around to installing my unit today. Feel free to ask any questions about the unit in question, or the installation procedure.

[Stoney871]

Looks very tidy indeed.

[Incontro]

Thanks Clive. Once I get some more free time on my hands, the next steps will be moving the GPS antenna to a better location (inside A-pillar hidden away), and troubleshooting the poor FM reception issue that I have had since buying the car.

[sonic113]

There isn't any real difference between doing this and what we did years ago with windows Mobile.

XDA Developers was and still is a hub for this kinda thing, the old Mobile companies never updated the phones properly and the carriers were even worse, usually installing all sorts of crap for good measure. The community used to dump the contents of different phones and merge them to suit other phones.

That's where the "cooking" term came to be, eventually "Kitchens" were made to make the job even easier.

The problem was and still is, getting access to the ROM in the first place. Some extremely cleaver people failed to do it on some devices, others, like the HTC HD2 phone became the stuff of legends, that phone, Ran Windows Mobile, Windows Phone and Android, something never done before or after for that matter.

it sounds like hard work but as I say would be fantastic if it was possible.

[sonic113]

Finally got around to installing my unit today. Feel free to ask any questions about the unit in question, or the installation procedure.

Great job fella.

when i get around to getting one i will be going for the silver effcet one over the black one. Does it match the surround trim in color pretty well? from your pic it looks like its perfect. :)

[Incontro]

Great job fella.

when i get around to getting one i will be going for the silver effcet one over the black one. Does it match the surround trim in color pretty well? from your pic it looks like its perfect. :)

Thanks mate, I agree that the silver one looks quite nice. Will you be getting the same A-sure unit? In terms of colour, it's not an exact match, but close enough for me. I only noticed the very slight colour difference, when the car was in direct sunlight today.

Today was the first day using it, left the house at 8 AM, and did a fair bit of driving, and although it's not perfect, I am still quite impressed.

[sonic113]

Thanks mate, I agree that the silver one looks quite nice. Will you be getting the same A-sure unit? In terms of colour, it's not an exact match, but close enough for me. I only noticed the very slight colour difference, when the car was in direct sunlight today.

Today was the first day using it, left the house at 8 AM, and did a fair bit of driving, and although it's not perfect, I am still quite impressed.

I will defiantly be going silver to keep things OEM looking lol! It will be a while off yet has the wife has just talked me into booking a family holiday so there are a lot of little mods that are on hold at the moment these units being one of them, But I will get on after the Holiday is over. There are a lot of different styles ect I like the Eonon units like Darren has but to be honest I will have to see what is about and best prices ect at the time of purchase. But your install there looks 100% from your pic so job well done. Keep us posted on ho the unit plays out for you. :)

[Incontro]

Here is a quick list of the positives and negatives, for anyone who is interested.

For reference, a link to the exact unit that I bought: http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/321756267757

Positives:

* Steering wheel controls work perfectly out of the box, the button back-lighting and screen brightness work well in hand with the cars parking lights/headlights

* Surprisingly good sound quality, much better than the stock Ford 6000CD it replaced. 320kbps MP3's sound pretty good.

* Hardly any system lag switching between menu's & apps - quite snappy indeed. Apparently the dual core 1.6Ghz processor inside it outperforms my android phone in benchmarks.

* The screen is of decent quality - it is sharp, brightness is good, and it is capacitive, so it's fairly responsive.

* Tonnes of room for customization - wallpapers, live wallpapers, apps (Spotify, YouTube, Google Maps). It is android 4.4.4 after all.

Negatives:

* The instruction manual that came with the unit is in 'Chinglish' so to speak, and isn't that detailed/useful. No installation instructions, but the installation procedure itself is reasonably straightforward, and there are two excellent YouTube video guides which I used to install it.

* Messy wiring loom - it will take some effort to tuck it in sufficiently for the unit to fit in the dash, but I think this is the case with most custom double-din units.

* Unfortunately it only works when the ignition is in position II. The seller has claimed that this is by design, to prevent battery drain. This may be easily fixed by doing a simple wiring 'hack', which Stoney has kindly suggested to me. I can discuss this, if anyone is interested.

* The eBay Seller (A-sure) is an overseas-based seller (Hong Kong?), their eBay feedback seems decent enough, and they seem to assure you that customer satisfaction is #1 priority. They have been responsive to all my emails/questions so far, but time and experience will ultimately tell. Shipping was pretty fast though, with Royal Mail.

* Hefty £270 price tag, at the time of buying it, but I was a little apprehensive of the cheaper WinCE-based units. Some of them have decent software, some of them don't, its all down to luck how good the unit you get is, but you are stuck with whatever software is preloaded on the unit. At least with Android, if the hardware is decent, you can choose your own software.

[sonic113]

* Unfortunately it only works when the ignition is in position II. The seller has claimed that this is by design, to prevent battery drain. This may be easily fixed by doing a simple wiring 'hack', which Stoney has kindly suggested to me. I can discuss this, if anyone is interested.

That is a bit of a shame as I like to have the car radio on when I am doing work or Cleaning the car. If it was rewired would the canbus system not auto turn it of in 1 hour just like the standard radio does?

[Dee_82]

I don't think the canbus module on the head unit will understand that. Its no good at telling if the lights are or let alone if the powers ready to cut off, Eonon said the same thing, its possible to connect it up to an always on supply but it wont turn off by its self.

Oh, whilst I'm at it, any of you with these Chinese cloned Headunits notice that the cluster display doesn't turn off?

pull the plug on the back of the old bluetooth module above the glove box, she will sleep like a baby after that.

[Incontro]

That is a bit of a shame as I like to have the car radio on when I am doing work or Cleaning the car. If it was rewired would the canbus system not auto turn it of in 1 hour just like the standard radio does?

Not 100% sure about the 1 hour mate, sorry. But a wild guess would be that you would be able to leave it on indefinitely. I think the one hour feature is specific to the Ford unit.

[ScorpionSX]

To make the stereo work with key in 1st position, try doing the following:

1. Turn the key into the 2nd position

2. Wait for the stereo to fully boot up (playing music)

3. Switch the key to the first position and it should keep playing music

But do not turn the ignition off completely, like when you're removing the key from the ignition, it will turn off the stereo.

This worked for me with 3 various WinCE stereos and 1 Android stereo too. With & without CANBUS controller.

[Incontro]

To make the stereo work with key in 1st position, try doing the following:

1. Turn the key into the 2nd position

2. Wait for the stereo to fully boot up (playing music)

3. Switch the key to the first position and it should keep playing music

But do not turn the ignition off completely, like when you're removing the key from the ignition, it will turn off the stereo.

This worked for me with 3 various WinCE stereos and 1 Android stereo too. With & without CANBUS controller.

I think I had already unsuccessfully tried this, but will try again just to be sure.

[ScorpionSX]

Maybe the FL Focus handles this differently, I just tested this on 2007 Fiesta (Mk 6.5) too and it's working on it as well.

Try it once more and you'll see. Didn't you by any chance mess up some of the wiring from ACC and battery and so on? This could maybe result in something like this...although it would be best then, to see it, try to take a picture, if you did something with the wiring, other than plugging in standard cable for the stereo...

[Incontro]

Maybe the FL Focus handles this differently, I just tested this on 2007 Fiesta (Mk 6.5) too and it's working on it as well.

Try it once more and you'll see. Didn't you by any chance mess up some of the wiring from ACC and battery and so on? This could maybe result in something like this...although it would be best then, to see it, try to take a picture, if you did something with the wiring, other than plugging in standard cable for the stereo...

FL Focus?? What is that? Forgive my ignorance.

I haven't had a chance to try it yet (my car is parked on the street a few blocks away), but I definitely will. I doubt I messed up any of the wiring - the wiring loom is simply plug and play, and I did no modifications to it.

[MONDEO TXS 2.2]

F.L. = Facelift.

[Incontro]

F.L. = Facelift.

DOH! ;)