What double din hu's?...

[iaind1]

I've got a SPH-DA120 in mine.. can answer any questions you might have :-)

 

Nothing specific, but is it any good? Have you had many bugs with carplay? How does it look in the dash?

[h3mp]

Nothing specific, but is it any good? Have you had many bugs with carplay? How does it look in the dash?

 

I'd only recommend it for apple fans, and even then it needs more apps.. hopefully that will come soon..

 

To start with i thought car play was buggy.. but i think the Pioneer USB extension leads have slightly iffy sockets - unplugged things, replugged them more firmly not had a carplay crash since!

 

The apple navigation isnt as good as my tomtom app as it is not as full featured but it actually does the job well enough on the bog screen that i use it 99% of the time now...

music and posdcast apps work well.. also use tune-in radio app to access lots of streaming radio stations..

 

i've been playing with how it looks in the dash, and gone through a couple of iterations of skoda trim and 3rd party holders - will post pictures soon!

[iaind1]

Hmm I can't make my mind up! The as620 is cheap and does everything I need, but having the likes of spotify, Internet radio and podcasts accessible from the HU seems ideal.

It looks like the new skoda head units (bolero etc) support CarPlay too, which would be perfect but I don't know if one off eBay could be upgraded or whether it's different hardware

[Jelibeli]

I think I know the answers to these questions, after reading the whole thread, but I just want to check...

2005 pre FL Octavia Ambiente, currently fitted with the basic Stream system & CD changer, no parking sensors. Would I be able to directly drop-in an AS620 with no other fascia plates etc, would it work OK and would I be disappointed with the functionality and sound?

[iaind1]

I really like the price of the AS620 but I just can't get away from the cheepy Chinese nature of it..

http://youtu.be/wyQaLPXl9ZA

[Jelibeli]

I'm also toying with the idea of getting either a pioneer or kenwood VAG-specific unit (if I can bear the cost), but I can't find anything confirming that they will work with an 05-plate PFL Octavia, and fitting seems very involved for something that's meant to be application-specific.

[iaind1]

I've not looked much at those as they are so expensive. Think I'm going to stick with standard double DIN - the pictures I've seen have looked OK and you get the proper quality for much less money. I've got manual AC and no parking sensors, mfsw or maxidot so I won't benefit much from

Canbus integration. Fitting with standard ISO is a £30 adapter or a £10 adapter with a new cable run from the glovebox.

[Damo]

My pre fl has a pioneer double din DVD fitted

 

I don't have any of those luxuries either, so no integaration needed for me too

[Quarry Bodger]

I think I know the answers to these questions, after reading the whole thread, but I just want to check...

2005 pre FL Octavia Ambiente, currently fitted with the basic Stream system & CD changer, no parking sensors. Would I be able to directly drop-in an AS620 with no other fascia plates etc, would it work OK and would I be disappointed with the functionality and sound?

[Quarry Bodger]

The sound is fine from my ans 510. The Sat nav is terrible though, and the Bluetooth is ok for streaming music, but pants for making & receiving calls

[Nikonite]

I own both a chinese unit and the columbus and my opinions are of each:

 

COLUMBUS +

Love the screen, much better quality than the chinese units, the touch is 100 times more responsive, I don't think I have had to press the same on screen button twice yet.

I find the navi keeps my position much better and reroutes almost instantly.

I have a radio that works

I love the Maxidot Navigation, it really is cool

Integrates with the car systems as it should

 

COLUMBUS -

Expensive to add bluetooth, reversing camera etc and lots of potential pitfalls when purchasing as you need to research what will work with your car / phone

No SD card Movies, I want to fit rear headrests and it seems I can only play from DVD

Expensive

 

Chinese Unit +

Cheap

They give canbus integration a go and it works to a point

Built in Bluetooth that works fine

Built in reversing camera and video in that works with dashcam again works out of box

Look pretty good, not a million miles from the columbus

Plays all media from sd card 

 

Chinese Unit -

The screen is barely visible in direct sunlight

The touch works...eventually, expect to press the screen a few times

The WInce navigation is gash, seriously slow and out of date (android unit solves this)

The menu's look horrible on most, really poorly designed and dated

The radio doesn't work, that's the kindest thing I can say about the radio

 

I believe Chinese models that are less than a year old are improved, some are LED too and audiosources have a very interesting Tiguan system on their site with maxidot nav. If I can get this with android and maxidot nav I will leave the columbus happily. I mainly wanted Navigation and ended up breaking the Wince navigation on the chinese unit in a desperate attempt to get it working well.

[Rizmod]

Guys, on the Audiosources AS-620 I recently fitted in my FL vRS,  I can't fault much.  In my opinion:

• Quality/finish exactly matches the dash, right down to shape, green back-lighting and even fonts.  Impossible to tell it apart from OEM.
• No need for extra cables or trim changes.
• I find the menu structure logical.
• Radio/media playing/bluetooth/canbus integration are all perfect.
• Has an OBD info screen which connecs via canbus.
• Plays music CDs and movie DVDs.
• Touch screen works well (if you have fat fingers, use a stylus instead - very accurate). 
• Screen is very bright. 
• Sound quality is excellent. (but need to play around with equaliser/bass for this).
• Satnav is brilliant.  It runs IGO Primo off a micro-SD card. Any WinCE gps software can work instead. I have latest maps, speedcams and POIs.  It is very smooth (immediate route recalcs, no freezes) and has more configurable features than the high-spec Garmin I replaced.
• Bluetooth phone calls are fine but a bit quiet.  The microphone is built into the left of the HU rather than the right but turning up the volume knob sorts it. The only thing I haven't resolved is that the HU only seems to download the numbers in my Blackberry Z10 mobile phone contacts, not the names.
• I haven't yet wired in a reversing camera or dash cam so can't comment but it supports them out of the box.

 

Mine is so good for just £229 that I've already recommended it to mates at work.  An increase in RAM + years of ironing out bugs in the previous ANS models means it is well specced and (so far) reliable. No way is it cheap looking, just good value. Be aware though that Iceboxauto buy them in direct from Hong Kong so it does take a couple of weeks for delivery.  However, they check them out in Liverpool before shipping them to you, so it should be fine.

 

http://www.iceboxauto.com/vw-octavia-2007-2013-7-as610

 

Cheers,

 

Riz.

Edited 21 May, 2015 by Rizmod

[iaind1]

Have you tried Bluetooth audio streaming? Does it show track names?

[Rizmod]

I hadn't until you asked so I just nipped out to the car and tried it out.  Worked fine from Bernard Cribbins "hole in the ground" as MP3, size 4MB @ 360 KB/sec.

[Rizmod]

I tried streaming again this morning and it still works but does not display track name or give a folder listing on the HU, just follows whatever was setup on the phone's media player.  However, as the HU takes a micro-SD card and USB pen drive or USB hard disc, I don't need bluetooth streaming as I have many gigabytes of music in the unit .  Folder and track selection, repeat/random play and album artwork work well for these.

[nickgpfc]

Guys, on the Audiosources AS-620 I recently fitted in my FL vRS,  I can't fault much.  In my opinion:

• Quality/finish exactly matches the dash, right down to shape, green back-lighting and even fonts.  Impossible to tell it apart from OEM.
• No need for extra cables or trim changes.
• I find the menu structure logical.
• Radio/media playing/bluetooth/canbus integration are all perfect.
• Has an OBD info screen which connecs via canbus.
• Plays music CDs and movie DVDs.
• Touch screen works well (if you have fat fingers, use a stylus instead - very accurate). 
• Screen is very bright. 
• Sound quality is excellent. (but need to play around with equaliser/bass for this).
• Satnav is brilliant.  It runs IGO Primo off a micro-SD card. Any WinCE gps software can work instead. I have latest maps, speedcams and POIs.  It is very smooth (immediate route recalcs, no freezes) and has more configurable features than the high-spec Garmin I replaced.
• Bluetooth phone calls are fine but a bit quiet.  The microphone is built into the left of the HU rather than the right but turning up the volume knob sorts it. The only thing I haven't resolved is that the HU only seems to download the numbers in my Blackberry Z10 mobile phone contacts, not the names.
• I haven't yet wired in a reversing camera or dash cam so can't comment but it supports them out of the box.

 

Mine is so good for just £229 that I've already recommended it to mates at work.  An increase in RAM + years of ironing out bugs in the previous ANS models means it is well specced and (so far) reliable. No way is it cheap looking, just good value. Be aware though that Iceboxauto buy them in direct from Hong Kong so it does take a couple of weeks for delivery.  However, they check them out in Liverpool before shipping them to you, so it should be fine.

 

http://www.iceboxauto.com/vw-octavia-2007-2013-7-as610

 

Cheers,

 

Riz.

That's interesting reading.. I guess as you have a FL VRS, you've replaced a Bolero. If so, I have the same.

 

Does it interface ok with the aircon controls?

[Rizmod]

Yes, mine was a Bolero.  The climate control controls display every time I tweak a setting and even when the fan auto modulates, ie. speeds up or slows down.

Edited 22 May, 2015 by Rizmod

[nickgpfc]

Yes, mine was a Bolero.  The climate control controls display every time I tweak a setting and even when the fan auto modulates, ie. speeds up or slows down.

Thanks for confirming that. I've been toying with fitting bluetooth, but this may be a better option in my case at roughly the same price.

[iaind1]

I tried streaming again this morning and it still works but does not display track name or give a folder listing on the HU, just follows whatever was setup on the phone's media player.  However, as the HU takes a micro-SD card and USB pen drive or USB hard disc, I don't need bluetooth streaming as I have many gigabytes of music in the unit .  Folder and track selection, repeat/random play and album artwork work well for these.

 

I use streaming all the time because it lets me use Spotify, internet radio (non FM stations like 6 music) and podcasts subscriptions from my phone

[rloades]

Kicking up an old thread again, but I'm looking for an upgrade from my Stream headunit. I've been looking at the offerings from iceboxauto, and also at the offerings from audiosources that aren't stocked by icebox autos.

 

Does anybody have any experience of the Witson units offered by iceboxautos, namely the A9241?

Also, has anybody seen, used or fitted Audiosource's D90-610 unit? I'm interested in it as it runs android, but has the stock appearance of the columbus.

 

Thanks!

[iaind1]

I had the iceboxauto android unit that looks the same as the stream so I didn't need a new fascia. Unfortunately it went back a week later. Screen was unusable, App Store didn't work so had to side load apps but only some worked. No nav software came installed and every after market one I tried crashed at startup. The radio was unusable too (if you had AF on the Audi quality would plummet) and the iPod function didn't let you navigate the iPod.

In credit to iceboxauto they tried to help and took it back for a refund without any hassle. He did also say there are some new android units coming out which are greatly improved.

I've ended up with standard double din - doesn't look as nice but works so much better. I'm using a pioneer CarPlay unit and it's great. If you want android then look at the parrot unit.

If you want the OEM look then go for one of the non android systems from icebox, if you want great smartphone integration then get a standard double din

[lanciadub]

I so want an android unit in my car but every post on every forum (bar a very few) tell me to stay away that they are more hassle than they are worth.

I too want to ideally have a system with spotify ,youtube and doggcatcher (for podcasts). 

iaind1 , you are not the first i heard to send back an android unit , everybody seems to be dissapointed on delivery . I might hold out for the new gen.

[iaind1]

I wanted to run spotify, podcasts, Internet radio and torque - I thought I could cope with a bit of flakeyness for these things

Spotify worked occasionally, normally just locked up or bombed out. Internet radio worked ok.

I could find a podcast app that would install, every apk I downloaded failed to install. Torque ran but the Bluetooth stack was so gimped that you couldn't pair it to the obd reader.

Add to that the fact that the basic functionality such as an and radio was nonfunctional meant it wasn't worth the compromise... I originally thought it was worth a punt because in principal they could be so good.

I think the parrot asteroid system is a good bet if you want to run apps on your HU. CarPlay (the route I went) or android auto work really well too - downside is the double din HUs don't look great

[iaind1]

[SNH]

I think I'm opting for single Din after all that. Time to find the required fascia and adapters for reasonable money.