Android head unit DS820

[Sonnic]

##yes actually i tried to install desnav on DS-820 it crashes the problem is that the Ds-820 has a resolution 1024x600 the dsnav is designed to work with resolution 840x400..

 

From what I can see, Desnav supports resolution 1024x600

[planehazza]

This thread has suddenly gone very quiet.  Are people still enjoying this unit?

[deemack]

Hope so, I've ordered one. Will update after it gets installed.

[Captain_Quor]

I was also unable to get desnav to work which I believe is down to a resolution mismatch with the device, however I have gotten iGo Primo to work perfectly.

 

the rest of the device is excellent for my needs, the bluetooth connection to my phone works perfectly, allowing me to listen to music and podcasts downloaded to my phone and the bluetooth call system works brilliantly without the need to route a mic cable, well worth the money in my opinion.

[planehazza]

I was also unable to get desnav to work which I believe is down to a resolution mismatch with the device, however I have gotten iGo Primo to work perfectly.

 

the rest of the device is excellent for my needs, the bluetooth connection to my phone works perfectly, allowing me to listen to music and podcasts downloaded to my phone and the bluetooth call system works brilliantly without the need to route a mic cable, well worth the money in my opinion.

 

Any photos of it fitted?

[nmw]

 

I was also unable to get desnav to work which I believe is down to a resolution mismatch with the device, however I have gotten iGo Primo to work perfectly.

 

the rest of the device is excellent for my needs, the bluetooth connection to my phone works perfectly, allowing me to listen to music and podcasts downloaded to my phone and the bluetooth call system works brilliantly without the need to route a mic cable, well worth the money in my opinion.

 

I can get desnav to run, but not to activate the trial maps. I've tried twice now, and both times it's told me that the trial period has expired. It takes more than 20 minutes to boot the first time its started, presumably uncompressing maps. But the activation fails.

Where did you get a copy of iGo for windows CE? I can't locate anything.

Not that there's really any problem with the installed sat. nav. It would be better with 7 digit post codes, and the correct time zone. But other than that it's ok.

How is your radio? I find that on FM the scan function doesn't ever store located stations. It just skips from station to station in a never ending cycle. I can tune manually, and store them, so it's not too bad. If I enable AF (to auto tune) it sets the scanning cycle going again all the time. And on MW the freq. step of 10kHz is wrong for the UK, I think it should be 9kHz, so you can never get exactly the right frequencies.

[nmw]

Here's a couple of photos I took this evening.

The first one is of the USB music player, with one of the albums where album art gets displayed. I haven't worked out yet why some display and some don't.

The second is with PhoneLink running, displaying the phone's camera, taking a photo of the camera taking a photo of the camera taking a photo...

[nmw]

Only the second photo uploaded, I'll try the first one again...

[nmw]

Ok, I give up. It doesn't like the first photo.

[Awesam]

How are your contacts displayed? 

 

I bought the Pumpkin Audio FTN600, for some reason it displays some of my contacts surname first or if I ve included a number in the first name i.e. Alan 1 then it will display as

1 Alan.

[Sonnic]

Desnav is running on mine, but it's slow as hell. 4-5 sec from i push the button to an reaction on the screen.

It's about 1mm to big on the vertical side, but can fit.

However it seems like it's using a lot of power. I was installing it and desnav, but after one hour the battery was running so low that the car couldn't start(no problem, but still annoying).

How did you get the USB and GPS installed(the wires not the program)? I'm having trouble finding a route for them to a optimal place.

[nmw]

I found the same with desnav. Very, very slow to respond. That's part of the reason I didn't waste any more time trying to get the trial activation to work.

I've located the GPS antenna on the underside of the dash, next to the upper storage box, using double-sided tape. The signal seems ok there, but I think the antenna gets better signal facing upwards so couldn't use the sticky pad on the underside of the antenna. Hopefully the tape will hold.

I have one USB cable routed to the jumbo box. I did that years ago, when I first got the car and replaced the head unit with a system which had rear USB. It requires removing quite a lot of trim to do this. The other one isn't used at the moment.

[tibo]

Hello ladies and gents,

 

I was considering this head unit last year, but didn't pull the trigger as there was so little info - Rob at Icebox was really helpful though.

 

Can anyone with the DS820 comment on the Mirror Phone Link function? I would love to see it in action, as I run Spotify and a Logitech Squeezebox client on my Android phone and would love to be able to mirror both the phone screen and audio to the DS820. As far as I can see there's no native WinCE client for either of these apps, which might make an Android head unit more desirable.

 

My present Bluetooth adapter wired to the AUX input of the ancient Blaupunkt doesn't cut the mustard any more.

[Liams0205]

Interesting read

I'm looking to change my head unit from my 2013 Roomster scout to either the DS820 or a Pumpkin. My existing hu is a Swing. I don't have many options already installed like Maxidot etc

Does anyone know if I'm likely to encounter any issues with battery drain etc

Cheers

[tibo]

Hey Liams0205,

Not from personal experience, but I understand there are no battery drain issues here. The battery drain issues are caused by a cooling fan which doesn't shut down properly when the OEM head units like Columbus or Amundsen are paired with older CANBUS revisions. I'm not sure the Chinese head units even have cooling fans?

[Liams0205]

Any more updates on how this unit performs? Been researching for ages now and can't decide whether I take the plunge on this or a pumpkin or nothing at all haha

[planehazza]

I was set on this but the android boxes have really taken my fancy..

[Liams0205]

I was set on this but the android boxes have really taken my fancy..

The Pumpkin ones?

[planehazza]

The Pumpkin ones?

I'm more leaning towards the eonon 8" unit.

[Liams0205]

The only system I can find positive reviews on is the pumpkin systems on Amazon but it synical to believe these are all genuine

The £300 unit does fit my requirements but lacks actual buttons which puts me off slightly although it would be easily reachable from my driving position.

The DS820 looks good but half the features would be wasted on my car which has a very basic dash with no maxidot , no rear sensors or mfsw, this unit doesn't have DAB either which is a feature I'd like

[planehazza]

The only system I can find positive reviews on is the pumpkin systems on Amazon but it synical to believe these are all genuine

The £300 unit does fit my requirements but lacks actual buttons which puts me off slightly although it would be easily reachable from my driving position.

The DS820 looks good but half the features would be wasted on my car which has a very basic dash with no maxidot , no rear sensors or mfsw, this unit doesn't have DAB either which is a feature I'd like

 

Yup, the lack of buttons worries me too, hence why I'm aiming for the Eonon unit, here:

 

http://www.eonon.co.uk/Android-Car-GPS/GA5153F.html#photo

 

I know what you mean about the maxidot features. The reason I'm tempted by the android box is because of the way I can simply install apps like Poweramp, Spotify and Google maps.  Yes, I have that now via my phone but it means having to keep it charged, and have an aux cable trailing over half of the dash. The android box will have Torque on it too, meaning I can use it as a digital boost guage etc. At ~£300 it's worth a punt. Just can't decide which to do first - the stereo or MFSW...

Edited 4 May, 2016 by planehazza

[deemack]

Well got the DS 820 head unit fitted on my pre FL 08 VRS today. Bit early to post a review as such as I've not had a chance to get used to it yet, but initial impressions are favourable.

 

I bought the unit primarily for Bluetooth phone connectivity. Since my car didn't have BT it didn't have the mic in the overhead light either, so I ordered one up. All hooked up and all working as expected. Call quality is decent although some callers report an echo of their own voice. Might need to tweak/adjust volumes though.

 

So, initial impressions then. Fit and finish is excellent, and the unit does have a VAG OEM look about it. Boots quickly, screen is bright and clear and radio reception is as good as the OEM Stream MP3 it replaced. Sound is pretty good as far as I can tell, and there's plenty of scope to change things with all the usual fade/balance/loud etc. plus a graphic equaliser. Aux in works off the socket in the Jumbo Box as with the stream. Haven't had a chance to play with the music streaming yet, but a quick test over Bluetooth worked fine.

 

Nav is acceptable. It's a bit basic and it's never going to match a Garmin or TomTom for usability, but it's perfectly functional in its own way.

 

Phone link thing worked once and mirrored the Android screen of my phone incl. Google Maps perfectly well, but wouldn't connect thereafter. Rebooted the phone and again it worked the first time, but switch away and it won't switch back again, says phone not connected. Again, need a bit more time to figure out this bit.

 

Bad points - Glossy screen reflects a lot. Might get used to it, might not. Even the dimmest display setting is pretty bright for night time driving but you can turn off the display entirely. One more dimming level or an analogue dimmer would have been nice though.

 

Will run with it for a few weeks and see how things go.

[fallenkshatriya]

My car is pretty similar to yours, so good to know this works. If you don't mind me asking, could you point me in the right direction of the mic and loom you needed for the BT? Also, do you have a MFSW or does anyone know if this headunit will work with one?

[deemack]

The microphone was supplied by Rob in Icebox Auto along with the DS820 head unit. It's a tenner and consists of a rectangular block microphone with an electrical connection which clip into the relevant sockets in the overhead light and a long cable which is routed via the headliner and pillar then behind the dash to the big block connection on the back of the radio. It just clips in, can only go one way.

I don't have MFSW but I do have full maxidot.

From reading posts on other forums I gather only some functions of the MSFW work but can't recall which.

[deemack]

Oh, and in case it makes any difference with canbus and the like, my car is fitted with the 170 brake common rail TDi.