Android head unit DS820

[walidhosny]

Here is the price quotation from audiosources company.

[Captain_Quor]

I installed this last weekend (it is a direct replacement for the Bolero) and frankly it was a doddle.

 

You'll need some of those plastic tools for removing trim (I found some for a couple of pounds on ebay) and a T20 screwdriver, that's it.

 

All i need to do now is figure out how to run the USB cable (used for plugging in external HDDs) in to the glovebox and the "Phone Link" cable in to the little cubby hole directly under the climate control...

 

This short tutorial video shows exactly how it's done: https://youtu.be/jPyaJ57x4og

Edited 18 March, 2016 by Captain_Quor

[RainbowFire]

You could just run the cable up into the box on top of the dash, instead of the glovebox ;)

[Captain_Quor]

That was my original thought but I couldn't find anywhere to put the cable in there, unless you mean making a hole and then feeding it through?

[RainbowFire]

Yeah. that's what I did for my Qi pad for the phone. Very small hole (had to wiggle the connector through), and make sure you keep clear of the door mechanism. Shouldn't take long to do at all.

 

If you go the glovebox route, you'll need a hole or to take a section of the air-back switch housing out, so there'll be a change no matter what. Also the glovebox is more of a faff than the top-box.

[rloades]

Do any of you have this unit with the maxidot?

 

I'm interested to find out what it displays on the maxidot, like when navigating or playing music etc.

[walidhosny]

It is very easy to run the USB cable no need to put it in the glove box just pass an electric wire between the passenger chair floor mats and the hand brake mat till it appears in the DVD place tight it with the end of the USB cable then pull it till it appear in the DVD place. The double USB sockets will be fixed between the passenger chair and the hand brake console.

[walidhosny]

USB double socket fixed between passenger chair and hand brake console

[walidhosny]

Do any of you have this unit with the maxidot?

I'm interested to find out what it displays on the maxidot, like when navigating or playing music etc.

[walidhosny]

The unit doesn't have any effect with the maxidot screen even the unit date and time should be set separately it will not copy from or to maxidot screen

[planehazza]

Do any of you have this unit with the maxidot?

 

I'm interested to find out what it displays on the maxidot, like when navigating or playing music etc.

 

My complete guess would be that whatever the stock Bolero/Columbus/Amundsen etc. displays on the maxidot, the 820 would do also.

[Guest DobriKnotzGutenMorgan]

Very excited by this thread overall and fantastic input from everyone. Need to save my pennies for this and had new turbo, mot, full service and Darkside delete. Will follow this though.

[Guest DobriKnotzGutenMorgan]

What about a group buy??

[SNH]

I'm in the market and along with the ds820 I've also been looking at this unit

http://m.eonon.com/productshow.aspx?pno=GA5153F

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

Anyone tried it? The reviews are all good and the price is great.

Edited 20 March, 2016 by SNH

[walidhosny]

You can buy this unit for less from alibaba china buy it directly from eonon company. But the question is are you able to use an android device while driving it is a car DVD player... the ds-820 give you just an OEM style with functions that help you monitor some of your car functions.. I think it is too difficult to use an android apps while driving.

[SNH]

You can buy this unit for less from alibaba china buy it directly from eonon company. But the question is are you able to use an android device while driving it is a car DVD player... the ds-820 give you just an OEM style with functions that help you monitor some of your car functions.. I think it is too difficult to use an android apps while driving.

Does the ds820 have all the added rca preouts for amps, subs etc?

It is cheaper direct from eonon depending on shipping. It just looks a better unit Imo hence why it's on my list.

[nmw]

I finally got around to buying one of these Chinese units last week. I ordered a DS-820 from Icebox on the 2nd. March. It took a couple of weeks to arrive (on the 17th), presumably they had to order from China. I fitted the unit yesterday, at least what I am able to fit at the moment. I'm still waiting for the antenna connection widget to arrive to connect an aftermarket aerial (DIN plug) to the dual fakra socket on the unit, so I can't test the radio reception yet. The HU I had previously was a Kenwood DAB/BT single DIN, and I installed a DAB roof aerial, partly because the reception with the original roof/rear window was getting bad, I suspect the amp. had stopped working. I'll need to figure out some means of getting power to the aerial amp., from the Diversity power if that's possible.

Initial impressions are pretty good. The sound quality is perfectly acceptable, I'd say it was at least as good as the Kenwood but it's impossible to actually compare them. The sat. nav. works OK, but as others have said it's only 4 digit post codes, and I seem to have the same problem as motivator with the GPS clock being fixed on GMT+8, so I'll get in touch with Ice Box and see if I can get the same update.

The BT unit is ok, it makes calls, uploads my phone book from my phone and streams BT audio without any problems so far.

The Phone Link also seems to work. The dual USB cables are marked as "USB" and "Phone Link" but the link works on either cable. It installs an Android app. called Drive Mode which it wants to run when Phone Link is started. This includes by default a phone app, some music player (very basic) and Navigation with the only option being Google Maps. There are 3 unused app. slots available, so I've setup 2 using PowerAmp and CoPilot. They run, but I've not had chance to test them fully yet, or to see how stable the Phone Link is in actual use. It will be interesting to see how the phone battery lasts.

The MFSW controls work. The MFD now has an "Audio" option. Selecting this displays the name of the playing track and incoming call number. The rocker button on the right stalk controls track next/previous and the bottom button cycles input source. But there doesn't seem to be any way to get out of the Audio mode and back to MFD, other than turning off the ignition.

There are some niggles.

The USB media player plays tracks in alphabetical order, so I've had to rename every track on the SD card with the track number to get them to play correctly.

The iPod mode doesn't work at all, just sits there with the message "iPod loading...", maybe it only works with modern iPods and my classic is too old. Not too much of a problem, since the unit works ok with USB media (after sorting out the track order) the iPod isn't really needed any more.

The screen is shiny, and suffers from reflections.

I suffered a crash/lock up of the sat. nav. application. When I tried to change the voice to UK TTS it froze and I couldn't get it to work again. I ended up pulling the quadlock connector to reset the device. I don't know if there's any reset button on it.

[nmw]

Doesn't this message board understand paragraphs, and line breaks?

Where did all my formatting go?

[walidhosny]

If you need to ask about the DS-820 you may ask the manufacturing company ( Audiosources )this is the Chinese company who manufacture the Device.http://audiosources.m.en.alibaba.com/search/product?SearchText=Octavia+DVD+player

[walidhosny]

Regarding the antenna socket you can find all what you need at this link china aliexpress. http://www.aliexpress.com/store/group/VW-Accessories/909381_211645508/2.html

[planehazza]

I finally got around to buying one of these Chinese units last week. I ordered a DS-820 from Icebox on the 2nd. March. It took a couple of weeks to arrive (on the 17th), presumably they had to order from China. I fitted the unit yesterday, at least what I am able to fit at the moment. I'm still waiting for the antenna connection widget to arrive to connect an aftermarket aerial (DIN plug) to the dual fakra socket on the unit, so I can't test the radio reception yet. The HU I had previously was a Kenwood DAB/BT single DIN, and I installed a DAB roof aerial, partly because the reception with the original roof/rear window was getting bad, I suspect the amp. had stopped working. I'll need to figure out some means of getting power to the aerial amp., from the Diversity power if that's possible. Initial impressions are pretty good. The sound quality is perfectly acceptable, I'd say it was at least as good as the Kenwood but it's impossible to actually compare them. The sat. nav. works OK, but as others have said it's only 4 digit post codes, and I seem to have the same problem as motivator with the GPS clock being fixed on GMT+8, so I'll get in touch with Ice Box and see if I can get the same update. The BT unit is ok, it makes calls, uploads my phone book from my phone and streams BT audio without any problems so far. The Phone Link also seems to work. The dual USB cables are marked as "USB" and "Phone Link" but the link works on either cable. It installs an Android app. called Drive Mode which it wants to run when Phone Link is started. This includes by default a phone app, some music player (very basic) and Navigation with the only option being Google Maps. There are 3 unused app. slots available, so I've setup 2 using PowerAmp and CoPilot. They run, but I've not had chance to test them fully yet, or to see how stable the Phone Link is in actual use. It will be interesting to see how the phone battery lasts. The MFSW controls work. The MFD now has an "Audio" option. Selecting this displays the name of the playing track and incoming call number. The rocker button on the right stalk controls track next/previous and the bottom button cycles input source. But there doesn't seem to be any way to get out of the Audio mode and back to MFD, other than turning off the ignition. There are some niggles. The USB media player plays tracks in alphabetical order, so I've had to rename every track on the SD card with the track number to get them to play correctly. The iPod mode doesn't work at all, just sits there with the message "iPod loading...", maybe it only works with modern iPods and my classic is too old. Not too much of a problem, since the unit works ok with USB media (after sorting out the track order) the iPod isn't really needed any more. The screen is shiny, and suffers from reflections. I suffered a crash/lock up of the sat. nav. application. When I tried to change the voice to UK TTS it froze and I couldn't get it to work again. I ended up pulling the quadlock connector to reset the device. I don't know if there's any reset button on it.

 

Thanks for this.  I think this is how the devices are so cheap - the software doesn't get the same development and QC as the bigger names, and it's often what people overlook the most.  It's all good and well if it's physically well built, but if the software is rubbish it'll be the first thing to frustrate the user.  I have to admit, I'm a little put off now...

[Captain_Quor]

Bear in mind you can install a different sat nav software (just install it to the NAVI microSD card), this is the best I've found: http://www.desnav.com

 

One of the few still in active development for WinCE as well.

[nmw]

Have you actually tried installing and running desnav?

How well did it work on the DS-820?

[dakar]

Am interested in either a genuine columbus or one of these units, tbh i find all this baffling :(

[walidhosny]

Have you actually tried installing and running desnav?

How well did it work on the DS-820?

##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..