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General Has anyone tried one of these all-singing-all-dancing Chinese head units?

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General Has anyone tried one of these all-singing-all-dancing Chinese head units?

alexGS

alexGS

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As the title says - has anyone tried anything like this?

http://m.alibaba.com/product-gs/491757340/Special_Car_DVD_Player_for_FIAT.html

If the photo is to be believed, it looks like a tidy upgrade. Many Chinese sellers are advertising the same product - claims to work with steering wheel controls too.

I remember from amazing Chinese DVD stereos in the past that often the hardware is fine but the software is awful. I see this is running Windows CE 6.0 (Windows mobile 6) and will be the same as the double-DIN units for all other cars, so might be quite bad. But then, the original Connect Nav+ software is awful anyway - looks like it was made in Visual Basic for Windows 3.1.

Anyway - would like to know if anyone's tried one. The suppliers can, after all, supply 2800 of them each month. That's a lot of Stilos! :eek:

EDIT: see also https://www.fiatforum.com/stilo/294158-something-interesting.html - no reports on that thread either though :)

-Alex
 
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More details here - from a US supplier. I wonder if they've noticed there aren't any Stilos in the USA?
http://www.seicane.com/car-dvd-player-for-fiat-stilo-with-gps-radio-tv-bluetooth-srd-8807

This YouTube video https://www.google.co.nz/url?sa=t&s...yYGoAg&usg=AFQjCNErAgaRYzIl2ItQBMYqibsFShhvdw shows a generic unit that I expect is practically the same. Think you'll agree that while the interface is a little crude (and using a stylus looks hopeless), it still looks a lot more logical than the Connect Nav+. I especially like the picture-in-picture facility that allows you to display any two things at once.

I think the price is quite fair if it provides all those features AND looks original. I know I could just fit a double-DIN adaptor and something generic - but that would look so, well, generic.

The nice thing about the Stilo is that all the trip computer and settings menus are displayed on a great little LCD in the instrument cluster, so there's really no need for the Connect Nav+ to do them as well. And the air conditioning has a completely separate controller (unlike many modern cars).

-Alex
 
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I suspect this one could be good, too: http://www.alibaba.com/product-gs/670494588/Android_Navigation_DVD_For_Fiat_Stilo.html
It's the only one that comes with Android - I imagine that works better with a touchscreen than Windows CE6.0. Of course the hardware looks exactly the same as the others, though this is a 7" touchscreen not 8" - yeah, right... beginning to wonder if the hardware actually exists or whether all these pictures are just mock-ups. :)

I'd better stop looking and get back to work.

-Alex
 
If they really make what they say they do then they are really really good. Not sure about the quality though, wouldn't want to buy one of these and end up with a brick in my dash and money spent. 1 year warranty should you want to ship it back to China which would take you back a fortune.

Upside is, it's an Android device and many many features can be downloaded like Sygic which is an extremely good navigation device. Heck, you can also navigate with Google maps and streetview which are also excellent tools. You've got very good media players like PowerAmp and BSPlayer. Sky is the limit to what you can do with the device.

I don't see any pricing on this, do you see any?
 
As I mentioned on the other thread, 250 for a unit with no discount for buying in bulk, so I walked away from that headunit
 
I'd be more inclined to get a standard double-din unit and a double-din fascia off ebay - that way you can easily port it to another car and reinstate the original. Having said that, I got £80 for my original head unit...
I've bought quite a few bits from www.focalprice.com in China - they are reliable and cheap... but it's still well over£200 for any half-decent touch screen double din unit.
 
alexGS said:
I found one on eBay - obviously the same unit - I'm concerned about the description which - as well as being hilarious! - does clearly state that there are no steering wheel controls.

http://item.mobileweb.ebay.com/view...20b140fffe2465?itemId=190640796118&cmd=VIDESC

-Alex
Click to expand...

erm.... correct me if im wrong but isnt the steering control done though the canbus? its made it clear that the unit is compatible with the can so why no controls.
i would personally walk on that one even though it does look nice.
 
I'm sure it is theoretically possible for the steering wheel control information to be read off the CAN, but only if the stereo can actually read it.

It occurred to me on the way home today - in my Stilo - that I would lose one of my favourite Stilo features. When I'm listening to the radio, the instrument panel LCD displays the artist and song name.

It does this because the radio station ZM 89.8 uses RDS to transmit the artist and song names. RDS is supposed to be used to transmit the station name, so that the radio can re-tune itself to a different frequency for the same station, but in NZ few people have RDS so some stations use it for other, more-fun purposes.

Anyway, with an aftermarket head unit, there won't be any track/artist information on the instrument panel :(

-Alex
 
volxstu said:
They are 10 a penny units with a Stilo Fascia
Click to expand...

Sorry - could you elaborate a little more on that, please? :)

I get the impression that there are many sellers of the same unit - but seems to be only the one unit?

Meanwhile, I don't think the grey colour of the fascia will match the Stilo's, since the Stilo has that strange little diagonal-lines pattern on the Connect Nav+ and the ashtray/surrounding bits. Might have to get some spares and re-spray...

-Alex
 
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dave said:
they come with all car logos pre-installed, you just select the one you want as your wallpaper, they don't make different ones for each car make
Click to expand...

Umm, if you check the links I posted, you'll see the fascia and buttons are unique for the Stilo... not just the wallpaper.

But software is generic as you say, I've been watching YouTube videos of other Enco or Iokone products. There are actually two sides (two boards inside) - the Chinese side provides a simple icon menu (with odd serif font 'Main Menu' title) for radio, TV, media player, Bluetooth etc. - all looks reasonably effective. Not 'polished' like a name-brand product, but capable.

Then there is the Windows CE side, which provides the navigation but can also be 'hacked' (patched and apps added) to provide everything else. I might have preferred Android as the lesser of two evils when it comes to app support etc. but I think there are good things out there for CE.

Remembering of course that Connect Nav+ is semi-polished - but with gaping holes in its capability, such as always starting at Track 1. The navigation is unusable in NZ (funny that Connect Nav+ was standard equipment here) and the phone can't work on my chosen UMTS/3G-only network. As I mentioned before, the Stilo-specific functionality (Trip, setup, etc) is all available on the instrument panel LCD anyway.

Actually I dunno about even being semi-polished - Connect Nav+ seems quite horrible to me - the onscreen buttons and colours have the appearance of Windows 3.0. So it won't be difficult for even a poor modern effort to measure up, provided Chinese characters don't sporadically appear on the display :p

It remains to be seen whether steering wheel controls will work and what they might do - the Stilo has more buttons than usual. In an ideal world they would be programmable, but reality is that even basic volume up/down and track next/prev would be welcome.

It's a pity Apple haven't made a car stereo :D hewn from a slab of glass, it would have one button and a screen of beautiful icons. You would have to use iTunes to listen to Internet radio, and obviously it wouldn't work with ANY steering wheel controls, but at least it would be easy to use.

-Alex
 
dave said:
Tell them you are staff on fiat forum, show the link, tell them you want a free one to test and review,
Click to expand...

I can see that works for Wipex wiper linkage kits, but think it might be stretching it for something as expensive as this? :) still, good idea - I will try. Perhaps if I pay the shipping and optional accessories.

I would give it a full and proper review, since I have certain expectations, and there is a general lack of helpful information about these units.

-Alex
 
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dave said:
Tell them you are staff on fiat forum, show the link, tell them you want a free one to test and review,
Click to expand...

The quick response was that a US$10 discount - being the 10+ order price (US$380) - is the best they can do. That's about 2.5% off. I think 10% would be more appropriate - $10 won't be paying much time for a review.

-Alex
 
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I replied with:

"Hello Phoebe,

Thank you for your quick reply - very efficient.

$10 is about a 2.5% discount. I am surprised and would ask you to please double-check what price is charged to other reviewers of your products (such as, magazines and online 'bloggers'). A similar price is all I ask. $10 does not provide much incentive to spend the time on writing a review. Perhaps that is why there are no reviews already!

I assume the Paypal price would be $506 * 1.06 = $536.36.

Thanks,
-Alex"
 
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