Anybody any experience with the Chinese double-din-all-singing-all-dancing headunits?

I'm almost tempted by this one:

http://www.aliexpress.com/item/JOYOUS-2-Din-7-Car-DVD-GPS-Android-4-2-for-Ford-Focus-Mondeo-Transit-Connect/2044336948.html

General seller reviews are overall positive, if sparse when compared to ebay.

My thoughts for:

1. It's designed to slot straight in and apparently comes with everything I need to get it to work with the car ans stalk controls

2. Android OS gives me a lot of choice with navigation

3. Can tether it to my phone for data usage (my preferred nav app is Waze)

My thoughts against:

1. I can't find any reveiws about this unit or Joyous

2. Despite being cheap for what it is, it's still a lot of money to spend on something that could erupt in a ball of flames in 6 months time. Or just not work.

3. Although it's designed to look stock, I don't know how accurately the model was made

some have been known to spontaneously combust your car...

Having said that, I have been tempted by one myself and if I had the money earlier I probably would have bought it. Especially given the android interface, as you say you can do so much with it, from navigation to entertainment when your stuck in traffic :D

I had never heard of 'Joyous' before, so, if nothing else, thanks for that.

They are attractive and tempting, but I haven't seen one with integrated DAB, yet. You might want to compare with this eonon unit, which is available from somewhere in the UK (ie, whoever it is quotes £ prices and sensible shipping, although I'm assuming they are an importer - probably was on e-bay), although that link seems to be the generic US advert.

The eonon mentions 'Win CE', which isn't an advantage (to me), but it is unclear if the full Head Unit runs that, or whether it is only to do with the GPS function, which is where they mention it. Neither seems to have any traffic functionality, although, maybe, if you buy, just as an example, TomTom software for an Android unit, you can make traffic work somehow, possibly. (I've got a good sat nav with traffic, but getting the clutter of cables out of the way would be nice, too. OTOH, being able to take the sat nav indoors to add POIs, play with settings and pre-set routes is good, too, so there are advantages either way. Getting the sat nav off the screen might be the one that sways it, though.)

In the other eonon ad that I saw, there was some mention of a DAB module, but it wasn't standard, as far as I could tell, and it wasn't clear how you got it or for how much or how it all fitted together.

But for me, I've decided that I won't spend anything other than trivial cash on anything that doesn't get me the DAB radio stations, so I keep looking and thinking 'maybe the follow-up model...'. (Probably DAB and pre-outs are my minimum requirements, and so far, DAB has been the difficult one to find.)

Close, though.

That Eonon unit looks identical to all of the other non-Android ads I've seen - with prices starting at about £170+ import fees.

I'm tempted by an Android unit because of Waze - I really like using it!! That and it's easy enough to tether to my phone with the one I linked to. I think the Joyous one works out at around £230+ any import fees. I'm not all that interested in POI's - never used them.

As nice as new gadgets would be, I'm leaning towards leaving it for now.

I did look at the high street for comparison purposes - looking at Lenny for inspiration...I'm looking at a bill of over £500. The navigation unit itself is £360, the cheaper non-DAB HU (not fussed about DAB) could be had for about £150. Then there's fascia's, stalk adapter etc etc

Dab can be added to any unit, with a 12v device and go transmitter or aux connection.

Yes, but for me, that's not necessarily adequate. Ideally, I would want to be able to control the DAB radio from the head unit display, particularly if I've just paid to get a nice display.

Putting the DAB unit in, say, the glovebox or that region is adequate if the head unit can control it. If I need the add-on unit itself on display, its going to have to be neat, and not all are, and need no trailing wires all over the place, or what's the point (and, I've already got one that I don't use, because of the trailing wires and the additional box cluttering up the windscreen, already having a sat nav on the screen. Two boxes, two power cables a cigar lighter splitter and one on-screen antenna is very clearly too much for me.)

Edit

Here is, I think, the original e-bay/uk advert for the eonon unit, but it is now ~£320 and unavailable. I'm sure, when it was available it was more like half that price, or lower. No idea whether it will become available again, or at what price (some sellers put the price up when they don't have any). The G2110 is an Android unit at around £200.

Fair point, hoping there can be Chinese with dab, but from what I gather dab is a particular UK and Europe feature and relatively new I tech world and for copying

I've just looked up the G2110.

Whilst I'll have to swap the fascia etc...I'm much happier with the fact it's a known brand, with a good website.

Some of the reviews are a bit hit & miss, but it appears that many people are trying to compare the cheap Eonon units to Pioneer units costing 2, 3 times as much.

Looking at the G2110 specifically, if I order it from the UK Website or Amazon (still through Eonon) it's £265. Go on the international site and it's £199? Seems odd...

Things it has going for it: it is Android, relatively well known brand, can be adapted for use with stalk controls, can be had for £200

Not sure

Certainly looks worth the extra 20

Just checked up on import fees - the £199 becomes £273 :O

Save a few quid by going through the UK website