Thread: FAQ: Which is the best front end!?

Originally Posted by blk02si

Road Runner is the best frontend available and the votes back it. +1 from me.

If there were something better I would use it.

There is one distinct feature that makes RR much better than any of them, and that is because its 100% open source and has the largest and most talented developer base.

Don't like a feature? then remove it. Want a new feature? Add it. Want a unique look? Skin it. Its a simple philosophy that has gotten RR to the top.

It has the most features, can do anything other frontends do, including clone their GUI, and has the most supported hardware. (I know I'm listening to HD radio on the carPC)

At first use to a newb it may seem overwhelming, but if you take the time to learn how it works, its the most powerful frontend available at time of writing.

I would also like to add that, in my honest opinion, most of the commercial products are junk.

Except the overwhelming for the n00b. I just reformatted my boot partition in the car because of vid. driver problems, and was curious about RR+Vista (Dont do it btw), so I then put XP and everything back on. I had music playing in RoadRunner within 1.5hrs included a full NTFS format of a 300Gb HD and XP installation, driver installation and all.

RoadRunner is now just as simple as everything else and I would actually venture to say the easiest. I downloaded the installer, pushed next, it did its thing. Downloaded winamp, pushed next next, deselected the bloatware like emusic tokens and toolbars, finish, ran the new RR Config, and started RoadRunner. All so simple. Much easier than before.

rr all the way

Is there a place for a complete FAQ and review of RR? I am going backwards (or is it FORWARD?)on my CARputer. I have a list of things I want to be able to do with the PC and I am trying to design the best and most cost effective way of doing it. Right now I have not come with a good plan yet, Thought of a G4 but it will not allow me to surf the internet and load Windows apps. It sounds like RR will and now I want to learn more about the features and what sort of hardware I may need for it. I found the RR home page and some screen shots but that is about it. I am looking for Windows Apps (Internet), Bluetooth phone, DVD player, XM/Sirus player, AM/FM capability, of course CD and MP3 Player and NAV using DeLorme Topo 5.0. I will be using a Cradlepoint router with a EVDO card for my LAN connection.
Rich

Wow, RoadRunner took the prize, but its cool to see CF took second (I use CF also). I tried StreetDeck and had a bad experience with it. I hated the interface on it and it seemed to be missing alot of features. CF on the other hand has alot of features, and they have a large community that creates plug-ins. I never tried RR.... i figured if I bought the Front End, it would be easy to get customer support, which David has been great at. He also has a forum, which helps with alot of questions and answers.

Voted for Centrafuse. To be honest I've been following the development for some years now and like that it's a solid product with a good GPS solution built-in. Plugins are simple to implement (I've done one myself) although the interface could do with being expanded a bit (this is being worked on). Skinning seems simple enough but some are talking about improving it further. The devs have been a bit quiet recently but this is due to an upcoming release.

I would also like to add that, in my honest opinion, most of the commercial products are junk.

I love completely unfounded statements like that. It does make me chuckle. Some products are junk and others are not. Whether they are commercial or not is irrelevant.

Originally Posted by Nerve

Voted for Centrafuse. To be honest I've been following the development for some years now and like that it's a solid product with a good GPS solution built-in. Plugins are simple to implement (I've done one myself) although the interface could do with being expanded a bit (this is being worked on). Skinning seems simple enough but some are talking about improving it further. The devs have been a bit quiet recently but this is due to an upcoming release.


I love completely unfounded statements like that. It does make me chuckle. Some products are junk and others are not. Whether they are commercial or not is irrelevant.

I agree with you........ commercial or not, it can easily be good, or junk. Also it all depends on opinion. Alot of people seem to think SD is all that, but I find it confusing and cr@ppy, were as I love CF and its easy of use, but some1 else may think the opposite.

Originally Posted by Nerve

I love completely unfounded statements like that. It does make me chuckle. Some products are junk and others are not. Whether they are commercial or not is irrelevant.

My statement was more than founded, I've tested the available commercial frontends. Cost relevance is part of my opinion on what I consider junk. It makes me chuckle when people believe their expensive one-size-fits-all software package is somehow better than free software custom built for specific hardware and user needs. But to each their own, all that really matters is that people find a solution that works for them.

I have voted Road Runner, and think that it is an absolutely phenomonal piece of free software.
Credit to Guino, and others who have contributed time and effort in making it as good as it is now.

I haven't tried other front-ends, and, honestly only tried Road Runner because it was free, it was the perfect solution for me, so no need to even think about trying any other FEs, but don't want to put down any others.

Road Runner does so much and is so versatile, I couldn't think of any function that you would want to have in a car that Roadrunner doesn't incorporate.

Minor downside (for some people) - Needs a fair bit of configuration and tweaking to get it working exactly how you want it, which really is the beauty in itself - customisable! However, if you just want to hit 'install' and have a fully operational system, then maybe RR isn't for you.

If you are a bit more technically minded or fussy like me, then you might like to give Roadrunner a try.
Everyone is extremely helpful in RR forums if you get stuck.

Phil

Centrafuse latest version with the Auro skin awsome simple no mucking about and amazingly simple and stable
Awsome effort from the Boys at Flux and the support from MP3car
But next to that you cant go past RR gr8 open source and endless customization but Centrafuse is still young give a couple of months and some greate minds and RR will go the way of Media Car OPPPS did i say that only joking