High end ICE install / research / options

[LivinLOS]

So I know Android Auto is just coming to market, so perhaps this isnt the best time to be laying out strong money on a top end head unit... Am trying to work out my best options for my own needs. Getting retail advice here in Chiang Mai for high end gear isnt proving easy. I went in the alpine store and it was years old items at 300% the price they should be, coupled with zero knowledge, no decent demo, and just a total lack of smarts. Sure if your selling 5 or 10k cheap stuff then its volume, but once your asking the top tier money, surely a teeny bit of knowledge on the market and features needs to be shown ??

Where can I get info on whats on the Thai market, compatible here with mapping for here, and pricing ??

I am only interested in the top tier stuff, I already have an 80GB iPod and Garmin bodged in as separate systems. I am only interested by the new kind stuff where you pull into the house, it logs into your home wifi, syncs your media collections and playlists, syncs with your dropbox account to pick up garmin or google earth routing systems (so you can design road trips / favorites / waypoints at the PC and and then they are automatically put into the car when you turn it on) the car can be either a wifi hotspot or tethered from smartphone etc etc.. Stuff like last years Kenwood DNN9350BT or the announced DDX9902S etc, and I want to see it. If its just ordering from a catalogue spec sheet I have the internet. I have my doubts if this kind of gear is here ?? If I cant get this demo'ed I will probably just mount a nexus 7 in the car, run it Aux in, and sit it out a year or so until the apple carplay / Android Auto market settles down.

Any of you guys follow this market much ??

Heres my needs :-

1) superb mapping.. Garmin (with junction view) preferred or OSM datasets considered.

2) cloud handling of routing and waypoint. Design on Pc/ tablet / phone and sync to car via home wifi

3) Huge media ability (of course add a SSD hard disk) I have a full 80 GB ipod now and about 300 plus GB of MP3

4) Sync media over wifi to home network media shares

5) Attractive cover art handling of MP3 embedded cover art

6) Gapless playback for DJ mixes

7) Browsing by 'album artist' tag or at least 'composer' for DJ mixes.

8) Spotify would be nice (I have a premium spotify account already on phones and tablets).

9) System to provide wifi hotspot / phone tethering

10) navigation and music integration.. play MP3 and lower volume interrupt screen for drive instructions

11) dashcam and reverse cam recording in head unit ??

I have no desire for my facebook feed, or my phones SMS's, or even my incoming calls to come up on my cars screen.. That violates the cheaters charter right there.

My Alpine system back in the west, 15 years ago did most of this (not the cloud wifi stuff) so I really dont think this is asking for a lot. If I can do all the above I am happy to spend the big bucks, if theres too many compromises I will just put a nexus 7 tablet in the car for a year until more of the android auto shakeout has happened. I have zero interest in any apple products ever again.

Love to actually get some intelligent demos of things like the pioneer 8000, Kenwood DNN9350BT or the announced DDX9902S, equipment in that class. Will travel to BKK if thats what it takes.

[IMHO]

When I read the title, I thought this might be a topic about speakers, DSP's and digital amps.

But it's just about the source unit

It sounds like most of your wishlist would be serviced by an iPad mini

[LivinLOS]

Yeah to be honest, I dont think the car is really an audiophile environment and have no desire for ear bleeding subs etc..

My need is purely head unit.. And no apple wont ever get another cent from me.. But yes I may just wait it out a a year with a nexus 7 or similar.

With android auto at such an early stage buying a 1000 - 1500 usd head unit before the standard shakes out properly is a bit of a gamble, but buying a high end unit, and not having android auto, will probably seem foolish in a year or so too.

[questionsreplies]

All this in a toyota vigo ? Really ?

[LivinLOS]

Why would the vehicle make a difference to wanting top end navigation and nice media interface ??

I do lots of road trips.. Laos / Cambo / all over Thailand.. Really nice navi, the best up to date maps.. the ability to design my next days trip on a tablet and 'send' it to the vehicle unit is a nice touch. Appealing ease of use. I know some of the elderly baulk at a smartphone, but I cant see why I wouldnt want to integrate google cloud map tools into the vehicle..

Probably heading off on a 3 or 4k roadie in a couple of weeks.. Would be nice to have it for that. Otherwise its just the 80 GB iPod again.