I've had some really helpful advice on Briskoda so hopefully this may help others...

My Chinese OEM experience

Why a Chinese unit? Well mainly cost – I have a Skoda Octavia II Ambiente (Basic Model) with no MaxiDot and no Bluetooth.

I needed to be able to play MP3s off SD or USB Sticks

I need to be able to use Bluetooth to connect my phone to the car

With second hand Skoda Columbus units at £500 and the need to add Bluetooth and then use VCDS (£100 or find a nice soul on Briskoda.net) to reprogram the can bus. It was a bit expensive and a lot less functionality. I did look at £500 Nexus units but with the latest firmware and functionality upgrades of the Chinese units I decided to go for a Chinese unit despite the excellent advice and documented experience of Mike Holroyd on Briskoda.net

I considered many units – did lots of market research. There’s lots of Chinese manufacturers selling lots of models but only a handful of board manufacturers – mostly they use NOWADAY boards. Some have a dangling USB connector added on from the WINCE side – that you will see on some eBay ads for plugging in a USB Modem to use internet on the move. (this is shown as a mod on some customising websites – but the Chinese have now incorporated it). All the units seem to have two processor sides – WinCE that was originally used for running SatNav and a Chinese operating system on the other processor for processing the sound and video output from the WinCE side and running the main user interface. However later firmware models have more functionality already added into the WINCE side by the manufacturers – mine has an ebook reader Internet explorer and a media player for video, audio and pictures.

I wanted to buy a WINCA made unit as the WIN CE side is English compared with Chinese on many others. Also WINCEPATCH, what looks to be an excellent interface replacement patch would work for definite.

Key features I was looking for:

• Good sound
  
• Ease of navigation within a track of audio
  
• More ‘western’ looking interface
  

I bought a unit from ICEBOXAUTO (Excellent company – see later)

First Impressions

• 2 day Delivery, tracked via the courier with a 1 hour delivery slot on the tracking page. Arrived to the minute at the beginning of the delivery hour.
  
• Good quality outer box – complete with chinglish spelling mistakes. Nice design.
  
• Unit very well packaged
  
• Good quality remote control, NOT one of the flimsy credit card ones.
  
• Nice quality feel to the unit, text graphics on the buttons match the car’s very nicely.
  
• In the box was a foam supported main unit with a second internal box containing the accessory pack.
  
• Contents:
  
• Remote Control,
  
• ISO lead – does the speakers power and can bus connections
  
• Can bus adapter – a separate unit that plugs into the back of the HU only
  
• Separate USB extension cable for allowing you to plug in USB sticks to the Chinese side of the unit. Ipod cable,
  
• Microphone
  
• Radio signal amplifier – needs 3 inputs – power (got from the poweramp switch wire), am aerial and fm aerial – I only have one so currently am missing out on AM
  
• Chinglish Software guide that was out of date and next to useless – no other installation instructions in the box.
  

IceBoxAuto provide a free reversing camera which had been placed in the accessory box.

Camera + cable for camera and power lead for camera + an extra mounting plate to mount the cam.

The camera was designed for mounting in place of one of the rear number plate lights but did not have an integrated lamp, the wires ran outside of the base necessitating a hole in the bodywork and was big enough to obscure the number plate. This went back to IceBoxAuto and I’m waiting for one of the lamp type replacements. (Needed to pay £10 extra). Also note – the 5m signal cable for the cam is not long enough to reach to the back of the octy – bought an extension on ebay for £1.60

Summary of what I think of various features:

Initial setup

Couldn’t access startup logo and button colour in the menu – had to go to the secret menu (Switch off, 0000 on remote control then enter)

The overall settings menus are poor making the whole unit rather unintuitive to use – I wouldn’t expect my wife to be able to learn to use it.

Capture gets your background screen image

DVD – Plays well, easy to use DVD function – stick in a disk, it plays well, quality dependent on where you set the brightness and contrast controls.

SD and USB player – play audio, video and pictures – not bad quality, poor fiddly menus

Radio – not great reception- even with powered aerial – will have to investigate alternatives. Radio station setup is easy, but in each of the presets it displays the frequency – not the radio station name and my text isn’t as readable as those on the ebay listings.

Bluetooth and phone:

Works well, linked up to my Windows Mobile phone makes and receives calls well using the internal mic. Again the text font used on the screen is very Chinesey and thin – would prefer nice bold characters for readability

iPod – not got one

Virtual CD function – can’t really see the point so not used yet

Aux in- not used

TV – Not bought this option

On the WinCE side – it has a ‘shell’ rather than just a navigation launcher that gives you an internet explorer, media player and setup functions.

The best way to see what the software is like is to see my videos below.

Overall final comments:

Overall, I went into this with my eyes open having done lots of research– I received what I expected and am pleased with the results especially with the WinCEPatch that makes the WinCE side so much more versatile and gives me the features that I really wanted in the first place such as a skinable easy navigation media player with equaliser.

I get a lot of glare from the NS rear passenger window – don’t know if that would be any better on a more expensive unit. I think the backlight could be more intense – it does make the screen quite grey in direct sunlight.

It needs a lot of tinkering with to get the levels of all the inputs balanced and to get your head around navigating the 2 halves of the unit.

Sound quality is comparable if not better than the stream unit and certainly more configurable.

I’ve got a smart integrated unit that matches the car décor and does a lot more than a Columbus unit – for a fraction of the price – it suits me perfectly but may not all due to the usability issues.

Don’t buy the unit if you want something easy and intuitive to use like a Columbus – you will be disappointed.

Do buy it if you want great satnav software, maximum flexibility, Bluetooth in the unit not the car, and you can spend some time configuring the unit how you want it.

IceBoxAuto

Very very responsive, friendly and informative to pre and post sales emails. Extremely helpful when require and flexible to get me the system I wanted. I could have paid £60 less and still sourced in the UK but if anything went wrong I’d have to send back to China (would cost £60) – at my cost even if a unit was faulty from new – not my idea of fair business practice.

I would recommend them.

Video showing some installation tips:

Video Showing software review:

Edited 1 May, 201214 yr by westfielder

two excellent videos and very well explained looks good value for the money.

bill

Hope so Mike,

I did read all your posts (and woes) very carefully, but without bluetooth in the car and needing to purchase that and sort the VCDS and cost - I could only afford the Chinese unit. Time will tell! I guess - if I had the money - I would have bought a Columbus - does that make sense?

Cheers Bill - videos were done on the hurry-up and not well planned or executed but hope may help others make an informed decision for or against!

Nick

I had a chinese unit in my MK1 made by MEOS (MYARSE) I had to cut away a plastic support behind the dash to get it to fit as the ISO was in the middle of the unit as opposed to the side. For £200 it came with bluetooth,usb,tv,7 inch dvd,cd, etc etc It looked, felt and performed rubbish! The sound quality was very poor compared to the Kenwood I replaced it with it liked to switch itself off atleast twice a day, until one day it wouldnt come back on! For £200 id rather buy a brand name with fewer functions.

Looks good and good informative videos.Hope it works well for you.

In the video it looks like the src button and possibly others are starting to go shiny and worn, is this the case or is it just the light?

That's a really helpful and well-produced tutorial, especially if, as you say, you were in a bit of a hurry..

Thanks!

Congrats on fitting this HU without any hassles. The Videos are surely helpful to a lot here, great job! And good to hear that you are satisfied with the sound quality with the HU, which was your main concern with a Chinese HU in the first place.

Just keep an eye on the Battery Voltage to check if this HU is draining the Battery (because of a CANBUS incompatibility) or not as I had this problem with mine.

I had one, I found the Bluetooth to be good, the dvd good as was the sat nav. The ipod control a bit clumsy but still good and all the connections helped make the unit gvfm.

The issues I had were, very poor radio reception, a rubbish cd player, interference when in radio and sat nav mode. The screen glare was a joke but it was the clumsy interface which put the nail in the coffin for me.

I now have a Columbus and oem Bluetooth with voice control of both (and my cd changer back) I can see where you are coming from in terms of cost but for the extra £300 I paid for the Columbus and Bluetooth it is leagues ahead of the old unit.

To be fair the unit itself is ok. If someone could upgrade the interface they would have a winner.

Edited 2 May, 201214 yr by vrs777

Am I going mad or did it have an E-Book option?

Good informative post btw.

An excellent and informative article sir!

I've had some really helpful advice on Briskoda so hopefully this may help others... My Chinese OEM experience Why a Chinese unit? Well mainly cost – I have a Skoda Octavia II Ambiente (Basic Model) with no MaxiDot and no Bluetooth. I needed to be able to play MP3s off SD or USB Sticks I need to be able to use Bluetooth to connect my phone to the car With second hand Skoda Columbus units at £500 and the need to add Bluetooth and then use VCDS (£100 or find a nice soul on Briskoda.net) to reprogram the can bus. It was a bit expensive and a lot less functionality. I did look at £500 Nexus units but with the latest firmware and functionality upgrades of the Chinese units I decided to go for a Chinese unit despite the excellent advice and documented experience of Mike Holroyd on Briskoda.net I considered many units – did lots of market research. There’s lots of Chinese manufacturers selling lots of models but only a handful of board manufacturers – mostly they use NOWADAY boards. Some have a dangling USB connector added on from the WINCE side – that you will see on some eBay ads for plugging in a USB Modem to use internet on the move. (this is shown as a mod on some customising websites – but the Chinese have now incorporated it). All the units seem to have two processor sides – WinCE that was originally used for running SatNav and a Chinese operating system on the other processor for processing the sound and video output from the WinCE side and running the main user interface. However later firmware models have more functionality already added into the WINCE side by the manufacturers – mine has an ebook reader Internet explorer and a media player for video, audio and pictures. I wanted to buy a WINCA made unit as the WIN CE side is English compared with Chinese on many others. Also WINCEPATCH, what looks to be an excellent interface replacement patch would work for definite. Key features I was looking for:

• Good sound
  
• Ease of navigation within a track of audio
  
• More ‘western’ looking interface
  

I bought a unit from ICEBOXAUTO (Excellent company – see later) First Impressions

• 2 day Delivery, tracked via the courier with a 1 hour delivery slot on the tracking page. Arrived to the minute at the beginning of the delivery hour.
  
• Good quality outer box – complete with chinglish spelling mistakes. Nice design.
  
• Unit very well packaged
  
• Good quality remote control, NOT one of the flimsy credit card ones.
  
• Nice quality feel to the unit, text graphics on the buttons match the car’s very nicely.
  
• In the box was a foam supported main unit with a second internal box containing the accessory pack.
  
• Contents:
  
• Remote Control,
  
• ISO lead – does the speakers power and can bus connections
  
• Can bus adapter – a separate unit that plugs into the back of the HU only
  
• Separate USB extension cable for allowing you to plug in USB sticks to the Chinese side of the unit. Ipod cable,
  
• Microphone
  
• Radio signal amplifier – needs 3 inputs – power (got from the poweramp switch wire), am aerial and fm aerial – I only have one so currently am missing out on AM
  
• Chinglish Software guide that was out of date and next to useless – no other installation instructions in the box.
  

IceBoxAuto provide a free reversing camera which had been placed in the accessory box. Camera + cable for camera and power lead for camera + an extra mounting plate to mount the cam. The camera was designed for mounting in place of one of the rear number plate lights but did not have an integrated lamp, the wires ran outside of the base necessitating a hole in the bodywork and was big enough to obscure the number plate. This went back to IceBoxAuto and I’m waiting for one of the lamp type replacements. (Needed to pay £10 extra). Also note – the 5m signal cable for the cam is not long enough to reach to the back of the octy – bought an extension on ebay for £1.60 Summary of what I think of various features: Initial setup Couldn’t access startup logo and button colour in the menu – had to go to the secret menu (Switch off, 0000 on remote control then enter) The overall settings menus are poor making the whole unit rather unintuitive to use – I wouldn’t expect my wife to be able to learn to use it. Capture gets your background screen image DVD – Plays well, easy to use DVD function – stick in a disk, it plays well, quality dependent on where you set the brightness and contrast controls. SD and USB player – play audio, video and pictures – not bad quality, poor fiddly menus Radio – not great reception- even with powered aerial – will have to investigate alternatives. Radio station setup is easy, but in each of the presets it displays the frequency – not the radio station name and my text isn’t as readable as those on the ebay listings. Bluetooth and phone: Works well, linked up to my Windows Mobile phone makes and receives calls well using the internal mic. Again the text font used on the screen is very Chinesey and thin – would prefer nice bold characters for readability iPod – not got one Virtual CD function – can’t really see the point so not used yet Aux in- not used TV – Not bought this option On the WinCE side – it has a ‘shell’ rather than just a navigation launcher that gives you an internet explorer, media player and setup functions. The best way to see what the software is like is to see my videos below. Overall final comments: Overall, I went into this with my eyes open having done lots of research– I received what I expected and am pleased with the results especially with the WinCEPatch that makes the WinCE side so much more versatile and gives me the features that I really wanted in the first place such as a skinable easy navigation media player with equaliser. I get a lot of glare from the NS rear passenger window – don’t know if that would be any better on a more expensive unit. I think the backlight could be more intense – it does make the screen quite grey in direct sunlight. It needs a lot of tinkering with to get the levels of all the inputs balanced and to get your head around navigating the 2 halves of the unit. Sound quality is comparable if not better than the stream unit and certainly more configurable. I’ve got a smart integrated unit that matches the car décor and does a lot more than a Columbus unit – for a fraction of the price – it suits me perfectly but may not all due to the usability issues. Don’t buy the unit if you want something easy and intuitive to use like a Columbus – you will be disappointed. Do buy it if you want great satnav software, maximum flexibility, Bluetooth in the unit not the car, and you can spend some time configuring the unit how you want it. IceBoxAuto Very very responsive, friendly and informative to pre and post sales emails. Extremely helpful when require and flexible to get me the system I wanted. I could have paid £60 less and still sourced in the UK but if anything went wrong I’d have to send back to China (would cost £60) – at my cost even if a unit was faulty from new – not my idea of fair business practice. I would recommend them. Video showing some installation tips: Video Showing software review:

I have the same unit in my vrs, i have had it in nearly 18 months and it makes a change to read such a positive post instead of some of the usual negative stuff you hear and read on these ' cheap Chinese clones'....

Anyways, my thoughts are pretty much the same as yours on said unit! Like you i did a lot of research on various Chinese units and the tid 7501 was one of the better units on offer. A Columbus was not even in the frame because i was definitely not going to pay £450+, for a second hand one and also buying the extra 'bluetooth module' that was also required, made the price closer to £650ish. Also looked at the zenec 2010 and if i had £800 that would be the unit i would have bought. i paid £320 for my unit and it is very good value for the money, my only gripe with it is, its usability....its not the easiest thing to use and the menus on the sd/usb interface are so fiddly to use, although i have found that using the remote control to scroll though the tracks makes life a lot easier though!

I have not really tried anything different on the windows ce side, because i don’t know what i am doing ! I do know that there is quite a few things that you can do with various programs {winpatch and also heard of mio pocket?} that would make the unit a lot easier to use regarding better media players with better interfaces. would the music on my usb stick work with a ce windows media player or would the music files have to be on the same sd card as my sat nav prog ?

The radio is very hit and miss on reception but i have read on the vw forums, that this might be down to the fact that octys only have one aerial lead at the back. vw's have two aerial leads and the radios seems to be better on reception and they also have am reception. i don’t know if there is anyway of putting a extra aerial or a booster to improve the reception ? I have the dvb television with freeview tv and the picture and reception is superb.

I hope you are as happy with your unit as i am with mine !

Edited 2 May, 201214 yr by studmuffin

Dear All, thanks for your comments and thanks!! If I had known it would be so well received I would have spent a bit more time on it.

StudMuffin - re radio - yes wI'll be investigating alternative aerials and will post any update.

On the WinCE side - it's really easy to upgrade, all you do is get the WINCEPATCH and stick it on the SD, go into the satnav setup program where you put in the satnav path and change it to the wincepatch on the sd card - it will install. Then just change the path to the wincepatch shell program - the one that looks a bit iphone ish. Then when you press the navi button or select the navigation software it launches the shell - from there you can play games - use media players, picture viewersetc office readers, write documents - use the calculator or any other wince program you care to install.

You can then read your music off the same SD card as the navi or as I do off the usb stick - but I guess you have your TV card plugged in there?

happy to do a more informative video if you want - but away for 2 weeks

Benny - yes the ebook reader does come in the basic wince side shell not tried it yet! But you could stick an adobe rewader on the wince side anyway

Hell666 - thanks - yes it does drain the battery if I don't run the engine - a warning for installers - if you're going to spend a while playing and setting it up - be careful it uses a lot of juice. It has a can-bus integration so doesn't drain overnight....I don't think! :-)

Nick

First of all let me thank you for two excellent videos. I recently bought a Headunit from a guy in Ireland (Although he did not sound Irish!). A link can be seen below. It's an awesome headunit which cost me around £350. Way better than the standard one which came in my vRS. I too needed Bluetooth and am really happy with this headunit.

Fairly standard installation guide here,

I had no issues installing apart from sorting all the cables in the back of the unit to be able to make it fit. I didn't realise I could remove the top compartment which you did and I placed my USB connection into the glove box. I will change this and drill a hole like you did as this is the perfect compartment for the iPod, USB etc...

I couldn't get my TV to work. It currently just says "No signal" so I have issues with this and need to try and work out what to do. I bought the TV Tuner from the same guy along with two antennas each with two boosters that stick nicely onto the windscreen. It may just be I have a poor signal so will need to try in a bigger City when I get chance.

I am presuming my Headunit also works in the same way as yours with regard to the software. I would really like to know how to get into the WinCE part to install a better media player because the standard iPod interface is a bit weak for navigation. When you have over 2000 songs it takes a while to navigate to the the latter albums. Although my headunit came with a remote control which makes it alot easier I would like to try other software.

I saw your reply above about changing the path but could really do with a step by step guide so I don't mess it up. If you have time of course that would really be appreciated. I have posted some pics of the menu below. My Navigation uses a SD card adapter with a MicroSD card inside. I have another spare and a USB MicroSD card reader so can use that if required in the SD slot.

I thought I saw you had TomTom installed? Am I correct? I have this on my iPod and would like to get it on to my headunit if possible. How would I do that? I am into PCs and not stupid when it comes to Techie stuff so I am really interetsed in how you get to this. Are you connecting to a laptop or something? Some instructions would really be appreciated.

The blutooth is excellent - easy to setup and clear communication.

The radio reception is not great but when I was given a brand new Skoda courtesy car whilst mine was being serviced I experienced the same reception issues. I have tried a booster in the back but it doesn't make a difference. if anyone has any ideas on how to improve this then that would be really appreciated as I love listening to my radio.

The SatNav that it came with is good but I am going to play around with the software and see if I can get TomTom onto it as I prefer this having it on my iPhone already.

TV I cannot get to work as of yet.

Have not tried DVD, USB or VCD yet.

The HU is very well built, there is no screen glare and the buttons are solid and rigid.

Here are a few screenshots of the HU and specifically the WinCE 6.0 screens.

Here is the screen for my Navi software.

Here is the Entertainment menu,

System menu,

After clicking Initial setup and Document repair I have stopped my Navigation Software from starting up? Any ideas on what I have done wrong?

TV Tuner

TV Antennas

Edited 5 May, 201214 yr by DtM2000

I also have the same unit as the OP, and also bought it from ICEBOXAUTO. I have had it a year and am still happy with it. Had one problem where the Bluetooth stopped connecting but all was sorted with ICEBOXAUTO shipping it off for repair and sending it back to me. Took about a month door to door, but that was over Christmas.

I have no regrets buying the unit a year on, and am pleased with it. For £330 (no camera for me) I have 16b of music on my USB, 16gbs of Simpson/family guy & american dad on a SD card. I have a DVD selection for when in traffic (stand up comedians so i dont need to watch it, can just listen), decent IGO8 satnav and the ability to stream music through the bluetooth. The phone is pretty good as well <40mph, above that the noise from the road etc creeps in - but no more so then it would had I had my phone on speaker.

edit:

One thing I never got working was the TV, could never get any signal even with ICEBOXAUTOs 'boosted' aerial.

Edited 5 May, 201214 yr by Guest

Hi, working 'till 1am then going on hols early in the morning. Writing this on my mobile.

Couldn't get TomTom to install. some have but it's very drawn out process on Wince 6. works ok on 5.0 apparently.

When you install wincepatch you get lots of icons in readiness for you to install some of the apps.

Sounds like you reset your unit back to factory defaults. There's lots of info on gpsheaven about how to launch into windows explorer. To get your satnav going againjust change the navigation path to match the .exe file on your microsd card.

Give us an update on how you get on in a week and I'll have a look when I get back.

Looks like a nice install btw.

Nick

Hi, working 'till 1am then going on hols early in the morning. Writing this on my mobile.

Couldn't get TomTom to install. some have but it's very drawn out process on Wince 6. works ok on 5.0 apparently.

When you install wincepatch you get lots of icons in readiness for you to install some of the apps.

Sounds like you reset your unit back to factory defaults. There's lots of info on gpsheaven about how to launch into windows explorer. To get your satnav going againjust change the navigation path to match the .exe file on your microsd card.

Give us an update on how you get on in a week and I'll have a look when I get back.

Looks like a nice install btw.

Nick

Thank you for your reply. I saw you said you were off for a couple of weeks so thanks for the prompt response.

I'll take a look a look on gps heaven as you suggested and try to figure things out from there. When you say "install winpatch" you lose me a bit. I'm wondering whether this is installed from the SD card and on screen in car or on a PC?

I'll try and figure it out - I got a couple of weeks whilst you sun yourself

Cheers

DtM

edit:

One thing I never got working was the TV, could never get any signal even with ICEBOXAUTOs 'boosted' aerial.

My unit appears to be have been activated to watch DVD etc whilst the car is driving. They must have bypassed the safety side of things.

I'm am searching ways of getting my TV to work. Will keep you updated on my progress.

Am i being blind but how much did you pay for the unit as i am very interested in getting one for the octavia sldo have you got any links where i can purchase one

Hi Rob, ebay. search for "dvd gps skoda"look for units from iceboxauto. chhers nick

Dtm,

go to

www.wincepatch.com.

follow their instructions..It's quite straight forward.

Btw it won't help with the ipod as that's connected to the chinese side of the unit not the wince side.

Cheers. nick

Hi Rob, ebay. search for "dvd gps skoda"look for units from iceboxauto. chhers nick

there you go...

http://stores.ebay.co.uk/Iceboxauto/_i.html?_nkw=skoda+2+din+gps&_trksid=p3286.c0.m57

thanks a lot

OK, so after some research I was able to change the path for my GPS to get that working again. I have also found a website for the WinCE Patch and the guy is charging $19.99 for it. I presume you purchased this?

I now understand the process of putting the files on your SD card via the PC and then selecting the .exe file when it is plugged into the HU. I know if I install this patch then I will end up with the menu as described below in video and I will be able to add new programs etc....

From this patch I understand I can potentially do the following,

- unlock wince operating system

- give access to desktop/menus

- install new iphone look interface

- add programs ( office suite, file managers, etc ), games ( even superb flash games ), new drivers and registry settings

- better memory allocation, the system will be more responsive

- allow user to add own registry at boot ( this way the system will keep settings after reboot, this is not possible without the patch )

- allow user to add to new dll in windows folder, to make some applications work or to install new applications, drivers, etc. All extra files added in windows folder will remain after reboot !

- add new and better keyboard, with multilanguage support

- on chinese firmware will install english in almost all menus and windows

- allow user to set his own wallpaper, reboot persistent

- allow user to create new shortcuts on desktop

- install new mp3 player, with excellent skin support

- install new videoplayer, that can play almost all media formats available

- Prepare the system for the internet add-on, WiFi or 3G

Here is a video showing it all,

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zhbAq4jD3CI&feature=player_embedded

Am i being blind but how much did you pay for the unit as i am very interested in getting one for the octavia sldo have you got any links where i can purchase one

Here is the exact unit I bought from the same supplier. His communication is excellent and he can be trusted. If you email directly he can do the unit cheaper. I paid him through PayPal and had no issues.

http://www.ebay.co.u...=item2c64941e16

Edited 6 May, 201214 yr by DtM2000