How come no one manufactures a DVD / navigation, GPS, Rear View, stereo, that includes, a scan gauge and hard drive?
I really want a scan gauge but don't really want something sticking out looking like it doesn't belong in the car.
If anyone knows of a stereo like this please let the group and me know.
Any other mega devices you guys want for your smart?
I really want a scan gauge but don't really want something sticking out looking like it doesn't belong in the car.
If anyone knows of a stereo like this please let the group and me know.
Any other mega devices you guys want for your smart?
Tags: camera, drive, dvd, gauge, gps, hard, navigation, rear, scan, stereo
Replies to This Discussion
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I have been saying for some time that there should be a double DIN head unit that plugged into the OBDII port and gave you the ability to have analog gauges, plots, numeric readouts, etc. configurable by the user. Using the touchscreen, you should be able to drag and drop any gauge/plot/readout to any location.
Other wants:
I want a built-in car alarm with shock sensors! The head unit could have attachment points for additional sensors (door plunger switches, radar field disturbance sensors), external siren, car horn relay, light control/sense. It already knows when the ignition is on. It has a constant power source when the ignition is off. It has speakers which it could use as sirens. It could also use them with voice synth so when you got in the car and turned on the ignition, it could say things like "shock trigger detected at 4:51AM and 5:22AM," "Zone 1 alarm trigger detected at 11:52PM."
I'd also like a built-in iPod dock so that I can slide an iPod into the head unit much like the way that we used to load cassettes. The head unit could have various inserts to handle the various types of iPods (Classic, Nano, Touch, etc.). The head unit should be able to talk to the iPod, giving the user full control of the iPod. The audio data, album art, etc. should all move digitally and the head unit should do the D/A for the audio -- no analog audio should come from the iPod (my Alpine iDA-X100 already works like this).
Of course, I want Bluetooth.
I want the alarm to be able to use Bluetooth so that, if in range, it could dial my cell phone and report when the alarm is triggered. I could program it to dial my home phone number, work phone number, etc.
The hard drive should be external and connected via USB. In two years, when 2TB 2.5" drives are $100, I don't want to be stuck with some 160GB drive that's built into the unit.
I want an amp that is bridgeable. It's idiotic that I can't bridge the four channel amp in my head unit to power the two door speakers. I'd also like more power. When you remove the entire mechanical subassembly for the optical drive, it should be possible to add enough
All crossover capabilities should be built into the head unit. I should not have to buy "bass blockers" for my door speakers when I add a subwoofer.
What is do *not* want is any kind of optical drive (DVD or CD) or GPS nav.
Optical drives increase the cost, add an absurd amount of mechanical complexity, and are the most failure-prone aspect of modern car stereos. When you consider that the track width on a CD is about 1/50th the thickness of a human hair, it's pretty horrifying to think of trying to keep a laser aligned on that while bouncing down a road. If I have a 320GB hard drive, I have no need for an optical drive and I don't need the distraction of changing discs while driving.
As to GPS nav, it belongs in driver's line of sight so that he is not having to look away from the road to see it. That's one reason why the windshield mount ones are so popular. I've also gotten tired of car stereo manufacturers trying to rape us with their pricing of the GPS nav option. It should add, maybe, $100 to a unit (which already has the needed touchscreen and audio output capabilities) but, instead, it seems to add $500 or more.
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MAX you hit most ideas right on the head!
I have my CD collection stored for safe keeping... All 600 of them. Try fumbling through those while driving... try storing them in a smart! Ipods are much easier.. plug and play
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You guys don't get out much do you!.... If you go onto crutchfield you can purchase one... well they are on back order but you Can get one. It's a in-car PC double din radio. uses Microsoft software and it is really a Mobile PC. with USB ports, and hard drive. now all you need to do is buy the peripherals that you want.... GPS software and antenna... Blue tooth key board, mouse, ETC... I'm sure you can get software to read the OBDII port codes and interpret them as you wish... want a DB meter? just plug er right in... how about Internet, No problem, get a cellular card or USB connection from any cell phone carrier and WALLAH! Internet on the fly!
The point is that we as consumers are induced into a stupor by the retailers. they tell us what we want and nobody questions what can be had....
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I've seen the in-car PC double DIN unit -- it's $2800 and it's on pre-order. It's also manufactured by Azentek, a firm that might not even exist a year from now when something breaks. It's even got GPS and Bluetooth built into it. It also has a built-in hard drive that's only 120GB.
But I *do* get out and I don't want to live in my basement for weeks trying to build something that Alpine, Pioneer, JVC, etc. should be building. I don't want the underside of my dash to have as many wires as the spacecraft that I deal with at work. I don't want to deal with external shock sensors, iPod docks, etc. just to get basic functionality. I don't want to have to screw with freeware, shareware, commercial software and constant Microsoft security updates, disk defragmentation, updates to each of a dozen or more applications. Nor do I want something that so loudly yells "slash open the convertible top and steal me!"
I want something that I can build a harness for, screw into a dash kit, and put into the car. I figure a price around $700 to $800 should be more than generous enough to pay for the unit.
Hardly a week goes by that I don't contact some manufacturer to tell them that I want a new feature or product, so I'm not "in a stupor." But neither do I want to be on the bleeding edge, like the guys who spent a couple of grand to buy the first primitive in-car GPS systems.
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Permalink Reply by mr bad example on -
i got a $100 fujitsu/siemens GPS that fits in your pocket, clamps to your dash or windshield, and will give you every "point of interest" from burger king to shell. it can be argumentative now and then (it likes to make u-turns). it gives you your ground speed, altitude, direction, distance to next turn, distance to destination, time to destination. it also plays MP3s and my youtube videos.
only 120GB? you want to watch 30 movies while driving? i'd go with a smart "radio 10" and burn 6 CDs of MP3s, that would keep most people happy.
ground control to major maxwell... you're driving a car from point A to point B, not navigating across the galaxy! I have no problem with a Garmin SP i2 and my Pocket Loox N100, true, they ride on your dash (like a plastic Jesus) or stuck to your windshield, but they come off as fast as they stick on, and you chuck them under the seat when you don't need them. nobody will steal a "radio 10" from a smart. from what i hear, snobs are giving them away for "shipping" to install these $2800 units you dream of. (i got mine for $77)
my dad has a $1200 POS garmin with a bad memory, that he's clinged to for the last 7 years, even though he has 3 newer models... he gives it value, cuz he paid a lot for it years ago, it works for shit! my SP i2 is better than his and i got it for $100!!!!
"bleeding edge" is half right, it'll bleed you for $$$$, if you don't have a "radio 10", go on ebay and pick one up for a song, burn a few CDRs of your favorite tunes, then get a GPS (i'm sure you don't use it that often, unless you are directionally challenged)
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only 120GB? you want to watch 30 movies while driving? i'd go with a smart "radio 10" and burn 6 CDs of MP3s, that would keep most people happy.
Major Maxwell to Captain Clueless: the 120GB is also the storage for Windows Vista operating system and all of the drivers and programs on the in-dash computer. It's not just the storage for music and video. If you're happy with 6 CDs with MP3s (about as much music as fits on Apple's smallest Nano), then the stock radio is just fine for you. It's not fine for me. I am a more demanding and discerning consumer than you are. I want all of my music available all of the time without the need to shuffle discs in and out while I'm driving to find it. I want something that lets me select the artist, album, etc. from alphabetical lists. I don't want some failure-prone CD drive in a short wheelbase vehicle that takes major G-hits at the radio on bumpy roads. I don't want some substandard amp and a radio with no RCA outputs for external amps.
ground control to major maxwell... you're driving a car from point A to point B, not navigating across the galaxy! I have no problem with a Garmin SP i2 and my Pocket Loox N100, true, they ride on your dash (like a plastic Jesus) or stuck to your windshield, but they come off as fast as they stick on, and you chuck them under the seat when you don't need them. nobody will steal a "radio 10" from a smart. from what i hear, snobs are giving them away for "shipping" to install these $2800 units you dream of. (i got mine for $77)
Reading comprehension is not one of your strong points, is it? I was the one stating that I'd never pay $2800 for the in-dash computer (it should be around $700). I was the one who said that I did not want in-dash GPS nav and preferred a windshield mount unit.
if you don't have a "radio 10", go on ebay and pick one up for a song, burn a few CDRs of your favorite tunes, then get a GPS (i'm sure you don't use it that often, unless you are directionally challenged)
I have a radio 10. It sucked and that's why it's now packed into a box in my basement.
I have three GPSs: A TomTom One 3rd Edition, a Garmin Nuvi 200, and a Garmin Nuvi 350 (not to mention the various handheld GPSs) and I never wanted an in-dash GPS. If you want to berate someone for wanting in-dash GPS nav, at least find someone who actually advocated it!
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Max, I meant no insult. I just meant the auto PCs are here already...
I hear what you are saying and believe me I share your frustration. I'm busting my brain trying to come up wit a solution for it myself. The closest would be a tablet PC with some sort of quick disconnect. I know the technology is there and YES 3 grand is way too much for something like that. especially when you could take of the shelf products and do the same for under a grand.
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Permalink Reply by 451 Kahn on -
I installed a Mac Mini in my RV. It dose everything for me. The Smart has a good space right above the passenger foot wall. Check out the mac mini.
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Permalink Reply by Logan J on -
I am looking into installing a Mac Mini. I will probably wait until july though for WWDC when Apple should update the Mac Mini.
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Cool. Sorry for taking it the wrong way.
My solution was a Alpine iDA-X100 head unit. It's a single DIN with no optical drive, but with a nice color display. In addition to AM/FM, it plays thumb drives, disk drive, and iPods connected through the USB port. You get album art on iPods, the ability to search by artist, album, song title, to shuffle-play, and so on, all controlled through the head unit offering controls well-designed for use in a car (unlike the iPod touch wheel).
I still don't have a built-in alarm, Scangauge functionality, or Bluetooth (but I can add that). The head unit has no iPod "slot" into which the iPod docks, so it's up to me to velcro the case down somewhere in the car or put it into the glove compartment.
But I can wait. I remember a few years back when I really wanted a head unit that could play MP3s from a hard drive. I resisted the temptation to be one of the guys who turns his car into a science experiment, spending thousands of dollars to get something that kind-of-works. Sure enough, I can buy a totally integrated head unit for $300 now and the 20GB hard drive I had hoped to use has now been replaced with a 32GB Corsair thumb drive..
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Kahn.... "I guess we are looking at building a Smart Knight Rider."... BUT BETTER!
