[fishy23]

Who all has done this? Post some pics! I am thinking of doing one.

Whats recommended? Best deals etc...

 

[breitlingdj]

give me a couple days and ill post some photos.

 

[barvel]

AVIC F-900bt

I love the unit for what it is.

But not what is has done.

Go with the 700...

 

[ElementaryEd]

Kenwood DNX 8120. Love it and would buy this unit again in a heartbeat.

 

[Adamxa]

i have the avic f90bt
and love everything about it.

 

[SebaMD]

I love the unit for what it is.

But not what is has done.

Go with the 700...

Nice! May I ask where did you get the trim to close the gap between the HU and the factory radio trim? I've been going nuts trying to find a solution to it for a month now.

Thanx

 

[OUZO Power]

All In One Innovatek 675 - GPS, DVD, TV, Radio, Bluetooth, Ipod, Aux......

All for under $250.

 

[mb1k]

OUZ0 Power,

How's the daylight readability on your head unit?

 

[in2steam]

And can you pick up DTV with it? and were did you purchase it?

 

[ElementaryEd]

All In One Innovatek 675 - GPS, DVD, TV, Radio, Bluetooth, Ipod, Aux......

All for under $250.

Can you see the screen in all lighting conditions? It's kind of hard to tell from the picture.

 

[ElementaryEd]

As far as the trim pieces go its usually best to have the installer make a custom trim piece. It's hard to have a one piece that fits all for that type of application. Mine is custom and I think it looks awesome. You definetly get what you pay for though imo. I didn't want to pay the $1200+ but I looked at a lot of other more inexpensive units and they just didn't do anything for me. It's all personal preference though. Good luck finding what you want. Finally some pics! Sorry they are only from my phone so quality is not the best

 

[OUZO Power]

Can you see the screen in all lighting conditions? It's kind of hard to tell from the picture.

yes it's perfect even in the brightest sunny days. got it from ebay. seller is mp3playerstore

 

[presto88]

I installed a Kenwood DNX5120 unit in my E last winter. I purchased the trim piece from a company called schosche.com . It wasn't expensive (I think about $20) and it looks pretty good. I've never been too happy with the stereo, though. The bluetooth is so bad that I just ended up disconnecting it. It's a da** shame too, because that's a feature that I really wanted.

 

[desinia]

And can you pick up DTV with it? and were did you purchase it?

I think he said it was a TV which pretty much means that it's just a monitor. You want DTV, you'll need a tuner. I am also interested in doing this. Any words of wisdom on how to do it on a budget? Things to watch for? Tricks & tips?

 

[OUZO Power]

The kit comes with an Antenna for TV. But I guess to catch DTV you also need a tunner which the same seller sells.

 

[in2steam]

The kit comes with an Antenna for TV. But I guess to catch DTV you also need a tunner which the same seller sells.

Yeah thats what I have been seeing, apparently nobody told the chinese that we were switching to ATSC for the last 9 years. I have only seen one that said they were going to have ATSC after june, but lost that link. TV is point less without it now, I have seen the extra tuner but its $90.

I really don't want a super nice stereo, my experience is that if has a brand name on it some one will want it more then me, and break my window. I am not an audiophile but I do have to spend 7 hours a week in my car in unfamiliar areas now so I would like to have GPS too and a DVD player when I go to outdoor events for my wife and kids.

Chris

 

[desinia]

I did some experimenting with portable TV's with the digital tuners and as far as I can see, DTV sucks big time when you're moving. On an analog TV, a momentary glitch in the signal just meant a pop or a hiss in the audio or a jump or a little snow in the picture but digital sets either stutter and pixelate or freeze up entirely until the tuner sorts it all out again. Most of the stations in this area (maybe all of them?) went to lower power output and a good antenna is a "must have" item. I finally found one that works fairly well at a truck stop. It's designed to clamp on to a mirror but that got replaced by a large cup magnet so it'd easy to plop on the roof of the E when I'm stopped somewhere.

Of course, if you travel away from your home area, you can't just turn on the TV and flip the dial around to see who's in your area now. With DTV, you have to stop and set the tuner back up from scratch before you can even see what channels are available. The plus side is that once you do, the program guide information broadcast with every signal now makes it easier to see what's what.

 

[in2steam]

Were these tests with the combined tv/dvd/gps head units or a regular tv
I really don't plan on driving, around here if the wind blows to hard we loose the dtv signals at the house. From what I understand the television stations have to update their equipment more to get better signals out to us lay people. The stuff they have will do but the newer antennas are needed on the transmitting end. Seems like since the conversion other then great picture we get less of it since its always looking for signals.

 

[desinia]

Were these tests with the combined tv/dvd/gps head units or a regular tv

Entirely with portable TV's, screen size between 5" and 9" as what I wanted was to be able to arrive at a stop for the night and get the local TV - news & weather most of all.

Any portable that didn't have a connection for an external antenna was pretty much useless from the get go. Putting the magnet mount antenna on the roof was required to get a decent signal because I almost always have to move it a few inches this way or that way to get a reliable signal + you have to rescan each time to see if you're even picking up all of the available channels or not. I can't imagine how a permanent mounted antenna on a built in head unit would be able to get channels reliably outside of the home area where you already know what is available.

Yes, just for curiosity, I did try to see what I could get while moving and it wasn't too bad as long as I was in a good signal area. I couldn't see the picture but the audio would go, then stop for a while, then go, then cut out again, then go... The old analog portable I used to carry never had a bit of trouble under that kind of situation and it didn't even have an external antenna. I think it's most likely that digital signals suffer a lot more from reflected signals than analog do. They develop interference patterns with good signal/bad signal and your antenna either has to be longer than the spaces between the signal peaks or you need to be able to move it a few inches until it's out of a dead zone and in to a peak signal area.