CAMRYpro headunit

[MC84]

Hi guys. I'm after any reviews you might have for this headunit:

http://www.motorformula.com.au/car-dvd-player-gps-stereo-head-unit/toyota-plug-and-play-perfection/toyota-camry-aurion-camera

Interested in getting it fitted to my Aurion. Want to get some opinions first.

Thanks, Michael

[MrMeToo]

Have a look at reviews of other systems and you'll find they're all very generic as far as specs and features go.

I just installed a system myself, as below;

http://au.toyotaownersclub.com/forums/topic/42814-advance-electronic-aftermarket-system-mini-review/

I wouldn't bother with a TV tuner. I've installed similar units with TV tuners in a mates E39 BMW 540i and 2009 Astra and found that
the TV tuner is next to useless unless you're stationary.

What features are you looking for in a head unit?

[MC84]

Thanks for the reply MrMeToo. Yeah, i've had a look at similar prices units (and some cheaper ones) and they all seem very similar to each other in terms of features. I want something that doesn't feel cheap though, has to be durable and the touchscreen has to be fluent and not laggy. I also want a reverse camera. The one i'm looking at comes with a free reverse camera whitch is a drawcard. Won't be watching much TV in the car so probably wont fork the extra $$$ for a tuner. Motorformula's workshop is only 15 minutes drive from my house so i might have a look..

Just want to see if other users have this unit installed and what it's like.

[Defyant]

im sure that unit looks more like the $200 range units off flebay... the specs are pretty ****ty.... and i'm sure ive seen those head rests a lot cheaper straight off fleabay aswell.

They may include the install fee in that price? but they are PLUG & PLAY you can install in less than an hr.

[MC84]

Thanks Defyant. Something like this i'd rather see in the flesh or read good reviews on before committing $$$. If it seems like cheap plastic i'm not getting it. Most of the units i've seen on youtube look like laggy trash tbh. You wouldn't happen to know of any units around that price range that you'd see as an upgrade over the one i'm looking at?

Installation i'm not worried about.

[Defyant]

Alotta pple here went for the the easydeals units in a group buy. Was pretty well researched.

they were the better of the bunch that's out there, altho... this was a yr ago and they are prolly starting to date a bit spec wise.

I still love mine, it has a quirk or 2 but matched with some decent speakers and amp it sounds pretty good.

The NAV dosn't load as quick as I would like but not a deal breaker. I still like the interface and it's features over the rest out there.

There now is a higher spec unit running android. A bit more research into android might show it's a much better platform than the WinCE.

I was always prepared to sacrifice a bit of sound qual compared to the brand name units. alpine etc. to have a unit that looked good in my dash.

Being a big user of DAC's at home I was planning on just adding an 12v psu and running one of the DAC's I had at home.

Head Unit --> DAC---AMP--- Speakers. with the right DAC this could give easily give as good if not much better sound than the brand name units.

In the end after comparing my HU to a member's Alpine hi end....... I actually thought mine sounded a lot better.

I still plan to add a DAC at some stage.

You are heading down the right track asking questions etc, search the forums for the group buy thread. I think it's under easydeals.

The link to the ebay site is here.

http://www.ebay.com.au/itm/8-Toyota-CAR-DVD-GPS-for-Camry-Aurion-2007-2011-models-/261009372927?hash=item3cc55ef6ff

[Defyant]

Android unit!

http://www.ebay.com.au/itm/8-Android-Toyota-Camry-Aurion-WIFI-GPS-IPOD-Car-DVD-Reversing-Camera-/261209301960?pt=AU_Car_Parts_Accessories&hash=item3cd149a3c8

I really like these specs.

Freescale 1.0Ghz CPU

512MB DDR RAM onboard

Android platform /open to the end users.

WIFI dongle

Freescale Cortex A8 CPU + 512MB RAM

12-month Australia local warranty

[MrMeToo]

If I were to repeat the exercise, I'd fork out the cash and get a double-din Alpine, Eclipse etc unit; you know you'll get quality in both sound and build- It's a more costly option, but as they say, you get what you pay for.

If I had the newer Aurion, I'd invest in one of these bad boys;
http://www.alpine.com.au/showItem.php?item_id=298

[Vent]

Being a big user of DAC's at home I was planning on just adding an 12v psu and running one of the DAC's I had at home.

Head Unit --> DAC---AMP--- Speakers. with the right DAC this could give easily give as good if not much better sound than the brand name units.

Can you get a digital untouched signal out of the headunit (that hasn't already gone through the head units inbuilt DAC)? Because if not, there is no point adding a second DAC in the chain, no matter how good a quality DAC you add, if there is a cheap DAC in the chain the audio isn't going to be made better by adding another. Not questioning your knowledge, but just providing food for thought if you hadn't already thought of that.

Edited July 8, 2013 by Vent

[Steven]

Android unit!

http://www.ebay.com.au/itm/8-Android-Toyota-Camry-Aurion-WIFI-GPS-IPOD-Car-DVD-Reversing-Camera-/261209301960?pt=AU_Car_Parts_Accessories&hash=item3cd149a3c8

I really like these specs.

Freescale 1.0Ghz CPU

512MB DDR RAM onboard

Android platform /open to the end users.

WIFI dongle

Freescale Cortex A8 CPU + 512MB RAM

12-month Australia local warranty

I have the exact same unit in a generic Toyota double-din in my Hilux - best non-brand name unit I've ever used, it simply works and never gives me any dramas.

I'd go further but previous experience here warns me that some people just can't be pleased unless a $700 unit doesn't perform as well as a $2500 brand name unit, which they never will and is perfect in every. single. way

[Vent]

I'd go further but previous experience here warns me that some people just can't be pleased unless a $700 unit doesn't perform as well as a $2500 brand name unit, which they never will and is perfect in every. single. way

Hi Steven, I think you should start respecting others peoples opinion regarding the easydeals unit. Multiple people here have expressed their dissapointment on it - mostly due to it's lack of stability/reliability. Promised firmware updates never fixed these issues either. It does have it's issues and you cant seem to accept that (just because your lucky and don't experience them on yours doesn't mean people are lying about these issues).It doesn't cost $2500 to get a brand name with similar features either, more like $800.

With that said, I do beleive the Android version of the unit would probably be much better (personally I love Android), because my main issues with the other unit is it's lack of stability - probably mostly a software issue.

Here are some links of interest re Android head units.

Android 4.0, 1Ghz CPU, 1GB RAM (higher spec than easydeals unit, more current version of Android too). Not sure on it's physical build quality though, looks like the same/similar design to the easydeals though.

http://www.ebay.com.au/itm/8-Inch-Android-4-0-Car-DVD-for-Toyota-Camry-2007-2011-Internet-3G-WiFi-GPS-/171022647546?pt=US_Video_In_Dash_Units_w_GPS&hash=item27d1be80fa

Another Android 4.0, similar specs but slightly different appearance - the colour of the front facia doesn't look like it matches the rest of the dash.

http://www.ebay.com.au/itm/8-HD-Car-DVD-Player-GPS-NAV-IPOD-DVB-T-Radio-Android-WiFi-3G-TOYOTA-CAMRY-AURION-/161041869435?pt=AU_Car_Parts_Accessories&hash=item257ed7ea7b

And of course the easydeals unit.

http://www.ebay.com.au/itm/8-Android-Toyota-Camry-Aurion-WIFI-GPS-IPOD-Car-DVD-Reversing-Camera-/261209301960?pt=AU_Car_Parts_Accessories&hash=item3cd149a3c8

[Steven]

I'd go further but previous experience here warns me that some people just can't be pleased unless a $700 unit doesn't perform as well as a $2500 brand name unit, which they never will and is perfect in every. single. way

Hi Steven, I think you should start respecting others peoples opinion regarding the easydeals unit. Multiple people here have expressed their dissapointment on it - mostly due to it's lack of stability/reliability. Promised firmware updates never fixed these issues either. It does have it's issues and you cant seem to accept that (just because your lucky and don't experience them on yours doesn't mean people are lying about these issues).It doesn't cost $2500 to get a brand name with similar features either, more like $800.

With that said, I do beleive the Android version of the unit would probably be much better (personally I love Android), because my main issues with the other unit is it's lack of stability - probably mostly a software issue.

Here are some links of interest re Android head units.

Android 4.0, 1Ghz CPU, 1GB RAM (higher spec than easydeals unit, more current version of Android too). Not sure on it's physical build quality though, looks like the same/similar design to the easydeals though.

http://www.ebay.com.au/itm/8-Inch-Android-4-0-Car-DVD-for-Toyota-Camry-2007-2011-Internet-3G-WiFi-GPS-/171022647546?pt=US_Video_In_Dash_Units_w_GPS&hash=item27d1be80fa

Another Android 4.0, similar specs but slightly different appearance - the colour of the front facia doesn't look like it matches the rest of the dash.

http://www.ebay.com.au/itm/8-HD-Car-DVD-Player-GPS-NAV-IPOD-DVB-T-Radio-Android-WiFi-3G-TOYOTA-CAMRY-AURION-/161041869435?pt=AU_Car_Parts_Accessories&hash=item257ed7ea7b

And of course the easydeals unit.

http://www.ebay.com.au/itm/8-Android-Toyota-Camry-Aurion-WIFI-GPS-IPOD-Car-DVD-Reversing-Camera-/261209301960?pt=AU_Car_Parts_Accessories&hash=item3cd149a3c8

Noted - and ignored. If I wanted your opinion, I'd go see a shrink to figure out what the hell is wrong with me.

I did my best to test that unit thoroughly for you guys and ran around like a headless chicken organising that group buy, and yet you guys gave me a ton of grief when it wasn't good enough.

THAT's why I don't give a damn anymore

[Andrew357]

K_san, how graceful of you. I'm not going to even bother coming up with a response to that other than to tell you I'm not even going to lower myself to your levels. Get some maturity about yourself.

Steven is correct though.

You can't expect Silver Service when you're paying Black and White cab prices.

[Vent]

And Steven, I do (honestly) appreciate your work on the group buy and organising it all. The faults with the unit are intermittent and obviously not apparent on all units (so no surprise your testing of it didn't replicate the issues others were having). I'm not attacking you on this, just stating that there are indeed problems with the unit (which we seem to disagree on).

Steven is correct though.

You can't expect Silver Service when you're paying Black and White cab prices.

To a point I wholeheartedly agree. No one would ever buy more expensive brands if the cheaper ones are just as good. I did expect my unit to be a little more reliable though, random freezes/navigation refusing to work is pretty bad. Lets not forget that it is a $600 unit, so not completely cheap.

Edited July 9, 2013 by Vent

[Andrew357]

But I think the price difference is what makes a brand name unit different.

Proper testing before release, after sales support RE: release of firmware updates if required; and should you need it a warranty I would trust more than the CCS unit.