The official tablet (and other useless electronics) thread!

[JustinG]

Yea I get wehre you are coming from Jake, but 9 times outta 10, your nav will have plotted the route at the beginning when you have signal. Only time it sucks is when you need to reroute and there is no signal.

Lately I have realized my main use for nav isn't even directions anymore, I usually know where I am going. It is for an eta and traffic alerts.

You can cache the maps in google maps for areas with low signal too, that way you can atleast manually plan a route.

[.RJ]

I just think these units are great, if you only drive places where you have quality LTE cell service all the time.

You live in northern virginia and you have a new iPhone... come on now.

...and I travel about once a month to racetracks where the idea of 3G is still a novel concept.

But you know where you're going so you dont need the nav.

[Evan]

So, my issue with the CarPlay headunits, cool as they are, is that I don't really want a head unit that depends on my phone to do things.

What if my phone is dead, or someone else is driving the car, or I don't have service? Maybe I'm in the minority, but I would rather have a H/U that can handle Bluetooth audio streaming from whoever's phone(s), and some sort of "send to car" functionality where I could look up an address on my phone's Google Maps and send it to the car so I'm not pecking an address in to the H/U (but maps would be stored on the unit).

I just think these units are great, if you only drive places where you have quality LTE cell service all the time.

iCar and Android Auto are just another source input, so you would still have aux in, radio, bluetooth, etc. (though i bet bluetooth streaming would be easier/faster to leave the phone in your pocket and tap a button on the screen)

[Jake]

iCar and Android Auto are just another source input, so you would still have aux in, radio, bluetooth, etc. (though i bet bluetooth streaming would be easier/faster to leave the phone in your pocket and tap a button on the screen)

OK, that makes more sense. I actually found a head unit for the Denali that looks promising, and actually supports CarPlay (Pioneer 5000 NEX) for not a ton of cash. Seems to be a good solution in that it'll do everything standalone until I plug my phone in, which is fine by me.

The Parrot unit posted earlier seemed to be far more focused on being a dumb screen/amp for your phone which is why I voiced my concern in the first place.

[navin]

What's the deal with "Carplay" over just streaming via Bluetooth? Just that all the visuals are projected to the screen?

I think we are in the same boat Jake -- I want something that has Bluetooth + ability to hook up a backup camera. Was thinking about getting the unit that also supports Navigation, but not sure if that's really needed considering I'd just use my phone paired via bluetooth.

[navin]

Hmm, looked into the Pioneer's now.... Whats the big difference btwn AppRadio vs. CarPlay?

Only thing that seems to suck is that AppRadio seems to be buggy with IOS8 + Waze... which is probably the only thing I'd use it for. But for the price... hmmm

[Jake]

Hmm, looked into the Pioneer's now.... Whats the big difference btwn AppRadio vs. CarPlay?

Only thing that seems to suck is that AppRadio seems to be buggy with IOS8 + Waze... which is probably the only thing I'd use it for. But for the price... hmmm

AppRadio relies on apps that have been designed to work with Pioneer's integration - this was all designed pre-CarPlay. Apparently it's really sucktastic.

CarPlay also relies on apps designed to work with Apple integration, but I have a feeling there will be more apps updated, as CarPlay will have a much larger installed support system (between all the OEMs, Pioneer, whoever else) so the motivation to add the functionality and make it stable is there.

That said, I highly doubt you'll get any mapping that isn't Apple Maps to be allowed on CarPlay for a long while.

I found a deal on the Pioneer 5000 NEX and installation crap, so I bought it this morning. Was ~$620 out the door for everything. Not sure how much I'll use CarPlay, but it's nice that the unit supports it + Android Auto.

[navin]

nvm..

Went with the exact same in-dash Jake bought.

[CaptainHenreh]

Just bought a little 11" facebook machine from Newegg. 200 bucks got me a touch screen windows 8 4gb of ram, what the fuck, man. This thing is awesome. Upgrade to a SSD maybe and roll on momma like I asked you to doooo, when did this stuff get so fuckin' cheap?

[Mike]

So I got a "new" 2013 Nexus 7 (that's the latest model). Haven't had to use it much, thankfully, but since I was the subject of some Android hate (<!-- m --><a class="postlink" href="http://www.reddit.com/r/androidcirclejerk/comments/2t0py4/petition_to_add_mike_to_the_list_of_known_heretics/">http://www.reddit.com/r/androidcircleje ... _heretics/</a><!-- m -->) from a comment made in an article I wrote (<!-- m --><a class="postlink" href="http://www.iammike.org/2015/01/18/how-to-get-free-airplane-internet/">http://www.iammike.org/2015/01/18/how-t ... -internet/</a><!-- m -->), I did write up my first five minutes with it:

Start it up. It asks me for my wifi network. I enter it. It immediately begins to shutdown for a software update. I’d expect it to say restart since that's what it is actually doing. Upon restart, it had forgotten my wifi network. Login to Google account. It asks me my name, which has been autofilled. The screen flashes and my name is no longer autofilled. I enter my name, the system starts, and Google Play tells me it has crashed. I didn't even launch Google Play. Real classy.

Why do you people put up with this garbage?

[Jake]

Weird, mine likes to tell me there's a software update available and then not install it when I prompt it to.

[Evan]

android also stores your wifi info in the cloud, so you dont even have to enter it again even for a new device, let alone a reboot.

[WRXtranceformed]

Shrug our first Nexus 7 is still going strong however many years later. The only time it struggled was when my wife created her own user profile...that thing just didn't have the juice to keep two profiles active. We just deleted it and went back to one and it is working as well as ever.

[ViPER1313]

Why do you people put up with this garbage?

Says the guy who owns an Audi.

[Apoc]

Why do you people put up with this garbage?

Says the guy who owns an Audi.

I lol'd.

[.RJ]

Why do you people put up with this garbage?

Says the guy who owns an Audi.

I lol'd.

I lol'd some more

[Mike]

Me too.

The Audi at least has some redeeming qualities.

[Apoc]

Me too.

The Audi at least has some redeeming qualities.

For you... and that's the point. Everyone has their own value judgment. Just because Android doesn't resonate with you doesn't mean it doesn't for others.

[JPolen01]

My nexus 7 did the update to the latest OS and is nearly impossible to use now. So slow and so much lag.

[Mike]

Me too.

The Audi at least has some redeeming qualities.

For you... and that's the point. Everyone has their own value judgment. Just because Android doesn't resonate with you doesn't mean it doesn't for poor people.

FTFY.