Stereo Head Unit

[Paulywauly]

Hi all,
I have a 2019 swift escape 684. I want to upgrade the Stereo to one with a sat nav that you can set parameters on. and full bluetooth.i have seen lots but it has to fit in with the dashboard. Any ideas?.

 

[Gellyneck]

In relation to sat nav I think it's much better to stick with a stand-alone unit as it easier \ cheaper to update.

 

[jongood]

Hi all,
I have a 2019 swift escape 684. I want to upgrade the Stereo to one with a sat nav that you can set parameters on. and full bluetooth.i have seen lots but it has to fit in with the dashboard. Any ideas?.

Don't do it. they just stop supporting them after such short time so they re no use. These days I use Google maps more than anything else because you also get a better traffic report, some also use Waze, same reason.

 

[Guigsy]

Currently I use Google Maps over Android Auto as it's got the best mapping and the best traffic information. I don't have to worry about it going out of date. But Google Maps doesn't use vehicle dimensions in its routing. Which was never an issue in the van, but I'm changing to a motorhome...

However, Android Auto and Apple Carplay have started to open up to allow more 3rd parties to stream their apps to an Android Auto/Carplay compatible stereo. Sygic is one of the apps that can now use Android Auto and stream to a compatible stereo. But currently it's only Sygic's car targeted app, not Sygic Truck, which has a motorhome mode. I live in hope.

At the moment, I'd prefer to use Google Maps on my stereo over a dedicated 'motorhome' unit because I know the mapping will be up to date and I can trust the traffic info. Google maps shows alternative routes on the map continuously, so if it asks me to turn down a dodgy narrow lane, I can immediately make the decision as to whether it's worth the risk.

 

[Catpirate]

I use a Garmin Camper 660LMT-D standalone, my head unit is a double din Kenwood (took a lot of fettling to fit in a pre 2-006 Ducato) that I can connect (via my phone) to Waze or Google Maps. The Garmin unit allows me to set my vehicle dimensions and has saved me many times. it has lifetime maps (whatever that may mean) and I find it very useful. I often use both Waze and the Garmin together, Waze provides better road condition feedback I find (and tells you if police are round the corner).

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[Paulywauly]

I would be happy with android auto but my stereo doesnt even have that.

 

[jongood]

I'm considering ditching my head unit altogether and using a tablet on a mount with apps for radio bluetoothed to speaker system and then google maps on the bigger screen. The main benefit is that we will have radio of our choosing wherever we have internet signal, we currently lose uk radio as soon as we're and few miles across the channel. Of course we would struggle in Scotland but we rarely go there

 

[Paulywauly]

I tried that. My tablet was connected to the wifi hotspot on my phone. Plugged into power we mounted it on the thing people call a clipboard. We had 2 problems. 1 was the sun was reflecting off the screen. I Gerry rigged a cardboard sun shade with tape which solves that mostly. The second was that my tablet will not charge while you are using it so just before we arrived it ran out of power just at a vital point. I binned that idea and went back to my Chinese sat nav with settable parameters that has never failed me.

 

[RubyOptics]

Regarding your tablet not charging, it would be extremely unusual to find a tablet that doesn't. Have you tried using a cigarette lighter socket charger with a higher output? My son has a tablet that used to die all the time, even though he had it plugged in. Switching to a 2.1A output charger solved the issue. Maybe worth a try as the chargers are only a couple of pounds.

 

[Lenny HB]

I have a Clarion head unit with sat-nav, it was great when I first bought (transfered from last van). If buying now I would buy one with Android Auto as then you have a vast choice of sat-nav programs.

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[Guigsy]

The other problem with tablets is they take an age to start-up. It's OK if you keep it on all the time (like you tend to do with your phone). But my tablet wasn't used for much other than nav. So I kept forgetting to charge it. I'd go to move off and then having to wait 5 mins for it to get enough juice to power up.

Switching stereos isn't too hard. And probably costs a similar amount to getting a separate unit. But once it's in, it's less faff than having a separate unit hanging off the windscreen/dash.

 

[10tenmen]

I replaced the useless Pilote idmedia with a Kenwood truck system in my 2020 Fiat cab, not cheap but it has everything I need including the ability to input my dimensions, Apple car play, Garmin maps with 3 year free updates, 5 years free live traffic, external usb x 2. Also got the dedicated front dash camera which is powered and visible along with rear camera whilst driving, I can listed to radio 2 in Europe via the app and Wi-Fi.
it was a diy fit I purchased a dedicated harness with steering controls and a surround.
if you need any help let me know.

GPS navigation system • DNX451RVS Features • KENWOOD Europe

Kenwood car entertainment, car stereo, navigation, multimedia, receivers, Marine, motorsports, amplifiers, speakers, dashcam, accessories -

www.kenwood.eu

 

[Pausim]

I agree with Guigsy the future lies with Android Auto and Apple CarPlay. Why clutter up the the dash with extra screens or tie yourself to one map source, which may or may not stay useful or up to date. Take CoPilot Catavan, in my opinion it was never a great app and became a waste of space when they dropped the useful road profiling features. I have been using Apple CarPlay for nearly 2 years and still think it is a great idea.

 

[Hettie's Crew]

There appears to be too much choice for me. I want one with integrated sat nav but don’t think only three years updates is acceptable from Garmin on the Kenwood system 10tenmen, plus a little more than I’d like to spend. I like Garmin too but our cheap sat nav has lifetime updates.
Android Auto, any use for us? all our gear is Apple iOS.
I’m not interested in having dimensions input because of bad experiences with previous Aguri. I’d rather decide myself where to risk.
Plus I‘d like something that doesn’t use much power and of course have rear camera input, though I really like the idea of having a front recording camera to replace our dash cam like on the Kenwood.
I’d appreciate any suggestions.

 

[Vipar]

Pop over to China and get one of the little shops to knock you one up whilst you have a coffee.

Is what you want made, if so by whom?

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[10tenmen]

Budget is always the limiting factor I like the apple car play on my system, power is not an issue also I have installed a separate power switch to isolate but also allows the camera to wake up in event of attempt theft.
if you go for a simple head unit that has apple car play you can use any numbers of apps for mapping.

 

[Pausim]

Android Auto, any use for us? all our gear is Apple iOS.

You want Apple CarPlay. Most units that have Android Auto will also have Apple CarPlay, my Pioneer does.

 

[tonyidle]

I much prefer anything I need to glance at whilst driving to be in line of sight and therefore much prefer my satnav device on the dash top. Anything mounted lower, and in the centre of the vehicle, means a downward glance and compromised viewing angles. IMO of course .

 

[Vipar]

What car has one of these in it? Could you gat one from a scrapyard?

 

[Hettie's Crew]

Is what you want made, if so by whom?

That was my question wasn’t it?

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[Pausim]

I much prefer anything I need to glance at whilst driving to be in line of sight and therefore much prefer my satnav device on the dash top. Anything mounted lower, and in the centre of the vehicle, means a downward glance and compromised viewing angles. IMO of course .

I have no problem with the viewing angle of the central display and whilst driving find I need to frequently glance away from the road towards instruments and mirrors. I don’t like a display in my line of sight, I find it distracting and when I am checking mirrors etc I want things on the road to catch my attention, not a changing display.

I usually use WAZE on Apple CarPlay, not because it is the best navigator but because it displays my speed and the speed limit. It also sounds a gong if I exceed the speed limit. The Fiat speedometer is famously impossible to read and a glance at the central display is far quicker than staring into the gloom of the speedo.

 

[deleted79651]

Garmin standalone 780 Camper Satnav for me after the Pioneer AVIC satnav SD Card corrupted and Pioneer wanted to charge [their words] 'almost as much for a replacement SD Card as for a new Unit' and I didn't fancy shelling out £499.95 at the start of each season for a new SD Card after a winter's damp & cold in the cab.

Garmin sticks to the otherwise redundant rearview mirror, so is just about perfect for eye level viewing of the screen and all the messages the Garmin likes to broadcast like speed limits, 'sharp curve ahead' warnings etc, and the cigarette socket connection works fine, without the descending cable interfering with my view of the road.

Steve

 

[Pausim]

I don’t want to tie myself to a single navigator, totally in their hands re updates and very questionable use of the term “Maps for Life”. Another reason I have a strong preference for Apple CarPlay/Android Auto and a choice of navigation apps.

 

[tonyidle]

I have no problem with the viewing angle of the central display and whilst driving find I need to frequently glance away from the road towards instruments and mirrors. I don’t like a display in my line of sight, I find it distracting and when I am checking mirrors etc I want things on the road to catch my attention, not a changing display.

I usually use WAZE on Apple CarPlay, not because it is the best navigator but because it displays my speed and the speed limit. It also sounds a gong if I exceed the speed limit. The Fiat speedometer is famously impossible to read and a glance at the central display is far quicker than staring into the gloom of the speedo.

When I say line of sight I don't mean line of sight . I have mine one the dash cover thingy (A class) so they're below line of vision. I worry about the number of cars I see with a satnav stuck in the middle of the windscreen. My 'central display' was a 2DIN radio with a vertical screen (now gone - it was a cheap no name unit) and was hard to see from the driving seat. The latest cars seem to have decent screens as an OEM part of the dashboard and are easy to use.

 

[Hettie's Crew]

I replaced the useless Pilote idmedia with a Kenwood truck system in my 2020 Fiat cab, not cheap but it has everything I need including the ability to input my dimensions, Apple car play, Garmin maps with 3 year free updates, 5 years free live traffic, external usb x 2. Also got the dedicated front dash camera which is powered and visible along with rear camera whilst driving, I can listed to radio 2 in Europe via the app and Wi-Fi.
it was a diy fit I purchased a dedicated harness with steering controls and a surround.
if you need any help let me know.

GPS navigation system • DNX451RVS Features • KENWOOD Europe

Kenwood car entertainment, car stereo, navigation, multimedia, receivers, Marine, motorsports, amplifiers, speakers, dashcam, accessories -

www.kenwood.eu

Just at the point of buying a Kenwood head unit with dash cam input but not sure which camera to go with.
Which one did you go with and is it mountable on the dash rather than the screen, in which case the image needs to be reversible.

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[10tenmen]

I bought this as its fully integrated and easily switchable between front and rear mine is mounted on the screen. Not sure what you mean by reversible it displays as per my pictures.

DRV-N520 Intragrated dashcam • KENWOOD UK

DRV-N520 integrated dashcam can be linked and controlled to a compatible KENWOOD multimedia car system. More Info

www.kenwood-electronics.co.uk

 

[gpat]

Regarding your tablet not charging, it would be extremely unusual to find a tablet that doesn't. Have you tried using a cigarette lighter socket charger with a higher output? My son has a tablet that used to die all the time, even though he had it plugged in. Switching to a 2.1A output charger solved the issue. Maybe worth a try as the chargers are only a couple of pounds.

It's a not a problem with tablets not charging, it's the problem that, if running a high resource app like satnav, the tablet cant charge as quickly as it is using power and therefore goes flat eventually. This is even true with a mains charger.

 

[mitzimad]

What car has one of these in it? Could you gat one from a scrapyard?

Generally the idea of shopping stereos car to car I'd dead unless you find an aftermarket one fitted to the scrap car.
Modern stereos are part of the vehicle coded in to the can bus system with steering wheel controls and parking aids

 

[mitzimad]

I saw a tablet install using wireless charging as this frees up the USB port for other things

 

[Sunlovers]

I have read through all of the above 29 posts and have a question to ask the collective, if I may? I have always used my Garmin Montana 600 GPS, mounted on a suction cup holder to provide me with satnav capability in our motorhome. It's worked great and has always gotten us where we needed to be .... however, it is not easy for Mrs Sunlover to make use of, and when it's mounted to the right of me, it is impossible for her to reach it to make any changes. Our new van has a Pioneer AVIC head unit, with CarPlay. I have never used CarPlay so excuse my ignorance in asking, but am I correct in thinking that if I configure the head unit to connect to my iPhone 12 Pro with CarPlay, if we then load up Waze on the iPhone, then it will show the app on the Pioneer head unit display screen, which in turn means Mrs S can then have control of the destination input and route changes etc?

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