MGR Head Unit/On Board Computer with Android OS?

[Radioguy]

One question, which version of android is it likely to ship with? If its not at least 2.1 Eclair its a no go for me, 2.2 Froyo is really necessary to be honest, anything less makes this hardly more useful than the WinCE version because so many apps wont work on 1.6. I guess from the spec its using a Rockchip CPU?

Hi rovexCDTi

It is currently 2.2 soon upgrading to 2.3

Sean

[Radioguy]

Originally Posted by kieranswood

I have a pioneer unit which I have had for a few years in different cars and has a mosfet amp with 55X4 output- every time I have asked about sound output on these unit- no one has given me an answer, I can only think because no one knows.

Hi kieran

The current units are mosfet 4 x 50 Amp , Alot of good comments on the MGR units with sound output

Sean

[sikelsh]

Cant tell you how long I have wanted an Android Head Unit, however, not a cat in hells chance would I ever pay anywhere near $950 for one, its just not viable option in my opinion.

[Hogwarzt]

I have to say it sounds great,but my um and arrring was with the price at 300+ GBP so twice that is completely off the all in my case ..
Rich

[tony_fry]

I want one!!!!

Another great toy for us to play with in OUR cars

[handyjackdaniels]

Originally Posted by tony_fry

I want one!!!!

Another great toy for us to play with in OUR cars

Me too

Price was putting me off, but now working out ways to get cash available

Would have to tell a little untruth to the misses as well!!!!

[MisterTomez]

Originally Posted by rovexCDTi

In fairness, a good quality tab with these capabilities is not far off £400 anyway, but that would have a capacitive screen and faster CPU. However the full dash integration is worth a lot.

This would basically be, with a 3G card, a 7 inch smartphone with Android. Little else is as capable, however the extra $800 they want over the cost of a similar screened and CPU equipped tab, plus a basic CD player, some buttons and an amp is steep, especially since Android is free, and WinCE isnt.

Ive paid more than the entire cars value before for a head unit, but it was a standard DIN unit, so had more resale potential.

This is a good point. We'd be paying $800 more than a similarly specced tablet just for dash integration, which I'm afraid in my book is utter madness.

Don't get me wrong I'd love to upgrade but IMO these android units realistically shouldn't be much higher priced than the TMC/RDS ones we have at the moment.

[stevo snr]

So what will be the total cost to the UK purchaser including all taxes and duty.
It seems a bit too pricey to me!

[CDTi]

Originally Posted by MisterTomez

We'd be paying $800 more than a similarly specced tablet just for dash integration, which I'm afraid in my book is utter madness.

This headunit is a lot more than a cheapo Chinese tablet .

The Android part of this system replaces WinCE on the existing models so you still have radio, DVD, CD, iPod, SD music/movies, etc. When you switch to navi mode, you will have access to Android with all the goodies that this will bring i.e. things like OBD, voice control, Google Maps etc, etc etc.

Sean will probably have more details but my understanding is that this system will be at the higher end of whats available from China. As I have mentioned earlier, I have been looking at tablet integration and it isn't as easy as it seems. Have a look at the iPad vids on Youtube and you will see its far from perfect.

Personally, I can't wait to get one of these Android units. Admittedly, I am a bit of a gadget freak, especially when it comes to my car, but I think the cost to relation to the car is somewhat irrelevant as these systems will add a whole new layer of technology to our cars. If the quality of the system is as good as my research indicates, then they should last for years.

Up to quite recently, people were paying £700 to retro-fit the highline nav system to our cars, even though that system was completely out-dated. I have to admit I was tempted myself to go down this road also. This Android system is light years away from that and its cheaper and much easier to fit.

[rovexCDTi]

The problem for me is that while its nice to integrate it all, i have an Android phone, and windscreen mount. It does all the android things this unit does, but is much much faster and has a superior screen. If i so wanted i could get a Viewsonic 7 inch tablet for £147 that does it all as well.

I still feel that the rest of the unit isnt worth the extra, not when you can get a brand name CD headunit that probably has better specced DACs and CD mechanisms, for £50.

At the end of the day this unit has £50 worth of CD headunit and £250 (max) worth of tablet in it. Sure id pay extra for the integration, but not double!