I am toying with getting one of these:--

 

http://www.preston-i-c-e.co.uk/vw-004-dab.php

 

At £399 it seems a steal, but is probably a mugs eyeful. My head says too good to be true, but my heart is tempted. Its far cheaper than the nearest branded product (Clarion)

So the questions are:-

1) Anybody any experience of this model or similar Chinese units?

2) It says it's fully canbus compatible & will work seamlessly with steering wheel controls & reversing sensors.

3) Will I need to have it coded in by VCDS to get it to work properly.

 

Any thoughts or feedback would be welcome.

Have a look at IceBox.

 

They are very similar units, but much cheaper than that one linked to.

 

http://www.iceboxauto.com/skoda

I have a similar unit sat in my garage.  I had to remove it because it was doing my head in.  Everything works - on its own; i.e. just radio or just cd or just ipod. But if you throw in the sat nav at the same time it would interrupt the music (as it is supposed to) but would then not restart it.

 

The theme to this storey is you get what you pay for (i did not buy this so not too bothered). Have a look for a S/H Kenwood DNX521DAB unit. I have two now - one in each car and they are superb. They can be found for about £600, keep a look out on all the VAG type forums because these fit many different models.

Sounds like you had an issue with the music player/sat nav app.

 

When I use Sygic satnav and the Samsung music player on my phone it works fine and mutes the music while giving instructions.

 

It looks decent for the money. Should just be able to install any android app on it so tomtom or sygic satnav for example.

I tried various sat nav apps on the SD card. Some would work some I just could not get to work. I must admit I just gave up and bought a kenwood unit. I remember one sat nav would literally shout at me a the cars full volume and it had no way of lowering the volume which was entertaining and unnerving at the same time.

Sent from my D6603 using Tapatalk

I have tried more than a few Chinese offerings, some good, some bad - the problem is you cannot tell which is which as there are so many fakes out there.

 

If you wanted to risk money on this, it is a damned sight cheaper direct from China - but you wont get a warranty.

I have tried more than a few Chinese offerings, some good, some bad - the problem is you cannot tell which is which as there are so many fakes out there.

 

If you wanted to risk money on this, it is a damned sight cheaper direct from China - but you wont get a warranty.

 

I suspect that the warranties offered by the English resellers may be a bit suspect too!

I have a similar unit sat in my garage.  I had to remove it because it was doing my head in.  Everything works - on its own; i.e. just radio or just cd or just ipod. But if you throw in the sat nav at the same time it would interrupt the music (as it is supposed to) but would then not restart it.

 

The theme to this storey is you get what you pay for (i did not buy this so not too bothered). Have a look for a S/H Kenwood DNX521DAB unit. I have two now - one in each car and they are superb. They can be found for about £600, keep a look out on all the VAG type forums because these fit many different models.

 

Certainly cant go far wrong with Kenwood. Don't know whether I'm prepared to spend £1k+ though. If a 2nd hand one crops up anytime soon, I could well be tempted.

I recently changed my Chinese head unit (£38), for a £200+ Clarion unit; and TBH I regret it; I wanted to change the thing because the power amps arent up to the job, they "fade" if used for a long time above moderate volume, but at least everything else worked.

 

My phone connected via bluetooth for both phone calls and music.

 

It read every SD and microSD card I own, from 1GB to 32GB and started to play the music within 2 seconds of powering up.

 

The radio connected to a good range of stations, even if they were a little hissy and suffered from break-up on the move.

 

 

The Clarion wont work with two out of three of my phones - the one connects and disconnects every 5-10 seconds, only the iPhone works correctly.

 

Eventually, after reformatting, I got SOME of the >2GB cards working, but it takes about 1 second per GB to read the files EVERY TIME before playing, so for a 32GB card that is 32 seconds from selecting the correct input.

 

By careful MANUAL scanning, I managed to get most of the radio stations I had before, but the auto scan only found THREE! - and it suffers from the same hiss and break-up the Chinese unit suffered from.

 

Now the last is particularly galling as, prior to the Chinese unit, I had an older Clarion head unit that connected to dozens of stations clearly, and with little break-up on the move (same route for all the radios).

 

Now then, back OT, I suspect the unit you are looking at is a generic unit that is then kitted out with the correct surround and connectors for your car; AliExpress shows hundreds, for all types of car; so it might be worth looking at similar units for other brands of car to see what any reviews and comments are available.

 

Not all of this stuff is junk, I know of several Chinese outfits making and selling high-end HiFi gear, and I have been more than happy with my Chinese smart phones (other than the dead GPS on my first Umi Zero).

The biggest problem with these Chinese head units is you're never sure what you're actually going to get.

 

What are you actually looking for in a headunit? The only thing mentioned in the OP was integration with the cars steering controls and reversing sensors.

I have a chinese headunit that I find much better than the one in the Yeti. this system works with the steering wheel control, links in with the ac controls and has a reversing camera. I feel my unit is far superior than most of the others I've used and fits directly into the canbus, so is a doddle to fit, it also has most of the android type functions and if you get the right one you also can have TV and PC.

I have a chinese headunit that I find much better than the one in the Yeti. this system works with the steering wheel control, links in with the ac controls and has a reversing camera. I feel my unit is far superior than most of the others I've used and fits directly into the canbus, so is a doddle to fit, it also has most of the android type functions and if you get the right one you also can have TV and PC.

 

Which model & where from?

The biggest problem with these Chinese head units is you're never sure what you're actually going to get.

 

What are you actually looking for in a headunit? The only thing mentioned in the OP was integration with the cars steering controls and reversing sensors.

 

Satnav, Radio (pref DAB),Bluetooth, MP3, CD (possibly DVD but not essential), Android interface (but not necessarily so), Reversing camera input.

Any recommendations?

Any recommendations?

 

Not partially, I'd just be wary as a few of my friends have tried various units and not liked them, I don't have any part numbers I'm afraid. Given the vast array I would definitely suggest you try and find either someone local with one installed you can have a play with or a car audio shop with some demo units. After all if you're spending £400 you want to make sure it's at least half decent.

 

Depending how techie you are, it might be worth looking around on XDA or some other android forums to see which units they have managed to create firmware for as that should give you a good chance of fixing any little issues that might crop up.

 

I went the OEM route and grabbed a Columbus (RNS510), there is a DAB version and will do everything you mentioned if you add a bluetooth module to it. There are also some RNS315 (amundsen+) with BT, DAB and RVC support built in, but the maps aren't as freely available and I'm not sure if they come in Skoda green or just VW red.

 

As I'm not entirely sure what you car is, looks to be a Fabia II vRS? If it is OEM might not be the easiest fit, I think pre 2010 cars use CAN 1.6 so you would need yet another adaptor to allow use of a Columbus as it's CAN 2.0.

Which model & where from?

This one.

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Stereo-7698GBP-Car-DVD-GPS-SatNav-Fits-VW-PASSAT-TOURAN-GOLF-MK5-6-T5-EOS-SKODA-/181469179110

Well I took the gamble & ordered a Chinese style Android Head unit. the one I finally decided on was an Eonon GA5153V from Ebay - £294 delivered. It arrived on time & was a doddle to fit. as you can see it fits the dash perfectly

 

Quite honestly i wasn't expecting Pioneer or Kenwood quality, & so I was pleasantly surprised that everything appeared to work - within acceptable reason.

DVD quality was good & it is a region free player. The music player is basic but does the job playing music from several sources - ext USB, on-board SD card etc.

Wifi works OK if you are close to a hotspot & gives you access to Email & the WWW.

 

 

On-board navigation is not so good - it only comes with Google maps but it is my intention to install Tomtom or Garmin, as soon as I've figured out how.

 

 

Radio reception is crap. It seems to have poor sensitivity but I am exploring the possibility of installing a signal booster.

 

Steering wheel controls & rear parking sensors work fine.

 

 

For less than £300 it's got to be a bargain steal & looks much better than my Skoda Swing.

 

When you figure it out please feel free to let us all know.

Dig into the setting, it may be set up for radio reception elsewhere; the UK uses a slightly different tuning set up to most of the world; you used to see this on old Blaupunkt head units - they would have a USA/UK switch on the back.

When you figure it out please feel free to let us all know.

 

Added Tomtom Go!. Downloaded it from Playstore, no problems & works perfectly.

 

 

 

I have also now added a reversing camera - the screenshot below was in total darkness so I am amazed - it's like a summers day. The existing reversing sensors still work too.

 

 

This unit is growing on me day by day. Amazing value for money.

Radio reception should be an easy fix. VAG group cars have an aerial booster in the base of the aerial which is powered by the factory headunit, no aftermarket headunit can drive it except OEM stereos. Halfords sell an inline adapter which will resolve the problem, and its not expensive. I had to buy one for the Audi A6 outside that I have fitted an aftermarket Stereo in.

Radio reception should be an easy fix. VAG group cars have an aerial booster in the base of the aerial which is powered by the factory headunit, no aftermarket headunit can drive it except OEM stereos. Halfords sell an inline adapter which will resolve the problem, and its not expensive. I had to buy one for the Audi A6 outside that I have fitted an aftermarket Stereo in.

 

I wonder if that is the issue with my new Clarion, Mitsi also has an amplified aerial (I think), but there seems to be no information about it anywhere - just a diagram I came across that says "amplified window aerial".

 

Out of interest, if it runs Android, why didnt you try Navfree (Navi??) as the satnav??

I wonder if that is the issue with my new Clarion, Mitsi also has an amplified aerial (I think), but there seems to be no information about it anywhere - just a diagram I came across that says "amplified window aerial".

 

Out of interest, if it runs Android, why didnt you try Navfree (Navi??) as the satnav??

 

i suppose it's a question of what you are familiar with. I'm travelling overland to Southern Spain soon (for the winter) & Tomtom has never let me down in over 10 years of use -even finding some of the more obscure places in rural Spain; and it hardly breaks the bank at £14.99 for a year with live traffic & speed camera database & 4 map updates a year.

 

And I fixed the radio problem - the poorly written user manual didn't mention that the supplied FAKRA aerial adaptor had to be connected to +12v -  apparently it has a built in signal booster. Problem solved. I'd even go as far to say that radio reception now is better than the factory fitted Skoda Swing radio

i suppose it's a question of what you are familiar with. I'm travelling overland to Southern Spain soon (for the winter) & Tomtom has never let me down in over 10 years of use -even finding some of the more obscure places in rural Spain; and it hardly breaks the bank at £14.99 for a year with live traffic & speed camera database & 4 map updates a year.

 

And I fixed the radio problem - the poorly written user manual didn't mention that the supplied FAKRA aerial adaptor had to be connected to +12v -  apparently it has a built in signal booster. Problem solved. I'd even go as far to say that radio reception now is better than the factory fitted Skoda Swing radio

 

This is one of the problems with the Chinese makes, they use Google Translator to write the manuals - with predictable results.

I wonder if that is the issue with my new Clarion, Mitsi also has an amplified aerial (I think), but there seems to be no information about it anywhere - just a diagram I came across that says "amplified window aerial".

It will almost certainly be the issue, the Halfords adapter should fix it.

http://www.halfords.com/technology/car-audio/stereo-fitting-accessories/autoleads-audi-aerial-adaptor-pc5-52

This is one of the problems with the Chinese makes, they use Google Translator to write the manuals - with predictable results.

 

Even though I bought this unit from Ebay & it was despatched - ostensibly from a UK address, I have been dealing with Eonon support in HK. I must say they have been absolutely brilliant, particularly one person who rejoices aptly in the name of Ariel (gender unknown). They have reacted instantly & professionally to my every query, much better in fact than most of our UK based support teams, so in that they are to be congratulated. People (generally) speak ill of Chinese goods but in my experience, chosen wisely & with a little bit of luck, I have never found them any worse than merchandise from any other country.