Which in dash?

[Muddles Member Find all posts View Profile Close Muddles]

Hi All,

I have done a reasonable look through of all the threads in the GPS section and there are a fair few units that fit nicely and do some of what is needed.

But here is the question?

Is there a nice in dash unit that fits snuggly that has

DVD
MP3, MP4, WMA and DivX codecs (at least mp 3 4 and WMA not too worried about DivX just a nice to have)
USB
SD slot
GPS
Sat Nav that uses Sensis maps not the route 66 maps
Ozi Explorer
reversing camera option
blue tooth phone
and works with the 2008 120 series steering wheel controls

From what i can tell from reading up units like the road rover are starting to come up a bit but the sat nav isnt the greatest due to route 66 maps and i assume that this also affects the AVMC unit and the roadrover no longer comes with ozi explorer.

The plus of the AVMC is having ozi explorer onboard

I can't tell from most manufacturer sites what SatNav maps are being used or if they have Ozi explorer on them or are at least capable of being upgraded to or have the software loaded onto them via SD or USB

I have seen the eclipse AVN6000 unit but there is very little info about any of the maps etc that are used or any extra abilities. I know that the little brother of the this has a tom tom detachable gps using sensis maps but it isn't a given that the maps in the big brother are the same.

I know that most likely i will end up mailing these people at some stage but if anybody here already knows of a good unit then can they speak up.

Otherwise is this wish list of so many people here, something that needs to be taken to manufacturers to see if they would look into creating a unit for australia that does all this.

At the end of the day it is not just prado owners that would like to see this setup of a unit but the wider 4wd community to.


Any words of wisdom from the people here are greatly apreciated

cheers
muddles

[mansour Member Find all posts View Profile Close mansour]

Extenal GPS Box

Mate

You might consider finding a unit that boosts everything but GPS (Due to your requirment for Ozi Explorer or Tom Tom Software) and Look Towards feeding the Nav Through One Navigation Box (Dubai Dealers Here carryout Boxes that Supports Garmin) - No Clue of the manufacturers but can find out for ya ,
Else

We have to find a techwiz who can decode the roadrover software to enable Other Mapping works to work with it

Sorry I couldn't be of more help

Cheers

[jungle Lurker Find all posts View Profile Close jungle]

Muddles,

I am going through same issue - the Polaris unit seems to have features from memory and I have confirmed with them that it interfaces with 2008 prado steering controls etc.

Jungle

[Muddles Member Find all posts View Profile Close Muddles]

Hi Jungle,

I was thinking that the Polaris may be as close as i come. I am going to the C C & 4wd super show this week so i will see what they have to say about the off road mapping stuff. If it does cover what i want then i will start to look for the right price etc.

Cheers
Muddles

[mav Addicted PP Member Find all posts View Profile Close mav]

Hi Jungle,

I was thinking that the Polaris may be as close as i come. I am going to the C C & 4wd super show this week so i will see what they have to say about the off road mapping stuff. If it does cover what i want then i will start to look for the right price etc.

Cheers
Muddles

From memory I believe that the Polaris folks are close to releasing their own offroad mapping option for the Polaris unit. I know that they intend to do so at some stage. They use Sensis mapping which is a definite bonus.

[Muddles Member Find all posts View Profile Close Muddles]

Well had a look at the polaris today in the flesh. Not really impressed i must say.

The unit fit in the dash is poor. I am not expecting the exact fit but the way it pokes out is not good.

screen didn't look the greatest

Camera image was ok.

Got told that the topo stuff is still a few months away which is the story others have posted here so we will have to wait and see.

the feel of the unit wasn't all that great either.

Where does that leave me?
Well at this point i face a few options.

1. I go towards the VMS/Roadrover and hope that somebody can hack it to put ozi and a good street nav with sensis maps

2. i go to a more basic unit such as the fujitsu ten tom tom unit that toyota supply and give my little girl a portable dvd player in the back and go by a heap of maps and brush up on my map reading skills which are a bit rusty

3. i look to something like the magellan crossover but then i end up with a unit on the dash which i am hoping to avoid

4. i get a smaller gps with an output and hook it through a laptop ( i already have 1) and try and loop the output back to a screen at the front of the car ( i already have 1 of these too) which is the setup that my father had in his rodeo (which is now due to unfortunate circumstances is mine until it gets traded for the prado) and a sydway for in town

I still have time and when it gets down to it i may just go with option 4 until a unit i like comes along which appears to be a while away.

I will keep my eyes pealed until i do find the right unit that works with the space and prado inclusions such as bluetooth and steering wheel controls

Cheers
muddles

[Snaga Wishing I was lost Find all posts View Profile Close Snaga]

1. I go towards the VMS/Roadrover and hope that somebody can hack it to put ozi and a good street nav with sensis maps

Is this the VMS you are talking about?? http://www.vmscarpc.com.au/content/p...roduct_ov.html
When I spoke with the re-seller here in BNE they said it came pre-loaded with OziExplorer... probably the dearest option of the lot unfortunately

[Chippy Addicted PP Member Find all posts View Profile Close Chippy]

From memory .... I think it came up in one of Mav's earlier posts ..... the VMS and the Roadrover are the same unit but the Roadrover units bought in from China are deliberately not loaded with Ox Explorer due to some licensing arrangement with VMS selling them over here. I'm not sure whether the Roadrover units from China are locked up so that Oz Explorer can't be loaded ??

The big factor, for me, is the price of the VMS unit here compared to the Roadrover unit from China. How much value do you place on running Oz Explorer ??

I'm sure one of the lads will correct me if I'm wrong :lol:

Cheers
Chippy

[andrewh Junior Member Find all posts View Profile Close andrewh]

Muddles
I've been looking for awhile to see what can satisfy similar needs to yours. There are several options but nothing that fills every need.
In my case I came to the conclusion that the Kenwood DDX7039 comes closest to filling my needs. It's features are comprehensive, has good sound quality and it's a mature product that will work as expected. As well as the base unit, it needs 2 options which integrate seemlessly. They are bluetooth and GPS. They are both Kenwood extras, but the GPS is a re-badged Garmin unit modified to integrate with the touchscreen on the 7039. The GPS comes standard with Garmin street mapping, but apparently can be loaded with the Garmin traffic camera warnings, and more importantly the Garmin offroad mapping. This is no OziExplorer, but not bad all the same.
I decided to bite the bullet last week and order the system, only to be told that the 7039 is about to be superseded by a new model (7041, I think) in the next couple of weeks. I'll see what the new one is like. I guess it will be tweaked in some small ways. I reckon I'll go ahead when it's available.

[Muddles Member Find all posts View Profile Close Muddles]

Hi All,

Thanks for the comments.

Snaga I do like the fact that the VMS has the ozi stuff onboard but i was also wanting to get a good street nav app. Off road is going to take up a far smaller amount of time than on road stuff and from all reports so far the route 66 maps and nav aren't the greatest but we can all hope that they improve. I want the offroad however as a priority as well as the onroad.

Andrewh - i can't wait to hear what you think about the new unit. We can only hope that either it does reasonable offroad or that it is hackable to add something like ozi.

Let us know what you think of it when it is in.

Cheers
Muddles

[Signature035 Advanced Member Find all posts View Profile Close Signature035]

I am now running OZTOPO http://www.oztopo.com/ off road contour mapping on my Kenwood DX6039 (the predecessor to Andrews 7039) and am very happy. I believe I have the best compromise available at present.

[andrewh Junior Member Find all posts View Profile Close andrewh]

I am now running OZTOPO http://www.oztopo.com/ off road contour mapping on my Kenwood DX6039 (the predecessor to Andrews 7039) and am very happy. I believe I have the best compromise available at present.

It's great to read your experience Rob. Was it straight forward loading Oztopo or are there some tricks worth knowing about?

[Muddles Member Find all posts View Profile Close Muddles]

Hi Rob,

Are you able to output a DVD to rear screens while running nav and music in front?


Cheers
Muddles

[Signature035 Advanced Member Find all posts View Profile Close Signature035]

City Navigator & Oztopo are loaded onto the same SD Card, it then just becomes a menu selection as to which one you want to view.

Yep, DVD to the kids in the rear, whilst I run the GPS on the front screen.

[Muddles Member Find all posts View Profile Close Muddles]

Hmm

Just saw this
http://www.pradopoint.com/viewtopic.php ... c&start=15

Last comment says that there is a newer face for the 2008 model. The only unit i saw was in an older model prado so i might just have to go and see Poron and get a better idea of the most recent Polaris unit.

cheers
muddles