Thread: Carputer Vs In dash HU

Originally Posted by fcanozo

Hi guys, what do you think? I'm not sure if go with a new carputer (I sold my old one), or get the Pioneer avic-d1 or d2 in dash gps, etc.

The reason is the carputer monitor, the best is not bright to read on sunshine.

What to do?

are u sure that the hu is brighter? i think the carputer gets way more functionality

there was a dyi on back light for monitors u can try that

Well the most important thing is its functionaliy. The indash HU's have the capability to play 1 CD or DVD of stuff. CarPC can store hundreds of gigabytes of music and video. Also you can do anything like burn cd's or dvd's. In dash units cant. If you don't need that much music or video or other applications, then definately cheaper to go with the navic-2 thing. Otherwise a CarPC. Basically depends what you want to do and how you like your multimedia.

If being able to see the display during the day is most important, i'm going to have to say go with one of the AVIC's.. I think it'll be notably brighter than most CarPC touchscreens out there, but I can't say for a fact. It'll also be less hassle in the long run, as it basically works 'out of the box'. No finagling things or buying seperate components to make it work.

If you want the functionality, gonna have to go with CarPC. The AVICs have been locked down so you can't watch video in the front while driving (if that's important).

If you only want navigation with occaisional video, go with the AVIC. If you want a hard-drive MP3 player with that, wait for the AVIC-Z3, which has a HD built in.

Otherwise, go with a CarPC. As said, neither is better, it's what you want to do with it, how much you want to spend, and how much spare time you have.

carputer = more bang for the buck but more "tough" to install/wire/etc.

the HU unit is a nice clean solution, for a high price but little funtionality (comparing it to a PC i mean)

I stayed away from both and bought a nice tablet laptop which I use in my scion. It has a touch screen monitor and weights only 4 pounds. this way i dont have to run any wires, buy a seperate $300 touch screen, and it's 12 huge frickin' inches compared to a small 7" screen. so many plusses and i didnt need to touch or remove the dash at all. nice clean setup. check it out in the show off your project section.

even better, i found out yesterday that my tablet laptop has voice recognition. i can talk to it and it does what i want it to do!!! no need to even touch the screen anymore. all you have to do is say (for example) START MENU........ ALL PROGRAMS.... LAUNCH WINAMP.... and it'll launch winamp! controlling that capability is still manual though. when im about to park i say START MENU.... LAUNCH HIBERNATE.... I want to have it start calling me Michael soon .... hahahahaha- knight rider style!
- sh00k

A tablet is nice, but doesn't really look stock though. Where do your passengers sit?

That is another option I guess and since it has voice recognition, you could just do a regular laptop with a good noise filtering microphone or something.