New newbie

[CustomCarputers]

Really just joined to find out why you guys pay so much for the Avics. (What...$1400.00+???)
You can get a decend carputer for much less than that.
[url]http://www.CustomCarputers.com[/url]

[ducatiboy]

[quote name="CustomCarputers"]Really just joined to find out why you guys pay so much for the Avics. (What...$1400.00+???)
You can get a decend carputer for much less than that.[/quote]

Well, I paid $1850 for my new Z1. And the MSRP is $2250 and I would probably have paid that too. :) You can find these a little cheaper, maybe $1600 for the new Z1.

I could get a decent carputer. And I spend so much time on:

[url=http://www.mp3car.com/]http://www.mp3car.com/[/url]

That it's not even funny. Hundred or so hours reading as much as possible. I'm a software engineer/electrical engineer by trade. I also have designed and built PC's for medical/hospital use. I am the source for all my friends for PC's and PC help (this is not bragging it actually kind of sucks). :) I build media centers (windows and linux), desktops, fix laptops, etc. So I know quite a bit about PC's. I also love technology and had no limit on the amount of money I was going to spend. If I was going to spend $500 I would spend $3000, I just want it right. I also wanted to install my system myself... no farming it out to someone else.

My main problem (in my opinion) was that most car computers require a seperate head unit anyway. You have to buy a head unit with AUX in and then get a car computer and then have 2 systems running in tandum (the head unit for volume and speakers and the car computer. and sure the touch screen is cool on a car computer, but then I would have been left with a single din radio for amps/am/fm/cd and I don't like the interface on single din radios. and sure you can have a CD/DVD player in the computer, but how can I get that in the dash.

My car has a double din radio opening and I was seriously considering having a single din radio and a single din Xenarc fold out monitor. But still for AM/FM and CD I would need the head unit. Then for nav, sat, bluetooth I would need to car computer.

If you don't want dual systems I think its possible with extra amps that are controlled by the computer... and I didn't want to start adding more things.

Car computer are cool, but there was nothing out there that made it such a bolt in easy soltuion with all the features I wanted.

I wanted:

Nav, CD, DVD, MP3, Bluetooth Phone, Good ipod interface, sirius.

This unit had all the above, and I unbolted my old head unit and bolted this one in. No mess no fuss. No collecting parts, loading windows, figuring out what "interface" to use. No molding custom parts to make it look stock. No seperate Amps to make it sound good. No two systems (head unit and car computer). And I wasn't doing this to save money. I wanted something with the features that I wanted, easy to use, easy to install, and looked good and mostly stock. And pioneer/eclipse/alpine units might not have the flexability of a computer, but they are meant to install in a vehicle and give the owner almost all the features they want in a simple box.

I know computer things are developed all the time, so things might have changed. But car computers are things for tech geeks to tinker with just to see if they can. They are not ready for the mass market. They require knowledge about setting up comptuers and interfacing to stock car systems.

That's my opinion. Did you really want it or was that "question" just an excuse to put an advertisment up for your web site?

[CustomCarputers]

[quote name="ducatiboy"]

That's my opinion. Did you really want it or was that "question" just an excuse to put an advertisment up for your web site?[/quote]

Both.
Someone here did the same at mp3car, so I assumed the same is allowed here.
BTW: I don't have a problem with people doing that on my forum, so long it's not a "competitive" type post.

But truly, I WAS curious. Just seems like alot of money to spend for a "limited" unit. But I would agree that the installation is very simple.
I removed my HU completely and just use an amp. No FM radio, but I added XM. Of course Sirius is possible too.

Thanks for a "quality"... not a "smart-ass" reply. I assumed it was because of easier installation, but the PC installation isn't that bad, as I'm sure you know.

[ducatiboy]

[quote name="CustomCarputers"]
Both.
Someone here did the same at mp3car, so I assumed the same is allowed here.
BTW: I don't have a problem with people doing that on my forum, so long it's not a "competitive" type post. [/quote]

Well, since your post is still here, I would assume that it is. But it's not my forum, I just spend way too much time here.

[quote name="CustomCarputers"]
But truly, I WAS curious. Just seems like alot of money to spend for a "limited" unit. But I would agree that the installation is very simple.
I removed my HU completely and just use an amp. No FM radio, but I added XM. Of course Sirius is possible too.

Thanks for a "quality"... not a "smart-ass" reply. I assumed it was because of easier installation, but the PC installation isn't that bad, as I'm sure you know.[/quote]

Part of it was what it would look like in my dash. I have yet to see a stand alone double din opening solution with a touch screen in it and a cd/dvd drive also. And a volume knob (just got to keep some manual non-touch screen parts).

I was hoping you could point out a nice install into a double din hole... some pictures or something (I keep saying double din cause I know anything can be custom created for a custom car with enough money, but I think most people here want an easy bolt in double din good looking solution).

[url=http://www.avic411.com/forum/viewtopic.php?p=1284#1284]http://www.avic411.com/forum/viewtopic.php?p=1284#1284[/url]